The technology company Hewlett-Packard (HP) has devised a management style all its own. Amin Mortazavi, the general manager of the imaging and printing group at HP Middle East, explains what this style is and why it was a shock to him when he joined the company.
HP has developed a management style unique to itself over the years. How did it all start?
It started with the founders of the company. These two gentlemen went by the name of Bill and Dave. This defines the culture we have in HP. Everybody goes by their first name, regardless of your position and title. In the process of growing, they came up with many ideas. One of the ideas we are experiencing today is the open-door policy that we have.
What else does the "HP way" include?
The HP way is the sum of many parameters and strategies - how we manage our business, how we manage our employees and all that. But yes, if you go back to university books, there are case studies about the HP way. One [example] is management by walking around. This means that you try to understand every task that your people do. Not in the sense of micromanaging them but in the sense of being able, first of all, to take the right decisions and secondly to be in the position to provide them with the right level of support.
If you could cast your mind back more than 12 years before you joined HP. What was your last employer's management style?
First of all, you sat in your own office, and if you wanted to talk to the general manager of the company, you had to go and ask for an appointment and maybe a week later you were able to get that. Everything was very formal. Every day [you wore] a dark suit and on Friday you could come in a grey suit. I'm not saying that's bad. That was a different culture and that was what was required for that certain line of business. But here in HP we are very informal. It was a shock to me [at first], to be very honest with you.
What is the benefit of the HP way?
I think it creates a sense of being one family, and especially in my team, because we are around 40 people across the Middle East. This makes it easier for us to feel like an imaging and printing group family.
How would your employees describe you?
I think 'very open'. I'm very approachable. I'm very results-orientated. I am tough to the others but I am toughest to myself. I think only by setting an example can you expect people to bring their highest level of performance. Specifically in the IPG [imaging and printing group] business, where the pressure is very high because of the business we are in, I think it is very important to have employees that are happy every day they walk into the office.
