Worth reading : HP IG Metall Standpunkt !

HP-IG Metall December 2006 Newletter

You will find the english "best of" in the comments :
- Downsizing at HP
- Offshoring
- Global delivery
- Nearshoring
- Everyday office life
- Sales commissions
...

HP Paid for Dell Plans, Ex-Employee Says

Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Hewlett-Packard Co. paid to obtain information from a former head of a Dell Inc. unit about Dell's plans to enter the printer market, a former Hewlett-Packard executive said in court papers.

SEC Delays Decision On Board Nominations

WASHINGTON (Los Angeles Times)

The Securities and Exchange Commission Monday said it would not intervene in a dispute over board election rules at Hewlett-Packard Co. and signaled that a clear policy governing director nomination contests probably would not be implemented until the 2008 season of corporate meetings.

"In the short term, the SEC decision to steer clear of the Hewlett-Packard conflict means the Palo Alto-based technology firm might face a greater risk of being sued if it excludes from its annual meeting in March the election resolution submitted by a group of large public pension funds. The measure would change the company's election rules so that investors who own 3% or more of the stock for at least two years would be able to place nominees on the company's official election materials.

The proposal follows disclosures last year that HP hired private investigators to spy on reporters and its own directors to find the source of a leak to the media. HP had asked the SEC to let it keep the election measure off its 2007 corporate ballot, but on Monday the SEC said its staff would keep quiet on the matter.Having been denied explicit permission to exclude the measure, HP officials run the risk of drawing a legal challenge if they do so." We're prepared to litigate," said Richard Ferlauto, director of pension and benefit policy for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, one of the groups pushing the proposal. The SEC decision, he maintained, amounted to a "green light" for shareholder election proposals.

HP had no comment Monday on the SEC decision, said Ryan J. Donovan, a company spokesman. The ball is in HP's court now," Borrus said. "The company will have to think long and hard about its next step. Any move to try to boot out the shareowner access proposal would likely be litigated in court. " Shareholder activists, including many pension funds, have long sought greater influence in the director nomination process, which is largely controlled by management and the board. Big-business lobbies have opposed the effort to loosen up elections, saying that such a step could empower special interests whose agenda is more narrow than that of ordinary shareholders.

The subject of shareholder voting rights is one of the most contentious issues in the area of corporate governance. The SEC has been unable to resolve the matter. In the coming months, he said, the SEC would consider the legal issues surrounding the matter, aiming for "one clear rule to protect investors' interests in all jurisdictions during the next proxy season."

HP CEO denies 'bullet dodging' with stock sale

A pair of Democratic congressman from Michigan are asking Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd to explain why he cashed in more than a $1 million worth of stock options just before a scandal concerning boardroom leaks became public.

In their letter, which was written on Dec. 12 and released this week, U.S. Reps. John Dingell and Bart Stupak, who sit on a panel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee that is investigating the Palo Alto, Calif. company, wrote to Hurd to explain the $1.37 million transaction. "In that regard, it appears from the enclosed chart on HP executive trading, that you voluntarily cashed in $1.37 million worth of options on August 25, 2006, the very same day that you were questioned by Wilson Sonsini attorneys who were 'investigating the investigation,'" the two congressman wrote in the letter.

The letter indicates that Hurd cashed in his stock options just before a Sept. 6 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange first detailed that the company had started a far-ranging probe to find the source of leaks from the company's boardroom to various media organizations. On Dec. 14, an HP spokesperson told eWEEK: "This is not a new matter and we look forward to responding to the committee's inquiry."

In their letter, Dingell and Stupak question the timing of the stock sale. The two congressmen write that there has been a number of "backdating" scandals at large companies, which "have raised questions about whether executives are cashing in ('bullet dodging') while in possession of potentially damaging material facts that shareholders do not know." The letter asks for a response from Hurd and HP by Dec. 21.

Hurd said in his anwer that the sale was prearranged and part of an ongoing investment strategy. He wrote that the sale of 100,000 shares on August 25 represented only 5 percent of his HP holdings and noted that Wall Street had yet to punish the company's stock over the spying scandal.

"HP's stock has risen by more than $5 per share since the date of the trade," Hurd wrote in the letter. "My August trade was not a case of bullet-dodging."

Here is Mark Hurd answering letter !