The world's second-largest PC maker, Hewlett-Packard Company, has named Mark Hurd as its new CEO. Speaking to reporters at the company's headquarters on Wednesday, Mr. Hurd, who takes the reins on Friday, said it would take time to acquaint himself with the challenges facing the company's five divisions, but he would not rule out anything that might be necessary to put the company back on track.
"We'll look at the entire enterprise," he said. "I can't give you any guarantees on anything." His first priority, he said, would be "improving operations, creating demand for our technology and increasing shareholder value."
Mark Hurd, 48, resigned Tuesday as president and CEO of NCR Corporation, an Ohio-based computer services company. Hurd is credited with reversing the declining fortunes of NCR, the automatic teller machine maker and data warehouse company that is a fraction of HP's size.
Hurd takes over Fiorina's duties as president and CEO but not the role of chairman of the board. Patricia C. Dunn, a director since 1998, was named non-executive chairwoman upon Fiorina's departure.
Merrill Lynch analyst, Steve Milunovich, called Mr. Hurd a "blue-collar C.E.O., more interested in rolling up his sleeves to solve problems than appearing in front of cameras," an allusion to Ms. Fiorina's celebritylike status.
Several Wall Street analysts upgraded the stock of Hewlett-Packard Wednesday even as the new chief executive, Mark V. Hurd, told employees and investors that it would take time to decide what needed to be done to turn around the company reports New York Times.
