Conference 7.286::digital

    
    Re: .0
    
    I agree it's worth a note of its own, but I disagree with your
    following points:
    
    > By getting the work force to resign voluntarily, the reputation of
    > Japan as a place that doesn't have layoffs is preserved. If I can
    > entice you to leave, I don't have to dump you. The result is the
    > same, only the pretense is different.

    I think this treatment of the open letter is unworthy.  I read it
    carefully and I believe his expression of "his heart breaking" was
    genuine and done with integrity and recognition that "lack of
    leadership" was a key contributor to DEC Japan's rough times.  I
    think that your characterization of  what is happening in DEC Japan
    does him a disservice.

    > Management reducing its own salary is a nice symbolic step and
    > of course unheard of here. But it is non-confrontational so easier
    > than laying employees off.  Anyway if the organization is top heavy
    > with managers in the first place, then salary reduction for
    > management misses the point.  And I wonder how many of these
    > managers, who likely would have greater trouble finding other work
    > in the depressed Japanese economy than engineering people (there is
    > no shortage of middle management in Japan), will accept the package,
    > relative to the number of engineers who will do so.
    
    This is pure speculation.
    
    Steve
      

    Re .1
    
    Do you think making a severance package available to all employees is
    preferrable, from the company's point of view, to having layoffs? Seems
    to me it is the responsibility of management, when times are bad, to
    decide which employees are expendable and which are not. 
    
    I'm not pointing fingers, obviously this type of decision is made by
    committee. 
    
>    This is pure speculation.
    
     Of course. You can gather that from the words "if" and "I wonder".
    
    Neil
     

>   Do you think making a severance package available to all employees is
>   preferrable, from the company's point of view, to having layoffs? Seems
>   to me it is the responsibility of management, when times are bad, to
>   decide which employees are expendable and which are not. 
    
    The employee's decision and management's don't have to be mutually
    exclusive.  I would hope management would have the sense to decide
    which of those employees who volunteered actually got the package.
    I'd be really suprised if there was no selection process among the
    voluteers.

    Even though the U.S. package has been technically non-voluntary, I've
    seen many folks volunteer none the less.  Some of these folks got
    the package, some didn't.  Of those who didn't, some left anyway.

    Bob

    re: voluntary severance will lead to brain drain
    
    I believe that this may be an incorrect assumption given the attitude
    of Japanese management.  If you worked for a forward-thinking
    organization as Digital-Japan appears to be, would you expect the best
    and brightest to flee like rats from a sinking ship?  I think not. 
    Many of the best and brightest will stick it out, realizing that there
    is true leadership in the organization, and, therefore, true
    opportunity for future success.
    
    Yes, it is likely that _some_ of the best will leave, but I would
    expect many would stay and work hard to make Digital-Japan a winner
    once again.  Reports from around the US (at least) have indicated that
    the US "managed" downsizing has still resulted in noticeable
    brain-drain and protection of the unproductive.
    
    And, of course, once the Digital-Japan is back on its feet, wanna bet
    that many of the best and brightest from universities will be
    gravitating to D-J?  Can Digital-US make the same claim?
    
    -- Russ

    re. several back
    
    Remember that we are talking about Japanese workers. Many of them,
    especially the older or not-so-young generation, exihibit strong
    loyalty to their company. The work place in Japan is like a big family
    (isn't that what people is saying about the old DEC..ur Digital ?),
    many worker bees work for the same company for life, some of them even
    have several generations working in the same company. The company in
    turns takes care of the workers as a patriach would. It's not "a
    dollars work for a dollars pay" over there.
    
    I'd say Bob Palmer (and the SLT) would do well to read that memo, and
    remember it by heart. It'll enhance their "L" in "SLT".

    .2  I agree, it was "pure class".  It not only puts the decision into
    the employees hands it also treats them with respect and compassion.
    
    I would much prefer the words "it breaks my heart" to "In keeping with our 
    normal business practice" if I were being laid off.  I know the end
    result is the same, many people will be without jobs, but it does help
    to know that someone is sorry that it's you.  

    
    	I think it is pure speculation to think the memo is genuine and
    heartfelt.  Maybe this guy is only what many would consider tactful. I
    see a lot of people doing backflips over this memo and I don't get it,
    it's just a memo, nothing more, nothing less
    
    		Mike
    

    Yes, its just a memo, however, how many of us would secretly LOVE to
    send it to ALL of management with the comment "where's YOUR
    acknowledgment that the failure of this enterprise is management's
    fault and where's YOUR paycut? - I'm not in sales, but in sales support but
    I have a great deal of sympathy for our brethren in sales who are going
    thru a 20% paycut (and with the wonderful systems we have, that damn
    near equals a 41% cut in takehome pay....) - how can we keep the
    talented people who have kept bringing in revenue to support this
    bloated beuracracy by cutting their standard of living by 20%?
    
    Having tilted at windmills in the past, and gotten stomped on for
    doing so, I'm not about to tell the emperor he has no clothes.
    
    However, from my vantage point at the bottom of the heap, Rome
    is burning while management (specifially middle, to middle -upper)
    fiddles.....

>    	I think it is pure speculation to think the memo is genuine and
>    heartfelt.  Maybe this guy is only what many would consider tactful. I
>    see a lot of people doing backflips over this memo and I don't get it,
>    it's just a memo, nothing more, nothing less


    This is a memo from the president of Digital Japan, which states that
    he and his VP's will take a 10% pay cut and other executives will also
    have a cut in pay. Unless he is outright lying, this is impressive
    compared to what we have seen so far in other countries.
    

    -Bruce

    Management taking a pay cut after poor results is standard practice in
    Japan. 

    
    Re: .
    
    > I think it is pure speculation to think the memo is genuine and
    > heartfelt.
    
    Since the memo itself says it is, you clearly doubt the integrity of
    the president of DEC Japan.  So your mileage varies. 
    
    Re: .11 paycuts standard practice in Japan.
    
    So what.  The point of it is to contrast against what goes on here.
    
    
    Steve
    

>   Since the memo itself says it is, you clearly doubt the integrity of
>   the president of DEC Japan.  So your mileage varies. 
    
It's a translation. We don't know how much of it is pro forma polite speech. I
don't think you can tell whether it is any more or less painful for one person
to announce such a thing than for another, based on the style of language used
in a memo. 
    
>   So what.  The point of it is to contrast against what goes on here.
    
That isn't "the" point, it is one point. Another point is that people seem to
think it is an extraordinary act. But there's nothing extraordinary about it
within the context in which it occurred. In both cases, US and Japan,
management is acting in a manner consistent with local custom. 

Western people respond favorably to someone actually acknowledging
responsibility for failure because it never happens here anymore. But in Japan
someone must accept responsibility at least symbolically, no matter what the
real cause of the failure. There is no choice in the matter--there must be a
designated fall guy. Acknowledging responsibility just because custom dictates
it isn't necessarily such a great scheme either. Personally I doubt that the
management of Digital Japan is responsible for a downturn that occurs during a
massive nationwide recession.

I'd sit up and notice an American accepting personal responsibility for some
failure, because in that case the person would not be acting according to
custom, but of his or her own accord. Of course, that'll be the day. :-)

Neil

    I'd take a bigger pinch of salt than Neil, but acknowledge that he's
    the one who lived and worked there and understands the vagaries of
    translating from Japanese to English.

    Any downsizing that Digital Japan does is also very carefully designed
    to fit current Japanese business practices.  If Digital Japan did not
    do what was `expected' of it, it would find it very hard to hire good
    people in future.  It may also find that certain business doors would
    be closed to it.  As we only have a small (3.5% when I last looked)
    percentage of the Japanese market, the framing of this memo may have
    more to do with creating a favorable external impression than
    expressing altruism towards the workforce and accepting responsibility
    for failure.

    These are not the first of layoffs in Japan, and I get the impression
    that it is harder there to keep laying people off in a continual
    downsizing operation.  It's interesting that the package is now better
    than it was last October.

    Colin