Conference 7.286::digital

As a coworker pointed out, this is effectively a pay cut for people who
routinely drive to meetings at various sites in the GMA.

I look at it as an opportunity to cut the waste caused by too many meetings.

    Moved her to keep things together. I've deleted topic 1183 and the
    reply where I posted the memo already here in .0.
    
    		Alfred
    
                <<< CVG::WORK3:[NOTES$LIBRARY]DIGITAL.NOTE;2 >>>
                          -< The DEC way of working >-
================================================================================
Note 1183.0      More cost cutting - mileage, lunch, relocation          1 reply
CVG::THOMPSON "Aut vincere aut mori"                 31 lines  10-SEP-1990 10:03
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Someone sent me yet an other cost cutting plan from Jack Smith. It's
    labeled "Please distribute this widely throughout your organizations".
    I'm going to summarize it here and post it as the first reply. That way
    if someone decides it's a violation to post it context will not be
    lost.

    Basically they way I read it is that the Greater Maynard area is a
    "virtual office". You don't pay mileage money to go from one building in
    a complex to an other (PK01 to PK02) so to say money Digital is not
    going to pay mileage for people visiting Digital facilities within
    25 miles of their office. I know that I seldom file for mileage from
    NIO to ZKO but that's only about 15 miles. It's within the range I'd
    feel comfortable commuting. 25 additional miles seems a bit different 
    though. Especially if you're already traveling quite a bit to get to
    your own office.

    Also Digital will not pay for lunch when you are in a Digital facility
    not your own (I didn't know they ever did BTW). This seems reasonable.
    Prices in one cafe are not that much different from one to an other.
    You can always take a bag lunch with you even if you're going to an
    other plant.

    The third point is that relocation for people moving with in the
    Maynard - Marlboro area is possibly unreasonable. No new policy here
    yet but they're looking at changing the rules. This requires some
    looking into (according to Jack Smith) for "competitive" reasons. In
    any case I think they'll still have to make some case by case
    exceptions.

    		Alfred

      On the face of it there appears to be an effort to save the company
    money by having the employee pick up the cost of doing business. I am
    often called to other plants within a 25 mile radius of Marlboro to do
    support functions. I already commute 25 miles each way to work. Am I to
    understand that Jack Smith wants the use of my car at my expense to
    travel on company business to Maynard for example? I certainly am not 
    going to "hoof it" the 17 miles to Maynard and I know of no demand
    shuttle that will get me there and back. Maybe they can have a company
    car at the disposal of each group for such occasions. Perhaps it would
    be cheaper to call a cab. This seems like a very ill thought out plan
    and I'm sure it will meet with much resistance from people who are
    asked to donate their cars for company use. The next time I get a call
    to look into a problem or meet in Maynard I'm going to say "Sure, what
    time are you going to pick me up and what time are you going to get me
    back?"
    
    Paul
    

    As someone who routinely drove 200-250 miles a week in the Greater
    Maynard area, this whole thing is really getting silly.  If I were
    still in that job, I simply wouldn't attend those meetings, etc.
    If the situation is this desparate, maybe Smith & Co. should start
    looking at their bloated, overpaid management structure.  DG, here we
    come!!!

I don't understand one thing - are people actually getting paid
relocation expenses to move within the GMA?  I thought that your commute
had to be increased by at least 30 miles to qualify for this?

Also, the memo suggests that employees travelling elsewhere go hunt up
a DEC facility to eat lunch.  This seems pretty ludicrous to me - few
DEC facilities have cafeterias, and many are no less expensive than
local restaurants.  The last thing I want to think about when I'm away
on business is where in town the nearest DEC facility is so I can grab some
lunch (and then be late for the afternoon's business.)  I think this part
of the memo was one of those written without much thought.

Hey, folks, did you know that if you are WC4 and you work three hours
overtime, that you get $5.00 towards dinner?  (P&P 3.17)  How many of
you ever tried to collect on that?


All of these sorts of new rules are a good way to annoy employees without
any visible benefit.

					Steve

    I simply couldn't believe that memo when I read it this morning!!!
    
    I do not normally bring a car to work at all.  If I have to attend a
    meeting that is 25 miles from here, if I can't find someone else who is
    going, I have to arrange to have access to a car that day, pay for gas,
    etc.  It definitely costs ME money.  Ditto on not paying for lunches. 
    I always brownbag it.  If I have to drive a long distance to a meeting
    someplace, my lunch would spoil (I suppose I ought to buy a cooler,
    too?!) sitting in a hot car all that time (oh, you mean I should buy an
    AIR_CONDITIONNED car?!).  I have not ever charged back to DEC for
    footing the bill for a cafeteria lunch if I was off-site, but I have
    often resented getting stuck with the extra expense - it makes a
    significant difference in my weekly budget.
    
    Sigh.  There must be "waste" someplace else in this compnay to cut away
    from - my empty wallet is NOT waste!  (Actually I have $1 left from
    buying groceries last week... until payday!)
    
    /Charlotte
                               

    This sounds like the memo of a frightened executive who knows the
    company is in trouble but has absolutely no idea why.
    
    It even reads like it was composed in a fit of pique. As many people
    have said the way to solve this companies problems is to ascertain
    why there are so many layers of management and then thin them out.
    Any by the way I'm one that is counted as a layer of managemement.
    
    The way I'd solve some of the problems is as follows:
    
    	Look at each and every organization. Decide on a reasonable
    	budget for it. Tell the manager to meet that budget. If he
        didn't fire him. That would get some managers to thin out some
        of the fat.
    
    Going after the nickels is a ludricous waste of a COO's time.
    
    Dave

      One idea that has surfaced from time to time to save money is to cut
    out the whole Canobie Lake scene. Ditto for the groups who get free
    weekends for husband and wife at the Cape or up in the White Mountains
    as part of a field service award for excellence. I would certainly
    favor that over cutting out reimbursement mileage for legitimate
    company business. At the $1.30 per gal. current price for gas and the
    cost of upkeep and insurance for the family car it could run in to a
    tidy sum if you are making frequent trips between plants as part of
    the job. 
    
    Paul
    

	$1 billion is a lot of money (unless you're in the DoD 8-} ).
	To make it more approachable, divide by the number of employees,
	i.e. 100,000. No, I don't know anything you don't, it's just a
	round number.

	That gives you $10,000 per employee. Another way of looking at it
	is about 10% of our total expenditure.

	According to top management in the UK (through our house
	magazine CONNECT), salaries and other remuneration account
	for almost exactly half our total costs. So you'd need to get
	rid of some 20,000 employees to save the required amount that
	way. Facilities costs appear to be much lower - about 10% maximum.
	So no reasonable attack on facilities costs will do the trick.

	To tell the truth, I can't help feeling that it must be
	easier to increase revenue than it is to cut costs without
	decreasing revenue. But I guess that has been tried!

	/Tom

    What's a Christmas bonus -- I've been at DEC for 6 years and I've never
    heard of it.  I also didn't know about getting reimbursed for lunch
    when you travel to a different site, nor about $5.00 for dinner if
    you work more than 3 hrs. overtime.

    I hope the Christmas bonus thing is a joke (although I know that in at
    least Germany it isn't.)  I agree also that the Canobie Lake fiasco
    and other equivalent shin-digs could go.  The ticket system is widely
    abused...I actually have someone who isn't talking to me anymore
    because I wouldn't give her my tickets so that she could take along
    totally non-DEC neighbor kids.
    
    We could also save boocoo bucks by getting rid of the damned turkeys.
    It was an embarrassingly cheap gesture on the part of the company
    anyway.  Maybe we could compromise and have ham sandwiches?
    
    One final suggestion.....eliminate all personnel and management
    education organizations.  Just keep the PSA's in personnel as they
    are the ones who do all the work.....and I think our management
    "quality" speaks for itself.

I think we should shut down all systems between 5PM and 8AM local time, and
forbid employees from doing any work outside those times.  Just think of
the electricity we'd save!  Also, eliminate dial-in lines - nobody uses those
to do work anyway, right?  Saves telephone expenses!

I'm sure others could think of other great ideas for Jack to try out...

I'm afraid we're losing it....

			Steve

Since I found the premise of the memo flawed, I felt I had to send a response
to the author.  As a reply back a few said, it does sound like we are penny
wise and pound foolish.  Feel free to copy any part. 
Lee G.

From:	MANFAC::GREENLAW    
To:	MTS$::"core::jack smith"
CC:	GREENLAW
Subj:	Your memo on "MORE EASY STUFF"

    Dear Mr. Smith,

    I read your memo dated 07-Sep-1990 on cost reductions and find that, from
    my perspective, it paints with too broad a brush.  If you meant it to only
    pertain to the Greater New England area, then I might agree with your
    statements. But, here in the field, I would ask for some clarification.

    Point #1: I live 2 miles from my office.  I go home for lunch.  When I
    travel to facilities out East, I eat in the cafeteria.  This is an added
    expense that I would need to pick up if Digital is not going to pay for
    lunchs.  I feel entirely justified to include this expense in my travel
    expenses.  (My home office does NOT have a cafeteria, just a lunch room.)

    Point #2: The concept of a VIRTUAL OFFICE is not in the employee's best
    interest.  Someone has to pick up the expense of the travel; whether it is
    the company or the employee, the expense is still there.  I feel entirely
    justified to include this expense in my travel expenses.

    Point #3: I get the feeling from this memo that you as a Digital manager
    are saying that the employees should be expected to pay for the cost of
    doing business so that Digital can save money.  I hope that this is NOT
    what you meant to say.

    Point #4: If there are cost center managers that are spending money for
    things that are not justified, why do you not go directly to these people? 
    My cost center manager gets a report each month on her expenses verses her
    budget.  My position on the whole cost cutting effort is to look at the
    abusers, those folks who go over budget.  If no one is over budget, then
    there is a different problem that needs to be addressed.

    Thank you for taking the time to read the concerns of one of Digital's
    employees,

    Lee Greenlaw, EIS-E Specialist
    Farmington Hills, MI

re .7:

>I don't understand one thing - are people actually getting paid
>relocation expenses to move within the GMA?  I thought that your commute
>had to be increased by at least 30 miles to qualify for this?

According to the IRS, the daily commute must be increased by 35 miles
in order for moving expenses to be deductable.  I believe that DEC 
sometimes pays for relocation even if the increase is less than 35 miles.
The distance between the farthest reaches of the GMA is considerably
more than 35 miles -- consider the distance between Shrewsbury to Tewksbury.

    I've known about the overtime meal allowance for WC4 employees for
    years, and always encouraged my employees to collect it.  Better hope
    that Smith doesn't find out about it.  BTW, I wonder what the Woods
    Meeting in Maine for 43+ senior managers cost?  I wonder if they
    collected mileage.
    
    I guess when you are a millionaire like Smith, you don't have to worry
    about the price of gas.  Wanna bet that he will back off on this one?

Lunches have never been reimbursed _except_ for overnight travel.  (If you're
reimbursed when you didn't travel overnight, it's taxable income.)  This same
thing about not paying for lunches in cafeterias when travelling overnight
has come out in the past in money-saving crunches.

>We'll just have to ride the choppers.

The choppers now only go between Maynard/Marlboro and Logan.  Travel between
Maynard and Marlboro by chopper has never been allowed.  All New Hampshire
chopper service was cut earlier this year.

/john

Then I hope you've reported the reimbursement for all those lunches as income.

(Where's that 800 number for reporting tax cheating?)

/john

    
    
    

From:	HOLZER::HOLZER "ESG Product Marketing DTN 297-5451  01-Sep-1990 2319"  1-Sep-90 23:17
To:	STAFF,PMT
CC:	
Subj:	Special Ad in 9/12 WSJ

<headers deleted>   
   
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   communications centers the week of September 17th.

    Re .-1
    
    I think your point 4 really hits the nail on the head. Excessive
    expense claims is not a policy problem it is a management problem.
    
    Dave

    I too am not extremely enthusiastic about the latest Jack Smith letter
    concerning the mileage issue.  But I think a lot of you need to put
    this thing in proper perspective.  How would you like to be a DG
    employee and be given your walking papers with a weeks notice or
    LESS?!  That's the way many high tech companies treat their employees
    when times get tough.  I'll opt for the picking up the mileage as opposed 
    to losing my job any day.  If you find that you simply can't take on
    the additional expense, start looking elsewhere for a higher paying
    job.  This is a sure-fire way to put things back into proper perspective   
    because the grass definitely is NOT greener out there... Granted,
    Digital has a lot of issues to address, particularly with management
    layers.  But considering the circumstances, DEC has been doing the best
    it can to cut costs AND have genuine consideration for its employees.
    
    Just a lowly programmer in a huge corporation,
    
    Jack Mahon                                   

    RE. -.1
    
    I agree. Things are very tough.  Give Jack Smith credit for trying.
    Would you prefer that he:
    
        - took the DG route and laid people off with one week's notice?
    
        - cut everyone's pay by 2%?
    
        - cancelled all unnecessary travel?
    
    d

    .27> Cancelled all unnecessary travel?
    
    Just out of curiosity, just how much "unnecessary travel" do people in
    Digital do, anyway???                 ===========
    
    I definitely think some clarification is in order.  If you look at
    the exact wording of the dictate, even though in the example used
    in the memo he referred to inter-office commutes:

>     EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY:
>     AS A NEW POLICY, WE WILL NOT PAY MILEAGE WITHIN A 25-MILE RADIUS 
>     OF THE EMPLOYEE'S PRINCIPAL PLACE OF WORK.

    does this mean that if I live less than 25 miles from the airport,
    I no longer get mileage reimbursement for my commute to/from the
    airport when going on a Digital business trip?

>     EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY:
>     AS A NEW POLICY, WE WILL NOT PAY FOR LUNCHES AT DIGITAL 
>     FACILITIES.  ALSO, WE ENCOURAGE ALL EMPLOYEES TO EAT LUNCH AT 
>     DIGITAL FACILITIES WHILE ON BUSINESS TRAVEL TO OTHER DIGITAL 
>     SITES.

    Hasn't this *always* been the policy, assuming the site you're
    visiting does have a cafeteria?  Seems to me that this was enforced
    when I was in the field, although perhaps it was more local policy
    than company policy.

    Jon

RE:.27    
>    I agree. Things are very tough.  Give Jack Smith credit for trying.

I will give him credit for not seeing the forrest for the trees.  You do not
save $1B by nickels and dimes.  You look for LARGE items.  As a system manager,
when I first look for space on the disk, I to see if there are any 10K block
files that can be deleted before looking at the 10 block files.

>    Would you prefer that he:
>    
>        - took the DG route and laid people off with one week's notice?

I have been in other companies that did do layoffs with no notice.  There are
two ways to do it.  Have a single masive reduction so that everyone that was
left could get on with the job and not contantly look over their shoulder. Or
do it in small steps.  Guess which one works better??

>        - cut everyone's pay by 2%?

Didn't we try this one already via the salary freeze?

>        - cancelled all unnecessary travel?

Now this one has not been tried to any great extent from what I can see.  Since
CC managers have a travel budget, it would appear that this expense can atleast
be tracked.  Just saying to cut the mileage and the meals is NOT looking at the
travel expenses, IMHO.

Lee G.

    
    Digital should have building like Wang tower.
    It really save travel time, gas money, etc.
    

    
    Frankly, memo's like that posted in the basenote and the one a few
    months back about "some people arrived late in the car park" simply
    lead me to conclude sadly that the author of these memos has forgotten
    what made this company great in the past - it's most valuable
    posession - Digital employees.
    
    Who said so? Ken Olsen. 
    
    Whare are those sentiments now, Ken? Where is the trust? Memos like .0
    show no trust in us at all.
    
    
    /andy/

re .31

Yeah, it really saved Wang, didn't it.

    As a Digital Vanpool driver, I drive the van to off-site meetings from
    time to time.  At the end of each quarter I pay the Commuter Transporation 
    Department $.225/mile for excess personal mileage.  With this new edict I'll
    not only NOT be getting reimbursed for inter-plant travel for meetings,
    but I'll be paying DEC for the privilege.  You can bet I'm not going
    anywhere if I can help it.
    

If J. Smith wants to cut fat, then he should look long and hard at
the relocation policies we have!  I can't believe how "giving"
we are!

I recently moved from Colorado Springs to Mass. I was offered
relo, since I am single and don't have a house.  I estimated
my moved would cost under $5000.  

I was very careful with my expenses.  I kept receipts, didn't
charge for meals or gas, and spent only 3 nights in a hotel.
I had about $500 of out-of-pocket expenses.  
So, I filled out the relocation expense voucher and detailed
every expense, enclosed my receipts, and waited to be reimbursed.

My personnel rep let me know that I filled out the forms wrong.
DEC now (since 3 years ago), gives the employee a lump sum of
$3500 for temporary living expenses.  

She also let me know that the employee is entitled to a month's
salary on top of that! 

Is this a little too much?  I'd say so.  If we want to save
money, then we should itemize our out-of-pocket expenses and
get reimbursed!  

Kathy 

I just received a memo written by Mick Prokopis (forwarded to me
via Bill Demmer and Rick Spitz) which states that the business
mileage decision is revoked.

I wonder how much this conference had to do with this?

/john

    
    John,
    
    Can you post the memo please. If not can you send me a copy. I need to
    submit the travel expenses ( mileage )for few trips which are less than 
    20 miles.
    
    

    I wonder if DEC will learn from what happened to its competitors.
    
    Five years ago I was working for Prime. They had financial problems
    and sent around a memo similar to the one in tha base note.  Only they
    wanted to cut down on telephone expenses.  So you could no longer make
    personal calls on your office phone.  If you did, you had to go to 
    Petty Cash and pay Prime back for it.
    
    
    Well, we all know how effective that was - we all know what happened
    to Prime.  

On the other hand, the most profitable company in the world, AT&T before
the breakup (_profits_ of more than $10 million _per_day_), had just such
a policy.

/john

    One thing I would like to see is a memo explaining how top management
    itself is saving money. Perhaps it may upset people to see what extra
    bennies top management used to get? I don't know. But I'd like to see
    some high level people setting a visible example.

    		Alfred

I think we'd all better think more about perspective.  It seems to me from this
and past experiences at DEC that a lot of people here have had it good for a
long time (possibly for their entire careers).

I remember when we moved our group from one facility to another, and so many
people complained about having to commute 15 miles instead of 5.  My position
with the people I worked with was that, as a professional, you should expect to
commute some reasonable distance.  Likewise, you should expect to travel some
in the course of your job, given the nature of the company you signed on with.

Those of you who have never taken a clip on the chin better consider the
alternatives: we're having some problems right now, not entirely of our own
making but problems just the same, and more sentiment to 'pull together' needs
to appear to make it through the short-term crises as they arise.  If you need
inspiration, go stand in front of the unemployment office at about 8AM and
watch people line up for subsistence-level help (if that).

You should also submit your cost-saving ideas to IDEAS_CENTRAL or whatever it's
called now (I sent one to SOCIAL::INVOLVEMENT some time ago).

Nobody asked, just my opinion...

Pete

     Re. .39
    
    AT&T and Prime, the same thing and similar results.  My point exactly.
    

    What is Digital's policy on personal calling? Are there limitations
    around time, costs (as in per call), total costs? Is it up to a
    manager's discretion? Does practice differ (and to what extent) from
    anything written.

What similar results with AT&T?  Computers were a small part of their
business.  If the gummint hadn't split them up, they'd still be the most
profitable company in the world (and might have been a greater threat in
the computer market, as well, if they had been allowed to get into it).

Even limited personal phone calls charged to the company are extremely rare.
Many companies would expect you to go to a pay phone to call home if it were
not a local call (and some, even if it were).

/john

There is no written policy at DEC on personal calling; it's up to each manager
to review the cost center reports.

If I were a manager, and I saw more than one or two calls per month or any
calls of any great length to anywhere other than the employee's home number,
I would ask the employee to cut down.

/john

    Note that the mileage change (if it sticks) will mean nothing
    for people who don't do inter-plant travel, and a pay cut for
    those who do--potentially a large pay cut, as you can't take it
    off your income as an un-reimbursed business expense until it
    goes over a limit (2%?).
    
    Making some employees take a pay cut and leaving others alone
    is not a good way to increase employee morale.
    
    			-John Bishop

    While all of us should be consciously minimizing expenses anyway, I
    don't believe it's appropriate for a senior SENIOR manager to be
    spending time worrying about bottled water, newspaper subscriptions, or
    22� cents/mile.   The concepts are sound -- let's not spend what we
    don't absolutely need to spend -- but having Jack Smith writing these
    recent memos is like trying to kill a fly with a bazooka.   
    
    The crux of the matter is that Digital has BILLION-dollar problems, yet
    our senior management is wasting time on MILLION-dollar solutions.  A
    million dollars a year savings (bottled water and Wall Street Journals)
    sounds great, until you realize that 1,000,000 is only 1/10th of 1% of
    1,000,000,000.  
    
     Don't misunderstand my message here.  Million-dollar problems and 
    thousand-dollar problems must also be addressed.  But that's the job of
    the middle and lower management.   If I'm abusing my 22� cents/mile
    reimbursements, that's my manager's problem.  There are already clear
    policies for mileage reimbursement and corrective action.  If I'm
    sticking Digital for $125.00/year for my Wall Street Journal
    subscription, it's my manager's job to see that and put an end to it.
    
    Jack and the other VP's must address the billion-dollar problems,
    rather than wasting their very expensive time on minute details better
    addressed by the people who get paid to address such things.
    
    At their salary levels, the 4-day Maine meeting (which preceded the
    DVN broadcast) of Olsen, Smith, and Sims alone cost
    approximately $45,000 in their time.   While I firmly believe that our
    senior execs earn their pay, I'd like to see them focus that time on
    corporate goals and strategies instead of minute operating details.
    
    One thing that Mr.Smith has shown over the years is that he is a
    LEADER.  This conference makes much mention of the need for leadership
    as opposed to "management".  Jack Smith is indeed a leader.  And THAT
    is why I would prefer to see him LEADING us through this crunch rather
    than trying to MANAGE us through it.   This is a time for great vision
    and great leadership -- not nuts and bolts management.
    
    -DM-

	I just received the following mail.
    
(forwards deleted)

From:	NAME: Bob Glorioso                  
	FUNC: Information Systems Business    
	TEL: 297-5915           <GLORIOSO.BOB AT A1 at CORA @ CORE>

From:	NAME: Mick Prokopis @ CORE          
	FUNC: Engr., Mfg. Admin.              
	TEL: 223-5583            <PROKOPIS.MICK AT A1 at CORA @ CORE>
Date:	10-Sep-1990
Precedence: 1
Subject: 25 MILES RULE  1

    We've received considerable feedback about the decision not to 
    reimburse employees for business mileage travelled within 25 miles of 
    their offices.  This has provided us with some views that might not 
    have received as much study as necessary.  Therefore, we will rescind 
    the decision (September 7th memo) until it is more thoroughly 
    considered.
    
    Please distribute this information within your organizations.
    
    Thanks,
    
    Mick
    

[To Distribution List: removed]

    

Re .47:

There are alternate interpretations of the recent flood of expense-cutting
directives from Jack Smith.  Here are two samples:

One alternative is that he is addressing these minor issues because he thinks
that none of his reports who have this responsibility have lived up to the job.
If this is true, then a lot of junior VP's and middle managers are worrying
about their next performance review (or continued participation in the salary
continuation plan) like they haven't had to in years.  If you see a raft of
resignations among upper management, that lends credance to this theory.

Another alternative is that he has a staff task force which has the job of
cutting expenses, and this is Smith's way of setting their direction by giving
them some painful but highly visible examples.  If this is true, he might be
more interested with communicating with his staff, and setting the rank-and-
file's expectations that big changes are coming, than he is with the specific
items cut, and dollars saved.  When you start seeing Smith's pronouncements
taper off, and being replaced by similar memos from those further down in the
reporting chain, that lends credance to this theory.


Neither of the above alternatives demonstrates the zenith of sensitivity
towards communicating these matters to all employees in the smoothest way
possible.  However, neither Smith nor many members of this conference have
placed a priority on form over substance in these troubled times, so this may
be of minor import.

Both of the above alternatives are more palatable to me than the implications
voiced by others in this conference that Smith is unable to resist doing the
jobs of his capable subordinates as well as his own ("Ptolmaic Management").
				/AHM

    Well, chalk one up for the little people!!
    
    On the issue of travel.....I seen several missives in the past few
    weeks/months that severely restrict business travel to just those
    activities which directly generate revenue.  But I still see people all
    around me travelling like crazy.  F'rinstance there is a group of
    engineers here getting ready to attend some sort of database seminar
    in Vienna, Austria.  While this may be desirable from a personal
    development standpoint, I can't see how they can possible justify it
    given today's situation.
    
    In my 18 years with this company, I've seen this happen many times:
    
        - Big restriction of travel, with appropriate doom and gloom
    message.
    
        - 48 hours later - approval authority delegated to auth'rs direct
    reports.
    
        - 24 hours later - further delegation of approval authority.
    
        - Return to business as usual.
    
    Maybe this is why Smith feels he has to get directly involved.

    There are probably only two individuals - KO and JS - who can
    create or change a major policy simply by writing a memo and without the
    burden of meetings, approval processes, etc.   And probably only
    they can weather storm if the decision was taken too hastily.
    
    Maybe all the facts weren't studied before the decision regarding
    the 25-mile limit was made.  If it is rescinded, Jack Smith has
    still drawn a lot of attention to the dire need to cut costs.
    
    True he has highlighted some low impact cost-cutting measures.
    But he is setting an example.  I'm sure he is also confronting
    some much higher-impact cost-cutting decisions. 
    
    I can't help feeling that if  a decision to
    lay off n# of people had been made a few months ago, that this notes
    conference would have been full of complaints that every other kind
    cost-cutting measure should have been taken first.
    
    
    d

	Just when I thought we might start seeing fewer unnecessary off-site
    meetings due to the resulting market forces of employees having to foot
    the bill for mileage, I learn that the memo was retracted.  Too bad.

	Think about it: here we are a computer company, a company whose
    biggest potential advantage is its ability to network people closer
    together via computers.  Yet we still conduct most of our meetings in
    person the old-fashioned uncomputerized way (commuting from site to site).

	Maybe the policy of *no* employee mileage reimbursement was a bit
    rash, but I think the writing is (or should be) on the walls for people
    to start limiting unnecessary [internal] travel expenses.  This seems
    like a golden opportunity for Jack Smith to encourage the use of
    VAXnotes conferences as alternatives to meetings in person.  If only
    the executive committee would agree to sponsor a corporate noting
    program office of some sort to ensure that adequate noting facilities
    are available for such meetings as they aren't currently (for example,
    this was once again the first time in weeks that I have been able to
    access this notesfile).

				     -davo

p.s.	If it were not for the CVG::DIGITAL (read-only) version of this
	file, I wouldn't have been able to even read anything in this file
	either.  My hat goes off to Alfred, Andy and all those responsible
	for making that shadow notesfile available (I just wish there was
	concerted corporate support of such electronic conferencing on a
	broader scale - think of the money we could save by having more
	meetings on-line).

    IMHO, DM summed up the problem/issue best.
    
    - from someone with 12 years experience watching companies go down the
      drain 'cause they could manage their way out of a paper bag.

    RE: .51
    
    I think you will find that "some sort of database seminar in Vienna
    Austria" is actually the European Storage and Information Management
    Symposium in Telfs, Austria.  If I am correct, this is intended both as
    a training event for c 150 European EIS and Marketing personnel and
    also an opportunity to recieve direct European feedback on development 
    plans.  
    
    A similar event took place in Colorado for the US area earlier in the 
    year. 
     
    
    Of course, I could be wrong in whi  

   re .35 Relocation expenses.
   
   While you may have found that the relocation policy offered you too much,
   you are the exception rather than the norm. I recently relocated, halfway
   around the world, and I can assure you that despite Relo policys, I am
   personally out several thousand dollars. I can only hope that my career
   move can make up for that in time.
   
   re .47 Forest and Trees.
   
   Amen, Penny wise, Pound foolish, if you will excuse the reference to foreign
   currency. I think if senior management worried less about reducing costs
   and put more into increasing profit/business/market share, we would be a
   lot better off. 
   
   re .last few
   
   The reference to "some sort of DB seminar in Europe" is the sort of
   reactionary approach that gets us into trouble so often. I have seen
   instances where Digital had to be dragged fighting and kicking into a
   "symposia" only to find that they made several millions of dollars in
   business out of it. We will not be recognized as a world class computing
   company, if we don't involve ourselves in World computing affairs.
   
   q
   
   

...
From:	NAME: Jack Smith                    
	FUNC: S.V.P. of Operations            
	TEL: 223-2231                         <SMITH.JACK AT A1 at CORA @ CORE>
Date:	10-Sep-1990
Posted-date: 10-Sep-1990
Precedence: 1
Subject: "PLANTS TO PLANTS"                                                     
2
To:	See Below

    Over the last few weeks I've heard from people all over the company 
    that our efforts to redirect our cost structure by $1 billion are right 
    on the money and are being widely supported.  Keep up the good work.

    At the same time, I'm hearing that at times like this, we can't over 
    communicate.  In this regard, it is important that all our employees 
    understand the full scope of the journey we're on.

    Our search for competitiveness requires us to reassess our worldwide 
    needs for all the resources that we manage, and we're doing just that.  
    We've already taken actions to reduce the "Easy Stuff" like travel, and 
    subscriptions, and there will be more to come in this area like 
    reducing the number of expense vouchers we file.  We've also taken 
    action on a more difficult item by severely restricting the 
    availability of IEG; likewise there'll be more in this area like 
    emptying out all our vacant offices.  

    Finally, we have taken action on the really hard stuff by making 
    available a voluntary separation on a business by business basis in the 
    U.S., and there will be more in this area such as facility 
    consolidations.

    We're looking at everything from rented plants (the green kind that 
    grow) to manufacturing plants, office space, warehouse space, 
    infrastructure, etc..

    The bottom line is that we must, and will be, relentless in our pursuit 
    of competitiveness, and it is our responsibility as the senior managers 
    of DEC to see that our employees know what's going on and why.  After 
    all, if 120,000 of our employees each come up with a $10,000 idea we'll 
    blow right through our billion dollar goal!!

    We agreed at our last Corporate Operations Staff meeting that I would 
    communicate directly with you, and that you would communicate with the 
    rest of the company.  Please pass these thoughts along to your 
    employees with my request for their continued support.

To Distribution List:
...
KEN OLSEN @CORE,
[Remainder of list elided, as we are *all* K.O.'s "employees"/AHM].
				/AHM

    Since I work off site with a customer, all the meetings I must attend
    are 40 miles away at the district office. The rest of my staff members
    located  in that office therefore wouldn't have to shell out the cash
    to get to the meetings, I would. Based on the price of gas in Los
    Angeles and the miserable traffic, you cannot consider it really
    profitable having to commute to meetings. The extra bucks isn't worth
    the stress. Glad they are rethinking this policy.
    My other point is , I don't call any of these meetings. If I feel I
    will not get anything out of it, I usually say so. It doesn't do much
    good, since some higher up as said "all must attend". 
    I would be glad to cut down on travel, but don't tell me to dish out
    the money, tell mangement to start thinking things out. Most of the
    information I need can be handled by E_mail or a phone call, not a four
    hour, 80 mile round trip meeting.
    Yeh, I know the memo has be rescinded, I just had to donate my opinion.
    
    Dave
    

<Re: .57  Jack Smith's Plants to Plants memo>

I'm really feeling good about what Jack's doing here. And I would think that 
it puts to rest some of the concerns voiced in previous replies. Jack is 
looking at the large, difficult cost-saving measures along with the small ones.

We needed leadership and I think we're getting it, folks. I'm excited about it 
and Jack's comment about each employee saving the company $10K is right on the 
money. Count me in.

Jim
(out here generating revenue AND saving money)

    I'm in the field in the Southern Area, based at a remote office (Mobile
    AL).... And while I think Jack's memos are a good idea, this is the
    ONLY place I've ever seen one - apparently, someone in managment (and
    I don't know who and really don't care...) is 'filtering' this
    information.  As for saving dollars, I'm traveling from Mobile to
    Huntsville (400 mi), Huntsville to Atlanta (200 mi) and Atlanta to
    Mobile (400 mi) this week by car and staying with friends and relatives
    (some of this is for personal reasons, others to save $$$).  Hopefully,
    Jack will allow those of us who have to sell and service out products 
    to continue to acquire them so we'll have SOME experience with them.
    (just moved into sales support on 7/20, don't have a phone, desk or
    terminal yet.....)
    
    Still seems like the same 'ol DEC to me......
    
    						David.
    

    One small thing we could all do is teach everyone to delete the 
    LONG distribution lists on some of the memos being distributed 
    around the company.  Especially ALL-IN-1 users.  It's a BIG waste of
    disk space and band width on the net...
    
    Patti
    

    Following is extract from "LIVEWIRE".
 
 
 
ENCOURAGE YOUR STAFF, BOSSES TOLD

MANAGERS who inspire their staff rather than shout orders are the key to 
success for firms in the 1990s, according to Peter Bonfield, chairman of 
the ICL computer company.

He told a conference in London yesterday that changes in leadership style were 
needed with executives who encourage and persuade rather than issuing orders.

(Daily Telegraph 26/9/90)





















    ICL are hardly the world's biggest success story, are they?
    It's been all downhill since the early 1970s as far as I
    can tell.

> ENCOURAGE YOUR STAFF, BOSSES TOLD
> 
> MANAGERS who inspire their staff rather than shout orders are the key to 
> success for firms in the 1990s, according to Peter Bonfield, chairman of 
> the ICL computer company.

	Well, Mr Bonfield certainly doesn't inspire me 8^)

			Bob 

    Not so obvious outside of Digital.   There are still plenty of
    hard-nosed, order-shouting, dictatorial managers out there.
    
    -DM-

    re .65 I'd *work* for that 'hard-nosed, order-shouting, dictatorial
    manager' *if I trusted in his competence*. Soft-spoken incompetents
    are not preferable.

    Who wants a incompetent manager either way. And I don't need and will
    not accept a "dictator". WE MUST WORK TOGETHER!
    
    Ben

    This month's "Boston Magazine"  has a 1/4-page section called 
    "jerking perks"  This section was dedicated to DEC for taking
    away our bottled water and WSJs. I think "BM" was desperate for
    filler this month.  
    
      Kate

>    This month's "Boston Magazine"  has a 1/4-page section called 
>    "jerking perks"  This section was dedicated to DEC for taking
>    away our bottled water and WSJs. I think "BM" was desperate for
>    filler this month.  
    
 	Kate,

I think you're right, BM probably thinks of their little office of a few 
(Something less than 50 probably) and they pay maybe a hundred a month for 
bottled water.  WJS's might cost them one or two subscriptions if they have 
them at all.....

Think about the # of facilities and water coolers we had at one time, plus 
the STACK of WSJ's on the front desk at some sites each morning, and then 
consider the price of all that.....I bet it was staggering! BM has no idea 
how big we are nor what we would spend on that type of stuff each month.

Besides, they are out to sell magazines, not necessarily think rationally 
about what they are saying.....

    Vic H