HP’s Watergate gets more messy

Comparisons between the recent activity at Hewlett Packard and the Watergate affair are almost too tempting to resist. Late yesterday it became apparent that investigation into the bugging of fellow board members, staff and journalists was leading straight to the top.

The Washington Post reported that Mark Hurd, CEO of Hewlett Packard was implicated in approving an operation to ‘sting’ journalists in order to find out the boardroom source of leaks. Mark Hurd has been one of the main forces behind the resurgence of HP over the last year since Carly Fiorina was ousted.

Worries that he may be implicated sent shares of HP plunging down 5.2 percent after the news broke.

The investigation into the various activities and spying are a worrying precedence in any company or sector of the business, but HP’s founders would be turning in their graves at the latest escapades. The company has moved from morale high ground to an all time low.

Many would argue that the rot set in after Carly Fiorina took over the post of CEO and relentlessly pursued the takeover of Compaq. It could be argued that the moral fibre and DNA of the company disappeared during this timeframe with many HP engineers still craving for the days when the company was led by William Hewlett one of the eponymous co-founders.

HP announced a press conference this morning to discuss the affair, trying to head off further damage.

Unfortunately this is too good a story to allow it to die. Journalists are convinced that with more poking around they can uncover more dirt. For HP to nip this in the bud it must show that it has the constitution for truth and integrity, something it has shown that it has scant regard for so far.