How the Early Success of Hewlett Packard Can Be Related to the Lesson of Louis Aggasiz and Attributed to Peter Drucker's Requirements for ‘Entrepreneurial Management’

How the early success of Hewlett Packard can be related to the lesson of Louis Aggasiz and attributed to Peter Drucker’s requirements for ‘entrepreneurial management’ The early success of Hewlett and Packard can be attributed to lessons learned from observation and learning; this is evident from the fact that David Packard drew heavily from his observation of the management at General Electric to draft a management style unique to Hewlett and Packard-a management style that was priceless in terms of success to the company. Parallels can be drawn to the lesson Louis Agassiz imparted to his students that observation is a powerful teacher; in fact he encouraged his students not to be content with just what they saw but to proactively discover as much as possible on a given subject. By keenly observing the effect of the GE control-oriented management style from the top-level down to the factory floor, and observing the difference in results by proactively engaging in a different management style with the same employees, Packard gained invaluable insight on how to manage his staff at his own company to reap innovative results. Some aspects of the success of Hewlett and Packard can be attributed to the adherence to the requirements for ‘entrepreneurial management’ outlined by Peter Drucker. First of all, Packard’s eye-opening experience at General Electric was an eye-opener leading the founders to realize the importance of a top management team in the early stages of the venture and make it high priority; this realization in the early stages of growth is in adherence with Drucker’s recommendation “to build a top management team before the venture reaches the point where it must have one” (Drucker, Peter F. Innovation and Entrepreneurship. New York: Harper Collins, 1985. Pg 198) The assumption of an informal management team at the early stages of the venture is an approach recommended by Drucker as well and that gave the HP team members time to learn and