Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Now we know what Carly was doing in Davos...
A little over a month ago, Carly Fiorina, erstwhile CEO of Hewlett-Packard, was hanging out at the World Economic Forum confident that her board was behind her:
Within two weeks she had resigned "after a dispute with the company's board over future strategy."
Tomorrow's New York Times reports that Fiorina "has emerged as a strong candidate to become president of the World Bank...."
Who are we kidding? The "glamour" has everything to do with it and the "proven record in the corporate world" has nothing to do with it. Fiorina flushed billions of dollars doubling down on Hewlett-Packard's weakest business. The most recent years of her "proven record in the corporate world" involved a lot more failure than success. I'm sure that she is a delightful person who cuts a great figure at five star hotels filled with celebrity honchos, but management expertise has nothing to do with the obvious whisper campaign to get her appointed (the Times article cites an unnamed "Bush administration official" -- the story is an obvious plant by one of her allies).
In any case, we now know why Carly was fiddling in Davos whileRome Palo Alto burned: She was networking for her next job. It is helpful that it may be in the public sector, where considerations other than stockholder value predominate.
Fiorina tried to downplay a report this week in The Wall Street Journal that said HP's board was considering shifting her day-to-day duties to other HP executives. She called the report "speculation" and said her relationship with the board remained excellent.
Within two weeks she had resigned "after a dispute with the company's board over future strategy."
Tomorrow's New York Times reports that Fiorina "has emerged as a strong candidate to become president of the World Bank...."
Ms. Fiorina, the only woman on the list, carries far less political baggage than Mr. Wolfowitz and has a reputation for dynamic leadership. As the head of a Fortune 500 company for six years, she gained executive experience that put her near the top of the list for the job. She would also add glamour as probably the only candidate famous enough to be widely known by her nickname - Carly.
Lael Brainard, director of the poverty and global initiative at the Brookings Institute, said, "Her candidacy is within the traditional mold in that America has on occasion gone to someone with a proven record in the corporate world because, at the end of the day, the World Bank is a big management challenge."
Who are we kidding? The "glamour" has everything to do with it and the "proven record in the corporate world" has nothing to do with it. Fiorina flushed billions of dollars doubling down on Hewlett-Packard's weakest business. The most recent years of her "proven record in the corporate world" involved a lot more failure than success. I'm sure that she is a delightful person who cuts a great figure at five star hotels filled with celebrity honchos, but management expertise has nothing to do with the obvious whisper campaign to get her appointed (the Times article cites an unnamed "Bush administration official" -- the story is an obvious plant by one of her allies).
In any case, we now know why Carly was fiddling in Davos while
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