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Conference 7.286::digital

Title:	The Digital way of working

Moderator:	QUARK::LIONELON

Created:	Fri Feb 14 1986
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	5321
Total number of notes:	139771

2609.0. "Bob Palmer's Q1 DVN (from LIVE WIRE)" by MLNAD0::ANTONANGELI (We believe in diversity) Fri Aug 06 1993 11:55

  Text of Bob Palmer's Q1 DVN Employee Forum
  
                       FOR DIGITAL INTERNAL USE ONLY
    
  Following is the text of Bob Palmer's presentation at the Q1 Employee Forum, 
  which was videotaped in Maynard on July 29 and broadcast over the Digital 
  Video Network on August 5.  The verbatim transcript has been edited slightly 
  for the readers' convenience. 
  
  
  BOB PALMER:  I wanted to give you an update on where we are in our ongoing 
  transformation of Digital.  It gives me a lot of pleasure to be here on this 
  particular morning, since yesterday we announced that we had returned to 
  profitability -- quite a bit sooner than the analysts had been anticipating, 
  and in fact sooner than I thought was possible when I took on this 
  responsibility last October the first.
  
  We actually begin losing in terms of earnings per share as far back as 1988.  
  I looked at data of similar companies .... It takes three-to-five years to 
  change a culture and an environment, and it's going to take us about 
  three-to-five years.
  
  In terms of the financial turnaround, this will prove to be one of the most 
  dramatic in recent American history, by any company of remotely similar size 
  -- and that's any of them.  So I'm very pleased to report that to our 
  employees world-wide that we're getting there.
  
  This is the first profit in eight quarters.  Year over year, quarter over 
  quarter, we had about 16 quarters where we had deteriorating results.  We've 
  now had three [quarters] where -- compared to the quarter the previous year 
  -- things have gotten better.
  
  We've also increased our cash on hand.  I want to congratulate everybody 
  that's been working on this problem.
  
  Our days of sales outstanding had been among the worst in the industry.  We 
  were running about 83 days of sales outstanding, [before receiving payment 
  from customers].  We've reduced that to a level not seen for more than 15 
  years at Digital -- down to 69 days.  That brought in half a billion dollars 
  in additional cash to manage the business.
  
  Since we need that cash for the different things we're doing, we would have 
  had to borrow that money and pay interest on it had we not worked diligently 
  to collect.  So in every aspect of the business, we're doing a great deal to
  improve our profitability.
  
  The value chain re-engineering effort extends all the way from the point at 
  which we quote business until we collect from customers that are satisfied 
  with our products and services.  For the last 15 or 18 months, [we've been] 
  examining different pieces of that value chain and re-engineering it in order 
  to improve our cycle time in delivering products and services, reduce our 
  costs, be more efficient, [and] more responsive to customers.  In the last 
  year we've taken more than a billion dollars in unnecessary spending [out of 
  the value chain].
  If you look at what's going on in the computer industry, there'll be pressure 
  on the gross marginal line -- not only from price pressure, but also because 
  the shift from high end products to lower end -- personal computers, storage 
  devices, and workstations, which are growing rapidly in terms of units,
  but prices will relentlessly continue to come down.
  
  We have to continue to work all of these issues to be competitive.
  
  Our Sales, General and Administrative costs (S,G&A) [are] going down.  In 
  fact, S,G&A had not been going down previously, but it's going down [now] 
  rather dramatically.  If you looked at Q4 of this year, versus Q4 of last 
  year, we've reduced S,G&A from 33 percent of revenue to 28 percent.  We need 
  to be in the low- to mid-twenties to be really competitive -- and by that I 
  mean to have really competitive earnings per share.  We've got more work to 
  do, but the trend is in the right direction.
  
  In terms of research and engineering, we've also been working quite hard 
  there to consolidate our engineering activity under the direction and 
  leadership provided by Bill Strecker.
  
  Engineering spending had been reduced by 24 percent, quarter over quarter.  
  Yet we're going to have more products, more services, more solutions for our
  customers than ever before.  This has mostly to do with re-engineering 
  engineering to be more productive [and to] eliminate redundant projects.  A 
  year ago, as I recall, we had six different groups designing CPUs and four 
  different groups working on network engineering.  It's all been consolidated.  
  
  We've reduced discretionary spending.
  
  We've also been trying to transform our company in terms of becoming much 
  more customer-focused.  All our competitors talk about being 
  customer-focused.  But Digital has actually organized to reflect that 
  customer focus.  We have recognized that customers are buying not only 
  hardware and software.  They're also looking for solutions to business 
  problems.
  
  We've organized ourselves so that we -- today -- are the only worldwide, open 
  integrated information technology supplier that's organized by customer 
  business.  So if you're in banking, for example, Digital's the only vendor
  worldwide that's organized to focus on banking worldwide.  And if you're in 
  banking, you're not really that interested in the other activities that 
  Digital is involved in.  You're interested in what are we doing about 
  banking.  This is quite unique.  No other company in our industry is 
  organized this way.
  
  I was visited about three weeks ago by [the] chief information officer [of] a 
  major customer, [who] told me that [he] had been visiting with the chief 
  executive officers of both IBM and Hewlett-Packard.  [He was] encouraging 
  them to adopt something like our particular organizational structure to 
  better serve their needs.  Lou Gerstner of IBM announced in USA Today that 
  they were in fact changing their sales force to somehow reflect the focus on 
  industries, in addition to products and services and software.
    
  So people are going to emulate this model, it appears.
  
  Another accomplishment in the last ten months -- one of the things I 
  committed to do on October the first -- was deliver to our Board of Directors 
  (for the first time, so far as I know, in the company's history) an 
  integrated business plan that tied out completely between product groups, 
  business units, engineering -- all of the different functions that support 
  the company worldwide -- our worldwide sales force, and all of
  the territories in which we do business.
  
  We delivered an integrated business plan by business unit and by territory, 
  where the goals are well-known, and people are accountable.  They know what 
  their responsibility is, they know what they're accountable to deliver, and 
  everybody is going to work together to make that a reality.  If everybody's 
  successful, obviously Digital Equipment will be successful.
  
  But everybody is accountable -- including the Chief Executive Officer.  In 
  fact, the Chief Executive Officer is the most accountable.  A novel idea.  
  Senior management is the most accountable.
  
  In addition to that, our product strategy has been clarified for the first 
  time in a very long time.  This may be hard to believe, but we previously had 
  a commitment to not having a strategy.  There was some fear that if we chose 
  a strategy, perhaps it might not be the right strategy.  So therefore Digital 
  elected to choose all strategies simultaneously.  This is the same thing as 
  not having a strategy.  And it's completely insupportable in today's open 
  computing environment.  There's not enough money to support all strategies.  
  So you have to figure out where you have -- based on your resources and 
  capabilities -- an opportunity to [have] leadership in something.
  
  We've been quite clear about what that is [for Digital]:  Digital is going to 
  be the leader in open client-server systems that deliver customer solutions.  
  Every word in there is important.
  
  Leadership:  That means the best, [not] necessarily the largest, although in 
  some markets that we choose to compete in, we will be the largest.  But it 
  means that [Digital] comes to the mind of the customer when you say, "Who's 
  the best?"  That's the objective.  That's what we're trying to achieve.
  
  Open:  You've got to decide to be totally agnostic relative to operating 
  systems.  We will supply OpenVMS, worldwide leadership in UNIX, and 
  leadership in Windows NT, when it begins shipping.
  
  Client-server computing [is] a form of distributed computing in which Digital 
  has more technological understanding and foundation than any of our 
  competitors.  No one owns leadership there at this time, because it is an 
  emerging marketplace.  We have an opportunity and the technical resources to 
  be successful -- and we have a clear strategy.
  
  A few weeks ago in Boston, [Digital held its] first worldwide sales and 
  marketing.  Sales and marketing executives get together and listen to the 
  senior leadership team, listen to the strategy, and understand what it is 
  they're supposed to do.  Everybody has a goal sheet, knows what he or she is 
  supposed to accomplish in sales -- first time ever.  People were very 
  motivated.
  
  We are more dependent on our sales and marketing professionals than on any 
  other group in the company to grow this business.  We have everything else we 
  need.  We've been doing a lot about getting competitive; some of it's 
  painful, unavoidable.  Now we need to grow the business.  We have a clear 
  sales direction, and we have the applications that customers need.
  
  We're shipping OpenVMS and the world's only 64-bit UNIX.  Today, we're well 
  ahead of [the number of Alpha applications that] we had hoped to have.  We 
  have more than 2,600 applications, about half of those on UNIX -- which is a 
  position the company has never been in before.  And as more of these 
  applications get out there in the marketplace running on Alpha, more and more
  comparisons will be between Alpha applications [and] applications running on 
  competitive systems -- and the advantages of Alpha AXP technology will be 
  quite clear.  There'll be more positive messages out there about our products 
  and services, and it's going to help Digital grow the business.  
  
  Digital's been having some problems, but so have all competitors.  And we've 
  worked more rapidly, more swiftly, to address those problems than many 
  competitors -- but every competitor in this industry is affected by the same 
  dramatic change that's affecting Digital, and each one has its own 
  challenges.
  
  In the case of IBM, they've driven for decades with a mainframe mentality.  
  It's very difficult for them to figure out how to compete in an open systems 
  environment where the world is not dominated by mainframes.  [It's also very 
  difficult for them] to manage between all their different divisions [with] 
  some rational strategy -- and at this moment, of course, they don't have one.    
  On the other hand, they will fix this problem, in my belief, at some point.  
  So we can't take IBM lightly by any means.  [They are] by far the largest 
  information-technology supplier and a good competitor.
  
  In the case of Sun Microsystems, virtually everybody knows that the SPARC 
  architecture has run out of performance.  Compared to our workstations, for 
  example, Sun has a significant disadvantage -- depending on the application 
  or whatever, by a factor of 2 or more.  This makes it very difficult to be 
  competitive when your previous claim to fame was the highest 
  price-performance.  
  
  Digital's completely stolen that from all of the other competitors.  In 
  workstations, we have the highest-performance workstation in every price band 
  in every territory in which we do business, and we have the 
  highest-performance workstation at any price.
  
  Hewlett-Packard [is] our strongest competition today in terms of hardware and 
  software technology.  But even Hewlett-Packard -- running real applications 
  on their workstations versus Digital -- has a significant disadvantage in 
  terms of performance...on the order of 25-to-30 percent is what I've seen so 
  far, depending on the application.  That's a large disadvantage.  Even so, we 
  have to win mostly by out-performing Hewlett-Packard in terms of service, 
  responsiveness, focus on our customers, and doing things correctly with 
  excellence better than they do.  Every competitor has some kind of a 
  challenge, and all of the traditional computer companies are struggling with 
  the same environment we are.
  
  Systems integration is a very important piece of Digital's business.  
  Customers really are more interested in getting solutions to their business 
  problems than what particular hardware it's going to run on.  Our competitors 
  in that space -- McKinsey, Anderson Consulting, EDS and various others -- do 
  not have the technology foundation that Digital has.
  
  A proof point around that is our Systems Engineering Customer Center [in 
  Salem, N.H.].  Approximately 400 engineers [are] developing real solutions 
  side-by-side with customers from a multiplicity of organizations within 
  Digital -- primarily our systems engineering group, led by Mahendra Patel, 
  [corporate consulting engineer and vice president of Systems Engineering].
  
  Other consultants don't have that kind of systems engineering customer 
  center, where our customers can come and actually run their applications on a 
  configuration and solve real problems, working side-by-side with engineers.  
  This is hard work in the trenches, real professional engineering that Digital 
  can provide and demonstrate.  And by the way, our intention is, during the 
  fiscal year, to create a similar systems engineering customer center in 
  Europe.
  
  In any event, we have everything that we need to be successful.  We've turned 
  the business around from significant losses.  We're headed in the right 
  direction.  We're getting competitive.
  
  What we need here is a winning spirit:  a belief in all Digital employees 
  worldwide [that] we can win.  There is absolutely no excuse for anybody to 
  doubt that Digital can win.  Practice and preparation count.  We have 
  leadership technology, financial strength, customers that want us to succeed.  
  We have leadership and talent at the top of this organization, and we're 
  working on our costs to make sure that we get competitive.
  
  What we're lacking sometimes in some places, although I see that dissipating, 
  is the confidence and the will to win.  Now, if you're going to win at doing 
  something, you have to do four things.
  
  You have to know what it is you're trying to accomplish.
  
  You have to want to do it.
  
  You've got to believe you can do it -- because whether you believe it or you 
  don't ...  you'll be right, as Henry Ford has said.
  
  And you have to then act.
  
  That's all.  And every one of these things is totally within our ability to 
  control.
  [In order] to win, every person has to make his or her own contribution.  In 
  a general sense, every person in the organization has to focus on satisfying 
  our customers.  Virtually every time I've talked with you on these DVNs or in 
  speeches around the world, I've talked about focusing on customers.  So each 
  employee has an opportunity to do his or her role so that we can become 
  excellent and the best in solving real customer needs.
  
  We need to support our account teams -- the most important element in the 
  company.  That's what our customer relates to:  the account team that 
  services their business, the Digital face to that customer.  All of the rest 
  of us, including the chief executive officer, are employed to support that 
  account team.  It's not the other way around.  So we all work to make them 
  successful.
  
  I'm a runner.  You may know that at least once a week, when I'm out running, 
  I ask myself, "Did you do anything this week that added value to this 
  company?  ... anything at all that might remotely justify the earnings that 
  you're getting from the shareholders of this company?"
  
  Unfortunately, there are some weeks [when] I have to admit that I can't.  I'm 
  quite critical on myself.  I suggest that's necessary in the competitive 
  environment that we're engaged in.  We have to be critical of our performance 
  and ourselves, and ask ourselves, each of us, have we done anything, really, 
  to contribute to this enterprise?
  
  And fortunately, there are a lot of days when you can say yes.  It feels a 
  lot better when you can say:  "Yes, I really did something important this 
  week, this month, or in the last 24 hours that's going to make a difference 
  to the success of this enterprise and grow the customer value, make sure that 
  our employees are well positioned for the future."  That's what you're trying 
  to do.
  
  This all involves teamwork.  It's impossible for any one person to do 
  everything or even to know everything.  We have to work together.  So the 
  most important aspect, and even more important because of this new 
  organization, is to work together with teamwork, keeping the mind on what 
  problem we're trying to solve here.  The problem we're trying to solve is to 
  be the most responsive to our customers, and to have excellence in everything 
  that we do.  That's our objective.
  
  We have a strategy.  We have a cost structure that's becoming much more 
  competitive.  We have technology that is leadership in the industry.
  
  We know where we're going.  We have a professional sales and marketing 
  worldwide force that knows what's expected, that's accountable, that has the 
  opportunity for the first time to earn significant incentives for 
  over-achievement of their goals.
  
  We're poised here to continue this turnaround that we have started.  And I 
  think working together, it's quite clear -- I'm quite optimistic -- that we 
  will do so.

  There may be, from time to time,  little setbacks.  [However], you can be 
  quite sure we're going to remain tenacious and focused on our objective.  
  Working together as a team, we're going to turn this company around.


                       FOR DIGITAL INTERNAL USE ONLY

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
2609.1	what is it?	BAHTAT::HILTON	Beer...now there's a temporary solution	`Fri Aug 06 1993 15:36`	2
	What is an Employee Forum, will it happen every quarter?
2609.2	I didn't listen or read all of it, but...	STAR::DIPIRRO		`Fri Aug 06 1993 17:34`	36
	I happened to stumble across this DVN broadcast in the ZKO cafe yesterday and stopped to listen for as long as I could stand it...which wasn't very long since I had recently browsed through The Supply Chain Connection magazine, and there's just so much crapola that I can stomach. Once again, I thought BP had a lot of good things to say. He seems to recognize many of the company's problems...which is good. He suggests high-level ways of fixing the problems. We hear how good things really are...that we're going to be leaders in particular industries...How we have the best people, and we're becoming a lean, mean fighting machine. HP and others must be terrified. Now I'm picturing them preaching all this to each other, pumping each other up, and really convincing each other that we're going to be and do all these things. They were so convincing that I gained a real appreciation for just how far removed from reality they really are. How can you engineer leadership products when you practically do everything possible to insure a mediocre workforce (alarmingly high attrition, layoffs, no money for training, books, etc.). Obviously, I guess if you tell everyone that we're going to be leaders, then we're just going to be leaders. I keep telling myself I'm going to be rich, and it hasn't worked yet. How can you be a leader in the SI business when you hack away the critical mass of people needed to even survive in that business. How can we POSSIBLY justify spending who-knows-how-much on enticing new VPs to come to Digital, the utter ridiculous nonsense in the Supply Chain, while worrying about the cost (in dollars and morale) of eliminating employee-interest NOTEs files? I'm now convinced that upper management is expert in cutting costs. I've seen no actions which indicate how we'll be successful in the businesses which are our future. I hear a lot of lipservice about it, and maybe I'm premature in expecting to see action, but I was not impressed by the dog and pony show I witnessed yesterday. I was particularly hoping to hear more from Bill Strecker on the engineering side of things...but it would have been out of place in that forum. Am I being too hard on them? Do others sit there, listen to this stuff, and get all pumped up to go back to work? Most people I saw were shaking their heads as they walked out (early).
2609.3		THATS::FULTI		`Fri Aug 06 1993 17:40`	7
	I saw the same broadcast in this facility also, it was shown in the cafe. In the past (distant past), I would notice people (most not all) leaving with smiles on their face talking about what they just heard. Yesterday I watched as the whole crowd (~15 in a building of ~1000) leave looking like they just came from a funeral. - George
2609.4		THATS::FULTI		`Fri Aug 06 1993 17:41`	3
	Me thinks that the 'pitch' is getting old and worn thin. - george
2609.5		ECADSR::SHERMAN	Steve ECADSR::Sherman DTN 223-3326 MLO5-2/26a	`Fri Aug 06 1993 18:51`	9
	I get the impression from reading the transcription of the broadcast that there are sections of Digital that are doing very well, where folks are having a great time working on new and exciting products that will soon be introduced. These people know where they are and where they are going. They enjoy management support and have a sense of purpose in what they do. When's that going to happen to my group? Steve
2609.6	set mode/cynic=on	NOVA::SWONGER	Rdb Software Quality Engineering	`Fri Aug 06 1993 19:44`	8
	That's funny, I got the impression from the transcript that this was the same talk, recycled from previous speeches. I also got the impression that Palmer wasn't talking to the employees who have had to do more with less while watching people, resources, and benefits get cut. I guess his audience was the members of the VP of the Week club. Roy
2609.7	What's in it for me ?	ELMAGO::JMORALES		`Fri Aug 06 1993 19:47`	34
	Steve, honest of God, I don't know where such a group as the one you have described in your note (.5) exists today in Digital. What I have notice (I've been to GAO,KAO,MEX,COM,AYO,KLO) is people terrified of moving due to the potential loss of their jobs. It seems that nobody wants to listen, when we say enough is more than enough. Stop the insanity, lets start to talk about how to grow the business, how to sell more,how to bring new customers and new business in order to maintain the current level of expenses with a substantial increase in revenue. However, what we keep on hearing is cut here, cut there, cut everywhere cut,cut,cut,cut......... We can not will not focus, if this day in/day out madness continue. There is not a way you can motivate a person if he/she has in his mind as job number 1: how can I survive ? how can my family survive this catastrophe ? You are devoting 80% of your creative time (probably subconcious) on the 'What If' scenarios. How we can change all that ? My personal opinion, is that Digital as a company has to Stop the Insanity and start for the next six months to a year solely devoted on how to gain (re-gain) customers in order to maintain the current 94,800 employees we have having net earning of 10% a year. If we do that, all the creative energy, then will be devoted to increasing sales, customer satisfaction, finding new customers, among others. In order to do it, it will take a commitment from all that we will not do more manpower changes for six months to a year, that ONLY performance will stand in the middle, when the question of: "Shall I have a job tomorrow"? will come to your subconcience. Definitively agree that we have the products, we have the technology but sadly to say many of us do not have the 'peace of mind' to do it. It is not a matter that we do not want to do it, I personally think that everyone of us wants to do it, but there is always one little question: What's in it for me (for my family) ?
2609.8	GRUNT	ELMAGO::PUSSERY		`Fri Aug 06 1993 20:13`	29
	re.7 -What's in it for me ? In ABO you know what's in it for me. The Plant Staff has just acknowledged that plans are being made for TFSO in this facility... no numbers, or details, but this is the first they have had to plan....... I too would like to know where to get my prescription filled for Rose colored glasses. The focus on Sales account teams and their (IMHO overdue) ability to increase their income's by overacheiveing is good for the Sales Account teams, but does nothing to motivate me to over achieve. Besides missing the forecast for PC sales by 50% this quarter, causing MFG. to get prepped for twice the numbers expected , then sliding back to a holding pattern....besides not knowing HOW MANY warm bodies to produce the units , since we don't know how many units, and finding that the profits in SIB PC's is not as great as it could be due to the burdens accepted in contracts negotiations,and.... Ahhhh, never mind...give us the schedule AND the parts and we'll still get the job done.Same pay.Same way. Same everything. The only reward we can expect is job security...... like you said....it's real hard to find around here.!. Pablo
2609.9		AXEL::FOLEY	Rebel without a Clue	`Fri Aug 06 1993 20:40`	10
	You mean to tell us that mfg was ready to build twice the number of units as they are going to and I STILL can't get a DECpc at EPP prices because we are selling to many to real customers? Ummmm, naaaaa, why ask why... mike
2609.10	Believe it or not	ELMAGO::JMORALES		`Fri Aug 06 1993 21:24`	6
	Re. Mike Foley. Believe it or not, that is EXACTLY right. We are selling 100% of what we are manufacturing. BTW we still have orders (MERK for example has a 180 unit order due WK-4 Aug) outstanding for Qtr. 1,2,3 & 4. Our PC's are HOT !!!! (For a change).
2609.11	I believe and keep 'em rolling!	NOPLAN::LOUCKS		`Sat Aug 07 1993 01:47`	25
	Re: last few I'm a member of the MERCK account team and believe me we're taking as many as we can get. The PC's referred to are a part of a 1100 unit DECpc 4xxST rollout all with hi res monitors (19" also) and adapters. The customer has a very demanding implementation schedule and we've suffered on the front lines with many startup issues. (BTW, we desparately need the 180 units ASAP!) The story doesn't end however, because this PC win is going worldwide and more will be on the way. In addition, we've been able to leverage more of these units into other areas at the customer previously held by other vendors. This customer likes the PC for the price. Delivery problems have been an issue, but not all due to manufacturing. To be fair, Digital the corporation has changed suppliers for different parts of the configuration and manf. has done their best to get the new stuff integrated smoothly. The frustration comes when we tell the customer the lead time is 30 days (even for a 5 unit order), and it ends up being 45-60 days. I don't how to fix it, and I'm not about to blame our friends in manf., but there has to be an answer. Whatever happened to the "supply chain reengineering" effort?
2609.12	UNIX apps..where are they?	MEMIT::SILVERBERG_M	Mark Silverberg MLO1-5/B98	`Sat Aug 07 1993 17:32`	11
	The content states we have 2,600 applications on Alpha AXP, 1/2 on UNIX, which is a position we have never been in before. I'd be thrilled to have someone send me the listing of 1300 UNIX applications; I'm in UNIX marketing & can't find anywhere near this amount today. In addition, we had 3,400 ULTRIX applications available in 1992. I guess we can't count ULTRIX as UNIX 8^) Anyway, wonder where he gets his content facts from? Mark
2609.13		ZPOVC::HWCHOY	Simply Irresistible!	`Sat Aug 07 1993 17:42`	12
2609.14	Morale is low, very low.	MACNAS::JDOOLEY	On the way	`Mon Aug 09 1993 08:39`	7
	.... and probably lose his job for doing so? That will never happen. It seems that Bob is getting a filtered feedback on employees mood at the present time, maybe because his underlings are afraid to tell him the truth. This place is like a funeral parlour.
2609.15		SUBURB::THOMASH	The Devon Dumpling	`Mon Aug 09 1993 09:28`	12
	I felt this was just a re-run of the last talk, even the questions at the end were similar. He even had another "go" at the holidays that customers take in Europe. We have Chris Conway giving us a talk Tuesday, I hope it has more content and relevance. Heather
2609.16	Ship still sinking?	NDLVAX::MTANNER	D'ye ken John plunk	`Mon Aug 09 1993 09:48`	15
	Re back a couple I think Bob Palmer is only getting filtered information from his advisors. (Tell him what he wants to hear.) When BP personally visits us minions, I'm sure every one puts on a happy face and the real gloom and doom doesn't com through. I think the senior managers may have the right ideas but they are losing any touch they did have, very rapidly. Cheers, Mark.
2609.17	How can we find out?	ICS::DONNELLAN		`Mon Aug 09 1993 15:05`	7
	This string of comments here boggles the mind. Is there this great a discrepancy between what Palmer is hearing and what is actually the case? If so, he must be told. Is there any way we can actually find out if he understands that morale is bad? Digital WILL NOT remain profitable if its employees don't like working there. Surely he understands that.
2609.18	Who will Tell?	AKOCOA::BBLANCHARD		`Mon Aug 09 1993 15:17`	1
	Reality.....Messengers often get shot.
2609.19	Could do, or....	NDLVAX::MTANNER	D'ye ken John plunk	`Mon Aug 09 1993 15:35`	16
	re -2 I wonder if, instead of advocating that everyone send mail to BP, (which if that's what is really needed at the finish, then I would urge that it should be done), we should be urging BP and the senior management team to read this and other notesfiles from time to time, (taking about 10 mins or so every few days), as all the evidence is here. Does his mail get 'filtered'? If so, does that 'filtration' also consist of 'tell him what he wants to hear' mentality? No opinions, just questions. Cheers, Mark.
2609.20		CVG::THOMPSON	Radical Centralist	`Mon Aug 09 1993 15:35`	32
	RE: Several of the last few For years, everytime someone related a story of "bad things" someone would reply that KO must not know about that or he'd fix it. Now it appears that people feel the same way about Bob Palmer. I used to feel this way about KO. But gradually reality set in. First off I suspect that there are a lot of things that many of us would relate as horror stories that KO did and BP does know about. Knowing about it isn't enough to make it change. Sometimes there are just too many other costs around fixing something that it just will never be fixed. Sad but true. When the fix is hard, or time consuming, or expensive sometimes management, especially if they don't have to live with the pain on a daily basis, decided not to bother fixing it. Secondly, no CEO can know everything. Nor can they manage everything. If they could we'd only have one manager. While it is the responsibility of a manager to make sure his/her people are doing things right the reality is that if one could check up everything one wouldn't need a manager under them in the first place. So bad things are going to happen. Telling BP about them is probably not going to fix it either because he'll just delegate it to the manager who has already let someone under him/her mess up. No one is going to really fix this company until the culture is fixed. We need to get to a point where meeting the customers needs really is the goal. There is a lot of talk about that but most aren't going to believe it until people get rewarded for meeting customers needs and punished for miss treating them. And all of that gets handled at a level far below BP. I for one don't know how you fix it. Alfred
2609.21	Source for info on Alpha AXP applications	MEMIT::M_CHARDON		`Mon Aug 09 1993 16:47`	28
	Mark, Long time no see! > <<< Note 2609.12 by MEMIT::SILVERBERG_M "Mark Silverberg MLO1-5/B98" >>> > -< UNIX apps..where are they? >- > > The content states we have 2,600 applications on Alpha AXP, 1/2 on > UNIX, which is a position we have never been in before. I'd be > thrilled to have someone send me the listing of 1300 UNIX > applications; You might want to ask Gail Daniels... she is running the Alpha AXP Applications program, I think. Her office provided the number of applications on Alpha: 1309 OpenVMS 1221 OSF 76 NT as of the end of Q4. Stephen Howard (223-0785) is the person on the Applications listing. There is also the Alpha AXP Applications Catalog (EC-J2294-10 Rel# 78) Hope this helps! /Marc
2609.22	Deep and searching questions - NOT!	BERN02::OREILLY	There's a fish on top of Shandon swears he's Elvis.	`Wed Aug 11 1993 08:50`	9
	Did anyone else get the impression tht the Q+A session was totally stagemanaged? BP's answer was always "Well Ted I'm glad you asked that ... (as I have a canned answer)". Where do they get the audience from? Then again maybe I'm being naive and this all goes without saying? /Paul.
2609.23		EOS::ARMSTRONG		`Wed Aug 11 1993 12:41`	12
	>Did anyone else get the impression tht the Q+A session was totally >stagemanaged? BP's answer was always "Well Ted I'm glad you asked I went to BPs presentation....we were encouraged to ask questions, and I don't think there was any 'managing' going on. There may have been some people there with prepared questions just in case no one in the audience had any to ask, or (as you suggest) for Bob to expand on some things he touched on in his speach. But I think that anyone could have asked anything they wanted. bob
2609.24		THEBAY::CHABANED	Spasticus Dyslexicus	`Wed Aug 11 1993 14:57`	6
	Well I KNOW there were "staged" questions at our kickoff meeting with Lucente and Gullotti. -Ed
2609.25	Questions asked at BP taping session	ABACUS::NESTOR		`Wed Aug 11 1993 15:27`	5
	I also attended the taping of this session and the question that I asked was DEFINITELY not "staged" or "managed" in any way at all. Barry
2609.26	not to say that some questions aren't staged but let's not go overboard	CVG::THOMPSON	Radical Centralist	`Wed Aug 11 1993 15:35`	12
	Let's face it, any time BP is going to take questions there are some questions that will be asked. Even if BP doesn't want them to be, :-) He didn't get to be where he is but not being ready to handle such questions. So when he says "glad you asked" it probably does mean he is prepared for it but it would not be safe to assume that it was planted. Even the questions that appear staged, and some always do, it's probably just as logical to assume that someone is or at least could be wondering that on their own. Appearance of staging could just as easily be nervousness or over preperation on the part of someone not used to the public eye. Alfred
2609.27	another perspective	THEBAY::CHABANED	Spasticus Dyslexicus	`Wed Aug 11 1993 16:29`	10
	The justification I heard for the "staged" questions at our kickoff had something to do with "getting the ball rolling". An admirable but IMHO unnescessary action. This practice can be either knowingly or unknowingly be used to deflect harder questioning because someone with a question might not ask because a partial answer was given in response to the "staged" question. -Ed
2609.28	'Most likely to be asked' questions/answers.	ELMAGO::JMORALES		`Wed Aug 11 1993 16:58`	13
	Just as anyone who is going to present something to an audience, there are a 10 to 15 question rehersal. Usually the Personal/Human Resources Department will prepare 'most likely to be asked' questions. Those questions have a 'stage' politically correct answer. Usually when someone says, 'Its good that you asked that', you just hit one of these 'most likely to be asked' and you are going to get the 'pre-cooked' answer, usually prepared by Personnel. That does not mean that many of us can/will ask genuine questions with genuine answers. However questions like, TFSO packages, next quarter earnings, etc. will be among the group of 'most likely to be asked', therefore most probably you are going to get the pre-cooked answer.
2609.29	A pattern to the broadcasts. . . .?	34959::JAMBE::JAMBE	Lemmings are Born Leaders!	`Wed Aug 11 1993 17:16`	24
	RE: Tape/canned BP DVN's Has anyone else detected a pattern to these presentations: 1) To my knowledge, since BP has taken the helm not a single quarterly DVN broadcast to employees has been live - the BP messages have been taped and broadcast at a later date. Several days after the employee "canned" message, BP will do a live session for media/industry types, not for broadcast to the employees though. 2) Russ Gullotti, while doing "live" DVN's, has repeatedly scheduled his messages during end-of-quarter "quiet periods". On at least two different DVN's, Russ made a point of "avoiding" discussion on several topics of interest to employees because of the "quiet period". Several in the audience felt this was a convenient cop-out. Many employees (who are also stockholders) have suggested as a cost savings move that BP do a single broadcast and that Russ reschedule his after quarterly results are public. It is recognized that Digital is a global company and it would be difficult for BP do a live World-wide DVN. However, Digital is a U.S. based firm, and could be doing "live" BP messages here.
2609.30		FMNIST::dougo	Doug Olson, BPDAG West, Palo Alto CA	`Wed Aug 11 1993 19:38`	17
	> The content states we have 2,600 applications on Alpha AXP, 1/2 on > UNIX, which is a position we have never been in before. I'd be > thrilled to have someone send me the listing of 1300 UNIX > applications; From the latest "public" software rollout report: +---------------------------------------------------------------+ \| For public information on \| \| THIRD PARTY APPLICATIONS, \| \| copy the file below: \| \| \| \|$ copy HUMAN::ALPHA_PUBLIC:ISV_ALPHA_AXP_APPLICATIONS.TXT . \| \|Contact 1-800-DECSALE for further information on 3rd pty apps. \| +---------------------------------------------------------------+ DougO
2609.31	catalogs & listings vs available now	MEMIT::SILVERBERG_M	Mark Silverberg MLO1-5/B98	`Thu Aug 12 1993 11:22`	16
	re:21 Hi Marc Thanx for the pointers. I've seen the listing & the catalogs. The numbers are indeed large, but many of the applications listed are not scheduled to be available until later this year or early next year. I agree the overall list & catalog of current & comitted applications on DEC OSF/1 is looking better all the time, but when we look at the top applications in the commercial or technical areas, we're still at a serious disadvantage today...but the future does look better in many cases as we move into the new claendar year. I'd just like us to be a little more definitive on what's available TODAY vs whats comitted or in the catalogs, etc. We'll keep watching. Regards, Mark
2609.32	On a positive note ....	CSC32::D_RODRIGUEZ	Midnight Falcon ...	`Wed Aug 18 1993 04:31`	19
	I viewed the DVN broadcast on videotape (since I missed the broadcast). I was impressed with a Digital promo that ran during BP's speech. I would hope Marketing would use it to get the public aware of Digital. The 'commercial' was like the Infinity (car) commercials when they first came out. They never showed the car. They just gave you a commercial on concept, then displayed the Infinity logo at the end. Same thing with this Digital promo. Good quality. It was (imho) dramatic and precise. It caught your attention from the very beginning to the very end. The big drawback to it was that it was 2 1/2 minutes long. Too too long for network unless Digital wants to make one heck of a statement. Worth viewing the videotape just to see the it ....