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台灣戴明圈
── 2008年東海戴明學者講座
A Taiwanese Deming Circle (1964-2008)
目錄 致謝
序言（王晃三博士）7
開場白：故事、寓言（鍾漢清） 11
台灣戴明圈的故事（鍾漢清） 15
簡介戴明、威廉‧謝爾肯巴赫先生（鍾漢清） 23
第一部
導言：戴明到日本（鍾漢清） 35
戴明與台灣(簡記)（鍾漢清） 45
《1950 年戴明博士對日本高階經營者演講》 53
品管九講 譯者序言（劉振） 64
品管九講 品質管制與企業發展（小柳賢一） 67
日本品質管制之回顧（戴明） 74
日本的成就（戴明） 80
第二部
導言 （鍾漢清） 91
《戴明博士四日談》中文版導言（鍾漢清增修） 102
一首值得傳唱的史詩：《轉危為安》（鍾漢清） 109運用戴明循環（鍾漢清） 118
鳥瞰 Lean/Six Sigma 運動 （1979-2008） （鍾漢清） 128
簡談實驗設計（鍾漢清） 153
由戴明理念談實驗設計之應用（蔡坤祥） 158
西式管理風格必須改弦更張（戴明） 163
戴明博士到 HP，團隊合作（鍾漢清） 172
第三部
2008 年東海戴明學者講座 185
主講人：威廉‧謝爾肯巴赫先生簡介 188
講座之一 193
講座之二 227
講座之三 252
尾聲 Epilog 2008 年戴明淵博知識系統之旅 275
附錄
第四部 東海…人物
播種季 286
東海大學和 英國 Essex 大學的點滴 288
從東海第七宿舍讀司馬賀先生談 30 年的緣份 294
慶祝東海 IE 創立四十年 鍾漢清 297
前進英國省錢大作戰 - Less $ can be more 300
難忘的師長
引言：從漢寶德老師談其他老師 305
陳其寬老師 310
高禩瑾院長 314
劉振老師 322
劉振老師紀念獎 Liu Cheng Award 328
紀念 吳玉印（Yuin Wu）老師 330
王錦堂老師 334
張忠樸先生 338
****
陳勝年老師 (故) 教過我
行銷學 大四 1974-75
他是我大二管理科學決策論之啟蒙老師--書
*****
楊維哲 談所謂標準化 科學月刊十三卷八期 p.45
讓我想起他弟弟楊維禎 教過 我們
作業研究不過疏於連絡
*****
陳其寬老師CHEN Chi-Kwan 的陰陽2 彩墨紙 30*546 cm 1985
為
臺北市立美術館之館*藏
它其實可列入樓下的「世外桃源 Arcadia：龐畢度中心收藏展」**參考
"法國龐畢度中心暨國立現代美術館工業創意中心副館長、世外桃源—龐畢度中心收藏展策展人戴迪亞．歐登傑Didier OTTINGER先生主講"
((((*1983年建館至今，典藏作 品件數已達四千餘件。集合本館研究人員選出台灣美術史上具指標性意義的34件經典作品，策劃「25年典藏精粹」典藏常設展，將依據藝術史發展脈絡，以及不 同媒材對應關係，將展場區分為7個各具台灣美術發展變貌的空間，以呈現台灣藝壇因應各類文化衝擊所煥發的人文精神及在地特色。**
法國藝術史儼然世界美術發展的縮影，而龐畢度中心所收藏的現代及當代藝術作品更可說是全球美術館的翹楚，其收藏涵蓋了二十世紀迄今重要的藝術流派及運動，從立體派到抽象畫，歷經超現實主義，到當代青年創作者的多元樣貌，完整呈現了風起雲湧的現代藝術風潮。
本館與法國龐畢度中心繼2006年「新媒體藝術展1965-2000」後，再度以「世外桃源：龐畢度中心收藏展」攜手合作，並首度以主題策劃展的方式，為臺灣觀眾帶來重量級的現代藝術體驗。
「世外桃源」展以古羅馬詩人所描述的田園牧歌般恬靜生活為主題，展出法國龐畢度中心所典藏的二十世紀重量級現代藝術作品，內容囊括畢卡索、馬諦斯、 布拉克、波納爾、夏卡爾、杜布菲、克利、布紐爾等大師之素描、油畫、錄像、裝置等創作形式，總計約有八十件，其中更包括龐畢度中心難得出借的重要典藏作 品。本展覽受古羅馬文學中的詩歌啟發，呼應法國古典主義畫家普桑筆下「阿卡迪亞牧人」對於生之喜悅與死亡的詮釋，延伸出十個子題，更進一步闡釋畫面中豐饒 而合諧的感受、狂歡式的感官刺激，以及對於世事無常、浮華虛幻的辯證與思考，以嚴謹的主題論述，提綱挈領的方式，精采呈現現代藝術之精華。))))
---
為了找圖 讀一blog
".....以上的感想是我自己閱讀完陳其寬老師寫的文章所吸收到的想法，也許並不是出於他本人的原意，
但在我看來，他最終目的是要告訴我們，除了學建築設計以外，最要緊的，就是該徹底改變我們的思惟、想法，
我們也不該以巴黎、倫敦，紐約為世界中心，應對自己有信心，對自己國家的資源和環境做最大的抱負和理想。
*****
Lean principles are the tenets of the Toyota Production System known in manufacturing as TPS. Do they help in service contexts, too? HBS doctoral student Bradley R. Staats and Professor David M. Upton put lean principles to the test at a large Indian software vendor, and saw improvement in problem solving, coordination, and standardization of work. Their working paper, newly revised, is titled "Lean Principles, Learning, and Software Production: Evidence from Indian Software Services" [
PDF].
「人間性の尊重が開発現場を強くする」，リーン開発の専門家が強調
2009年4月22日，東京都内でソフトウエア開発のイベント「アジャイル ジャパン 2009」が開催された。基調講演には「リーン開発」の専門家であるメアリー・ポッペンディーク氏が登壇（
写真1）。製造業の生産管理分野では昔から生産性と品質の向上に「人間性の尊重」が重要であるとされていることを確認しながら，ソフトウエア開発においても同じように人間性の尊重が重要であることを指摘した。
リーン開発とは，トヨタ生産方式（TPS）を源流とするソフトウエア開発の方法論。ポッペンディーク氏は米3Mでリーン開発を実践してきた。「ハードウ エアの分野ではTPS（トヨタ生産方式）の考え方が強く重視されているが，ソフトウエア分野ではまだそうなっていない」とポッペンディーク氏は述べる。
その一方で，「人間性や現場重視の考え方が，昔から繰り返し強調されてきたことに注目したい」と語り，OJTやTWI（企業内訓練）など，20世紀前半に編み出された職業人の訓練・教育についての理論を紹介した。
次に，戦後に大野耐一氏が体系化したトヨタ生産方式（TPS）を採り上げた。「TPSには，まさにソフトウエア開発の現場を改善するためのヒント が数多く盛り込まれている」（ポッペンディーク氏）。その一つが「標準」だという。標準は常に可変であること，現場が自主的に標準を定め自主的に変えられ ること，策定時から変更点がない標準には意味がないことなど，大野耐一氏の言葉を引用。ソフトウエア開発の現場で採り入れたいエッセンスをあらためて確認 した。
現場と組織を整合させるのがリーダー
ポッペンディーク氏は，工場の生産管理で培われた理論を引きつつ，リーダーに求められる資質や能力についても触れた。まず挙げたのは，部下に自己 の能力をフルに発揮できる環境を与えることや権限委譲の重要性である。「現場が自分で考え，自分で判断し行動できる環境が，高い生産性と品質につなが る」（ポッペンディーク氏）。
ただ，ポッペンディーク氏の主張は，企業や組織全体の方向性を無視するわけではない。アジャイル ジャパン 2009の実行委員長である平鍋健児氏（チェンジビジョン社長，写真2）は，「リーン開発におけるリーダーのスタイルは，『一緒に考えよう』の一言にまとめられる」と補足する。
「顧客の求める価値」と「会社の繁栄」の両方に貢献するように整合させるのがリーダーの役目であり，それを全うするようなシステムを作るべきとい うのがその主旨だ。「今やっている仕事が顧客と組織全体のメリットにつながっているのかを常に考えることと，現場や一人ひとりの主体性を重視することを両 立させるのが，リーン開発におけるリーダーの理想のスタイルだ」（平鍋氏）。
*****
Taguchi Quality Engineering Handbook edited by Taguchi, Wu, et al
****
operational definitions
德语媒体 | 2009.04.23
胡锦涛的“不折腾”与贵州官员的“折腾”
《新苏黎世报》分析了胡锦涛的“不折腾”并评论说：使用这样无内容的套话也会引起社会动荡，甚至为'折腾'创造前提条件。《南德意志报》聚焦贵州习水司法当局变相保护禽兽官员的事件并指出：甚至那些处于最低层的干部也置身于法律之上。
《新苏黎世报》：怎么看胡锦涛的“不折腾” "对外国观察家来说，解读中国的政策是一项吃力不讨好的差事。那些以简单口号形式表现的政策，尤为如此。附带说一句，这样的口号政策在中国却很正常。"《新苏黎世报》评论文章的这段开场白指的是胡锦涛在纪念改革三十周年大会上提出、在中国引起多种诠释的"不折腾"政策： "中国领导人喜欢用几个字来勾画他们的目标和想法。中国有把文学作为工具传播原则的传统，这对党的干部大有好处。胡锦涛的讲话提出了'三不'：'不动摇'、'不懈怠'和'不折腾'。根据中文的上下文推断，三不政策针对的对象是'群众'。 “大多数评论家把'不折腾'翻译成'不要被人转移注意力'、'不要制造麻烦'或'不要惹事生非'。一些观察家推测说，胡锦涛在正式讲话时使用这一民 间通俗说法，是想以此表示自己来自人民。党的机关报《人民日报》则提醒读者说，中国1949年以来的历史经历了大型动荡和混乱的时期，现在是巩固已取得的 成就和前进的时候了，也就是沿着中国特色的社会主义道路前进。 “直到今天，'不折腾'仍然没有官方认可的译法。也许是故意这样，因为选用这一含义不清的词就是为了提供各种解释的可能性。但是使用这样无内容的套话也会引起社会动荡，甚至为'折腾'创造前提条件。" 《南德意志报》：贵州习水官员丑闻引怒火 胡锦涛要人民"不折腾"，但不少党的干部在"折腾"人民，强行拆房占地已屡见不鲜，近日更曝出贵州干部"折腾"未成年少女的恶性案件。《南德意志报》在介绍了贵州习水一些禽兽官员的所作所为后写道： "社会愤怒的原因之一是当地司法部门的做法。在中国，性侵犯14岁以下少女通常就是强奸。而检察部门不以强奸罪控告这些人，递交的却是'嫖宿幼女' 起诉书。强奸幼女罪最高可获死刑，而对'嫖宿幼女'罪，量刑会轻得多。许多中国人猜测，共产党任命的习水司法官员想以此保护被告中的共产党干部。 “这一案件揭露了贵州省经济兴旺地区的社会道德水准。十年前，在相对落后的贵州省，习水还从北京中央政府获取扶贫基金。但十年内，78个登记的和无数非法的煤矿使这个地方成了新富们的天堂。据说那些矿主们特别喜欢猎取'书包妹'，因为'这些小女孩比妓女干净、便宜。' “这一丑闻也使人深刻地看到，人民共和国的共产党精英们如何看待法律，甚至那些处于最低层的干部也置身于法律之上。这次只是因为数百名义愤的民众聚集在法院外，互联网上也燃起了怒火，这一案件才没有象通常那样被掩盖起来。" 摘译：王羊 责编：乐然 本文摘自或节译自其它媒体 不代表德国之声观点
******許多年前
東海大學某大樓為某佛教信徒所施捨
大家討論樓名不該取佛教字眼 如
般若
最後據說以"大智慧樓"皆贏
底下的詩 告訴CP在天之靈
真理
也是外教用語
此故事姑且一笑置之
書寄忠樸（2007年7月28日） 五年？ 其實 我們歷經多少五年了。 詩人Yeats的墓碑, “Cast a cold eye / On life, on death” 生死，能夠冷眼相看（不厭）嗎？ 你那顆溫暖的心已煙消雲散了嗎？ 五年前，一干人參加市立殯儀館的告別，到我這兒小坐 大家都在嘆息你這樣人才的消亡…… 園內的老桑樹 葉子還是在盛夏更新五番 教堂（真理堂）已聳立 你一定沒讀過類似的唐詩： 「聞僧說真理，煩惱自然輕。」（唐˙方干˙遊竹林寺詩） 所以大肚山的「大智慧」也罷， 莫非 神的一聲嘆息…… 你會再飛往西雅圖去品味那Starbucks的體驗嗎？ 多可惜 台灣的書市一樣熱鬧 但是 愛書人少了一位 不變的 也許是日本還敬佩你寫過書摘的那巨人 你肯定會參加我們縱談精實和六標準差 我會說 成事在人 我們十年前桃園中信的那場戴明紀念研習會 也不差 許多經驗 無法累積 ASQ的 QP暢談DOE的最近發展(2006) 你會遙想那些電腦中模擬嗎？ 我相信這些 都是過眼煙雲 而你肯定 會去紐約 哥倫比亞 會爽朗地開懷大笑 你那「不標準」的人生
Charity shops are sorting and selling record volumes of used household items. While tough economic times may make recycled objects especially popular, Belgium's leading charity shop network says it fears for the future. Report: Nina-Maria Potts
我家隔壁的"真理堂" (這在堂唐朝可能指飼寺廟 現在指 路德宗基督教)
從去年起一直有賣上手之固定攤販
****朋友
有沒辦法找出這大臣後面的幾首唐詩?
South Korea's economy 2:35 updated Sun, April 19, 2009 CNN's Eunice Yoon talks to South Korea's Finance Minister Yoon Jeung Hyun about the economy. South Korea avoids recession 1:42Good news for South Korea's economy, as CNN's Eunice Yoon explains.
小讀者找出
朱熹（1130～1200）
中国南宋思想家。字元晦，号晦庵。徽州婺源（今属江西）人。绍兴十八年（1148）中进士，历 仕高宗、孝宗、光宗、宁宗四朝，庆元六年卒。嘉定二年（1209）诏赐遗表恩泽，谥曰文，寻赠中大夫，特赠宝谟阁直学士。理宗宝庆三年（1227），赠太 师，追封信国公，改徽国公。
《九曲棹歌》【宋】朱熹
九曲棹歌 朱熹
一曲溪邊上釣船，幔亭峰影蘸晴川。
虹橋一斷無消息，萬壑千巖鎖翠煙。
二曲亭亭玉女峰，插花臨水為誰容。
道人不作陽台夢，興入前山翠幾重。
三曲君看駕壑船，不知停棹幾何年。
桑田海水兮如許，泡沫風燈敢自憐。
四曲東西兩石巖，巖花垂露碧 毿。
金雞叫罷無人見，月滿空山水滿潭。
五曲山高雲氣深，長時煙雨暗平林。
林間有客無人識，矣乃聲中萬古心。
六曲蒼屏繞碧灣，茆茨終日掩柴關。
客來倚棹巖花落，猿鳥不驚春意閒。
七曲移舟上碧灘，隱屏仙掌更回看。
卻憐昨夜峰頭雨，添得飛泉幾道寒。
八曲風煙勢欲開，鼓樓巖下水縈迴。
莫言此地無佳景，自是遊人不上來。
九曲將窮眼豁然，桑麻雨露見平川。
漁郎更覓桃源路，除是人間別有天。
****
Does H.P. Need a Dose of Anarchy?
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Mark V. Hurd has remade Hewlett-Packard into the world’s largest technology company, but critics wonder whether it is too focused on humdrum, low-profit business areas.
Published: April 25, 2009
Palo Alto, Calif.
Skip to next paragraph 
Peter DaSilva for The New York Times
Carl Taussig, the head of H.P.’s Information Surfaces Lab, left, with Albert Jeans, checking work on a flexible display.
Business Wire
A Hewlett-Packard computer, above, uses the company’s TouchSmart software, which lets people manipulate items by just touching the screen.
Peter DaSilva for The New York Times
Prith Banerjee, the director of H.P. Labs, which has cut its projects.
Paul Sakuma/Associated Press
The designer Vivienne Tam helped H.P. create a more fashionable laptop.
IT all seems obvious when viewed through hindsight’s pristine lens: Hewlett-Packard didn’t need a reinvention. It just needed some fierce fiscal discipline to transform itself from a bumbling, lost soul into a well-oiled profit machine.
At its core, H.P.’s turnaround works against the natural order of things in Silicon Valley, where people talk about technology first and finances a distant second. The frenetic hunt for the next big thing has helped a select few endure decades of busts and booms, and they have always left it to the bean counters to obsess about the bottom line.
So it took a true outsider, in Mark V. Hurd, to engineer H.P.’s resurrection and to create the world’s largest technology company. Mr. Hurd, hired four years ago in the wake of Carleton S. Fiorina’s tumultuous departure as chief executive, forced a steady, boring diet of performance benchmarks, heavy-handed cost-cutting and data-mining down H.P.’s corporate throat.
“Silicon Valley is not known for creating lean organizations, and he’s as good as we have ever seen,” said Michael S. Malone, a historian who wrote “Bill and Dave,” a book about the company’s renowned co-founders, William Hewlett and David Packard. “He’s taught a lesson in what big-time corporate management looks like.”
But with the most brutal cuts behind it, H.P. faces a fresh set of challenges as the second stage of Mr. Hurd’s tenure begins. Most pressing is widespread concern that Mr. Hurd has built an inflexible, solipsistic giant so obsessed with schematics and data-driven fiscal machinations that it has lost the ability to deliver that prized and perennial Silicon Valley trick: to surprise and astound.
Although H.P. is trying to expand its presence in businesses like personal computers and printers, some critics argue that those markets have little left to give. The company could also use more imaginative thinking to bolster its developing line of software products and services.
In short, what may be missing in the formidable intellectual and strategic artillery that Mr. Hurd brings to bear at H.P. is creative inspiration. Or, as Mr. Malone puts it, “I am not sure Mark has built an H.P. that can go through the natural changes that accompany the technology industry as the company has in the past.”
If you posit this idea to any of the company’s top executives, they’ll dismiss it. H.P. has plenty of room to grow, they say — in printers, computers, software or services — and has a firm grasp of the technology industry’s nature and undulations. If you don’t believe such talk, that’s fine, they say — just look at the numbers for any convincing.
“When you hear me talk, I have four quadrants in my head simultaneously,” Mr. Hurd says, outlining a mental tableau that encompasses H.P.’s operations (Quadrant 1), products (Quadrant 2), business and technology trends (Quadrant 3) and competitors (Quadrant 4). Visions of metrics dance in his mind, and he speaks of them with a passion and devotion that has clearly filtered through the ranks — and H.P.’s results.
While that approach also offers a contained, orderly way for Mr. Hurd to tackle his challenges, it isn’t necessarily a recipe for the kind of fertile brainstorming that leads to creative breakthroughs in the tech world.
Steven P. Jobs, the co-founder and chief of Apple, has never discussed quadrants when speaking about products like the iPod and the iPhone, and has dismissed the value of using focus groups to inform design projects. Sometimes consumers need to be shown what they want, Mr. Jobs has said.
MR. HURD, 52, often strums a tabletop like a pianist as he delves into business minutiae, his enthusiasm measured by the steady clack-clacking of his gold wedding band. He also enjoys riffling through a flip chart, tracing and disgorging a panoply of figures with the ease of a symphony conductor. Indeed, his flip chart is so precious to him that it accompanies him on the road.
“He always has that giant white pad and his magic markers,” says Jeffrey Katzenberg, the chief executive of DreamWorks Animation, who says he sometimes has trouble parsing Mr. Hurd’s scrawls.
But for a numbers guy like Mr. Hurd, H.P. is a fantasy land, and the path for navigating it couldn’t be clearer.
“He shows a remarkable familiarity with the balance sheet and amazing depth with numbers,” says Matt Lavallee, the director of technology for the MLS Property Information Network, a real estate service, who talked with Mr. Hurd during a recent customer event. “He’s the most impressive executive I have ever met.”
Thanks to mega-acquisitions and strong growth, H.P. has emerged as the largest buyer of many components that go into computing systems. It buys about one-fifth of Intel’s chips used in PCs and servers, surpassing all rivals. And its purchasing power should increase as the innards of PCs, servers, storage systems and networking gear overlap more and more every year.
H.P. has used its heft as a weapon, playing suppliers off one another, especially during lean times like now, to keep costs as low as possible. Ever to the point, Mr. Hurd says that “if you don’t have scale, and you don’t have leverage, you won’t be able to give the customer what the customer wants.”
In recent years, the company has demonstrated an ability to balance chasing growth with its internal cuts.
Although industry pundits had derided the PC business as a lost cause, H.P. has expanded its computer division sales by $15.6 billion over the last four years, hitting $42.3 billion in total sales last year. During a similar period, computer sales at Dell rose to $35.8 billion, from $35.2 billion.
Just as astonishing, H.P. declared in February that it could shoot past Wall Street’s earnings targets for the full year — at a time when its sales may come in about $18 billion lower than expected because of frozen consumer and corporate spending.
Mr. Hurd attributes this performance to having banged out agreements with suppliers during better days and the company’s ability to turn far-flung corporate dials to fine-tune operations when customers suddenly stop buying.
His own intensity adds to the corporate mojo. Athletic and tightly focused, he comes from a relatively privileged background. His father attended Yale, and his mother, the daughter of a Park Avenue doctor, was introduced to society at a dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria. Growing up in New York and then Miami, he attended college preparatory schools and went to Baylor University in Waco, Tex., on a tennis scholarship.
“He had long hair, wore tennis shorts and was a religious devotee of the courts," says Max Sandlin, a former congressman from Texas, who was president of Mr. Hurd’s fraternity. “At the time, most of us would have thought Mark more likely to be the next Jimmy Connors than the C.E.O. of H.P.”
After Baylor, Mr. Hurd joined NCR, a quiet maker of cash-register equipment and automated teller machines, based in Dayton, Ohio. While not a self-made man in the classic sense, he is by all accounts a self-made business mind who manufactured his own luck and turned himself into a star at NCR, and over the course of 25 years excelled in a number of jobs, including running NCR’s flashiest division, a database unit called Teradata.
Mr. Hurd flourished at Teradata, creating a fast-growing business within NCR that caught executives’ attention and ultimately led to his promotion as chief of the entire company. More important, he evolved during those years into a manager both feared and admired for his command of numbers.
“Mark provided a level of stability and leadership that inspired people,” says Jim Murphy, who spent more than a decade at Teradata in sales. “He is the kind of guy you were willing to follow despite the pressure that comes with his constant drive to focus on metrics.”
That drive played out on the basketball and tennis courts, as well, where Mr. Hurd made it clear that he was always out to win. “He is a vicious athlete and competitor,” Mr. Murphy says. “He would get pretty hot-headed and jaw with people.”
At H.P., Mr. Hurd’s reputation for having a quick mind and a quick temper has only grown. It’s common for executives to recount stories about his noticing a lowered forecast in a presentation, slamming his briefing materials down and, with an ever-present salty tongue, ordering that the situation be fixed before their next meeting.
For his part, Mr. Hurd is not about to give up his blunt style. “I go all over the place,” he says. “I do like the ability to go around the company at different levels to find the people that have the actual answers to the question.”
MR. HURD’S zeal has had a controversial reception at one of his company’s most admired divisions, H.P. Labs. Historically, the unit has been the most freewheeling part of the company, charged with creating new businesses out of thin air. Over the years, the products coming out of the labs have revitalized the company’s business during lulls.
Since Mr. Hurd arrived, H.P. Labs has whittled down the number of projects it tackles at any given time to 30, from about 150. Prith Banerjee, the director of H.P. Labs, has dismissed the castoffs as interesting science projects and championed the survivors as big bets with the most commercial potential.
Yet the often idiosyncratic researchers now find themselves writing up business plans and dealing directly with customers rather than funneling their ideas out to people more experienced in such matters.
For example, Carl Taussig, who runs H.P.’s Information Surfaces Lab, a part of H.P. Labs, has teamed with the Army, Arizona State University, DuPont Teijin Films and E Ink to produce flexible display technology that might be used like electronic paper or to create cheaper screens in mobile devices.
“H.P. Labs has a bigger burden now in creating a path toward commercialization,” Mr. Taussig said. “It’s more work, and it’s different work.”
But H.P.’s businesslike approach to research and curtailed money for the labs have former employees concerned about the company’s future. “I think they are seriously underspending on research and development,” says Charles H. House, who worked at H.P. for 29 years, overseeing the creation of 12 product lines. “It seems to me that betting on new areas is a struggle for them.”
Shane Robison, the company’s chief strategy and technology officer, argues that few companies can match the breadth of its research, in areas as varied as printing systems and data mining. Some of the most impressive work has been in nanotechnology and optics, where engineers do nothing less than manipulate light to move data around computers at ground-breaking speeds.
“This is fundamental, breakthrough stuff,” Mr. Robison says. He later added, “It’s just goofy to get into a debate about whether you’re spending enough money.”
A believer in long-term planning, Mr. Hurd says the company still has plenty to show the world. “You would not want to short H.P. on its ability to innovate,” he says.
Its biggest bets surround the plain-vanilla business of providing technology infrastructure to clients. H.P. believes that customers want to buy as much of those products and services from one company as possible — a move that is, yes, data-driven.
H.P. expects the amount of information produced by companies to keep rising along with their desire to analyze that data. More data means more servers, storage and networking gear — and, for as long as companies print paper records of their computing results — plenty of purchases of H.P.’s expensive printer ink.
At the heart of the company’s infrastructure play is Electronic Data Systems, the technology services company it acquired last year that manages customers’ data center operations. H.P. is laying off tens of thousands of employees as it tries to revivify the company and make it an integral part of its offerings to corporate customers.
But critics, most notably I.B.M., castigate H.P. as more or less the dull grunt of the tech world that has doubled down on humdrum, low-profit businesses. If years of price wars for parts and infrastructure services ensue, H.P. will face serious pressure on the cost structure it has worked so hard to achieve.
“There are still lots of opportunities for H.P. to cut costs out, but at some point its ability to do that at the rate of the last few years certainly diminishes,” said A. M. Sacconaghi, a technology analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company.
Because Mr. Hurd has so ably rationalized the company’s cost structure, he now has to prove that he can foster a culture capable of building a second wave of growth — which zeroes back in on the creativity question.
In that regard, the future looks murky. Current and former employees complain that Mr. Hurd has put so much pressure on the organization that the willingness to take risks has faded. Quarterly business unit reviews with Mr. Hurd are known to be intense and probing and to inspire plenty of worry.
Adding to this is a fear that morale has declined because of benefits cuts and a pay-for-performance rewards structure that creates deep fissures between the haves and the have-nots. Mr. Hurd faced similar criticisms at NCR.
“I am not here trying to tell you it’s perfect,” he says, adding that workers complain about bureaucracy and the process-driven practices creeping into their jobs. “I think at the end of the day all these things come with a price.”
Mr. Hurd, however, contends that internal surveys provide a more accurate view of the company than scattered anecdotes and reveal a satisfied work force. The company’s strong, consistent financial performance has restored its luster as a Silicon Valley icon and imbued employees with pride, he says.
“There is a tremendous attraction for the people to the scale, the opportunity, the entrepreneurship,” he says. “For us, it is a big deal to attract talent that can flourish in an environment like this and take advantage of our scale without it becoming an issue for them.”
A COMPANY of 321,000 people can move only so nimbly, and H.P. has fallen behind in some of the most promising parts of the market.
It arrived late with a line of netbooks, the low-cost, compact laptops that have taken the world by storm, opening doors for its rival Acer. And, over the last few years, a wide variety of online services has captured the attention of consumers and businesses, but H.P. has struggled to make its name synonymous with so-called cloud computing.
Despite talking so much about data and the powers of information analysis, the company trails rivals like I.B.M. and Oracle when it comes to building the most sophisticated business software.
Another glaring weakness resides on the gadget front, where the company concedes an innovation lapse and continues to sell a relatively unpopular smartphone. (H.P. promises that better phones are in the pipeline.)
With its software gurus, its newfound penchant for design and its deep ties to retailers, H.P. might have been expected to disrupt the cellphone market with new devices or even to concoct an electronic book reader that would complement its printer business. Instead, it’s Apple and Amazon that built vibrant new businesses around such products.
“In spite of the fact that there are things we could always do a better job on, innovating and so forth, I don’t think we have ever felt stronger about our portfolio of products and services and our opportunity to serve the market,” Mr. Hurd says. “I don’t think we think we’re confused about what the market wants.”
To H.P.’s credit, it read the PC market just right in recent years, capitalizing on a surge in laptops and retail sales. It revamped the look of its products, developed a distinctive ad campaign and began to assert more independence.
For example, the company built a fanciful laptop in tandem with the fashion designer Vivienne Tam; it looks as much like a purse as a computer. And H.P.’s most daring move may have come with its TouchSmart software that lets people manipulate items on their computer screens with their fingers, while also adding a distinct look and feel to the company’s gear.
On the printing side, the company feels poised to capitalize on another megatrend: a shift to digital presses for industrial jobs like making magazines and labels. Every percentage point of additional share in this market translates into immense profits for H.P., which pours research and development dollars into proprietary ink.
Mr. Hurd points again and again to the company’s scale and diversity as its major advantages.
Companies like I.B.M. and Dell have also emerged as the largest buyers of components during different eras, says Intel’s chief executive, Paul S. Otellini. Typically, the companies have started to struggle just as their buying heft approaches that of H.P., when gains prove tougher to come by and unexpected, nimble competitors emerge. That said, the tech industry has never encountered a giant the size of H.P.
“I do think Mark has carved out a unique opportunity that comes from selling everything from servers to phones,” Mr. Otellini says.
In the end, Mr. Hurd says he’s not worried about his image as a numbers mercenary and refuses to fret about how others view his approach as H.P. tries to innovate its way toward growth.
“When I was at Teradata, I got called a growth guy. And then when I became C.E.O. of the whole company, I got called a cost-cutter,” Mr. Hurd says. “Then, I came to H.P. and became an operations guy.
“To be very blunt, I am not really that concerned with what labels get associated with somebody. I know we have a whole bunch of things to get done.”
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