Conference 7.286::digital

I thought the consensus of this conference is that DEC has too many VPs.  If
that's so, isn't getting rid of five of them a good thing?

--PSW

    We also have too many notes discussing too many VP's.
    
    By the way, if you are going to send mail around the company announcing
    who's resigned, be sure to indicate if this is a rumor, or if it is
    confirmed what the source of confirmation is.

    
    	re .2
    
               What makes you say that we have "...to many notes discussing
    	       too many VP's."   It sounds like a legitimate topic of
    	       conversation to me!
    
                                          Just `akin	 

    Yeah .3, I agree with you.  Personally, I wish it had announced the
    resignation of 55 of 'em.  

>      <<< Note 1599.1 by PSW::WINALSKI "Careful with that VAX, Eugene" >>>
>
>I thought the consensus of this conference is that DEC has too many VPs.  If
>that's so, isn't getting rid of five of them a good thing?
    
    Attempting to read and quote the collective mind of the conference:
    
    Yes, getting rid of VPs is a good thing
    But perhaps VPs have a good vantage point from which they can view the
    company, and so the fact that they are leaving is disturbing...
    
    	Andrew.

    
    so where is the usual and customary press release? 
    
    this should be big news, if its true.

        Re: .0

>   By the way, the memo was not classified as confidential or restricted
>   in any way.

        That doesn't surprise me.  The Digital standards on labeling
        proprietary information are mostly ignored--a large portion
        of the documents I see are labeled incorrectly if they are
        labeled at all.

        					B.J.

    Interesting observations.  If I understand, appointing lots of VPs is a
    bad thing because it implies the inflation of upper management
    structure.  The simplistic view is that the numbers need to be trimmed.
    But, if VPs are leaving that are respected or somehow deemed valuable
    it's bad thing because it implies a weakening of the quality of upper
    management.  That is, the best talent "seeks opportunities elsewhere".
    
    Anybody notice a pattern here?  Hint, lower levels of employees have
    already seen layoffs to correct excess or inflated capabilities.  
    It has been proposed that some of our best employees may have sought
    opportunities elsewhere.  Those who were transitioned were certainly
    encouraged to do so.  Now that the workforce has been reduced,
    perhaps someone is taking a look at management?
    
    Steve

    
    It can really be enjoyable to see rumors making their way around this 
    Company these days.
    
            FACT:   George Chamberlain has NOT resigned, and has stated
                    emphatically to Dave Packer that he has no intentions 
                    of doing so, and is amazed that he taking 1 single
                    vacation day has stirred so much rumoring.
    
            FACT:   Osterhoff HAS resigned to pursue personal interests, but
                    is assisting in determining a permenant replacement.
                    It is true that Rich Nortz has resigned to work at Wang.
    
    
    Kevin
    
    

    RE: -1. Well 2 for one so far, how about the rest of the VPs mentioned?
            could you confirm or deny? My money is on the rumors being
            better 60/40.

    Makes you wonder what's going on in Finance since 2 (possibly 3) are
    related to that organization.
    
    Mike

[forwards deleted]

                    DIGITAL INTERNAL USE ONLY Document

                  I N T E R O F F I C E   M E M O R A N D U M

                                        Date:     19-Sep-1991 08:34am EST
                                        From:     Jack Smith
                                                  SMITH.JACK AT A1 at CORA @ CORE
                                        Dept:     S.V.P. of Operations
                                        Tel No:   223-2231

TO: See Below

Subject: INTERNAL ANNOUNCEMENT                                                  

*****************************************************************
                      INTERNAL ANNOUNCEMENT

            PLEASE COMMUNICATE TO YOUR DIRECT REPORTS
*****************************************************************


We regret to announce that Dave Grainger has decided to resign 
from Digital.  Dave has made many significant contributions to 
the Company in his 22 years of service.  He will clearly be 
missed.

Dave, through his excellent business acumen and collaborative and 
caring management style, has earned the respect and friendship of 
many employees at all levels of the Company.  He has made many 
major contributions to the overall growth and success of Digital, 
specifically in building the Services organization into a 
leadership industry standard.

Since joining Digital in 1969, Dave has held several key Senior 
Management positions including Regional Manager for Northern 
Europe, Vice-President for one of three U.S. Management Centers, 
Vice-President for Field Service worldwide, Vice-President U.S. 
Sales and Services and Vice-President, Corporate Channels.

Please join me in wishing Dave the best in his future endeavors.                
                               





Distribution:
    

    As the person who wrote the memo that has been distributed and talked
    about so much, I thought I'd let you know a little about it. I received
    the information from a friend. I stripped the headers and forwards
    because I hate to have to wade through them, and forwarded the note to
    the group that I manage. I did that because I have promised to share
    with them whatever information I get, whether it is rumor or fact. I
    feel, and they agree, that they have a right to know what is being
    talked about.
    
    Whatever happened to that note after I sent it is outside of my
    control. I specifically said that I didn't have any specific
    information. I'm sorry if some of you didn't like it. I didn't send it
    to you.
    
    By the way, Information Management means that we supply business
    information to a set of users. We are part of Information Management
    and Technology - what used to be called IS.
    
    Evie

    I wonder if the fight in the parking lot between D.G and D.Z. had
    anything to do with D.G. seeking other endeavors. The fight was no
    contest according to latest ESPN ringside announcers.

    RE: -1 Huh????  

    
    who is DZ?

    Dave Grainger and Don Zereski. Mean to tell me no one has heard about
    it. We did down here in NJ, approximately last November when DG was
    pushed downward to other remote respnsiblities.

re: .18

>    Dave Grainger and Don Zereski. Mean to tell me no one has heard about
>    it. We did down here in NJ, approximately last November when DG was

You're correct.  A lot of us haven't heard about this.  Care to enlighten us?

    The DZ rumors may come closer to reality after today's DVN where DZ
    basically interrupted KO and told him to quit preannouncinga new
    high-end product....! KO was speechless for a few minutes and I suspect
    he was saying silently to himself...."That's "one".....". Or maybe
    there were other times and he was saying "That's three!" Be interesting
    to know...!
    
    And I see Bob Glorioso took the next step (a leave of absence).
    
    I've heard that LOTS of VP's will be affected in the upcoming Oct. 
    "Rightsizing". The small number of VP departures coupled with the large
    number remaining and new ones being announced has been the subject of
    much negative comment ever since the "rightsizing" began. I think
    many people have been waiting for the executive ranks to relect the
    reductions too, and this may just be the time (???). 
    
    

    re: last few on DZ and DG
    
    Reportedly these two had a fist fight in the parking lot of the mill. 
    However I would still classify this as "just a rumor".
    
    /d.c.

    RE: -1
    
    The parking lot in question was Stow, OGO, not the Mill.
    
    Jim C.
    

    ..and supposedly it was more of a shoving match.

    
    
    	Just got mail stating that Gary Eichhorn Vice President General 
    	Systems Buissiness resigned effective today.
    
    
    						Mike
    						----

    Ever since I started at DEC,it's been my understanding that fighting on
    company premises was grounds for immediate dismissal. For this reason I
    think that DG vs DZ was a shoving match only. (but,I wasn't there,so
    what do *I* know)
    
    Ken

    
    Geeeez.
    
    This is starting to sound like a bunch of bored housewives talking
    about their favorite soap opera.
    

    Dick Doerr, Western U.S. V.P. of Sales, resigned effective Oct. 18 to
    join Oracle Corp.

    What I hope is that everyone gets the same amount of warning
    that they need to find a new job! 
    
    If not I hope corporate attornys are ready!
    
    buzz

    Ron Eisenhauer: new International and Customer Relations vice
    president, reporting to Don Zereski.

    Jack MacKeen: new vice president of Government Systems, reporting
    to Don Zereski.

 	-- from 10/21 _digital today_

        Ron Eisenhauer has been a VP (central area sales) for about 5-7
        years. He was among the first group added to the original 9 VPs.
        Since then everyone above a software specialist has VP in their
        title.

    I just received a mail message naming four new VP's!
    
    How many does this make?
    
    Why does DEC have so many?  Does having so many make sense in these
    difficult times?
    
                                             
    
    
    
    

    The four new VPs (Keating, Gyllstrom, Roberson, Keillor) are
    Engineering managers. IMHO it's about time! These people manage major
    parts of our business, and should be recognized for this.
    
    Back to real work.
    
    /Tim

     The memo I got named;

         Frederick,
         Harbert,
         Lipcon, and
         Supnik

     to Engineering Vice President appointment's.

    Believe me, all the new VP's named deserved it.  I've been in Keating's
    organization for 8+ years and we've been expecting his promotion for
    almost that long.
    
    Supnik came and gave us a talk yesterday that was really exciting.
    
    These guys are the bread and butter of this company.
    
    -Ken

    Exactly what is it that they have received by being named as VP's?
    Supnik was already a Corporate Consulting Engineer - one of a very few.
    As such he probably had more prestige than as a VP.
    
    /andy

 >     Supnik was already a Corporate Consulting Engineer - one of a very few.
 >     As such he probably had more prestige than as a VP.

    That depends who with. Within the corporation, a corporate
    consulting engineer probably has more technical clout than a lot
    of VPs (there are fewer CCEs than VPs). But outside the company
    can be a different matter. There are places where title really
    makes a difference in negotiations. And [this is a second hand
    supposition] I also heard it suggested that VPs, as officers of
    the company, are able to make more binding commitments on the
    company than "mere" high-level engineers.

    So there are quite tangible differences.

    How can a job with so many incumbents be 'worth more' than such a
    senior engineering position with very few?
    
    Ah well, never did understand corporate politics.
    
    /a

    I always have. But once they cotton on to the fact that there are many
    VP's it may devalue their impressions...

I guess I found it difficult to relate to all the previous announcements
about VP's in other groups, and the subsequent criticisms.  The announcements
weren't generally coupled with before and after org charts.  Since I don't
know the top level org chart very well, I could never tell whether a
given promotion meant person A replacing person B, or a new position was
being creating for a VP, or someone was simply given a new title.  For the
last possibility, I never really considered what that meant for the group
under the new VP.

In this case, not only do the people deserve it, but it also reflects well
on the underlying organization.  Keating's group, SDT, has been a major
contributor to the success of Digital (if I do say so myself), not to
mention continued profitability.  In some sense I view it as a
promotion for the entire group.  I believe it's valuable for all of us
when software gets more recognition at the executive level.

  Gary

    Given that Dan Quayle is a Vice President I doubt that anyone could be
    impressed with the title.

    Jamie.

    	A priceless response !!!!

    Another VP as of yesterday.
    
    Larry Walker - Manufacturing and Design Technology Vice President

    Anyone got a current total?

    I'm not sure of the exact number but I think it's somewhere around 100.
    
    Ken

    RE: .45
    
    >Anyone got a current total?
    
    My understanding is that computing technology has not yet advanced to
    the point of being able to provide that information.
    

    I've got an abacus you can borrow.

    Jamie.

    If you look into the January 27, 1992 issue of "Digital Today" page 7
    has a list of 20 people who were "recently named to the position of
    Digital vice presidents".