Readers Report
Carly's Last Stand? Fans and Critics Weigh in
"Carly's last stand?" (Cover Story, Dec. 24) did an excellent job of covering both sides of the story at Hewlett-Packard Co. The only thing missing was a concentration on the impact on employees--namely, those who will lose their jobs with or without the merger. A merged company will surely lead to duplication of effort and massive reductions (I think 15,000 to 30,000 dismissals is unrealistic: more like 50,000). An unmerged company leaves Compaq Computer Corp. in search of a partner--calling Michael Dell--and HP desperate to reduce costs further.
Daniel J. Ruiz
Atlanta
So now, the dubious leader of a venerable engineering company (HP), who can't get traction inside, tries to take over a shaky operation in computer building (Compaq) that has had idle dreams of getting into the consulting business (DEC's client base would have been a start) but has failed to capitalize on original technology whenever it had the chance (selling the Alpha chip). Since when is this a recipe for anything?
Rogier van Vlissingen
Riverdale, N.Y.
Walter Hewlett and company don't realize that HP has only two options: Merge with Compaq in a huge entrepreneurial risk and go after big corporate customers. (IBM makes $8 billion a year in this market, so there is room for a competitor.) Or, remain stand-alone and sell everything except the printer business. (Since today's stock price covers only printers anyway, this divestiture should improve the stock performance and provide steady growth.)
The choice is a question of temperament. Walter Hewlett and the other opposing stockholders hired Fiorina because they were attracted by high growth, but they forgot the risk that goes along with it. It seems that William Hewlett and David Packard did their families and employees a disservice when they shielded them from the risks.
Ray Salemi
Framingham, Mass.
If creativity and wisdom are hard-wired into our genetic code, they seem to skip a generation--at least in the Hewlett and Packard families. If the co-founders were alive, my guess is that they would be raising a toast to CEO Carleton Fiorina right about now, saying: "Vision and leadership still count. Carly, press on!"
Jeff Anthony
Yorktown, Va.
As a 20-year HP employee (I now work at spin-off Agilent Technologies Inc.), I have many friends there. First, no one at HP supports this merger. Second, no one supports Carly. She does not have the confidence of employees.
Reggie Short
Fort Collins, Colo.
Mutual Funds: What Happened to Long-Term Investing?
I would suggest that investors who are down in the dumps about the recent performance of their equity mutual funds, relative to money-market funds, are too focused on short-term performance and are not looking at the big picture ("The mutual fund mess," Special Report, Dec. 17). Think 10 years, not 10 months.
Most successful investors leave it to the professionals by picking good money managers (such as mutual funds). They stick to their long-term plan of staying invested in a portfolio of diversified profitable companies, are patient, and use temporary market declines as an opportunity to buy, rather than sell.
Allan Tonkin
Toronto
Your story states that before the Securities & Exchange Commission adopted its new Names Rule, fund companies "routinely" set up funds to invest in stocks that bore little relationship to the fund's name. In fact, only a tiny fraction of funds have had to make even minor changes to their names or portfolio holdings in response to the new rule, which mainly codified and enhanced longstanding SEC interpretations.
Marco E. Adelfio
Washington
Should Charlotte Beers Be Teaching Tolerance?
One cannot help wondering whether the mission for Charlotte Beers is overly narrow, if not erroneously targeted ("Charlotte Beers' toughest sell," Government, Dec. 17). McDonald's Corp. and Hollywood have already sold U.S. "belief systems and values" to Middle Eastern people. What Beers can accomplish at best is understanding and tolerance for the existence of alternative beliefs such as ours without imposing those beliefs and values on others.
In fact, unless Beers can accomplish the same objective in the U.S., she will probably fail, because we continue to expect--in business, the arts, and even education--that other cultures will blindly accept our products, our values, our interpretations, our laws, our procedures and our achievements. They will not.
Laszlo A. Pook
Denver
Let's Ban Military Aid to Undemocratic Countries
"Smart bombs, so why not smart aid?" (Economics, Dec. 24) sounds fine in theory, but there are two problems. First, it sends the message that terrorism works. Pakistan has already had $30 billion of its debts written off in the wake of September 11. Giving more money would mean that we pay attention and money to those who would rather blow up our skyscrapers. Second, pouring in money does not help the poor, especially in countries where officials who control its distribution are corrupt.
What is needed is a total ban on military aid to undemocratic nations, and putting in place political and economic disincentives geared toward establishing secular democracies, just laws, and unfettered trade. Most of the aid to the Third World goes toward making the rich richer or buying military hardware.
Surendra Kelwala
Livonia, Mich.
Never Say "Soldiers" When You Mean a Few Good Men
As a retired Marine who spent 20 years suffering the inefficiencies of the supply system, I was overjoyed to read "The Marines learn new tactics--from Wal-Mart" (Defense, Dec. 24).
I cringed, however, when you twice mentioned the difficulties that "soldiers" had with the old supply system. Soldiers are in the Army, but those wearing the globe and anchor are Marines.
William A. McIntyre
San Clemente, Calif.
Defending the Auditors--and Attacking Them, Too
"The Big Five need to factor in investors" (News: Analysis & Commentary, Dec. 24) misses the mark with the assertion that "auditors are supposed to uncover secret deals--not let them slide." On the contrary, auditors can dispense their professional obligation to the public only when all relevant facts and figures are disclosed to them by management. Generally, secret deals don't get recorded in the general ledger for all to see and for auditors to audit.
Dan Doyle
Madison, Wis.
Auditor Arthur Andersen has violated its legal responsibilities and its professional code of ethics ("Let auditors be auditors," Editorials, Dec. 24). At a minimum, the partners and other CPAs involved on this account should be punished by whichever professional society governs their location--followed by their hasty and public exit from the firm. Only by dealing with this sort of incompetence or dishonesty will Andersen have a chance to be viewed as credible. The other large auditing firms should take a hard look at their behavior, as well. I suspect they are equally tainted, but undiscovered.
Michael Fenton
Morris Plains, N.J.
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