What kind of corporate-level strategies did HP and Dell pursue to strengthen their multi-business models?

Beating dell: why hp acquired compaq

Dell’s dominance of the PC industry has had terrible consequences for rival Compaq; and Dell announced its plans to then go after the lucrative printer market, currently dominated by HP. HP and Compaq decided to merge in order to better combat this threat. HP CEO Carly Fiorina believed the merger would bring cost savings by eliminating duplication and by increasing economies of scale. Fiorina also claimed the merger would give the combined company a broader expertise in both hardware and services. The firm would be better able to differentiate its products and reduce the threat from cost leader Dell, as well as to better compete with other service providers, such as IBM and EDS. Critics of the merger pointed out that the merged firms still would not be able to compete with Dell’s efficient supply chain management, and that Dell’s success with a no-services strategy demonstrates that providing services is not necessary for profitability. The proposed merger ran into opposition, and while Fiorina and the two firms were distracted, Dell continued to gain market share.