Can HP Leave Internal Turmoil Behind?

Most of what Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) has become well-known for in recent months is not its products, but its struggles; and that is why the company is making headlines on Monday once again.

Chairman Ray Lane and three other members of the technology company’s board are meeting with approximately 20 of HP’s biggest shareholders in hopes of preventing efforts to unseat Lane and two other directors at the 11-member board’s elections next month. The ousting attempt, reported on by The Wall Street Journal, comes as investors become increasingly dissatisfied by the direction the company has taken to combat declining personal computer sales and weaker corporate IT spending.

Even though HP posted better-than-expect results for its first quarter last week, giving some credence to CEO and president Meg Whitman’s claims of a turnaround, HP is still under the shadow of its disastrous deal making record. The multibillion-dollar charge the company took in the previous quarter has not yet faded from investors’ minds.

William Patterson — executive director CtW Investment Group, a firm that manages the 7.8 million shares of H-P owned by pension funds tied to the labor federation Change to Win — told the Journal that “flawed oversight” was also one of his main concerns…