惠普當初應該聽首席財務官的話

????爆發如此大規模的丑聞之后，很快就會上演轉嫁錯誤、回避責任的戲碼。周二，惠普公司（Hewlett Packard）的一份聲明也不例外。聲明稱，公司以110億美元收購英國軟件公司Autonomy的交易導致了88億美元的巨額虧損。聲明還稱，大部分虧損與Autonomy公司“嚴重的會計不當行為”和“虛假陳述”有關?；萜沼?011年收購了這家英國軟件制造商。據惠普稱，所謂的會計不當行為早在收購之前便已有發生。目前，美國證監會（SEC）正就此事進行調查。但對于如此糟糕的局面，至少有一位高管不應受到譴責：身處重重困境的惠普首席財務官凱西?萊斯杰克。

????2011年夏，萊斯杰克曾對收購Autonomy公司表示強烈反對，讓時任CEO李艾科憤怒不已。她反對的理由除了懷疑此項交易存在欺詐外，另外一個原因是她認為對該公司的估值非?；闹?。由于無法說服李艾科，她將自己的意見在董事會上提了出來，試圖以一種及其不尋常的、更引人注目的方式阻止這項交易。

????正如《財富》雜志（Fortune ）在5月份的封面報道《迷失的惠普》中所寫的那樣：“……事先沒有給李艾科任何警告，萊斯杰克在董事會上地對收購進行了激烈反駁。據當時在場的人回憶，她對董事們高呼：‘我反對。我認為這不是個好主意。我認為我們還沒有準備好。我認為這項交易的價格太高了。我反對這項交易，它不符合公司的最佳利益?！聜兇胧植患?。外界認為，萊斯杰克是理智的；而在當時，她直接對抗老板所定策略的關鍵部分，可以說幾乎到了撕破臉皮的地步?！?/p>

????萊斯杰克的舉動確實令人震驚（而且，李艾科永遠不會原諒她）——但最終她并沒能成功阻止那筆交易。2011年8月，包括新任董事惠特曼在內，董事會一致通過了對Autonomy的收購。一個月后，李艾科辭職，惠特曼繼任CEO。

????現在，惠特曼和其他董事會成員肯定捶胸頓足，悔不該當初忽視了萊斯杰克的意見。目前，萊斯杰克仍然擔任著惠普公司首席財務官的職位。

????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

????Inevitably, after a scandal of this proportion breaks out, finger-pointing and blame-ducking commence immediately. Hewlett Packard's announcement Tuesday that it's taking an $8.8 billion hit on its $11 billion purchase of Autonomy is no exception. HP says the lion's share of the charge was related to "serious accounting improprieties" and "outright misrepresentations" at Autonomy, the British software maker it acquired in October 2011. The alleged accounting misdeeds, which HP says occurred before the acquisition, are being investigated in the U.S. by the SEC.

????But there's at least one senior person who shouldn't be singled out for condemnation in this mess: HP's (HPQ) beleaguered chief financial officer, Cathie Lesjak.

????In the summer of 2011, Lesjak earned the wrath of then CEO Leo Apotheker when she forcibly opposed the Autonomy takeover -- not because she suspected fraud, but because she believed the valuation absurd. Unable to get Apotheker to see her way, she took her case to the boardroom in a highly unusual and dramatic plea to scotch the deal.

????As Fortune wrote in its May cover story How Hewlett-Packard lost its way:

????"...with no warning to Apotheker, Lesjak made an impassioned case against the acquisition before the board. "I can't support it," she told the directors, according to a person who was present. "I don't think it's a good idea. I don't think we're ready. I think it's too expensive. I'm putting a line down. This is not in the best interests of the company." Directors were shaken. Lesjak was considered a voice of sobriety, and here she was on the verge of insubordination, directly resisting a key element of her boss' strategy."

????Lesjak's move was shocking (and Apotheker never forgave her for it) -- but ultimately she didn't carry the day. In August 2011, the board, which included Whitman as a newly appointed director, approved the Autonomy deal unanimously. A month later, Apotheker was out as CEO and Whitman was in.

????You can bet she and the rest of the board wish they'd listened to Lesjak, who remains CFO.