Desperately seeking to capture the all-time female affirmative action poster child award away from disgraced former Mattel CEO Jill Barak, Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina has prematurely claimed victory in the bitter proxy fight over the proposed acquisition of Compaq Computer Corp.
Even if she DOES win out, what, pray tell, has she won? She gets to acquire money-losing Compaq, and to what end?
To call this lady clueless would be a compliment. If you're going to buy a computer company, and that is hardly a great idea these days, why choose Compaq? Does Carly even use computers? Could she find one single real user that likes Compaq? For at least four years, Compaq's products have had a terrible reputation, and that's the simple reason why their sales are way down.
You can bet that she based her decision on some survey, done at great expense, that gave her the information she wanted to hear. Just like the survey that told her that H-P employees are supportive of the merger, despite all indications to the contrary.
There's room for competition to Dell, the leader, but so far, no one has figured out how to do it. Let me assure you that this jumped-up former Lucent exec doesn't have the answer, either. If you're wondering how being associated with that basket case company was a good reason for her to be hired by H-P, you're not alone.
But, Carly lovers, never fear. If things melt down, which they surely will, the blame will be on the head of Compaq's Michael Capellas, who will become H-P CEO in the merger. I guess that's why she gets the big bucks.
If you want a snapshot of what's wrong with corporate America, look no further.