THE NATION’S NEWSPAPER BS2005-XX

Collegiate
Case
Study www.usatodaycollege.com
Did glass ceiling just slam down?

By Del Jones 4-5

Women CEOs
Fiorina's abrupt ouster raises
Leadership is required at all levels within a company or organization;
questions at H-P
however, it is most visible to others at the top levels of management.
Women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are part of a small and slowly
By Michelle Kessler & Jon Swartz 6-8
growing group. There is a continuing debate on whether Women CEOs
Media always fascinated with do or should govern like Men CEOs or provide a different type of
leadership and vision. There are many factors that influence women's
Fiorina
interest, abilities and likelihood of becoming a CEO of any size
company. This case study presents multiple examples and views of
By Bruce Horovitz 9 "CEO Women" which can be used to analyze the current state of
women as leaders, and also consider how women in the future can
H-P likely to face rising better prepare for the CEO position if they choose. What are the pro's
challenges from its rivals and con's to women in being a CEO? Do "Women CEOs" face different
challenges and obstacles? What are the unique strengths that women
By Jon Swartz & Michelle Kessler 10 bring to this position?

Sara Lee biggest company

(for now) with female CEO
Cover story
By Del Jones 11-12

Discussion Questions & Future

Implications
For Steinem, these are
Case Study Expert
13
the glory years
Karen A. Holbrook
President, The Ohio State University 14 Famed feminist, 70, calls
aging 'greatest adventure' When a reporter told her, "You
USA TODAY Snapshots® don't look 40," Steinem shot back:
By Janet Kornblum "This is what 40 looks like. We've
Read all about it
Where people get information about CEOs: USA TODAY been lying so long, who
would know?"
SAN FRANCISCO — When she was
40, Gloria Steinem decided to Her comment was quoted so often
Print media1 96%
come clean. "it made me realize that there really
Word of mouth 60% was an age problem for women," she
Television 52%
Investor meetings/reports 35% Somewhere along the line, the says. "So I said it again at 50 and
Internet 22% again at 60.
Advertising 10%
world's most famous feminist had
subtracted a year or two from her
1 – Business magazines, newspapers and
trade publications
Source: Burston-Marsteller poll of 1,155 stakeholder
age, so she announced her birthday. "And I said it again," she recently
groups in the U.S.: CEOs, senior executives, financial
analysts/institutional investors, the business media
and government officials
Her real one. told a San Francisco audience, "when
By Darryl Haralson and Bob Laird, USA TODAY

Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

AS SEEN IN USA TODAY LIFE SECTION, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2005, PAGE 1D
By Todd Plitt, USA TODAY
Full life: Gloria Steinem has traveled the world, but home is a
New York apartment she shares with her dog, Moji.
I was shocked to find that there was a 70-year-old woman
in my bed."
Yes, the founder of Ms. magazine is now 70, and yes, this
is what 70 looks like.
That is, if you happen to be Steinem, whose looks may be
as famous as her politics. Her early fame came in a 1963
expose about her experience working as a bunny at New
York's Playboy Club. She went on to write four feminist
books and countless articles and estabish the 1971 National
Women's Political Caucus and the Ms. Foundation.
These days, her soulful brown eyes are surrounded by a
few more lines; no cosmetic surgery here. But with her
trademark straight hair and penchant for faux-leather pants
(she has been a vegetarian for 16 years), Steinem still has
the leggy looks of a rock star — and enough edginess to
bring a room full of punk rockers to their feet. She did that
in November when she introduced the feminist punk band
Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
An active — and activist — life
v Born: March 25, 1934; Toledo, Ohio
v Current home: Manhattan
v Education: Graduated from Smith College, 1956;
studied and traveled in India for a year on a
fellowship
v Career highlights: Founded Ms. magazine, 1971;
editor until 1987; freelance writer, 1962 to
present; author of four books
v Marital status: Widow; husband of three years,
David Bale, died of primary brain lymphoma in
December 2003
v TV and movie appearances: Lifetime's Intimate
Portrait; walk-on in The First Wives Club; speaking
part in The Larry Sanders Show; will appear as
herself in Showtime's The L Word in April
v Years of activism: 52, starting with Adlai
Stevenson's presidential campaign in 1952
Le Tigre while on the road stumping for Democratic
presidential candidate John Kerry.
Doing what she loves
"Maybe it's sexist to talk about what she looks like, but,
Jesus, she's a fox," says the band's lead singer, Kathleen
Hanna, 36. "I think part of that comes from keeping things
interesting in your life and still having this glow about you."
Steinem calls aging "the greatest adventure of our lives."
"Think, 'What do I do that when I'm doing it I forget what
time it is? What is there that I don't care whether get I paid
for or not? What is it that I'm really motivated and excited
by?' And do that."
Like talking to students and activists and traveling the
world to help with myriad causes, including fighting for the
rights of women, gays, animals and indigenous people. And
continuing to write.
Asked whether she has plans to retire, she retorts: "What
would I retire from? Life?"
Yes, she'd like to take some time off and stay in her
Manhattan home long enough to write a book about her
years on the road — about an America that she says often
Page 2
AS SEEN IN USA TODAY LIFE SECTION, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2005, PAGE 1D
USA TODAY
The 80's: Steinem, left, has marched for many causes, including
the 1986 National March for Women's Lives.
remains hidden. But she hasn't been home long enough to
write it.
"There's just too much work to be done," she says.
"Unfortunately, I respond to emergencies more than I make
an agenda."
Says her friend Wilma Mankiller, former chief of the
Cherokee Nation: "When she hears about a problem, it
becomes her own. She'll help individuals. She'll help
organizations. She'll help movements. She'll help nations.
She just feels engaged with the world around her."
That attitude prompted the San Francisco-based Pacific
Institute, which focuses on aging, to invite her to speak —
and to republish an essay Steinem wrote about turning 60,
with a new introduction about life at 70. It will be out
in May.
"We preach that aging can be meaningful, that aging can
be wise and doesn't need to be only about decay," the
institute's Doris Bersing says. "It can be about growth. And
that's what she has shown."
Steinem, she adds, "is a wonderful icon to show you can
be old and still kick (butt)."
Given U.S. demographics — 79 million baby boomers
about to embark on 60 — Steinem predicts "a movement
toward reinventing the role of the elders."
But don't expect her to lead it. She'd rather keep leading
Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
the movement she knows best: feminism. But she always
has included aging in her talks, she says.
That's because "women lose power as they age," while
men gain it. Older women lose both reproductive power
and earning power. "That's a radicalizing experience."
But now, of course, she can talk about the personal side
of aging.
"You put on a pair of jeans and realize they're older than
most people in the United States," she says to laughter in
San Francisco. "And you remember things from your
childhood but not necessarily from the day before. That's
when you start to think that remembering something right
away is as good as an orgasm."
Steinem and her brand of "women's lib" once were fodder
for dinner table debates across America — and prompted
critics such as Rush Limbaugh to call her a "feminazi."
She may no longer land in the headlines every time she
says something controversial. But if you think she's
spending her golden years reminiscing, think again.
Supporting herself with speeches and writing, Steinem is
so busy she requires two assistants just to help her keep up
with all the requests for speaking and help. In the fall, she
crisscrossed the country in an RV, campaigning for Kerry on
her own dime, and she energized adoring crowds last year
at the March for Women's Lives in Washington. That was
just four months after her husband of three years,
entrepreneur, environmentalist and animal activist David
Bale, 62, died of primary brain lymphoma.
His death made her "realize in a profound way the
difference between sadness and depression," she says. "In
depression, nothing matters." In sadness and grief,
"everything matters. Everything was more poignant."
'Sounds like mortality'
She knows she won't live forever.
"Fifty was more about defiance for me: 'I'm just going to
go on doing everything I did before.' And it wasn't until I
was about 54 that I realized that doing everything I did
before was not progress. Hello? And 60 was exciting. Sixty
was like the new country. And 70 does sound like mortality.
And it does make you think about dying."
Still, "she has never talked about growing older,"
Page 3
AS SEEN IN USA TODAY LIFE SECTION, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2005, PAGE 1D
Mankiller says. "She's never talked about shifting down
because of age."
Now might be the time to be thinking of her legacy and
how people will view the feminist movement of the late
20th century.
Her fans wax poetic, saying Steinem helped improve the
status of women in society.
Her detractors — and there are many — say the
feminist movement — much like the Equal Rights
Amendment — failed.
In her 2002 book Slander: Liberal Lies About the American
Right, conservative author and pundit Ann Coulter writes:
"Steinem's influence was limited to a narrow sliver of
liberal women living in big cities. It just happened to be the
sliver that controls the news and pop culture."
AS SEEN IN USA TODAY MONEY SECTION, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2005, PAGE 3B
Did glass ceiling just slam down?
Fiorina had declared victory for women
By Del Jones
USA TODAY
The day Carly Fiorina took over at Hewlett-Packard in
July 1999 was the day she declared that the glass ceiling no
longer existed in the tech field.
The remark was poorly received by many women's
organizations. They had seen measured progress, but were
stunned that Fiorina declared victory. The tech bubble had
caused a labor shortage, and Fiorina said companies did not
have the luxury to discriminate. Her world was a pure
meritocracy where all could rise.
On Wednesday, nearly five years after the bubble burst,
the female CEO most often described as having the rough
edges of a man was forced out.
In Wall Street's version of "don't let the screen door hit
you on the way out," H-P's stock rose 7% in a down market.
Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
Responds Steinem, "If Ann Coulter said anything positive
about me, I'd know I was doing something very wrong."
Feminism is far from dead, she adds: "By no measure
have we arrived. It will take more than 30 years for men to
raise children as much as women do, and at the rate we're
going, even longer for women to earn as much."
She's not concerned about how history will view her.
"Legacy is out of my control by definition," she says.
Instead, she focuses on helping younger women "do what
they want to do. It's like watching someone be born.
Watching someone blossom and discover their talents. It's
really very satisfying."
Surprise CEO ousters often portend bad news, but Fiorina's
exit increased the value of the company more than
$4 billion.
Other women were toughest on Fiorina. "I have always
felt that she thought and acted male-like," said Judy
Rosener, professor in the University of California-Irvine's
graduate school of management. "She did less listening and
was more eager to look tough. Had (eBay CEO) Meg
Whitman, (Young & Rubicam CEO) Ann Fudge or (Xerox
CEO) Anne Mulcahy been CEO of H-P, I bet things would
have turned out differently."
Marion O. Sandler, co-CEO of successful Golden West
Financial, said Fiorina's style was neither male nor female.
"It was her style, and it came from an aggressive
background in marketing and sales," which Sandler said
may explain why Fiorina made a habit of being overly
optimistic with earnings forecasts.
H-P was by far the largest company with a female CEO,
which created media hype. Had Fiorina succeeded, it could
Page 4
AS SEEN IN USA TODAY MONEY SECTION, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2005, PAGE 3B
have opened wide the doors for women, but now any board
director on the fence has an excuse not to take the chance,
Sandler said.
H-P ranks 11th on the Fortune 500. Rite Aid, run by Mary
Sammons, is way back at No. 128, leaving no mega-
company with a female CEO just when women's climb up
the ladder may be stalling. Consider:
v No Fortune 500 company has hired a female CEO since
June 2003, when a housecleaning at scandal-ridden Rite
Aid boosted Sammons to the top. The total has dropped to
seven for the first time in two years. Mirant has been in
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since July 2003, leading
to press reports speculating that CEO Marce Fuller's days
are numbered.
v The stock of the eight largest companies run by
women rose 2.2% in 2004 vs. a 9% rise in all S&P 500 stocks,
according to a USA TODAY analysis. Golden West Financial
and Avon Products, run by Andrea Jung, have been firing on
all cylinders for a long time. Mirant, Lucent Technologies
and Rite Aid have been spending a lot of time under $2 a
share, although Lucent's Patricia Russo and Xerox's
Mulcahy appear to have engineered turnarounds. Part of
the problem, Sandler says, is that women seem more
willing than men to accept CEO jobs at companies
in distress.
v An index released last March by the Committee of 200,
an organization of female business owners and corporate
leaders, showed disappointing progress by women in 10
areas, including business ownership, corporate board seats,
the size of female-run businesses, the lack of venture
capital funding, wage gaps and invitations to be keynote
speakers at major events.
Even the committee's measure of MBA enrollment at top
business schools slipped nearly 5% from 2003 to 2004. The
index of all 10 measures has gone up about 9% each of the
last two years, but the score is just 4.7; a 10 would signal
parity with men.
"Sure, we're moving forward," said Diane Graham,
chairwoman of the Committee of 200 and CEO of Stratco
Global, in a press release. "At this pace it will be our
granddaughters — not our daughters — who will operate
in a business community defined as much by women as
by men."
v The National Association for Female Executives said
Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
professional women's lifetime earnings are still $400,000
below men's. Female scientists doing medical research, for
example, earned 29% less than men.
That's no surprise to Warren Farrell, the only man to have
been elected three times to the National Organization for
Women's New York board of directors and author of Why
Men Earn More. Farrell says there are 25 reasons men
advance further, including willingness to put in longer
hours, travel more and relocate. Women are still 50 times
as likely to stay home with children, and working women
are eight times as likely to spend four years or more out of
the labor force, he says, adding that men show their love of
family as breadwinners. He predicts any slowing in
progress by women in business will be temporary, not
because women will become more like men but because
men will insist on more balance between work and
personal lives.
Some experts still see the glass as half full. Women's
progress is anything but glacial, the Employment Policy
Foundation says. More than 9 million women earned more
than the median male income in 2002. Ten years earlier it
was just 5.5 million. The foundation says women who have
never married are far more likely to out-earn men,
showing that lifestyle choices more than gender are the
determining factor.
Fiorina is gone, not because she's a woman but because
she may have been too much like a man, says Ronna
Lichtenberg, author of Pitch Like a Girl. There are two
leadership styles. Pink emphasizes relationships, and blue is
task-focused, which she describes as "getting the job done
and I may talk to you later."
Not all women are pink leaders, nor are all men blue.
Fiorina was blue, and she may have run out of time because
she had not developed strong relationships with the board
and other leaders at H-P, Lichtenberg said.
Page 5
AS SEEN IN USA TODAY MONEY SECTION, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2005, PAGE 1B

Fiorina's abrupt ouster

raises questions at H-P
Some ask: Are there deeper issues?
Stocks shift for computer competitors
By Michelle Kessler and Jon Swartz Shares of Hewlett-Packard have slid 59% since 1999, when
USA TODAY Carly Fiorina took over, while shares of Dell have been
climbing in recent months and are roughly on par with
where they were in 1999.
Hewlett-Packard finally forced out Carly Fiorina — and
Hewlett-Packard Dell
now the computer giant has to figure out what's next. $80 $52.34
$67.50 Wed.
Fiorina, H-P's tenacious CEO, hung on to her job during $60 $40.99
the dark days of the tech downturn, the ambitious plan to $53.94
acquire Compaq Computer, and the brutal shareholder $40
fight that followed.
$20 $40.88
But Fiorina lost her grip Tuesday, when the board she
Wed. $21.53
once chaired forced her to resign. 0
’99 ’00 ’01 ’02 ’03 ’04 ’05
Source: CSI
New Chairman Patricia Dunn, an H-P board member By Julie Snider, USA TODAY
since 1998, says Fiorina's downfall was her inability to
handle everyday operational issues — the nuts and bolts of laptop division to Chinese PC maker Lenovo. Now,
selling computers. "Consistency of execution," Dunn customers looking for a safe bet will stick with No. 1 Dell,
called it. says laptop analyst Samir Bhavnani with researcher
Current Analysis.
Fiorina, 50, issued a statement Wednesday that simply
said, "While I regret the board and I have differences about There are fears that there may be even deeper issues, as
how to execute H-P's strategy, I respect their decision." the board gave no clear reason why Fiorina was ousted
now. "Is there another problem we don't know about?"
Others say the problems run deeper. Critics say Fiorina's asks equity analyst Steve Milunovich at Merrill Lynch.
desire for power has left H-P a lumbering giant stuck
between business powerhouse IBM and low-price leader All eyes will be on H-P Wednesday, when it reports its
Dell. The company is fiscally sound but makes almost all its fiscal first-quarter results. H-P says they'll be as Wall Street
money from printer ink. It has no clear succession plan and expects, excluding an unrelated charge. Analysts do not
a business model that some tech analysts say is so flawed expect to discover accounting problems, like those at
the company should be broken up. Enron and WorldCom, because the board chose CFO
Wayman to take the CEO spot temporarily. Wayman, a
When CFO Robert Wayman, who will serve as interim low-profile H-P veteran who has expressed a desire to
CEO, sent an e-mail with the news to staffers Wednesday, retire, is not expected to apply for a permanent post at
many employees in the company's Palo Alto, Calif., the top.
headquarters cheered. Supporters mourned, calling Fiorina
a hard-driving visionary. Bold moves

The transition could be tough for H-P. The company had Fiorina, who came to H-P in 1999 from telecom
been expected to benefit from IBM's decision to sell its equipment maker Lucent Technologies, was a polarizing

Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. Page 6

AS SEEN IN USA TODAY MONEY SECTION, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2005, PAGE 1B

Carly Fiorina’s wild ride

After a nearly six-year stormy tenure, H-P CEO Carleton “Carly” Fiorina was ousted Wednesday. Weekly closes, dates of note and quarterly net income:
July 19, 1999: $58.13 Nov. 11, 2001: $18.99
Carly Fiorina named president and CEO Family members of H-P co-
of H-P after nearly 20 years at AT&T and founder William Hewlett
Lucent Technologies. opposes merger. Wed.: $21.53
$80 H-P board
Sept. 3, 2001: $23.21 Aug. 12, 2004: $16.95 announces ouster
Dec. 31, 1998: Fiorina risks reputation on May 3, 2002: $17.44 Amid poor results, of Fiorina; CFO Bob
$60 $34.16 bold bid to buy Compaq H-P completes $18 billion merger H-P fires three top- Wayman named
Computer. after bruising proxy fight. ranking executives. interim CEO.
$40

$20

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

0
D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M AM J J A S O N D J F M AM J J A S O N D J F
Net income (in billions):
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
$1.5 $0.96 $0.92 $0.85 $0.76 $0.95 $0.99 $1.05 $0.92 $0.48 $0.72 $0.86 $0.94 $0.88 $0.59 $1.09 $1.5
$0.39 $0.05 $0.25 $0.39 $0.66 $0.30
$0.12 $0.10
0 0

$2.0 -$2.03 $2.0

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

Sources: CSI, Bloomberg and USA TODAY research By Robert W. Ahrens, USA TODAY

Hewlett-Packard's Fiorina was polarizing figure from Day 1

figure practically from the first day. Wayman to "do something just signed a partnership with H-P as
She was a slick marketer inhabiting an extraordinary" to win over a bank part of his new job with software
office formerly held by technologists. thinking of voting its shares against maker UGS. "She has that kind of
She was willing to tinker with the "H- the deal. The message, later leaked to presence about her — it may be
P Way" — the company's once- the press, garnered Fiorina criticism comparable to what I've heard about
sacrosanct corporate culture. and time in court. But she won her Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton."
case, and the merger was completed
Her changes helped revitalize H-P, in 2002. Once the fight was over, Fiorina didn't run into real trouble
says Stephen Mader, a vice chairman Fiorina was praised for the skill and until H-P's results started to suffer. In
at Christian & Timbers, the executive speed with which she integrated the the summer, its big-business
search firm H-P used to hire her. "The two companies. computer division reported a
greatest fear in 1999 was that things surprising loss. The Compaq merger
wouldn't change very much," he said. Within H-P, there are two views of has done little to boost H-P's stock,
Fiorina. Some say she hung onto and critics say the deal has failed to
In 2001, Fiorina made her boldest power by removing competitors. produce expected benefits. It's gotten
move by agreeing to acquire Compaq During her term, many high-ranking so bad that H-P may be forced to
Computer. The $18 billion deal executives, including former Compaq write off some of the value of the
sparked protests from many CEO Michael Capellas, former Compaq deal's intangible benefits, known as
shareholders, who argued Compaq CFO Jeff Clarke, sales executives Jim goodwill, Wall Street analysts say.
would weaken H-P. Walter Hewlett, Milton and Peter Blackmore and
an H-P board member and son of the storage head Howard Elias, were Another factor behind the board's
company's co-founder, led the forced out or fired. decision to act may be Dunn's
opposition. The result was a brutal improving health after a battle with
proxy fight that took eight months Others say that's not so. "I never cancer. Dunn used to be global CEO at
and cost both sides millions. saw this aspect of 'Anybody who was Barclays Global Investors, the giant
a rising star would get expunged,' " mutual fund manager based in
Fiorina used sheer will to pull the Milton says. He says he holds his San Francisco.
deal through and keep her job. In an former boss in high regard. "She's
11th-hour phone call, she urged very charismatic," says Milton, who Much like Fiorina, Dunn, 51, is

Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. Page 7

AS SEEN IN USA TODAY MONEY SECTION, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2005, PAGE 1B
tenacious. She rose to the top at
Barclays after starting as a temporary
secretary. She was not a major player
in the Compaq battle because she was
fighting breast cancer and malignant
melanoma.
But she has been healthier — thus
more assertive in the boardroom — in
recent months, sources close to the
board say.
Dunn says she and fellow board
members have discussed Fiorina's fate
for several weeks. They brought in
Columbia University professor John
Coffee and powerful Silicon Valley
lawyer Larry Sonsini to assist
deliberations. "There were no
triggering events," she says.
A portfolio of businesses
As unhappy as board members were
with Fiorina's performance, they're
not departing from the business plan
she laid out. Under Fiorina, H-P has
touted itself as a broad-based
technology company that benefits
from selling everything from paper to
powerful servers. Wayman calls the
strategy "a portfolio of businesses."
"The board appears to be committed
to making all the parts work
Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
together," says equity analyst Bill
Fearnley Jr. at FTN Midwest Securities.
But so far that strategy has done little
to boost profits, he says.
Being all things to all computer
buyers puts H-P in a tough spot. For
big business contracts, it must
compete with IBM. The tech giant
makes most of its money from
lucrative consulting services, while H-
P relies on hardware — computers
and printers — with much lower
profit margins.
At the same time, H-P must fight off
Dell, which has a low-cost model that
allows it to continue to steal market
share. Unlike H-P, Dell doesn't sell its
computers in stores. It keeps costs
low and inventories down by selling
PCs and servers over the Internet and
via phone. By doing so, it can
undercut H-P.
Milunovich says H-P's money-
making printer division may be worth
much more as a separate company.
Breaking up H-P would allow it to
focus on its other businesses, though
the best time for that kind of breakup
might be several years out,
Milunovich says.
Wayman says what H-P really needs
is an operational fix by someone who
can make an "improvement in
bottom-line profitability." Layoffs are
expected in some divisions, as
previously announced, Wayman says,
though H-P may be hiring in
other areas.
It's hard to say who H-P's next CEO
might be. Fiorina had no strong No. 2.
The leading internal candidate is
Vyomesh Joshi, H-P's head of printers
and PCs. But stock analysts say Joshi
may not have enough computer
experience. Dunn says the board is
focusing on external candidates.
Dell CEO Kevin Rollins has the
operational know-how to attack H-P's
internal problems, but there's a good
chance he won't want to leave his
post at the No. 1 PC maker, says
Gartner PC analyst Martin Reynolds.
Capellas, another possible candidate,
might not want to come back.
H-P needs to look outside the
technology industry to find the strong
candidate it needs to turn the
company around, says Christian &
Timber's Mader. "I think it will be
someone that no one expects,"
he says.
Contributing: Jim Hopkins
Page 8
AS SEEN IN USA TODAY MONEY SECTION, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2005, PAGE 3B
Media always fascinated with Fiorina
Effective public relations
helped shape her image
By Bruce Horovitz
USA TODAY
If Carly Fiorina hadn't come along,
the media would almost have had to
invent her.
She was a she. An attractive woman,
at that. And she ran Hewlett-Packard,
a hot company in the hottest industry.
What's for the media not to like?
Few women in America were cooler
than Carly. For years, the media and
Fiorina danced a celebratory dance.
Who was leading: Fiorina or the
press? Public relations experts
suggest this was a case of two leads —
each leading the other toward
disaster.
"Her biggest mistake was she
believed her own clippings," says
Robert Dilenschneider, a New York
public relations expert and ex-CEO of
PR giant Hill & Knowlton.
Perhaps she had reason to. She was
widely seen as the most powerful
woman in high-tech, if not the U.S.
business landscape. Quarterly
earnings reports aside, the
possibilities seemed endless.
But end they did, with the news
Wednesday of her ouster.
Even then, the media fascination
only intensified. Here's a brief look at
possible reasons why the media
fawned on Fiorina — and could
continue to:
Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
v She's female. "She became cover
girl of the year because our society
and the media were ready to embrace
the most powerful woman in
America," says K.D. Paine, CEO of
KDPaine & Partners, a corporate
image and public relations firm that
consults for H-P.
v She's a woman in a guy's
business. "Here was the first woman
CEO in a male-dominated industry,"
says Scott Allison, founder of Allison &
Partners, a San Francisco PR firm.
v She had an effective PR
machine. Hewlett-Packard didn't set
out to make Fiorina a "rock star" CEO,
Paine says. But once that happened,
"H-P adapted quickly to the fact that it
had one."
The hype seemed to never stop.
It began with a 1998 Fortune cover
story dubbing her "The Most Powerful
Woman in Business." It continued
with many BusinessWeek and Forbes
covers.
Her PR team constantly pitched her
as "a new voice" or "a breath of fresh
air," Allison says.
v She's attractive. Fiorina is always
immaculately groomed and in the
chicest of business attire.
"The world loves attractive people,"
says Barbara Brooks, president of The
Strategy Group, a corporate
consulting firm. "But she wasn't just a
tart. She was an attractive
businesswoman who was also one
hell of a smart cookie."
v She's relatively accessible.
While Meg Whitman, CEO at eBay, is
seldom available for interviews,
Fiorina was often available.
"She was enthusiastic about talking
to the media," says Paine, who
formerly worked at H-P as a
merchandising manager for its
successful LaserJet printers. "That's
90% of the battle."
v She's a human brand. Not since
Martha Stewart has a woman become
such a brand icon for a company. "It
was all about her and not the
Hewlett-Packard team,"
Dilenschneider says. "That goes to the
heart of bad PR advice."
v She's never boring. Before
Fiorina came onboard, H-P suffered
from the worst possible PR problem:
"No one cared," says Lou Hoffman,
founder of The Hoffman Agency, a
tech-specialty PR firm that handled
some projects for H-P.
Shortly after Fiorina joined the
company, his PR firm was hired to
help launch a group within H-P to
drive its e-services.
"We used to have to fight and claw
to get even 15 butts in seats for an
event like this," Hoffman says. But
after Fiorina offered to be lead
speaker at the event, "We had
standing room only."
Page 9
AS SEEN IN USA TODAY MONEY SECTION, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2005, PAGE 3B
H-P likely to face rising challenges
from its rivals
By Jon Swartz and Michelle Kessler
USA TODAY
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly
Fiorina's rocky 5 1/2-year run might
be humdrum compared with what
awaits the company's next
permanent CEO.
The Silicon Valley icon faces brutal
competition from Dell and IBM.
Fiorina's successor, expected to come
from outside H-P, must overcome
challenges in its unwieldy
organization and sputtering non-
printer divisions. And H-P must revive
itself even as "brain drain" has left its
executive ranks thin.
Fiorina, perhaps the nation's most
powerful businesswoman, was forced
out Tuesday when H-P's board
determined she was unable to make
the company consistently profitable.
Her bet-the-company strategy of
acquiring Compaq Computer in 2002
was meant to reinvent H-P. Instead, it
stretched resources and complicated
operations that are struggling against
competitors:
v PCs. In the rough-and-tumble PC
business, where profits are scarce,
Dell has battled H-P for the mantle of
No. 1 PC maker.
H-P has a higher cost structure
because it sells many of its PCs
through middlemen, such as retail
stores and mom-and-pop PC
businesses. H-P also sells from its
Web site, prompting complaints from
some resellers that H-P's desire to
have it both ways hurts them.
Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
In the crowded consumer-
electronics market, H-P has the best-
selling media center PC, which is
meant to replace the living room TV
and stereo. But the market for that
product is relatively small.
v Consulting services. Rival IBM
makes most of its money through
lucrative consulting contracts, though
H-P has made inroads.
Last year, H-P landed about 7% of
contracts worth more than $50
million, ranking it behind only IBM,
with 15%, says TPI, a consulting
organization that tracks the
outsourcing of tech and business
services.
In 2000, H-P made a much-
publicized bid to buy the consulting
business of accounting firm
PricewaterhouseCoopers, a deal that
would have added about 31,000
employees to H-P's 88,000. The deal
collapsed when the $18 billion price
tag was declared too high. In 2002,
IBM bought Pricewaterhouse's
consulting arm for $3.5 billion.
v Servers. H-P still leads in some
server markets, but the division is
marginally profitable. It has also been
marred by a multimillion-dollar bet it
made with No. 1 chipmaker Intel in
the early 1990s on the Itanium chip
for the next generation of servers.
When Itanium fizzled after its 2001
launch, buyers flocked to cheaper,
easier-to-use machines using chips
from Advanced Micro Devices. H-P
still sells Itanium computers, and Intel
says sales are growing, but not
enough to stop industry insiders from
jokingly calling it the "Itanic." In
January, H-P gave up on Itanium
development and transferred those
engineers to Intel.
H-P's lone bright spot is the
printing-and-imaging division. It will
account for a big chunk of H-P's
profits, which are expected to reach
$4.5 billion this year. It is led by
Vyomesh Joshi, the leading internal
candidate for CEO. H-P's Bob Wayman
is interim CEO.
But it, too, is susceptible to pricing
pressures. The unit makes little
money from printers: Almost all its
profits come from the sale of ink
cartridges, analysts say. A $35
cartridge costs about $3 to make.
And it faces competition. Dell —
which seems to lurk at every turn for
H-P — entered the printer business in
2003, and has been steadily
expanding its offerings. Dell contracts
with printer makers such as Lexmark
and Fuji Xerox to sell photo and
laser printers.
Although skeptics say a breakup is
necessary to maximize shareholder
value, the board appears reluctant. "It
isn't mission impossible, but H-P's
new CEO faces a tall order," says
Merrill Lynch analyst Steve
Milunovich. "The company isn't going
away, but it needs an operational
whiz surrounded by good people."
Page 10
AS SEEN IN USA TODAY MONEY SECTION, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2005, PAGE 4B

Sara Lee biggest company (for now)

with female CEO
By Del Jones promoted Brenda Barnes on Thursday "Brenda has a nice, wonderful
USA TODAY to bring it back to eight. balance," says Ron Sargent, CEO of
Staples, where Barnes is a
A day after Hewlett-Packard fired The total has remained the same for board member.
Carly Fiorina and cut the number of two years, but Barnes may be forging
female CEOs of Fortune 500 new ground as a former stay-at-home Staples is a huge customer of H-P's
companies to seven, Sara Lee mom who has reached the top. In inkjet printers, but Sargent says he
1997, she resigned as CEO of Pepsi- never got to know Fiorina, 50, well
Cola's $7.7 billion North America enough to compare leadership styles.
Sara Lee's brands span division to be with her children, who However, it's a mistake to think
were 7, 8 and 10 at the time. Barnes, 51, is soft because of her
industries decision to put family ahead of career,
Sara Lee plans to spin off its It was a career move few ambitious Sargent says.
apparel brands, its European women dare.
operations and coffee operation "I look at her as tough when she
to concentrate on food and home Studies have found that women are needs to be . . . a pleasure to be around
products. Among its brands now: eight times more likely than men to be when she's not talking business,"
out of the labor force for four years or Sargent says.
Food and beverage more, and the glass ceiling is often
v Ball Park franks blamed on such lifestyle choices. Barnes' resignation struck a chord
v Earth Grains, IronKids eight years ago, and she appeared on
breads Fiorina, for one, has no biological all three morning TV programs. Still, it
v Hillshire Farm fresh and children, but has two grown surprised no one that Barnes
smoked meats stepdaughters by way of husband didn't become a traditional stay-at-
v Jimmy Dean sausage Frank Fiorina. home mom.
v Sara Lee breads, frozen
desserts, meats and cheeses
v Hills Bros., Chock full
Female CEOs of the largest companies
o'Nuts coffee
For the most recent fiscal year:
Apparel
v Bali, Barely There, Playtex, CEO Company Revenue Change from
Just My Size, Wonderbra (in billions) prior year
intimate apparel, bras and Carly Fiorina1 Hewlett-Packard $79.9 9.4%
hosiery Brenda Barnes2 Sara Lee $19.6 6.9%
v Hanes, Hanes Her Way Mary Sammons Rite Aid $16.6 5.1%
underwear, bras and hosiery Anne Mulcahy Xerox $14.7 -7.2%
v Champion athletic apparel Patricia Russo Lucent $9.0 6.8%
and underwear Andrea Jung Avon $7.71 2.7%
Household products Marce Fuller Mirant $5.2 -19.7%
v Ambi Pur air fresheners Eileen Scott Pathmark Stores $4.0 1.4%
v Kiwi shoe care Marion Sandler Golden West Financial $3.8 2.6%

Source: Sara Lee 1 — Ousted Tuesday; 2 — Promoted Thursday

Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. Page 11

AS SEEN IN USA TODAY MONEY SECTION, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2005, PAGE 4B

Barely two years had passed before she resurfaced as 1975 business and economics graduate of Augustana
interim chief operating officer of Starwood Hotels & College in Rock Island, Ill., she started out making $10,000 a
Resorts. She was recruited as a director to Staples, Sears, year with Wilson Sporting Goods. PepsiCo later divested
The New York Times Co. and Avon Products. Wilson, but Barnes remained with Pepsi for 22 years.

Barnes joined Sara Lee as chief operating officer six
months ago.
Sara Lee is a consumer product conglomerate that sells
everything from Jimmy Dean sausage to Wonderbras to
Kiwi shoe polish. It replaces H-P as the largest company
with a female CEO — at least until its planned spinoff of
businesses that will cut its revenue from $19.6 billion in
fiscal year 2004 to $11.5 billion and drop it about 70 on the
Fortune 500 ladder to about No. 170.
Barnes grew up in Chicago, one of seven children. Her
father was a factory worker, her mother a homemaker. A
There were whispers that she was in the race to be Pepsi's
CEO when she tired of the 70-hour weeks and 3:30 a.m.
alarms so she could work at home before getting her
children up at 7.
Most everyone at Pepsi tried to persuade her to stay,
including husband Randy Barnes, who was a company
senior vice president and treasurer.
"It is about parenthood, not womanhood," Barnes told
National Public Radio at the time.

Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. Page 12

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.Do women who are accomplished and successful in their fields see that promoting and mentoring younger women is an
opportunity and a responsibility? Are there still more men who are willing to mentor women than women? Is there a
difference in advice and mentoring that comes with gender?

2. Warren Farrell, author of "Why Men Earn More" poses 25 reasons why men advance further than women in
business and concludes in part it is because women opt for a more favorable work-life balance. Do women have to "give
up" more than men to be successful CEOs?

3. Do your think there is an unfair amount of comparison between a new first female CEO and her predecessor than a
new male CEO and his predecessor? What elements do you think factor into the comparison?

4. What elements are used universally to measure the success of a CEO in any organization? Are these different
depending upon the gender of the CEO?

5. Does the media focus on the same issues when reporting on news related to women CEOs as they do when reporting
on men? Does the media play a role in promoting the success/lack of success of a CEO? Is the public as willing to credit
women with success as they are men?

6. It is stated that women are more willing than men to take on the CEO position of a company that is in distress. What is
the rationale - is it the natural instinct to "make something better" or it is a matter of believing this is all that might be
available to them? Similarly, in the academic world, women often state they would like to be the president of a small
university or college. Is this a matter of confidence, or not thinking big enough - or?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Couglin, L. et al. (2005) Enlightened Power: How Women Are Transforming the Practice of Leadership. San Franciso:
Jossey-Bass.

Helgesen, S. (1995) The Female Advantage: Women's Ways of Leadership. New York: Doubleday.

Wilson, M.C. (2004) Closing the Leadership Gap: Why Women Can and Must Help Run the World. New York: Viking.

Zichy, S. (2001) Women and the Leadership Q: The Breakthrough System for Achieving Power & Influence. New York:
McGraw-Hill.

Hessebein, F. (2002) Hesselbein on Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

For more information, log on to www.usatodaycollege.com Page 13

FUTURE IMPLICATIONS

1. How does one prepare women of the future for success as CEOs? Are there different
tactics/strategies that need to be adopted by women that would not be characteristic for men? Should
women expect to find the pathway more difficult?

2. It has been said that women, themselves, are critical of women in high level positions. Is this
accurate, and if so, why is this the case and how can it be changed?

3. Do you think widely publicized, unfortunate experiences of women CEOs (e.g., Carly Fiorina) have an
impact on the hiring of women into other CEO positions? Has anyone suggested that gender was an
issue in the downfall of the CEOs in the Enron and WorldCom situations? Would gender have been
considered if women had led the companies and the same situations had arisen? Alternatively, do you
think these crises might offer an advantage to women for consideration of CEO positions?

ABOUT THE EXPERT: Karen A. Holbrook

President, The Ohio State University

Karen A. Holbrook became the 13th president of The Ohio State

University on October 1, 2002. She is committed to helping Ohio
State realize its vision as a top-ranked research and teaching
university of this nation. Dr. Holbrook has received wide
recognition for her leadership in strengthening relationships with
the Columbus community, integrating academics and athletics,
improving educational facilities on campus, changing the
atmosphere surrounding game day, and broadening faculty, staff,
and student benefits. Throughout her career, she has held
leadership roles and participated extensively in the activities of
professional and honorary societies, including the AAAS, where she
is a Fellow and served as a member of the board of directors; the
American Association of Universities; and the Association of
American Medical Colleges. In addition to her extensive editorial
and publication activities, she has been deeply involved in national
and regional efforts to strengthen graduate education in America
and has been active in economic development partnerships at the
community and state levels.

For more information, log on to www.usatodaycollege.com Page 14