SWOT Analysis for Hewlett Packard Enterprise

SWOT Analysis for Hewlett Packard Enterprise

BUS: 402 Strategic Management & Business Policy

When someone hears the name Hewlett Packard, they automatically think computers but initially they did not start out making computers. Hewlett Packard started in 1939 when two classmates from Stanford University, “Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard built a resistance-capacitance audio oscillator (HP 200A), an electronic instrument used to test sound equipment” (MarketLine, 2015, p. 7). Hewlett Packard produced microwaves in 1943 and “entered the computer market in 1966 with the HP 2116A, which was designed to control HP’s product line of test and measurement equipment” (MarketLine, 2015, p. 7)., and the scientific calculator in 1970, but did not produce their first personal computer until the 1980s.

Hewlett Packard is headquartered in California and is a globalized organization with companies throughout the world. Their first customer for the purchase of the HP 200A was Walt Disney who used it to test the sound system for the movie Fantasia. Hewlett Packard “is a global provider of products, technologies, software, solutions and services to individual consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and large enterprises, including customers in the government, health and education sectors” (MarketLine, 2015, p. 3). Hewlett Packard is a name that is recognized worldwide and used by many.

Hewlett Packard started out with just the two friends from college, the organization now have over “300,000 employees worldwide and their operations span across seven business segments: Personal Systems, Enterprise Group, Printing, Enterprise Services, Software, HP Financial Services (HPFS), and Corporate Investments. HP acquired Compaq (and thus the merged remains of DEC, Tandem, and a few other firms)” (CHM, n.d.). Some of Hewlett Packard’s products consist of:

Products Software ServicesEnterprise Services
Desktops Application lifecycle management Analytics and data management services
Laptops Big data analytics Applications services
Tablets Business service management Business process services
Point of sale desktops Enterprise security Data center, workload and cloud services
Digital signage Hybrid cloud management Enterprise security services
Thin clients IT services management Mobility and workplace services
Workstations Mobile solutions Other industry solutions
Printers Software defined data centers  
Monitors   Support services
Routers Consulting services: Data center care services
Blade switches Infrastructure consulting services Proactive care services
Transceivers Cloud consulting services Foundation care services
Storage devices Workplace and mobility consulting services Lifecycle event services
Servers Big data consulting services Flexible capacity services
Other accessories Security and assurance consulting services Education and training services

MarketLine (2015, p. 25-26)

MarketLine (2015) states that Hewlett Packard’s main competitors are “Accenture, Acer, Amazon.com, Apple, ASUSTeK Computer, BMC Software, Brother Industries, CA Technologies, Canon U.S.A., and Cisco Systems” (p. 33) to name a few. Also, a few of the competitors have a strong financial presence and being in a competitive market, this can lead HP to lose customers and there may be a decline in the market share of the company.

Financial information provided by Mergent Online shows five years of key financials.

“As Reported Annual Balance Sheet          
Report Date 10/31/2018 10/31/2017 10/31/2016 10/31/2015 10/31/2014
Currency USD USD USD USD USD
Audit Status Not Available Not Qualified Not Qualified Not Qualified Not Qualified
Consolidated Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Scale Millions Millions Millions Millions Millions
Cash & cash equivalents 4880 9579 12987 9842 2319
Other current assets 3280 3085 4324 7677 6431
Total current assets 17272 21444 28917 31173 22031
Total assets 55493 61406 79679 81270 65071
Total current liabilities 17198 18924 22531 22151 19760
Total equity 21274 23505 31518 33918 37172
           
As Reported Annual Income Statement          
Consolidated Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Scale Millions Millions Millions Millions Millions
Products 19504 17597 19250 19635 19171
Services 10901 10878 30509 32111 35551
Financing income 447 396 364 361 401
Total net revenue 30852 28871 50123 52107 55123
Net earnings per share – basic 1.25 0.21 1.84 1.36
Net earnings per share – diluted 1.23 0.21 1.82 1.34
Cash dividends declared per share 0.488 0.26 0.22
Total number of employees 60000 66000 195000 240000 252000
Number of common stockholders 59868 63228 68146 70763
Foreign currency translation adjustments -50 -14 -79
           
As Reported Annual Retained Earnings          
Consolidated Yes Yes Yes    
Scale Millions Millions Millions    
Previous retained earnings -7238 2782    
Repurchase of common stock 82    
Cash dividends declared 733 429 379    
Retained earnings -5899 -7238 2782    
           
As Reported Annual Cash Flow          
Consolidated Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Scale Millions Millions Millions Millions Millions
Net earnings (loss) 1908 344 3161 2461 1648
Depreciation & amortization 2576 3051 3775 3947 4144
Impairment of goodwill 88
Net cash flows from operating activities 2964 889 4958 3661 6911
Purchases of available-for-sale securities & other investments -33 -45 -656 -243 -940
Payment of debt -4138 -3783 -833 -1077 -1135
Cash & cash equivalents, end of year 4880 9579 12987 9842 2319
Cash paid for income taxes 538 836 656 192 302
Cash paid for interest 609 415 585 291 357”

MergentOnline, Company Financials (n.d.)

Performing a SWOT analysis on Hewlett Packard Enterprise will consist of determining the internal perspective based on the strengths and weaknesses of the organization that impacts executives, board members, employees, customers and key performance indicators (KPIs). Whereas the external perspective will be based on the opportunities to invest in and threats to monitor that will impact mega trends, the industry, market and their competitors. Hewlett Packard’s SWOT analysis is shown below:

  SWOT Analysis      
    Environment  
    Opportunity   Threat  
Company Strength Strong market positionStrong brand equityResearch and development   Product challengesChallenging competitorsEnvironment.Structural downturns.  
           
  Weakness “Strategic acquisition of Aruba Networks to strengthen HP’s position in enterprise mobility market.Increasing adoption of cloud computing and big data servicesStrengthening AI PortfolioLaunch of smart devices to strengthen the company’s presence in mobile hardwareIndustry”   Declining revenues in major markets.  
     (MarketLine , 2015, p. 28)      
           

The strengths of the swot analysis states that “HP is one of the largest technology companies in the world. The company serves close to one billion customers across 170 countries in the world. The company addresses more than 13 billion credit card transactions and 2.4 billion healthcare transactions per year” (MarketLine, 2015, p. 28). Because HP has such a formidable market position, this provides a strong platform for continuous improvements, and the company presents a wide portfolio of products and services that “include Personal Systems, Enterprise Group, Printing, Enterprise Services, and Software” (MarketLine, 2015, p. 29). Hewlett Packard also has an equitable stream of revenue across its segments and increase focus on research and development to strengthen its products and services portfolio.

Weaknesses that Hewlett Packard suffer are a decline in revenue across the different segments, opportunities is that Hewlett Packard has a chance to strengthen their AI portfolio, launch smart devices in the mobile hardware industry as well as strengthen their presence in the mobility market. Acknowledging that Hewlett Packard can do well in other markets, there are some threats that are being faced with the growing need to improve their business model, challenging competitors, the environment and structural downturns.

Areas of Hewlett Packard that has a specific need for change would be to increase their presence in the mobile market. Increasing their mobile presence can reach a broader market, as most everyone has a smartphone or tablet and they are cheaper, smaller, portable and Hewlett Packard can reach their target market as well extend their reach. Artificial Intelligence which is “the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between language” (Dictionary.com, n.d.) which is why Hewlett Packard has purchased the supercomputing pioneer Cray and “this portfolio will be further strengthened by leveraging Cray’s foundational technologies and adding complementary solutions” (Robinson, 2019, p. 29).

Hewlett Packard’s competitive environment has changed tremendously. Changes in the “competitive environment is reflected in the average revenue distribution of individual products and services, and some challenges they are facing are reduced capital expenditure by customers together with a shrinking of total investment in information technology and declining growth in industries to name a few” (Feurer, Chaharbaghi, & Wargin, 1995, para. 9). Hewlett Packard must strategically think about a model change and make sure that everyone in the organization is working toward one common goal.

Hewlett Packard lead the way to new trends in Healthcare Information systems. “HP Consulting (Hewlett-Packard’s consulting business division) is hardly a newcomer. It has been present in the healthcare sector for more than a decade now–delivering solutions to hospitals all over Spain: ADT Systems; Outpatient Scheduling and Appointment Systems; Advanced Billing Systems; Nursing Care Plan Systems; Shift Management; Multimedia Electronic Patient Records” (New Trends, 2001, para.1) and many more solutions. Hewlett Packard is equipped to handle an always-on infrastructure along with wireless internet and hand-held devices which can capture and send data instantly without the hassle of waiting. Receiving information instantly can be critical in a medical crisis and well as when making business deals, and in this instance, Hewlett Packard is ahead of the pack with technological consulting, infrastructure and information access devices.

References

CHM, (n.d.). Hewlett-Packard Company (HP). Retrieved from: https://www.computerhistory.org/brochures/g-i/hewlettpackard-company-hp/

Dictionary.com (n.d.). Retrieved from: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/artificial-intelligence?s=t

Feurer, R., Chaharbaghi, K., & Wargin, J. (1995). Analysis of strategy formulation and implementation at Hewlett-Packard. Management Decision, (n9). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsbig&AN=edsbig.A17844211&site=eds-live&scope=site

Hewlett packard enterprise company (HPE) – financial and strategic SWOT analysis review. (2018). (). London: GlobalData plc. Retrieved from ABI/INFORM Collection Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/docview/2214897286?accountid=32521

MarketLine Company Profile: Hewlett Packard Company. (2015). Hewlett Packard Company MarketLine Company Profile (pp. 1–41). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsh&AN=110913891&site=eds-live&scope=site

New trends in Healthcare Information Systems: Hewlett Packard leads the way. (Healthcare Information Technology). (2001). Eurowired. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsbig&AN=edsbig.A88175607&site=eds-live&scope=site

Robinson, D. (2019). Enterprise Hpc: Why Hpe is buying Cray. Computer Weekly, p. 26-30. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&AN=137416051&site=eds-live&scope=site

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