At HP, why Whitman; why now?

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Meg Whitman, the new head executive at Hewlett Packard, said she agreed with the strategy put together by her predecessor at the California computer giant.

Whitman replaced Leo Apotheker, who was fired abruptly Thursday, but given a severance package valued at $10 million to $12 million after 11 months of leading the company, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

He was fired because he did not share his vision well beyond a small circle of advisers, the Journal reported.

He also led the acquisition of British software firm Autonomy Corp., a $10 billion purchase made after telling shareholders he would not buy anything that would cause them to lose sleep.

Whitman said in an interview, "We're going to get to ground on this as fast as we can," referring to a review of the firm's personal computer business, which it may or may not spin off into a separate company.

"I think the strategy is right," Whitman said.

That left Executive Chairman Ray Lane to defend the sudden shift -- exchanging one chief executive for another who cost about $11 to dismiss, while replacing him with a new CEO who, as the former CEO of eBay, has no experience in manufacturing.

Essentially, it came down to communication, Lane said.

"We didn't see an executive team working on the same page or working together."

"A leader is a leader. Meg is a leader," he added.