Shareholders at Hewlett Packard have approved non-binding proposals calling for executive pay, bonuses and stock options to be more closely tied to performance. The move is largely being seen as a slap from shareholders to the HP board after alleged spying scandals in 2006 ; as well as dissatisfaction with the amount of money former CEO Carly Fiorina received after being dismissed by the board of directors.

"We need to transform our board the same way we need to transform our company," company Chairman and CEO Mark Hurd said. "No one is proud of what happened last year, and you have my commitment that we will do hard work to deliver a board that you can be proud of."

Shareholders also passed a "Poison Pill" proposal, which is an anti-takeover measure which sees shares devalued, but allows shareholders to make it more difficult for another company to buy up shares in a takeover bid.

"As with most public companies, these are non-binding proposals that were preliminarily approved by shareholder vote today. Once the votes are officially tallied, they will be reviewed and acted upon by the board, with the serious consideration they deserve," HP said of the proposals in a statement.