Narrative 13-4 When Mark Hurd Stepped into His Role as the New

Narrative 13-4
When Mark Hurd stepped into his role as the new CEO,Hewlett-Packard (HP) was the 11th largest company in the United States,but struggling financially. Under the previous CEO,Carly Fiorina,HP had paid $19 billion to acquire Compaq Computers,but then incurred more than $10 billion in expenses to integrate Compaq into HP. Expenses rose too much,revenues and market share rose too little,and HP earned profits far below its competition. A number of other significant problems were apparent as well,notably HP's strategic vision,which Fiorina had repeatedly described as "digital,virtual,mobile,personal." While this watchword sounded good,no one was quite clear what it meant. A third problem was HP's confusing business structure,which blurred lines of accountability and slowed decision making. For example,HP salespeople reported to people in four or more divisions,such as sales,printing,computing,and corporate. A fourth problem was HP's reward system,which was so complex in its calculation that no one understood how their performance affected their bonuses. The most worrisome problem,though,was the deep sense of distrust that pervaded HP,from first-level employees all the way to the boardroom.
Mark Hurd did many things to correct these problems. First,he and his management team set three-year financial targets. After specifying those goals,they worked backward to determine the financial goals for each part of the company. Indeed,that process was a key part in deciding to lay off 14,500 employees. Those layoffs,which saved the company $1.9 billion a year,helped HP to maintain its $3.5 billion a year budget for product research and development.
Next,Hurd decided to follow Fiorina's strategic plans for HP but recast the strategy into specifics-selling big businesses everything for IT,including some services as well as hardware. Hurd then began tackling key operational and implementation issues such as the company's confusing business structure and its complicated bonus system. Hurd divided the sales force three ways,so that sales,printers,and corporate now have dedicated salespeople who do nothing but sell and service their products. A new,simpler bonus plan links bonuses to the performance of the HP division and to the company as a whole.
Finally,Hurd began to address the distrust at HP. He frequently calls people three or four levels down in the company to ask them specific operational questions about how things did or did not get done. He also regularly sits in on divisional reviews of performance,something that Fiorina never did. And then,to make sure things get done,Hurd holds his managers and staffers accountable for following up. Managers and employees appreciate that Hurd is willing to help them do their jobs. Dave Booth,senior vice president for sales,says he can now call Hurd's office direct with an urgent customer request instead of going through channels.
-Refer to Narrative 13-4. According to contingency theory,which leadership characteristic was Mark Hurd showing when he decided to lay off 14,500 employees?

A) consideration  
B) autonomy  
C) Machiavellianism  
D) position power