Carly Fiorina Initial Employments - Essay Example

Carly Fiorina Name: Institution: Cara Carleton Sneed Fiorina, famously known as Carly Fiorina, was born in 1954 in Austin, Texas in United States of America. She is Joseph Tyree Sneed III’s daughter. Her father was a federal judge, a dean and a law school professor (Fiorina 2007). Carly’s life has been characterized by ups and downs, which has made her reach the current position. Carly Fiorina is lady of principles and has fought her own way from the bottom to the top. She is popularly known as the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hewlett-Packard (HP) and a former candidate for California Senate position. She served as CEO of HP from 1999 to 2005. Carly Fiorina is considered to be the most influential women in the business world (Fiorina 2007). This is because she is currently serving in various boards of several organizations and firms. Carly Fiorina went to Channing School in London and Charles Jordan High School in North Carolina. In 1976, she graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts majored in Philosophy and Medieval History. She also joined University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) to study law, but later dropped out after realising that she was not benefitting. After dropping out of UCLA in 1980, she pursued a master’s degree in Business Administration in Marketing at the University of Maryland, College Park (Fiorina 2007). She later earned another master’s degree in Science in Management from MIT Sloan School of Management in 1989. Her education life was influenced by the career that she took as a business manager. She had high hopes of managing and owning her company. The education she had helped her to pursue her dream in life. Fiorina has worked at various organizations, and the media houses named her as the most powerful and strong woman in the business world. She stood strong in all the events that happened in her life. The worst time of her life was when she was forced to resign out of Hewlett Packard Company as CEO, but she gained her strength, and she soldiered on with her life. She composed a book titled ‘Tough Choices’, which talks about her the principles, success and challenges in her life. An in-depth summary of Carly Fiorina’s life is discussed below. Initial Employments: Fiorina graduated with Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and Medieval History in Stanford University in 1976. In the same year, she then enrolled in University of California, School of Law. After studying for one semester, she dropped out of school and worked in Marcus and Millichap Real Estate Investment Services firm for about six months (Fiorina 2007). She worked as a receptionist and secretary in this firm, where she also briefly worked as a broker. In this firm, Fiorina gains first professional understanding and experience in management and obtains knowledge on how to manoeuvre the world of business. Carly also worked in Hewlett Packard as a temporary worker through the connection of Kelly Services (Klenke 2011). These initial employments gave Fiorina insights on how the business world behaves and trends in the different fields. She has also taught English in Italy. This gave her the chance to move out to the world and learn new things. Rise into the Business World: The experience and extensive knowledge in business administration helped her rise in to the corporate ladder within a short time. Fiorina joined AT&T Company in 1980 (Fiorina 2007). AT&T Company majored in marketing of computer accessories and networking services. She joined as a management trainee and rose on the leadership ladder to a senior vice president who led the hardware and systems division of the company. In 1995, Carly is given a chance to lead the corporate processes for the spinoff of Lucent Technologies from AT&T Company (Klenke 2011). In 1996, she played a crucial role in planning and implementation of the Initial Public Offering of the company’s stock and launching the Firm’s Strategy. The Initial Public Offering was the largest company offering in history, which produced over three billion dollars. Fiorina’s involvement in AT&T Company made her raise her reputation and increased her knowledge and experience in business management. The Rise of Lucent Technologies: Later in 1996, she is appointed president of consumer products business of Lucent Technologies. This was followed by Carly’s appointment to be the Chairperson of consumer communications of Lucent Technologies, which was a joint enterprise with Phillip’s consumer communication. The determination and strong attitude towards success was the key to Fiorina’s rise into leadership in the business world (Fiorina 2007). Fiorina climbed higher on the leadership ladder and became the group president of Lucent’s’ global service provider business. As a group president, she controlled sales and marketing of the largest customer segment and the core business unit of the company. She was involved in selling network communication products such as networking systems and phone software. Fiorina made the company’s market share increase for every product in every region. These professional achievements in the business world made Fiorina be recognized by Fortune Magazine. She was ranked as a powerful business woman in 1998, which was the first listing of the Fortune Magazine. The listing on the Fortune Magazine increased her fame and exposure to the outside world. Fiorina’s leadership in the Hewlett Packard: In 1999, Carly Fiorina was appointed to be the Chief Executive Officer of HP Company to succeed the retiring CEO and president Lewis Platt and prevailed over Ann Livermore, the internal candidate of Hewlett Packard (Fiorina 2007). Her appointment into HP Company made Fiorina the first woman to lead a Fortune 20 Company. She was also the first person from outside the Packard’s Family to lead the computer company. The successful appointment of Fiorina as CEO of HP Company introduced her to a bulk of challenges that affected the HP Company (Anders 2004). Some of the challenges included the rivalry with IBM, Compaq and Sun Microsystems companies, the changing technology, and the demanding internet times. She started by fighting for the merging of Compaq company with HP Company. Despite strong opposition from the William Hewlett, board member, she implements the merger with the Compaq Company; this resulted into the development of the world’s largest computer manufacturer. Under Fiorina’s lead, the company launched two hundred million dollars branding campaigns, which made the company become an incentive company dedicated to the strong culture. Fiorina led the company in the reinvention process and directed it to dot-com advancements and the worst recession of technology. Fiorina was the CEO of HP from 1999 to 2005 and Chairperson of the company from 2002 to 2005 (Anders 2004). Her service to the company was an admiration to many. In February 2005, Carly Fiorina was forced resign in Hewlett Packard due to the opposition she had in the company. The board members and shareholders of HP company severally opposed her ideas in the developing the company. They argued that the changes she wanted to make were risks to the company. Fiorina’s Book: The Carly Fiorina’s book, “Tough Choices”, talks about her story from her own perspective. From her early life when she dropped out school since she had no clue on what to do next in her life. She acquires knowledge and extensive experience from the early employment, which she got after dropping out of school. This experience gives her courage and enlightens her on how the status of the world. This is the time that she takes time to enhance her education. She gets a master’s degree in Business Administration (Fiorina 2007). This opens her doors to leadership ladder where she starts at AT&T Company then to Lucent Technology followed by HP Company and other firms. Carly Fiorina’s career in business is extensive and she is engaged in various public policy initiatives. In 2009, she announced that she was running for a Senate seat for California against the Democrat opponent candidate, Barbara Boxer. Her campaign was endorsed by John McCain, who she helped in his presidential campaigns. Unfortunately, she lost her senate seat to Boxer, but she had tried (Klenke 2011). Fiorina is a member of various boards of organizations and leader of various associations in America. In addition to leading other companies, she is the CEO of Fiorina Enterprises, her own company. The achievements of Carly Fiorina has accomplished her dreams and even gone to higher limits that she had not thought. The life of Carly gives women and other people in the world a model to copy. Her legacy will live on to be admired by many business executives in the world. References Anders, G. 2004, Perfect Enough: Carly Fiorina and the Reinvention of Hewlett Packard, New York: Portfolio. Fiorina, C. 2007, Tough Choices, Penguin Group USA: New York. Klenke, K. 2011, Women in Leadership: Conceptual Dynamics and Boundaries, Emerald Group Publishing: Bingley. Read More