Hewlett-Packard Co, the largest maker of computers, announced a board shake-up aimed at adding foreign-based directors and quelling criticism over the way it handled the departure of CEO Mark Hurd.
Exiting board members are Robert Ryan, John Joyce, Joel Hyatt and Lucille Salhany, Palo Alto, California-based HP said in a statement yesterday. Directors joining the board are Shumeet Banerji, CEO of Booz & Co; Patricia Russo, former CEO of Alcatel-Lucent; Dominique Senequier, CEO of AXA Private Equity; Meg Whitman, former CEO of EBay; and Gary Reiner, former chief information officer of General Electric Co.
The changes increase the number of women and directors with backgrounds in foreign markets. The new board may be more able to work in tandem with CEO Leo Apotheker, who is less than three months into his tenure at HP, said Sarah Stewart, principal for board services at recruiting firm Boyden.
“Fit is always important in recruitment and it’s also important at the board level,” said Stewart, who’s based in Pittsburgh.
Apotheker, who was CEO of German software maker SAP until last year, was born in Germany and resided in Paris. HP named him CEO in September at the same time it appointed former Oracle Corp. President Ray Lane as non-executive chairman.
