Rebuilding Core Competencies When a Company Splits: A Case Study of Assessing and Rebuilding Expertise

Abstract

In 1999, Hewlett Packard announced the split of its company into two smaller companies, HP and Agilent. As a result, the financial work, processes, and systems needed to be cloned in both new organizations at the same time people, assets, and transactions were becoming separate and distinct. The focus of this case study is on how the core competencies associated with the split were defined, identified, and transferred to all employees who needed to have them. The results of an internal and external literature search are included along with survey results. Results indicate that the purposes of and processes used for data collection concerning core competencies within an organization are critical to their usefulness.