Pretexting at Hewlett-Packard

Paper Summary:

This paper describes the circumstances of the scandal that arose around Patricia Dunn, chairman at Hewlett-Packard, when she had to investigate why secrets regarding corporate strategy began appearing in the press. The author explains that when evidence pointed to board member Jay Keyworth as the source of many of the leaks to the press, his friend and fellow board member Tom Perkins took offense at Dunn and launched a campaign to discredit her. The author concludes that it seems that the charges brought against Dunn are largely the result of Perkins's discrediting campaign against her.

From the Paper:

"Someone from the board had been leaking valuable company info to the press - not only about HP corporate strategy, but about whom the board was considering for CEO as well as the company's interest in buying another tech company. The majority of the board asked Dunn to investigate the source of the leak. The investigation went a bit too far, and Dunn was eventually indicted on charges of pretexting - that is, using false pretenses in order to obtain the personal information of board members and journalists connected with the leaks."

Sample of Sources Used:

• CBS News. "Patricia Dunn: I Am Innocent." Palo Alto, CA, Oct. 8. 2006. Retrieved November 28, 2007 from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/05/60minutes/main2069430.shtml.
• Kirkpatrick, David. "The Peculiar Logic of Patricia Dunn." CNNmoney.com. September 15, 2006. Retrieved November 28, 2007 from http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/15/technology/FastForward_HP.fortune/index.htm.

More papers on Pretexting at Hewlett-Packard:

• Research Paper # 98064 : "HP Pretexting Scandal"
• Case Study # 112669 : "HRM at Hewlett-Packard"
• Essay # 69993 : "Channels of Distribution at Hewlett-Packard"

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