惠普当初应该听首席财务官的话

    爆发如此大规模的丑闻之后，很快就会上演转嫁错误、回避责任的戏码。周二，惠普公司（Hewlett Packard）的一份声明也不例外。声明称，公司以110亿美元收购英国软件公司Autonomy的交易导致了88亿美元的巨额亏损。声明还称，大部分亏损与Autonomy公司“严重的会计不当行为”和“虚假陈述”有关。惠普于2011年收购了这家英国软件制造商。据惠普称，所谓的会计不当行为早在收购之前便已有发生。目前，美国证监会（SEC）正就此事进行调查。但对于如此糟糕的局面，至少有一位高管不应受到谴责：身处重重困境的惠普首席财务官凯西•莱斯杰克。

    2011年夏，莱斯杰克曾对收购Autonomy公司表示强烈反对，让时任CEO李艾科愤怒不已。她反对的理由除了怀疑此项交易存在欺诈外，另外一个原因是她认为对该公司的估值非常荒谬。由于无法说服李艾科，她将自己的意见在董事会上提了出来，试图以一种及其不寻常的、更引人注目的方式阻止这项交易。

    正如《财富》杂志（Fortune ）在5月份的封面报道《迷失的惠普》中所写的那样：“……事先没有给李艾科任何警告，莱斯杰克在董事会上地对收购进行了激烈反驳。据当时在场的人回忆，她对董事们高呼：‘我反对。我认为这不是个好主意。我认为我们还没有准备好。我认为这项交易的价格太高了。我反对这项交易，它不符合公司的最佳利益。’董事们措手不及。外界认为，莱斯杰克是理智的；而在当时，她直接对抗老板所定策略的关键部分，可以说几乎到了撕破脸皮的地步。”

    莱斯杰克的举动确实令人震惊（而且，李艾科永远不会原谅她）——但最终她并没能成功阻止那笔交易。2011年8月，包括新任董事惠特曼在内，董事会一致通过了对Autonomy的收购。一个月后，李艾科辞职，惠特曼继任CEO。

    现在，惠特曼和其他董事会成员肯定捶胸顿足，悔不该当初忽视了莱斯杰克的意见。目前，莱斯杰克仍然担任着惠普公司首席财务官的职位。

    译者：刘进龙/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.