The Hewlett Packard (HP)-Compaq merger was conceived by HP's new chief executive, Carly Fiorina and involved not only merging two companies with legendary histories (HP made the first mass calculators and Compaq produced the first clones of the IBM PC), but two distinct cultures. Hewlett-Packard's HP Way, which focuses on employee satisfaction as the source of the company success has always stood for "trust and respect, achievement, integrity, teamwork, innovation and an inclusive work environment" and values consensus, research and stability (HP had never laid off workers). Compaq is a corporation that is known for its hard-charging sales techniques and was perceived as being very aggressive. The two companies announced in September 3, 2001 they were going to merge. The merger after facing many challenges was finalized in May 2002. The goal for the merger was to create a $87 billion supercompany that would be number one in sales of computer servers, PCs, handheld devices, and printers; and hold leading positions in markets such as storage and technology services. .
The "HP Way" is the enlighten model of doing business on trust, excellence and friendship. Bill Hewlett was a great engineer who built products for other engineers. This sense of excellence defined HP in its prime, extending from the company's products to its management rank and file. As for friendship, Dave Packard trusted Bill Hewlett with his reputation, his future, and his life. Over the course of nearly 70 years, there is no record of the two of them ever fighting. Because they trusted each other completely, they could trust their employees, their customers, and even their competitors. Out of that grew a great company and an even greater business philosophy. Dave Packard and co-founder Bill Hewlett gave their company a strong corporate culture "the HP Way" based on how they had done business from the one-car garage where their company was born in 1939.
