The VAR Guy

As CEO of Hewlett-Packard during the biggest scandal in the company’s history, Mark Hurd’s natural instinct is to try and save the day. But The VAR Guy has a bad feeling in his stomach. He’s starting to think HP made a mistake when it gave CEO Hurd the additional title of chairman.

Even if Hurd’s hands are clean, he’s still part of the story (see BusinessWeek’s interview). HP would have been wiser to bring in an outsider to be chairman. Someone with no previous ties to the company or the scandal. Someone with a fresh set of eyes. Even former Intel CEO Andy Grove says he was disappointed to see HP give Hurd both titles.

Instead, HP should have kept its CEO focused on business. And boy does HP need business focus right now. At first glance, HP’s business continues to perform. The company’s stock has held up well and the current quarter appears on track. But imagine being an HP salesperson or partner. Every customer call will surely start with questions about the scandal.

That’s the type of stress no salesperson needs.