Conference 7.286::digital

    This isn't meant facetiously, but maybe if Control Data had
    their own Notes it wouldn't have worked out as neatly as it did
    (for the management, may they rot for eternity), because somebody,
    somewhere would have leaked.  When people know what's going on it's
    much harder to get screwed.
    
    David 
    (who's_been_through_a_company_collapse_and_got_hurt_while_the_senior_
    management_got_out_early)

    I don't see what high-tech has to do with the problem.  All kinds of
    companies are subject to collapse, not just high-tech ones, and the
    consequences for employees are approximately the same.
        John Sauter

    High-tech businesses are just like any other:  If management is
    unwilling to invest in the future, or react to market demands, then
    they will be unsuccessful, and the employees will suffer.  Such
    an event has happened to Control Data and ETA.
    
    There is no magic to the phrase high-tech.  Wall Street literally
    translates "high-tech" to be "high-risk".  Historically, high-tech
    firms have failed just as often as traditional ones have.  Anyone
    remember the firm who invented the first pc portable, or the first
    commercial microcomputer operating system?  Anyone still own stock
    in Atari, who pioneered the video-game market?
    
    The bottom line is that you invest in (or work for) companies with
    good management policies and personnel, and stay in for the long
    haul.  Whether they make supercomputers or soap is a secondary issue.
    I would not blame ETA *too much* for their handling of employee
    notification, *if* they treated managers and employees equally.
    Somehow, though, I doubt that's the way it worked out ...
    
    Geoff    

	Minneapolis is not the only place where this happening. A similar
    	case - and similar note from Conference MIDWEST - is included
   	herein as supporting evidence.
    
    	This problem may not be unique to high-tech but it certainly
    	is typical of high-tech when the good times stop rolling...
    
    	I agree with Greg (thank the Lord we work for Digital and may
    	Ken Olsen live forever!).
    
    - Bob
    
               <<< SWSVAX::DISK$UTILITY:[NOTES$LIBRARY]MIDWEST.NOTE;1 >>>
                           -< The American Midwest >-
================================================================================
Note 7.2                      Cincinnati & Vicinity                       2 of 2
AKOV75::BIBEAULT "Corp Financial Strategies"         89 lines   5-APR-1989 12:36
               -< Warning: Greener Pastures Turn Brown Quickly! >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

			     News Bulletin
    		Portions Extracted from ComputerWorld, 27-Mar-89
	    		by Stanley Gibson, CW Staff
    
    CINCINNATI - Cincom Systems, Inc is set to swallow a bitter diet
    pill by instituting dramatic cost-cost cutting measures to stem
    losses.
    
    The moves, which take effect April 1, include mandatory unpaid leaves
    of of four weeks for all staff within the next 90 days. As a result
    of these measures, Cincom may shed from 4% to 8% of its workers
    thru attrition, according to Ron Hank, director of Corporate Relations.
    
    The privately held Cincom did not announce the policies to the public
    or customers but informed employees in a corporate meeting and by
    a memorandum from Chief Executive Officer Tom Nies.
    
    In the memo, a copy of which was obtained by ComputerWorld, Nies
    cited "inadequate performance of [Cincom's] direct sales organizations"
    as a major factor behind the slides. The memo described Cincom's
    fiscal 1989 results as showing a 5% revenue increase over the same
    five-month period a year earlier. However, expenses climbed 11%,
    throwing the firm into the red.
    
    The memorandum further stated that the company will implement a
    plan of "selective reduction of nonperforming regions and/or
    departments and/or personnel an/or product lines and/or activities,"
    none of which were specified.
    
    [ Balance of Article describing impression of events on Cincom's
    customers not reproduced here...]
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    Why, you may ask, was this extract posted in this Conference?
    
    The reasons are:
    
    1.	For each of us to reflect on the differences between how Digital
    	handles business downturns and how others, like Cincom, do and
    	*appreciate* the difference.
    
    	While other companies may be quick to lay off, force early
    	retirement, impose mandatory unpaid leaves, etc., Digital does
    	everything in its power to preserve the jobs and incomes of
    	its employees.
    
    2.	In their quest to "go back home" to the Midwest, some of the
	people I've spoken with are seriously considering "swapping
    	quality of job for quality of life" and leaving Digital for
    	"greener pastures" in the Midwest.
    
    	Cincom, until recently, looked like one of the greener pastures
    	for software and/or marketing people for the Cincinnati area.
    	Up until very recently, Cincom has been getting rave reviews.
    	In the 5-Dec-88 issue of Information Week, for example, Cincom 
    	was touted as one of Cincinnati's "most successful businesses".
    	It was described as a great place to work, where all [not just
    	an elite few] employees were granted stock options and where
    	there was always a "certain mystique about becoming a Cincomer".
    	In fact, one of the most serious problems confronting Cincom,
    	according to Tom Nies, was having "occasional trouble attracting
    	people because of the company's location [Cincinnati area]".
    
    	For a brief fleeting moment, even I, who has already left the
    	Company and returned (and thus know better than to fall for
    	the "greener pastures" idea), was tempted.
    
    	Now, the roof has fallen in and those stock options will be
    	needed by all Cincomers to pay the mortgage and grocery bills
    	in the near future.
    
    The point is:	Think twice - no twenty times! - before you
    			leap!
    
    			The Midwest may be appealing but it's worth
    			waiting to find a suitable slot with DEC to
    			get out there.
    
    			Going back home may be appealing and wouldn't
    			it be even more so when enjoying the job and
    			income security you do here [with Digital]?
    
    The benefit of not hastily persuing "external" options is that,
    while you may not get back sooner, you may be able to hold onto
    your job longer.
    
    Just some friendly advice from someone who's left Digital then returned
    and wouldn't recommend the experience to anyone!
    
    Bob

From:	DSSDEV::EPPES "Sending more junk mail than Ed McMahon  20-Apr-1989 1140" 20-APR-1989 11:50
Subj:	Article on Control Data restructuring

From:	IO::MCCARTNEY "James T. McCartney III - DTN 381-2244 ZK02-2/N24  20-Apr-1989 0936" 20-APR-1989 09:36:57.47
Subj:	More info on CDC - directly from CDC.

From:	DECWRL::"alan%prism@gatech.edu" "Alan M. Brown  20-Apr-89 0900 EDT" 20-APR-1989 09:11:34.31
Subj:	CDC's "official" position on ETA closing

Article 84 of comp.sys.cdc:
Path: prism!cccdcga
From: cccdcga@prism.gatech.EDU (Glen Alexander)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.cdc,comp.arch
Subject: Control Data Closes ETA Systems, Inc.
Keywords: supercomputers
Message-ID: <492@hydra.gatech.EDU>
Date: 17 Apr 89 21:52:05 GMT
Organization: Control Data Corporation
Lines: 96
Xref: prism comp.sys.cdc:84 comp.arch:9685
 
 
 
                  CONTROL DATA ANNOUNCES A SERIES
                OF ACTIONS TO IMPROVE PROFITABILITY
 
 
 
MINNEAPOLIS, April 17, 1989 -- Control Data Corporation today
announced a series of actions that will improve its profitability.
The actions include the discontinuance of ETA Systems (ETA), the
Company's supercomputer business, the streamlining of its CYBER
mainframe business, reducing the size of the corporate staff, and a
temporary realignment of its bank financing agreements.
    The actions will result in restructuring charges of approximately
$490 million and a workforce reduction of approximately 3,100
employees.  Of the estimated charges, $350 million is associated
with the discontinuance of ETA.  Actual charges will be recorded in
the second quarter.
    In announcing the actions, Robert M. Price, Control Data's
chairman and chief executive officer, said, "By eliminating the
ongoing losses in supercomputers and streamlining the computer
systems business, the Company will be able to focus its energies on
providing CYBER products and services to meet the needs of its
customers.
    "At the same time," he said, "we will build on our strengths in
the government systems business, the Imprimis Technology data
storage business, and continue to move aggressively in Control
Data's profitable and growing services businesses such as Arbitron,
Micrognosis and Energy Management Systems."
    Price said that the Company's actions should result in a
profitable second half of 1989 and "set the stage for sustained and
growing profitability in 1990 and beyond."
    The Company said that while ETA was a technological success, the
operation sustained significant losses and was not expected to be
profitable in the near future.  In 1988, the supercomputer business
had operating losses of approximately $100 million.
    Control Data will continue to support its current ETA customers,
Price explained.  In addition, the Company is evaluating how
selective parts of the ETA technology can be used in future products
to enhance the performance of the upper-end CYBER mainframes.
    "In disposing of the ETA assets and in licensing ETA
technology," Price said, "every effort will be made to achieve the
maximum benefit, taking into account the continuing needs of
existing customers and the value of the proprietary technology
involved."
    Control Data will focus its computer systems business on the
needs of its current customer base and specific segments of the
engineering, scientific and information markets where it has
significant strengths for future growth.  The Company said that this
will allow it to increase the value-added content of its CYBER
mainframes to serve its customers better, while substantially
improving the financial performance of the CYBER business.
    Control Data said that an agreement has been reached which
temporarily modifies the earnings and net worth tests under its
current bank agreement.  The interim bank arrangement, which is
valid through May 31, 1989, limits borrowings to $30 million and the
letter of credit facility to levels currently outstanding of
$105 million.  This facility plus current cash balances are adequate
to meet the Company's immediate needs.  The cash requirements of the
Company's restructuring actions are significantly less than the
charges against the results of operations and will occur over time.
However, they will require financing beyond that available under the
current agreement.  The Company has begun discussions for a new
financing arrangement which, together with operating cash flows and
asset sales, is expected to satisfy longer-term needs.
    In looking to the future, Price said, "We are building a new
Control Data based on the concept of using computers to solve
important and complex problems."
    Price said that despite the difficulties of the past three
years, Control Data has made excellent progress in services,
especially in the area of application-specific systems integration.
    "Revenues from such businesses have nearly doubled during that
time," he said.  "Micrognosis revenues, for example, have grown
40 percent on average over each of the past five years.  And, last
year, the Company's Government Systems group received its first
major systems integration contract with the award of the U.S. Air
Force's Advanced Tactical Air Reconnaissance System."
    Other services businesses continue to grow as well, Price said.
Business Management Services has rapidly expanded its customer bases
for tax filing and human resources management systems.  The
acquisition of SAMI in 1987 strengthened the position of Arbitron
Ratings in marketing information services.
    "The potential of all these businesses is such that they should
continue to see excellent growth in revenues and profits," Price
said.  "Today's announcement is a declaration that Control Data is
committed to realizing that potential and achieving our stated goal
of sustained profitability."
 
                               - 0 -
 
 
-- 
Glen Alexander
Control Data Corporation, Atlanta Georgia, 30328
uucp: ...!{allegra,amd,hplabs,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!prism!cccdcga
ARPA: cccdcga@prism.gatech.edu

    Control Data,  Isn't this the outfit that let a brilliant individual
    like Seymour Cray (Cray Research) leave?  I'm not all that familiar
    with CDC (or ETA) hardware although back in college it seemed like
    pretty reliable equipment (RJE Stations) compared with some of the
    IBM stuff that the university had.
    
    Steve D
    

    Anybody want to buy a high-tech manufacturing  plant in the upper
    midwest, *cheap*?

    The CDC story is yet another example of the "High Tech" mentality of
    doing technology for technology's sake. As someone who has used a CDC
    machine in graduate school, I can say with confidence that CDC is going
    under only because they make machines with absolute disregard for
    someone important called the "user".
    
    Hardware advances rocketing upwards with hardware prices plunging
    down, there is simply no hope for "high tech" companies that dont'
    give the user the most friendly, most upwards and sideways compatible
    hardware, OS and Networking platforms. IBM is taking a big beating from
    other companies including DEC mostly because of this. It's pitiful to
    hear some of the solutions proposed by IBM to customers; PC's on the
    desktop, minis doing medium-duty data manipulation and centralized
    mainframes crunching huge volumes of data.ALL RUNNING DIFFERENT 
    OPERATING SYSTEMS, connected by different networking strategies that
    MAY WORK!!
    
    That's why I would put my money in DEC stock and wait for 10 years!
    
    Nari

You bet I thank God I work for Digital.  There have been many similar
things that have happenned in Colorado Springs within the last few
years:

MOSTEK closed it's doors
INMOS has done almost the same but for a handful of people
ROLM is closing
DG is closing a large facility in Fountain, CO
Brown Disc closed (and DEC bought the buildings!)
Honeywell's Solid State Electronic's division doesn't look good (ETA was 25%
of their business according to a friend who works there)

I've heard people moan that DEC salaries are low.  I'm not sure, but I do
know I can't put a price tag on the job security I feel I have.

Liz

>>> I've heard people moan that DEC salaries are low.  I'm not sure, but I do
>>> know I can't put a price tag on the job security I feel I have.

DEC salaries may be lower than other high-tech companies if you consider the
annual salary. But if you factor in all the extra work that people in those
other companies are expected to do, I believe the effective hourly rate for
DEC's salaried employees must be among the highest in the industry.

I don't have any data to back this up--just observation of other companies and
observation at DEC.

Vicki Meagher

    I agree with the fellow who said may KO live forever! I'm convinced
    that a company needs a central brillant thought-process behind its
    buisness and we have one and that makes us different. I used to work
    for XEROX and they had a new brillant idea every couple of years of
    what to do with the ocean of money they made off the copier buisness,
    they tried computers then office automation now I think they are hoping
    to make as a insurance company. Tragically I learned the wrong lesson
    from working there which was that large corporations can't make correct
    decisions because the bean-counters rule but then after working here
    I've seen the bean counters don't rule (though they are constantly
    whining about how we don't control our expenses). 
    
    Employees should be money makers so why the heck is anyone looking
    forward to getting rid of them to save money? Who's going to replace
    the revenue that each of them is to have generated? The bean counters
    who make the Wall Streeters feel so much better? Or why get rid
    of the super computer division does the world not want them? The
    way DEC handled the RA81 (apparently) was to fix it and make a couple
    of even better disk drives. Now we make some very respectable devices.
    
    So in conclusion employees are valuable money makers not an expense. KO
    and therefore DEC (I think) believe this. Other companies, especially a
    software house, should try to attract more people who can produce more
    and better product rather than get rid of them. Oh well, I guess I'm
    just a radical. 
    
    Your friend in field service
    
    Fred Mudgett
    

 I think this extract from a newspaper article is appropriate:

   DEC, with sales of $11.5 billion in the last fiscal year, will be insulated
 from the threat of layoffs, analysts said. But James Osterhoff, DEC's chief
 financial officer, told the Boston Globe last week that "we have been scaling
 back some of our plans and trying to tighten spending." He pointedly noted
 that the absence of layoffs throughout DEC's history "comes from a tradition,
 not a policy. And we're not going to sink the business to adhere to a
 tradition. We can never say never." Despite his tough talk, Osterhoff made it
 clear DEC had no plans for layoffs. Regardless of how difficult it gets in the
 year ahead, "the basic values of this company are not going to change. And in
 a growth environment, as we've had, we've been able to deal with the problem
 by attrition and retraining." Another DEC executive conceded the company "has
 people essentially sitting on their thumbs at three or four of our
 manufacturing plants." But he said there will be "absolutely no layoffs during
 the current fiscal year, which ends in June."
	{The Boston Globe, 15-Jan-89, p. 80}

 The computer market is changing and Digital will have to change if it wants
 to survive.  Many of the replies here strike me as a refusal to recognize
 that Digital must adapt to changing market conditions.  We have a great
 deal of excess capacity in manufacturing that we have to deal with.  Perhaps
 the "Digital Culture" will live on and all the people who don't have anything
 to do will get retrained for sales and software positions.  I personally
 take the unnamed Digital executive at his word, i.e., no layoffs through
 June.  After that, watch out!

 John
    

    A lot of us work at DEC in part because it is a humanistic corporation,
    if that's not an oxymoron!  DEC does a lot in the community, and
    cares for its employees.  Part of that care has been the implicit
    hiring-for-life policy.  It's never been stated as such, but it's
    in the wind.  The company has always gone to great lengths to retrain
    and relocate.  Here in HLO, there's a Semiconductor University being
    started to retrain both technicians and engineers.  It's a work-study
    program that spans a couple of years.  I think that's remarkable,
    and indicates how much effort is put into retraining at the corporate
    level.
    
    This doesn't fit too well with the 'never say never' statements
    by Jim Osterhoff.  I suppose such disclaimers are necessary, if
    only to appease the demons of Wall Street; and I think that if the
    company did resort to layoffs to improve the profit picture, the
    long term fallout from changed employee attitudes would certainly
    outweigh the benefits.  
    
    John 

    FYI: The "never say never"  quote also has been said by KO.
    
    The other KO quote I liked on this was "Any VP can recommend layoffs,
    that's easy, find me alternatives!". (This may not be exact but the
    intent is the same)
    
    Andy

    re: .14---I suspect Mr. Osterhoff means exactly what he says.  He isn't
    responsible to the Daemons of Wall Street, but to this corporation's
    top management, and through them to the stockholders.  If that means
    layoffs, then he'll recommend layoffs.  Finding alternatives, as
    pointed out in .15, is harder.  If alternatives can't be found, I
    predict we'll have layoffs rather than sink the company.
    
    The lesson for individual contributors and first-line management is
    simple: be productive in a way that people like Mr. Osterhoff can
    appreciate.  For example, work on a product that is selling well.
        John Sauter

    <--(.1)
    
    CDC (tho probably not ETA itself) _did_ have notes...in fact, VAXnotes
    are a direct descendent of "gnotes", the "general notes" utility under
    the PLATO subsystem! 
                                          
    						=maggie

    
    re .17
    
    Interesting. Thanks for relating that.
    
    /prc

>    This isn't meant facetiously, but maybe if Control Data had
>    their own Notes it wouldn't have worked out as neatly as it did
>    (for the management, may they rot for eternity), because somebody,
>    somewhere would have leaked.  When people know what's going on it's
>    much harder to get screwed.
    
    	Nah.  A moderator would have told 'em off for spreading
    	rumours, and then set the note hidden.
    
    	:-)
    

    re .18
    
    If you're really interested have a look in CVG::Notes_history it
    had the life story onf Notes and all its permutations
    
    jim

    Let me clarify my point:  There's no doubt in my mind that should
    it be a choice between sinking the company and laying off, it will
    be layoffs.  Absolutely no question, that's how it's got to be.
    
    But, and this is an enormous BUT, if the powers-that-be in the 
    corporation decide to layoff when DEC is still making lots of money,
    in order to get the quarterly balance sheet to look better, it 
    would be the end of a lot that's positive about DEC.        
    
    And also, it's certainly landing on one's feet to work for a   
    successful product line, but that's hardly exemplifies the risk
    taking in new areas that has made the company what it is today.
    In fact, that kind of play it safe attitude is one of the malaises
    that affect us adversely in the present.  
    
    John

    There are times to take risks, and there are times to play safe.
    Considering the Q3 results, I think this is a time to play safe.
        John Sauter

    Posted without permission
    
From:	ARGUS::SIVA::CASEE::VNS "The VOGON News Service  28-Apr-1989 1112" 28-APR-1989 07:05:52.61

<><><><><><><><>  T h e   V O G O N   N e w s   S e r v i c e  <><><><><><><><>

 Edition : 1807               Friday 28-Apr-1989            Circulation :  6877 

 Wang - Senior executive's pay cut 5% to 20%. Significant layoffs expected.
	{The Boston Globe, 27-Apr-89, p. 35}
   Wang Wednesday announced an urgent effort to cut operating costs,
 beginning with a pay cut of 20% for founder and chairman An Wang and
 president Frederick Wang. Wang also said it would accelerate a previously
 announced payroll-reduction plan to eliminate 1,700 jobs by September. Wang
 acted in the wake of a surprise, $63.7 million loss for the latest quarter
 reported last week. Wang had planned to cut its worldwide payroll to 28,500 by
 June 1990. But Wang now says it will reach that target nine months earlier. At
 the end of May, Wang employed 30,200 people. Significant layoffs are
 inevitable to reach the accelerated payroll-reduction goal, a spokesman said
 Wednesday night. He would not say how many layoffs would take place in
 Massachusetts. Wang attributed the cost-cutting efforts to "the likelihood of
 continued sluggishness" in the minicomputer market, its most important
 business. Wang reported sales of $3 billion last year. Some analysts thought
 deeper cuts might be required to return the company to profitability. Barry F.
 Willman, who watches Wang for Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. of New York, said
 that even with the tougher cost-cutting program in place "there is a potential
 for after-tax losses in each of the next two fiscal quarters." That would
 represent a dramatic turnabout from the company's forecasts, as recently as
 last month, of improved profitability. Willman said the pay cuts across the
 top ranks "show that everyone needs to contribute to the goal of restoring
 profits." Senior executives, starting with chairman Wang and his son,
 Frederick, will give themselves 20% pay cuts pending the company's return to
 profitability. Wang's most recent proxy statement listed the 1988 salary and
 cash bonus for An Wang at $511,000. Frederick Wang received $433,151. Vice
 chairman Harry H.S. Chou will take a 10% pay cut, while cuts of 10% and 5%
 will be imposed on 15 other senior executives, said spokesman Joseph Roy.


 Intel - Will cut up to 600 jobs
	{MISG}
	{New York Times, 27-Apr-89, p. D5}
   Intel will eliminate up to 600 factory positions this year as part of a
 cost-cutting program. Andrew S. Grove, Intel's president and chief executive,
 said, "We operate in an aggressive, unforgiving marketplace. While our
 financial position is solid and demand for our products is strong, our
 objective is to make sure we stay in good shape as we enter the 90's."

 Digital - RISC push gets blame for $50M income drop
	Olsen Contends Products are Key to DEC's Future; Analysts Claim
	 VMS-Unix Shift Has Buyers 'Confused'
	{Contributed by: Linda Brubaker}
	{Digital Review, 24-Apr-89, p. 1}
   The extent of DEC's woes in the high end of its VAX line, and the high price 
 DEC is willing to pay to become a major player in the workstation market, 
 became apparent last week when DEC revealed that its net income for the 
 quarter dropped nearly $50 million compared with the same quarter a year ago.
   The drop in net income was accompanied by an 11 percent increase in revenues 
 for the quarter, ended April 1.
   For the quarter, the systems giant reported net income of $256.4 million,
 down from the $305.2 l million figure the company reported for the same
 quarter a year ago. Revenues rose to $3.126 billion from $2.824 billion for
 the same quarter last year.
   DEC President Ken Olsen blamed the failing income on poor U.S. sales, and 
 highlighted DEC's push into the UNIX arena and its new RISC-based systems as 
 key products in DEC's future.
   Analysts, however, noted that it is RISC systems, in conjunction with weak 
 8800 systems sales, that are contributing to DEC's lowered earnings.
   The product transition to UNIX from VMS has left buyers "confused," said
 Wendy I. Abramowitz, an analyst with New York consultancy Argus Research. She 
 explained that DEC's refocus on low-end workstations has generated more sales 
 - but as these systems cost less than high-end offerings, the company's
 profits naturally dropped.
   John Logan, executive vice president of The Aberdeen Group, a Boston-based 
 consultancy, also blasted DEC's financial handling of its RISC system push.
   "Olsen always said: 'Screw Wall Street, go for market share,'" Logan said.  
 "RISC processors have low margins. . . this will cut [DEC's overall profit] 
 margins even more," Logan added.
   Logan said DEC's decline stems from a recent lack of innovative software 
 offerings and a policy of highly aggressive price discounts across the entire 
 VAX line.
   "Over the last few years, there's been no innovative software. Office
 automation and other software made Digital what it is, not CPU's," Logan said.
 DEC's revenues rose largely on the strength of discounts - across almost all
 of their product lines, he added. "They've been discounting heavily across 
 low-end workstations to obtain sales vs. Sun . . . and [they've discounted] 
 the 8800 line because there's not enough price/performance there to make it a 
 user-desirable product," Logan said.
   He added that DEC has also discounted MicroVAXes in an attempt to cut into
 IBM AS/400 sales.
   Logan predicted further financial drops if this discount policy - coupled 
 with a lack of innovative software releases - continues.
   For the nine-month period, DEC reported earnings of $759.4 million, down
 from the $904.6 million in net income the company reported for the comparable 
 period a year ago.
   Earnings per share fell to $2.05, down from the $2.33 per share figure DEC 
 reported a year ago.
   Revenues rose 14 percent to $9.247 billion from the $8.136 billion figure
 for the same period a year ago.
   Earnings per share for the nine-month stretch were $5.94, compared with
 $6.83 per share for the same period a year ago.


 [What follows are several screens worth of tables from Forbes magazine's
  annual Forbes 500 survey issue (1-May-89). I believe I entered all the
  numbers correctly, but before you bet the family farm based on these tables,
  you should double-check the numbers yourself. - TT]
 - = Not on 500 list

 Electronics-Computers:

   Jobs and Productivity:
			       --- Per employee ($000)---
 Rank  Company		   Profits  Sales(rank)   Assets(rank)  Employees (000)
    1  Compaq Computer	    50.2    406.4  (2)	  312.8  (1)	  5.1
    2  Apple Computer       46.4    490.9  (1)    252.0  (2)	  9.0
    3  Cray Research	    32.8    158.5  (6)    207.7  (4)	  4.8
    4  Amdahl	 	    26.9    226.6  (4)    242.9  (3)	  8.0
    5  Sun Microsystems	    15.9    259.3  (3)    172.6  (6)	  5.6
    6  IBM   		    14.1    153.7  (7)    188.1  (5)	388.2
    7  Tandem Computers	    13.0    181.5  (5)    169.3  (7)	  7.9
    8  Intergraph	    12.9    117.7 (10)    122.2 (10)	  6.8
    9  Digital		    10.4    105.9 (13)     88.2 (13)	116.0
   10  Hewlett-Packard	     9.8    121.8  (9)     92.4 (12)	 84.5
   11  Unisys		     7.3    106.8 (11)    124.4  (9)	 92.8
   12  NCR		     7.2     98.2 (15)     77.3 (14)	 61.0
   13  Wang Laboratories     1.6     99.5 (14)     94.2 (11)	 30.9
   14  Prime Computer	     1.1    131.9  (8)    136.6  (8)	 12.1
   15  Control Data	     0.1    106.7 (12)     74.5 (15)	 34.0
   16  Zenith Electronics    0.1     75.7 (16)     40.2 (16)	 35.5
     Industry medians	    11.7    126.8         130.5

   Profits:
		      Rank	  Net      Change     Cash    Cash
       		   1987  1988   Profits   over 1987   flow    flow rank
				($mil)        %       ($mil)
 Amdahl             301   237     213.8     50.6         326   250
 Apple Computer     145   121     419.3     49.6         504   164
 Compaq Computer    314   198     255.2     87.3         304   266
 Control Data              -
 Cray Research      291   303     156.6      6.5         240   313
 Digital	     14    22   1,209.1   -  5.9       1,817    28
 Hewlett-Packard     42    43     830.0     17.4       1,210    52
 IBM		      1     1   5,491.0      4.4      10,255     2
 Intergraph         481   456      88.0     25.9         122   465
 NCR                 93   114     439.3      4.8         736   111
 Prime Computer            -
 Sun Microsystems    -    453      89.6     82.9         167   401
 Tandem Computers   371   416     102.1   -  0.1         198   363
 Unisys              58    64     680.6     17.8       1,373    41
 Wang Laboratories         -
 Zenith Electronics        -

   Sales:	      Rank	           Change
		   1987  1988   Sales    over 1987
				($mil)        %
 Amdahl             458   418    1,802      19.7
 Apple Computer     255   178    4,434      45.8
 Compaq Computer     -    378    2,066      68.7
 Control Data       226   213    3,628       7.8
 Cray Research             -
 Digital             52    44   12,285      18.2
 Hewlett-Packard     74    59   10,296      20.5
 IBM		      4     4   59,681       8.0
 Intergraph                -
 NCR                131   120    5,990       6.2
 Prime Computer      -    455    1,595      65.9
 Sun Microsystems    -    481    1,462      93.3
 Tandem Computers    -    486    1,425      32.0
 Unisys              59    67    9,902       1.9
 Wang Laboratories  253   256    3,075       0.9
 Zenith Electronics 324   302    2,686      13.7

   Assets:	      Rank                 Change
		   1987  1988   Assets    over 1987
				($mil)        %
 Apple Computer            -
 Amdahl                    -
 Compaq Computer           -
 Control Data              -
 Cray Research             -
 Digital            164   157   10,231       8.6
 Hewlett-Packard    208   210    7,804       1.6
 IBM                 15    15   73,037       4.3
 Intergraph                -
 NCR                350   332    4,717       3.9
 Prime Computer            -
 Sun Microsystems          -
 Tandem Computers          -
 Unisys             153   141   11,535       8.9
 Wang Laboratories  467   471    2,911       3.7
 Zenith Electronics        -

   Market Value:      Rank	Market    Change
		   1987  1988   Value    over 1987
				($mil)        %
 Apple Computer      81    95    4,958    -  4.9
 Amdahl             263   240    2,153      16.7
 Compaq Computer    254   231    2,298      21.5
 Control Data              -
 Cray Research      222   296    1,777    - 18.4
 Digital             12    33   11,951    - 30.7
 Hewlett-Packard     16    30   12,440    - 15.8
 IBM                  1     1   71,822       4.2
 Intergraph         337   417    1,196    - 14.3
 NCR                 77   119    4,240    - 20.2
 Prime Computer            -
 Sun Microsystems   386   407    1,262       9.4
 Tandem Computers   176   320    1,635    - 36.9
 Unisys              88   110    4,459    - 11.1
 Wang Laboratories  258   364    1,419    - 24.2
 Zenith Electronics        -


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        Please send subscription and backissue requests to CASEE::VNS

<><><><><><><><>   VNS Edition : 1807      Friday 28-Apr-1989   <><><><><><><><>

    At one point, Wang tried to give people package incentives to leave.
    I think a number of people took them up on it.
    
    I'd like to believe that DEC would try something like that before
    handing a bunch of us pink slips across the board...
                       
    Holly

    
    Given the current economic climate, Holly, I think that early
    retirement would be taken up far more than offering pink slips with
    money attached.
    
    I'd caution anyone from accepting such an offer (were it to be made) ,
    no matter what company they worked for.
    
    Andy

The problem with early retirement is that in order to avoid age
discrimination problems a company has to a set up criteria for who is
eligible and offer early retirement to everybody who meets the critera.
This means you can easily lose people who a critial to this minute's
operation under such plans.

John

    Sorry Andy, I wasn't clear.
    
    A couple of people from Wang told me that they were given an incentive
    package -- they did not have to take it, nor were they forced to leave
    Wang at that time.  The impression I got was that Wang was offering lump
    sums to get people to consider leaving.  The people I talked with took
    a couple of months vacation, and promptly got hired by DEC. 
    
    I didn't think this type of deal was the same as early retirement,
    but maybe it is.   I hope that if DEC ever needed to lay people
    off, they would start with something like this that was voluntary.
    
    Holly

re: .27 [early retirement or package incentives to leave]:
    
:    I hope that if DEC ever needed to lay people
:    off, they would start with something like this that was voluntary.
:
    
	I would hope not.   Time and time again, history shows us that
    when "incentives" are offered to people for leaving a company, the
    company ends up losing critical and talented people, while the
    "less-productive" employees [see the note on "deadwood"] hang on
    and become an increasing burden.  One obvious reason for this is
    that the best and brightest can easily find work elsewhere, while the 
    below-average performers will find it difficult to get hired by
    anyone else.  [ The rich get richer; the poor get poorer... ]
    
    The end result:  A company with a higher percentage of low-performance
    employees, and a lower percentage of high-performance employees.

    -Don-

    Your point is well taken.

    Here in Tucson AZ, IBM recently incented about 2800 of a 5000-person
    manufacturing staff to leave.  They rec'd 2 full years' salary plus
    $25,000.  Not a rumor.  I know several folks that jumped at it..
    
    karl

    re.-1
    	My brother worked for IBM in White Plains N.Y.. He got out on
    a similar if not the same incentive X amount for years worked
    there(7yrs) and X amount for special incentive. All totalled it
    was about 18k. This took place less than a year ago..
                    
    	He said to stay would have been ridiculous. The official word
    was restructuring and the possibilities for raises or promotions
    was nill for at least 1-2 years.
    
    	He also found that in his job search which didnt take too long
    that he was getting paid substantially less than counter parts in
    non Computer companies. (About 5k less per year).