David Packard's Legacy on American Military Policy
Abstract David Packard, one half of the computer conglomerate Hewlett Packard, was a dynamic entrepreneur and servant leader. He built Hewlett Packard (HP) from a small garage business to one of the greatest electronics companies in the world. As of 2014, HP was the world s second largest computer supplier and ranked 17th on the Fortune 500 list for company size. Not only did Packard help build a global business colossus, he also served in high level government positions at the request of two United States Presidents. Despite these enormous responsibilities to his company and his country, it was important for him to found and support several philanthropic endeavors. His leadership standard was to push beyond the ordinary and positively influence the people and endeavors he affected. The overwhelming success of the 1985 1986 Packard Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management was the support and credibility it lent to the 1986 Goldwater Nichols Act (GNA) GNA was not perfect, nor did if fix all the issues faced, then or now, by the Department of Defense (DoD) however the act did make significant positive changes still utilized today. His legacy as a businessman and government icon remains untarnished despite the continuing issues regarding DoD and acquisition reform. Although many commissions, reports, and studies which were led by titans of industry and the military have been implemented over the years, issues of defense management still abound. As he prophetically pointed out in his acceptance speech for the Francis Boyer Award in 1986, It is clear that defense acquisition typically differs from this commercial model in almost every respect. Although criticized for failing to provide enough tangible changes to the military acquisition process, his recommendations are enduring principles of successful organizational execution.