Management changes took center stage in the third quarter, with HP ditching its chief executive after less than a year in the job, and sweeping changes announced at the top of EverythingEverywhere, the UK joint venture between Orange and T-Mobile.

Hewlett Packard replaced Leo Apotheker with former eBay guru Meg Whitman, claiming it needed fresh blood to execute a new strategic direction. While Whitman said she would carry on with her predecessor’s strategy, her appointment raised immediate concerns over the future of the firm’s mobile WebOS software, which were eventually settled in the fourth quarter when the firm announced the platform will be made open source.

Sweeping management changes were also afoot at EverythingEverywhere, with Olaf Swantee named as the replacement for original chief executive Tom Alexander, who resigned. The new boss wasted no time establishing himself in the role, ditching six of the original ten board members in favor of new blood as he sought to overturn falling earnings in 1H11.

Yahoo also took radical action during the quarter, axing chief Carol Bartz following a difficult 32-month tenure that saw the firm’s core advertising business enter a period of decline, the departure of key engineering staff, and little or no improvement to the firm’s stock price.

In an unusual outburst following her sacking, Bartz branded Yahoo’s board “doofuses” who “f****d me over.” The criticism may have cost the former chief a $10 million (€7.6 million) golden handshake by breaching a non-disclosure agreement.