Conference 7.286::digital

The Product Line cancellation occurred about two years ago, now.  It was
actually more of a reorganization than an outright cancellation.  The move
was greatly needed.

The way DEC used to do business, there were 19 different Product Lines each
with their own charters and their own marketing and sales organizations.
Each one was set up to handle a particular marketplace that DEC was in.
Each had a research and development budget and competed for development
resources by "hiring" Central Engineering people to develop new products
for them.

This was a reasonable way to do things when DEC was small and each of the
markets addressed by a Product Line was well-defined with no overlap.  As
the system developed over the years, the product lines turned into small,
independent companies of their own.  There was no central focus to make sure
that the right thing for DEC got done, instead of the right thing for Product
Line X.  There were cases where several different product lines would call
on the same customer, offering several different solutions to the customer's
problem and competing with the DEC salesmen from other product lines.  The
result was that DEC was perceived to be a divided company with no focus that
was very hard to do business with.

When K. O. dissolved the Product Lines, he separated the marketing function
that the product lines performed from the sales function.  Sales is now
organized under Area Management Centers.  A customer no longer has a LDP
salesman and/or a LCG salesman--he has a DEC salesman who can sell the full
line of DEC's products.  The marketing arms of the former Product Lines still
have responsibility for defining our marketing position in particular market
segments.  The new organizations that do this are called Strategic Marketing
Units.

I think the reorganization of the Product Lines into AMC's and SMU's was
a healthy, necessary step for DEC.

--PSW

Readers of HUMAN""::SYS$NOTES:MARKETING.NOT knew about these changes weeks ago
in note 377.0 and 378.0.  I've been reading about these marketing changes in
the trade press for weeks and weeks.  Of course, I'm not going to publish Ken
Olsen's memo without his explicit permission but then again everying who reads
the trade press already knows what most DEC employees are still in the dark
about. 

Pat Sweeney 

Are you speculating on Ken's intent or did you ask him?

Is there any better way of communicating such important information?

Pat Sweeney

Copyright � 1992 Dow Jones & Co. from Dow Jones News Service
Digital - Restructuring -2-: New Managers To Be Announced


  BOSTON -DJ- Digital Equipment Corp. said Robert Palmer, president and chief 
executive, told holders at its annual meeting that he expects to restructure 
the company into ''business units'' and announce new managers for the units by 
the end of 1992. 

  ''We will structure ourselves into a limited number of customer-focused 
business units,'' Palmer said.  The units ''will have responsibility for 
business strategy, investment, revenue generation, and profit and loss,'' he 
added. 

  11:33 AM
timeStamp: -0- 11 33 AM EST 11-05-92

    You mean we'll have to wait until the end of the year for the changes? 
    

     QUACK! QUACK!

He's moving very quickly. He's OJP'd all these slots - and from the text on
them, there is a new bird cage and only a limited number of perchs to land
on.
								- Ian W.

BP also was asked about  and agreed with flattening the management levels.

WAZ

        That's funny DEC is and always has been run on a fiscal calendar.
    So the fiscal year end is 7-8 weeks + 6 months away.
    
         BB

re .11

If you go back to .6 you will see that the note says the end of 1992.  
Fiscal years are usually stated as just FY92 or FY93.  Since we are 
currently in FY93 and the quote is 1992, I would take that as 8 weeks from 
now.  I think it is customary to state to non-Digits time in calendar months in 
most cases anyway.

matt

Bob Palmer showed up late at the COE week I attended because of the November
10th Alpha AXP (tm) announcement. Because he had arrived that evening, it was 
the equivalent of 2-3 am for him at our gala dinner event and he was coming
down with a cold. After dinner and the speeches by BP and others, Bob hung
around talking with people and allowing himself to be photographed with
attendees upon request. A line formed and as the band played loudly nearby,
Bob patiently greeted many of the people there, shaking their hands and talking
(actually you had to shout) briefly. Some of his assistants urged him to leave
and get some sleep. Bob refused until everyone who wanted to meet him had the
opportunity. I was impressed. 

I decided, after some deliberation, to at least say hello to him and shake his 
hand since it was the first time I had seen him in person (or anywhere but 
print media for that matter). When I finally got to the head of the line, I 
told Bob that we were all behind him and that I had one specific request...
he asked what that was.

I asked him to "Kick Ass and Take Names". His response was:

"We're going to be doing some of that real soon."

And I believe him.

Regards,

Jim