Conference 7.286::digital

	... is the overall move to a "services" company focused on managing at
the account base, and not a "product" driven one where all power resides in
Engineering and Manufacturing.

	The pure fact is, it will take less people than we have now to make that
"new" company successful.  Whether redeployment, early retirements, normal at-
trition, or pure layoffs get it done, it WILL be done!

	BTW John, you'd still be welcomed with open arms back in the field! :>)

    I hope we are smart enough not to sit back and watch our world fall
    apart ala Wang and DG.  I think we have to do major "out-placements"
    starting this quarter, or we will really be in trouble.
    
    I'm concerned when I hear KO say "we need everybody we've got".  I
    don't agree at all.  I haven't seen the slightest dent yet in the
    corporate bureaucracy, and I spend my day operating within it as
    well as being a member.  I also see no real evidence of controlling
    expenses.  My group is still doing international relocations and
    sending staffees on trips to Europe, for example.
    
    I'm also concerned that I sense no real leadership at the helm.  Just
    the same bland platitudes about the best people and best products, etc.
    No one has asked me to do a damned thing out of the ordinary.  Maybe
    we will have to have a quarter or two where we actually lose money in
    order to get things moving!
    
    

    
 > Maybe we will have to have a quarter or two where we actually lose money in
 > order to get things moving!                                         
    
    I'm afraid that's what it may take.....another happening might get
    things moving as well.  If DEC stock gets down to $70 or under, there
    may be "folks" out there who could afford to "buy" us!  It seems pretty
    serious right now.
    
    Steve

While NO company is invulnerable to a determined takeover, I wonder if the 
economic climate hasn't already killed the 20+ billion $$ takeover.  Taking
over Digital just so you can go Chapter 11 doesn't sound too attractive to me.

Ask Champeau and Co.

		Bob Cohen

    In regards to the last paragraph of this editorial, "the number
    of unemployed computer worker that will result from this decision"
    my question is what decision?  Ken Olsen stated last week that DEC
    needs all its employees (I personally disagree with this statement).
    I thought that Ken had final say regarding layoffs.  Was a decision
    made regarding a layoff that has not been publicly announced yet?
    
    

    Back again.....if KO really believes what he said about needing all
    the employees we've got, and I believe he does, that's scary.  He's
    got to be very isolated from the real world.
    
    Now, if we really need them, and I suppose it would be in the field,
    then I would support a system of mandatory reassignments/transfers.
    Implementation would be fairly simple, i.e., your job just went to
    Dubuque.....be there next Wednesday....or else we expect your
    resignation.
    

    Given the likely lead time of DECUSscope, I rather suspect that the
    editorial is doing nothing more than making an oblique reference to
    cost-cutting measures that have already been publicly announced, and
    heavily discussed around here. I wouldn't assume DECUS knows any more
    than the press.

re: .6,

>    i.e., your job just went to
>    Dubuque.....be there next Wednesday....or else we expect your
>    resignation.
    
	I wouldn't mind being moved to Dubuque Iowa, as I too am aware of
    the hidden Iowa wonderland.  Dubuque, Iowa and neighboring Galena, Illinois
    in particular with their beautiful Mississippi river bluffs, have the
    best skiing in the region, not to mention water sports, cheap labor, 
    along with a rich history similar to New England.

	The only thing is, DEC has an uncanny knack of focussing most of its
    US Engineering research labs (which I would be most interested in) in the
    coastal regions.  IBM, along with several other companies, on the other
    hand, have long since tapped into the highly educated midwestern region.
    Why can't DEC do this as well?

				    -davo
			   (former Iowa City resident)

	RE: DECUSOPE

	I agree with Paul. It's not likely that they are reporting anything
	that is either inside (future) news or anything else that's not old
	news. Perhaps they mean the buy out for select manufacturing people
	or the hiring freeze.

	RE: .6
>    Back again.....if KO really believes what he said about needing all
>    the employees we've got, and I believe he does, that's scary.  He's
>    got to be very isolated from the real world.

	I'm pleased that someone with a greater knowledge of Digitals
	financial situation and resource requirements than the President
	of the Corporation has taken the time to reply here. Thank you.

	Perhaps you can tell us which 50,000 people we don't need while
	you're here? Engineering people appear to be running a little
	tight right now. I don't personally know any groups running over
	staffed. Perhaps you want to cut sales people? I've heard that
	since we've only cut, what 4,000-8,000 manufacturing people we
	could cut some more there. Though if we get a big demand for
	9000s or workstations we could be in a bind. But I guess we could
	save money by not building those systems.

	Maybe we could cut CSSE? It's all overhead right? I don't know
	how many people it'd be though. Perhaps we can cut marketing?
	After all everyone already knows about DEC. 

	I don't know were we have excess. We've got a lot a middle management
	whose roles I don't understand. Is that where to cut? Who determines
	which ones go and where? Still don't think you'll find 50,000
	extras there.

				Alfred

    Hang on, .6 is right.  Calculate the revenues generated per employee of
    Digital and its competitors and you'll see that clearly.  It's not
    rocket science, and it's no secret.
    
    But where to make reductions?  I couldn't begin to tell you.

    RE: .10 The right thing to do is to raise the revenues per employee.
    Just reducing the number of employees without raising the revenue
    per employee just shrinks the total revenue. 
    
    		Alfred

    Ah, but which would be easier?  8^(

RE: .15
>    RE: .10 The right thing to do is to raise the revenues per employee.
>    Just reducing the number of employees without raising the revenue
>    per employee just shrinks the total revenue. 
  
How much revenue did JEC bring in?  Getting rid of organization
that engage in that sort of Mickey Mouse not only does not affect
revenue but it decreases expenses and increases profit.

John, Revenue Producer

       
       
       RE: .13
       
       	Amen!!
       
       	Some places to cut? Wow, that's a toughy.. Middle Management is
       	probably the place to start. Hmmm, maybe if we had an org chart
       	we could look at..
       
       							mike

Middle management IS being cut!  I know it 'cause i'm in that category
and we're currently in musical chairs mode (the chairs are being pulled
out from under us fast, believe me!).  My interpretation of Ken's
statement is that we need to maintain the headcount we have now.  We do.

The problem is: we don't have the right skill mix for that headcount.
Reshuffling the same under-skilled/untrainable people around does nothing
for us.  Dumping a whole lot of people also does nothing unless we can
bring in the skills that we need to replace them.  That's NOT easy.

In the Dubuque example, if we REALLY need people in Dubuque, then trying
to farm some people out there as a way of forcing them out of the company
does NOTHING to solve Dubuque's problems.  If i'm the Dubuque manager,
saddling me with a whole lot of open reqs at this point is just about
worthless in terms of solving my business needs.

There's a structural problem in the U.S. economy that we can't seem to
get around.  Our educational system has done sh*t for us in terms of
producing adequate numbers of candidates with the right skills.  That
really devalues open reqs.  Just cutting headcount and forcing the highly
valued employees to produce more leads to massive burnout.  So all we're
left with is the conundrum of maintaining headcount and trying to re-skill
employees who have fallen into the twilight zone because of changing
technology/business needs.  This is a pretty bitter pill to swallow,
since we don't have any kind of assurance that we can even barely succeed.
								paul

    DEC's revenue/employee is very low compared to the industry.
    
    Lets see now.
    
    What I see of DEC's stuff is impressive quality-wise, hardware- and
    software-wise.  This is one of KO's hot buttons.  I think he is right. 
    I do not see anyone else's stuff to be able to make a good comparison
    though.
    
    I personally think I do quality software work (in the field, SWS/PSS). 
    It always takes longer to do than I (and maybe my boss's) would like it
    to.  I can relate that to revenue/employee.
    
    What to do about it?  I don't know.  I personally am not going to
    compromise any more than I absolutely have to in order to keep feeding
    my kids!
    
    Fred

    We have to set up a system to reward performance. None of that "well
    you are a 2 performer, but you are in the top 90 percentile, so we can
    only give you 1% raise". With the middle management ranks diminishing,
    it is hard to justify promotions from principal software specialist.
    The salary equlity principle prevents managers from having a serious
    imbalance in the group for "equal" performance, yet it rewards
    mediocrity. For top performers sky should be the limit. You cannot
    build DIGITAL on mediocrity.
    
    We hear of so many programs started by all levels of management. All I
    hear is strategy. We have so many people to plan strategies, yet very
    few to implement it. What we need is more people worried about
    the tactical part of the business. The pyramid is too thick in the middle.
    
    BTW, I think that low morale is another serious problem in the
    trenches. How do we take care of that?
    
    Anil.

re: .15,

> There's a structural problem in the U.S. economy that we can't seem to
> get around.  Our educational system has done sh*t for us in terms of
> producing adequate numbers of candidates with the right skills.

	Wrongo!  DEC just isn't looking hard enough for people - that's our
    own fault.  Why is it, for example, that DEC barely even bothers to
    recruit people from the midwest?  DEC is practically unheard of at the
    University of Iowa for example, and there are a lot of extremely good
    candidates graduating from that Comp Sci, Engineering, and other related
    departments every year.  Why is it, that IBM, Intel, Data General, Texas
    Instruments, and a host of other computer related companies always managed
    to find their way to Iowa City, and DEC can't?

	I'm sure other midwestern universities have similar problems connecting
    with DEC too (not to mention the rest of the world's universities).  To
    tell you the truth, I had barely even heard of DEC until I literally packed
    my bags and came out to Massachusetts looking for a job.  Even then, I
    never had any luck writing letters or going to tradeshows where DEC was
    "recruiting" people (if you can call taking resumes recruiting - the only
    DEC booth I ever saw at a tradeshow was pathetic looking and they weren't
    interviewing anybody - just taking resumes to file in the circular file).
    If it wasn't for the fact that I met a former DEC secretary who was
    currently working at a local startup firm who then mentioned me to a DEC
    employee at a local cocktail party, I would probably be working at NEC
    right now instead (as I was in the process of going through 2nd interviews
    there at the time back in '84).

	Let's face it, corporate DEC anyway is staffed to the gills with
    almost exclusively New Englanders and since almost every external
    interview here is through word of mouth, then nepotism and the buddy
    system runs rampid throughout this company.  Perhaps there's also a
    certain amount of Ivy League snobbism at work too?  Whatever the case,
    it's not that the US Educational system is necessarily putting out poor
    quality people as much as we here at DEC aren't recruiting enough of the
    quality people that it does produce.

				    -davo

    Well said .18!  

    You've got it .18!!  Corporate staff is far too full of people from
    Massachusetts who have little sense of what resources are available
    in the United States.  But, it isn't just the MidWest.  Basically, we
    barely have what you could call a college recruitment program.
    
    On revenue per employee.  That is a key business metric, and we stink
    in that area.  I believe we are the lowest in the computer industry.
    Compared with others we are really sad -- Sony's is four times ours.
    
    By the way, I'm originally from Iowa too.

    
    RE .17
    
    I'm sure that our currrent salary & compensation structures have
    a great deal to do with the number of highly-educated people that
    we attract as well.
    
    ed.

    Back to the main topic of this note, the question still remains
    unanswered.  Does the author of this editorial that was published
    have any proof of layoffs?  He refers to DEC's decision to layoff
    employees and discusses it.  What decision?  DEC employees have
    not been told anything yet?  Where did he get his information?
    

re: .22 and others...

When I read the article I thought he was talking about Digital becoming a
Systems Integrator, with the obvious conclusion from that being that you don't
need as many 'creator' type people when you buy most of your product line from
someone else.

Bob

	I've moved the recruiting rathole to note #475 (see #475.2).  I
    just finished entrering some interesting statistics on high school
    graduation rankings (along with comparative size, money spent on pupils,
    and money spent on teachers) in all of the U.S. states.

	When you look at the average levels of education in the states in
    which DEC has chosen to locate, I think you'll see why it might appear 
    that the U.S. is producing lousy candidates.  Next maybe I'll try and
    find some decent statistics on colleges and universities.

				   -davo

    Re U. of Iowa:

    Don't worry, DEC isn't doing *any* college hiring.  I'm told that
    the last time this happened (1983), it took several years to
    cultivate the college recruitment offices after we resumed college
    hires.

    The college-hire program still flickers with a few select grads coming
    through the lobby (at least since October).
    
    About 9 months ago, Jack Smith addressed the ZKO population on the
    "State-of-Engineering", or something similar to it..  He was asked if
    DEC was considering future lay-offs.  His response was "Everything is
    up for grabs!"
    
    I thinks DEC will need to make some critical decisions over the next
    few months regarding the "excess" number of employees.  I've heard that
    DEC has 25,000 "too many employees" on the payroll.  Employees will be
    faced with some tough choices.
    
    I honestly believe that we will not have a "pink slip" day at DEC.  I
    do believe, however, that some of us will have a "make a decision" day.
    
    Over 40% of DEC's population of 125,800 is outside the US;  it's
    apparant that choices and decisions will be global, not just in New
    England which as about 50,000 employees.
    
    DEC needs to do something about the excess; we can't let idle resources
    place a burden on the company...
    
    ........ but be fair about it!

�               <<< Note 1015.12 by WORDY::JONG "Steve Jong/NaC Pubs" >>>
�                    -< Raise the bridge?  Or lower the river? >-
    
    Looks like others agree that raising the bridge is easier.
    See note 1010.43 on more about Education Bridge Package.

    re .21 -- don't kid yourself that DEC's compensation schedules are all
    that great.  Basically, we are about in the middle.  You can make a
    lot more money in many other companies.

    Sometimes I think that the industry press hopes that the old axiom
    will work:  if you say something is true many enough times, it will
    come true.  The talk of layoffs might well come true if enough DEC
    employees start to believe in them and morale and productivity drops.
    
    Digital is fighting itself on this issue.  KO seems to try and reduce
    the double-speak by being forceful and direct, and then just about all
    his executive management seems to undercut him.  After this happens so
    many times in public, questions begin to arise about who's really in
    control of the company.  The press/rumor-mongers *seem* to be guilty
    of bias, but in reality, they are having just as much trouble trying
    to understand the situation as we are (we being the employees).
    
    To me, there are four key issues:
    
    Leadership - Ken Olsen is our identifiable leader, and he must have the
    full backing of management in terms of good information, support, and
    personal committment.  I believe that Ken already has this from the
    rank and file, but I think that he doesn't have it from middle manage-
    ment, and that is essential.  Perhaps a few salutory firings and leap-
    frog promotions would get the message across.  The current situation
    only continues to erode employee morale and public confidence in DEC
    as a viable company for the future.
    
    Focus - The company has to focus on the customer and the market.  For
    so long we have been lucky that we were able to excel based mainly on
    excellent products.  But in today's marketplace, the customer has been
    inundated with excellent products, and is looking for something more.
    We have to maintain our product excellence, and improve our service
    and customer relationships.  There are a couple of companies out there
    that conclusively prove the value of excellent service, and we need to
    follow their example.  WordPerfect and IBM come to mind.
    
    Productivity - We in the field are drowning in a sea of red tape.  We
    are also guilty of compartmentalization and redundancy.  The matrix
    management system has got to go, since it doubles our overhead costs
    in management (I have *at least* two chains of management up to 
    Corporate to pay for, not just one, and these folks make big bucks).
    Technical snobbery has to be put aside, I can't even count the number
    of times I've heard "I don't do Windows/PC's/coding/whatever".  We
    all have to do whatever it takes to sell things to the customer and
    make them happy so they'll buy more.
    
    Cost Control - This one is difficult, because so many methods of cost
    control lead directly to more red tape and less productivity, and even
    then, we aren't assured of any real payback.  This is already the case
    in the field.  I believe that we need radical new ideas for reducing
    expenses, but I only have one to propose. 
    
    I would propose that we look at expenses as kind of a disease or an
    addiction, like drugs.  A lot of us have problems with expenses because
    we don't even realize we *have* a problem.  I think we need education
    of every single employee about the evils of expenses, and how to control
    them.  This doesn't mean yet another program, but it means direct manager
    and employee involvment on just what everyone's responsibilities are in
    controlling expenses.  The idea is to refrain from just admonishing
    everyone to "cut costs", and instead help employees to understand the
    real benefits of things like planning ahead on business trips, etc.
    
    Too often, managers fall into the trap of non-communication.  I have
    sat through so many meetings where a manager will get up and present
    two slides:  a graph and a table of numbers, usually showing something
    like budgeted expenses and actual expenses.  That is the extent of the
    presentation, ending with the warning that "these numbers are bad, and
    we have to do something."  This is a guaranteed loser, because the
    average employee does not "live" with the numbers, already knows that
    the situation is bad, and gains absolutely no help from the manager
    in placing the matter in perspective.  If they don't understand the
    situation, they aren't going to be much help in changing it.
    
    Leadership, focus, productivity, and cost control, in that order, are
    the only things that will keep our no-layoff tradition in place.  We
    now stand at the point where some of our competitors were three years
    ago:  we feel uncomfortable, we think that we may be ill, but we're
    not sure what the disease is.  We haven't started hemorraging yet like
    Wang or DG, we don't have the fatigue that Prime and Unisys have, but
    we don't have any guarantees that we won't develop these symptoms if
    we cannot cure the disease in time.
    
    Geoff
    

    I look forward to the day when we finally pull out of the recession
    without the need for a layoff.  Will it happen?  I don't know. 
    However, I wonder what the industry and press reaction will be if
    Digital is able to weather the storm by restructuring its workforce
    such that we become more successful by being more responsive to
    our customers' needs.
    
    Mark.

    Re: -.1  There'll be another sorm?

    re: .30 (reactions if Digital pulls through w/o layoffs)
    
    I don't expect much to be published if that occurs.  Most of the people
    screaming "layoff, layoff!" seem to be stock market analysts, etc. 
    These people make their living by proclaiming to have the correct
    handle on things.  Therefore, I don't expect to see them drawing
    attention to their obvious failure should Digital thrive by doing the
    exact opposite of their recommendations.
    
    Likewise, our competitors in the industry are not too likely to applaud
    our success, especially if they layed-off people themselves.
    
    People don't like to look bad.  And the people who are screaming
    "layoff" are the same people who are always quoted in the media.  Don't
    expect too many stories of the "Digital miracle" if we are successful
    by ignoring the people who speak to/through the media.
    
    -- Russ

RE: <<< Note 1015.32 by NEWVAX::PAVLICEK "Zot, the Ethical Hacker" >>>
>       -< I don't think it would get too much press >-

Within the last month I've been hearing rumours of a layoff in the
works, and noticed no mention of it in this conference.

Has anyone else been hearing these tidbits?

At first I figured it was just market analysts desires translated
to employee fears, but I've been hearing more and more recently.
Terms like 'Workforce Balancing', 'Resource Balancing'...in fact,
our group will be having a meeting next Monday about 'Workforce
Balancing'...this is a week after I heard the term and was given
a synopsis by another employee.

Dan

    The rumors have been going around Maynard because sales aren't looking
    good.  New contracts are coming in, but we don't know the exact
    numbers.  Yes, there is more talk around headquarters needing to
    get rid of excess...how that will be done is open to rumor.  The
    guess is a package like the manufacturing package will be offered,
    but this is only speculation and nothing has been said officially.
    
    If anyone knows of anything definite, let's not add to the rumor
    mill, but please enter it here.
    
    rr

RE:                 <<< Note 1015.34 by USEM::ROSENZWEIG >>>
>                           -< only rumors here.. >-
>    If anyone knows of anything definite, let's not add to the rumor
>    mill, but please enter it here.

This Monday our group met to discuss Workforce Balancing.  This meeting
was to quell rumours that have been going around regarding layoffs.

Apparently the plan is:

	Deadline: March 30 - Complete an evaluation of projects and
				personel required to complete the
				projects.  Evaluate skill sets and
				peoplepower required to complete and
				priority among other projects within
				the group and corporation.  Evaluate
				skill sets of individuals, chiefs and
				indians.

	Deadline: April 30 - Balance the workforce around the prioritized
				projects.  Inform individuals who are no
				longer required to complete low or dropped
				projects to look within and without of
				Digital for jobs.

	Deadline: July 1  -  People who haven't found a position are placed
				into a Workforce Balancing CC.

There are plans for COD III in the June timeframe.  Dates are subject to
change.

Dan

    re .18,
    
    It is not true that DEC does not have a strong presence in Midwest.  I
    got my M.S. from U of I at Champaign-Urbana.  There DEC has a strong
    presence.  As a matter of fact, my advisor's research was partially
    funded by a group in Hudson, Mass.  DEC is also one of the contributers
    to the supercomputing center where I did my research.  I have met many
    coop students from U of I working for DEC since I came to Mass, and 
    many others who graduated from various schools in Chicago.
    
    Eugene
                       
                

re: .36,

>    It is not true that DEC does not have a strong presence in Midwest.  I
>    got my M.S. from U of I at Champaign-Urbana.

	Ah yes, little Chicago!  I grew up there - spent a total of ten
    years in those two towns (by the way, it's pronounced Urbana-Champaign
    - guess which town I lived in?  ;^)

	Actually, I'm glad to hear that DEC has a presence at the U of
    Illinois, as that school is an excellent school.  I'm just a little
    peeved that DEC apparently blew it at the U of Iowa many years back
    (something about recruitment rules I guess).

				   -davo

p.s.	Did you ever play EMPIRE on the Plato system there?  How about
	some of the other games?  We used to pull all-nighters playing
	those games in the U of Illinois computer labs whenever I came
	back to visit my old elementary school buddies (the Wei's).

    re .37,
    
    Well, the telephone book on my desk seiz its Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
    Bell, blah blah..., so I guess you are wrong. :-) :-)  If I remember
    correctly one of the local TV news anchor calls it Champaign-Urbana,
    and another calls it Urbana-Champaign.  The first thing that baffles me
    about the local news were the daily report of hog prices (instead of
    the usual stock prices).  I remember going to a conference with my
    advisor and one of his computer friends from MIT asked me what do we
    do in the middle of the flat land, and my answer was:  "While you folks
    in MIT are busy making silocon chips, we are pretty happy at making
    good corn chips."
    
    Eugene 

  <<	Ah yes, little Chicago!  I grew up there - spent a total of ten
  <<  years in those two towns (by the way, it's pronounced Urbana-Champaign
  <<  - guess which town I lived in?  ;^)

Actually, the trick is to combine the two into a single word: Chambana

(other choice would be Urbane, which clearly .......)

When I was there, the six-building complex I lived in was called
MRH (Men's Residence Hall). My son now lives there, men and women live on
alternate floors, and the place is called "Six Pack".

	/Marvin

> When I was there, the six-building complex I lived in was called
> MRH (Men's Residence Hall).

Ahh, yes.  We do go back a ways, don't we Marvin?  (who, with his twin,
carried me across the stage in our mutual acting debut).

The computer industry has gone downhill since its peak of perfection,
Illiac-I.

Martin.

re: last few, memories of Urbana-Champaign ;^), etc.,

	I'll never forget the debut of the movie 2001 back in 1968/69 era
    (just before we moved to Iowa), when, in a crowded movie theatre, HAL
    was in the middle of being "deprogrammed" by Dr. Floyd (after being
    naughty) and at one point, HAL mentioned that he was created at the
    University of Illinois, and you should have heard the crowd roar!!!
    Never in my entire life have ever heard a theatre crowd roar with
    such enthusiasm (and I even worked as a doorman for a year or so back
    in college).

				    -davo

p.s.	You have to understand that living and/or going to school in the
	midwest is a very unglorified experience, and to be chosen as the
	birthplace of HAL at that time and place was, by far, the greatest
	honor anyone could have possibly imagined.  It was unreal!

    
    These two items were taken from VTX Livewire World News Section on
    3 March 1990. 
    
    Note Win Hindle's phrasing around the term 'no lay-offs' (the quotes
    are part of the actual announcement). To me, this tends to leave
    plenty of room for interpreting what a 'lay-off' means.
    
    "Oh, we have plenty of assignments in our Nome office. What, you
    won't relocate to Nome? Hmmm, we are willing to reassign you, but
    you won't take our generous offer, so.................." 
    
      Alan
    
    **************************************************************************
    
      Snapshot of Digital's current challenges and plans

  At a recent address in Merrimack, N.H., Win Hindle, senior vice president, 
  discussed the challenges facing Digital today: 

  "Over the past six years we have built up work that is not essential.  We 
  have become too complex and now must simplify our company, our products, and 
  our total organization.  All of our energies must be focused out to the 
  customer.  We tend to waste too much energy interacting with each other 
  rather than focusing outward.
 
  "Digital must be a planned company.  Every group must have a plan regarding 
  necessary work.  This means work which focuses directly on customers and 
  products, plus any internal interdependencies needed to service our 
  customers.  All work will be looked at and continually reviewed throughout 
  the rest of FY90.  Those employees involved in unnecessary work will be 
  retrained or transferred, when possible; otherwise some other arrangement 
  will be made.  We do not now foresee the need for 'lay-offs.'  But, 
  unnecessary work must go away.

  "In FY91, Digital must simplify; become easier to do business with; show 
  better fiscal performance; clarify to our customers that we support our 
  own products; do a better job of marketing and getting our messages clear; 
  and strengthen our account teams.  This account team makes up the customer 
  plan, puts all needs into the plan, then implements the plan on a global 
  level.  Account plans are the basic building block of the company.
 
  "Customers want help in solving business problems, in becoming more 
  competitive, in reducing costs, and in preserving their past investments 
  in information systems.  We are in the best position to respond in the 
  industry.  Our strategy is to be open: with DECnet/OSI, Network Applications 
  Support (NAS), UNIX and VMS software, our Windowing interface, and a 
  gateway to IBM's networks.  We will service nearly everyone's products.

  "Our continuing challenges are to make customers number one, to preserve 
  our base values (such as honesty and ethics), to simplify, and to be a 
  model company for our customers."

*****************************************************************************

                          Stock Purchase Rumor 

                        (This is a message from Ken Olsen)

     It has been rumored lately that a number of companies, both 
     domestic and overseas, have expressed an interest in Digital 
     stock.  We feel very confident that if they are buying stock, 
     they are doing it as an investment because they see the inherent 
     quality of Digital.

     Successful Japanese and European business people, for instance, 
     are like Digital.  They take a long-term view, and they believe 
     in long-term investments in people and technology.  Like us, they 
     are willing to make short-term sacrifices for the long-term good 
     of the customer, the company and employees.

	Oh great, now we'll see "The Unnecessary Work Review Committee"
	How many eons is THIS going to take to decide who's necessary and
	who's not?? Geez, if we don't know NOW then we'll never know!!

	It would not surprise me to find a "Committee of Silly Walks"
	lurking deep in DEC's hallowed halls.

	Incredibly frustrated,
							mike

    >	It would not surprise me to find a "Committee of Silly Walks"
    >	lurking deep in DEC's hallowed halls.

    Nope, Mike.  This committee was disbanded and superceded by the ...
    
    "Committee for the strategic useage of SPAM in the workplace"!

    ;^)

    =Jp=(not of the parrot sketch, deceased)

RE: .44


	Excellent. :-)

					mike

	P.S. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquistion!

>           <<< Note 1015.43 by STAR::MFOLEY "Rebel Without a Clue" >>>
>                          -< John Cleese! Save us!! >-

Interestingly enough, John Cleese CAN save us.
He is now associated with (a principal in?) a company that makes 
business training films.
Two that I have seen are "Meetings, Bloody Meetings" and "The Importance
of Making Mistakes."
These, and perhaps others, are available from DEC libraries.

- tom]

re Note 1015.46 by REGENT::POWERS:

> Interestingly enough, John Cleese CAN save us.
> He is now associated with (a principal in?) a company that makes 
> business training films.
> Two that I have seen are "Meetings, Bloody Meetings" and "The Importance
> of Making Mistakes."

        I loved that "Meetings, Bloody Meetings" tape!

        Unfortunately, my manager who got that tape and made his
        staff sit through it nevertheless did absolutely nothing to
        change the ways in which his meetings were run.

        Bob

    Talk about bloated bureaucracy and red tape! This company is choking on
    it. Sometimes it seems that there's a new committee every day.There IS
    a new management job every day.We've got VPs for *every* reason.Oh,for
    the old days when you could actually get something done by talking to a
    couple of people! Maybe our ultimate survival depends on us getting
    back there to more basic times.Maybe we could start by getting rid of
    lots of people.
    
    Ken

RE: .46

	That's why I said that.. :-)

						mike

    BTW, 
    
    	Before you pass, what is the airspeed of a laden swallow?
    

>    	Before you pass, what is the airspeed of a laden swallow?
    
African or European?

    I don't know!  Ahhhhhhhhhhhh......
    

    
    Are you suggesting that coconuts migrate?
    

Anybody interested in a stroll down memory lane?  Take a look at the first
several replies in this topic.

    I don't recommend it...  On the other hand, I do.  Talk about prophets
    of loss...
    

Yea, my favorite prophet of doom (Dick Lennard) had some replies...

You were right all along, Dick.

Lee