American doctors have always fought for two things above all else: professional and business autonomy.

ECONOMIST: HMOs

Google is also making a rather conventional move to create business units whose heads have more autonomy over the way their operations are run.

ECONOMIST: The internet

Regional Autonomy Watch, a pro-business lobbying group, tracks the many new money-making schemes cooked up by local governments.

ECONOMIST: How far should regional autonomy go?

Although these made perfect strategic sense, the business unit leaders perceived the shifts as a potential loss of autonomy, power, and control.

FORBES: Three Steps for Overcoming Passive Resistance

Its webOS announcement was made in conjunction with news that it may acquire a software company called Autonomy and that it is considering spinning off its PC business.

FORBES: Mobile Ecosystems In Flux As HP Exits Phone, Tablet Business

The company may experience lower revenues related to software and services due to the alleged fraud by Autonomy, which may have misrepresented the size of its business and consequentially the potential growth opportunity for HP and we will keep a close watch on this division in 2013.

FORBES: Updating HP To $16 After Weak Results And Autonomy Fraud Allegations

Being one's own brand comes with a level of autonomy, and as Carter may soon reveal, that means leaving one business relationship for another.

WSJ: The Impact of Jay-Z's Moves

To emphasize how Autonomy would transform HP into a software giant focused on high-profit business customers, and, perhaps, to forestall some nagging questions about PCs and the tablet failure, HP also announced that it was exploring the sale or spinoff of the PC business and that it was closing the WebOS device business.

FORBES: HP's $12 Billion Conference Call