Carly pulls a Donald

Two weeks ago, Mack-inations applauded HP CEO Carly Fiorina for taking analysts to task for making too much of meeting (or not) quarterly expectations. But Fiorina pulled a Donald Trump on three senior executives this week when she fired them in reaction to falling short of expectations this quarter. The ouster could have been a long time in coming, but when you announce "immediate management changes" at an analyst conference the day preliminary earnings numbers come out that fall short of expectations, what's a guy to think?

It sounds a little schizophrenic to lambaste analysts for putting too much emphasis on expectations then make heads roll the minute you don't meet them. I could understand it, of course. The company only posted a $586 million profit for the quarter, which was up $297 million from a year earlier. They should have done better.

Fiorina cited "unacceptable execution" in the business units where the firings occurred. It's nice to see that people are starting to be held accountable, but I'm sure the three ex- (or should I say axed-) execs might use the same term to describe their fate.

And so it goes. I don't think Fiorina overreacted; I'm sure she was just being decisive.

E-mail me at tmcelligott@primediabusiness.com.