Passing the Torch at Apple and hp

HP and Apple appear to be on opposing vectors -- both tied to leadership changes. It does look like Meg Whitman is starting smart, but she will need to find that magic formula -- or someone else who can -- to fully restore HP. On Apple's side, it looks like the beginning of a normal progression, much like we saw at Microsoft, where the executive left behind doesn't fully appreciate the value of the person he's replacing.

Whitman's HP: Recovery?

Meg Whitman has been meeting with a lot of HP employees, and the feedback I'm getting is one of hope and measured excitement. The measured part is because these employees have been hopeful before and very disappointed by the series of CEOs that preceded her. But she is saying the right things and listening to how the businesses are run before moving in and making decisions.
The big change is her first stated goal: to restore institutional succession planning to HP so she is the last external CEO, and HP can do what IBM (NYSE: IBM) and other long-term companies do and more often hire from inside to ensure some strategic continuity.

Wrapping Up

HP and Apple appear to be on opposing vectors -- both tied to leadership changes. Both will likely change almost imperceptibly to the outside world at first, but more rapidly inside. In the end, it would be hard to imagine HP getting worse. It does look like Meg Whitman is starting smart, but she will need to find that magic formula -- or someone else who can -- to fully restore HP.

Tim Cook's Apple: Decline?

Let's be clear -- Apple was a unique property. It massively outperformed almost every other company in the U.S., and it did so with consumer electronics -- a market that was, with the exception of Apple, a low-margin business. This isn't trivial. This is like shooting flies at 50 yards with a bow and arrow, blindfolded and drunk. To say you don't see this often would be a massive understatement. Steve Jobs made it look easy, but it was everything but
by http://www.technewsworld.com