| Title: | The Digital way of working |
| Moderator: | QUARK::LIONEL ON |
| 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 |
I wrote up the following a few days ago and mailed it out. Perhaps
I'm going bonkers but the analogy seems to work...any comments?
�grin�
I've been thinking about all the stuff going on in Digital and trying to fit
the organization into a good analogy to explain things. In those machinations I
came up with the following analogy:
Digital is a shopping mall. Digital is not a department store. That is why
getting things done in the field are difficult.
If you need a shirt and go to a shopping mall, you need to look around at
different stores, find the shirt that meets your needs and hope that you've
been able to check out all the stores to get the best buy. This takes time,
energy but may get you a good deal.
In a department store, you go to the shirt department, see the entire range of
things - from megabucks to not-so-good, but can quickly make your purchase.
Granted that you do pay a tax (premium) for that convenience but it decreases
your time to find the right item and get on with things.
One of the biggest reasons that we (field) fail is because we're forced to run
around the mall (Digital/internal) to find things.
----
If Digital wants to become profitable in a commodity market, we probably need
to reorganize so that the field can QUICKLY do one-stop-shopping. The added
value of the "corporate tax" has got to be to create an easy-to-access single
point of contact to quickly find out EVERYTHING about a given commodity.
Perhaps we do need competitive groups creating duplicate products - but the
competition should be insultated from the field (just like in a department
store) where the customer (field) always wins by having the choices and ability
to get the right solution to the customer with one-stop-shopping. (After all,
in a department store - they NEVER pitch products AGAINST each other - they
ALWAYS sell feature vs. feature and let YOU decide.)
That's my 2�.
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1633.1 | DCC == DEPARTMENT_STORE | UFP::LONG | Ron Long DTN 341-2725 CIS DCC | Mon Oct 14 1991 09:45 | 3 |
I believe the intent of forming the DCC's was to address the "One-Stop" issue... but there seems to have been a marketing/perception problem. | |||||
| 1633.2 | Expand your vision | CORREO::BELDIN_R | Pull us together, not apart | Mon Oct 14 1991 10:50 | 17 |
re .0
The analogy is a bit more involved.
Digital is
a) Catalog Sales - DECdirect
b) Shopping Mall - as you pointed out
c) Wholesaler - to the sales force selling solutions
d) Retailer - to employees via EPP
e) Contractor - to those using our consulting services
and probably some other categories.
We don't fit in any pigeon hole, we are redefining the industry.
Dick
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| 1633.3 | the Tree of Digital | POBOX::KAPLOW | Have package, will travel | Wed Oct 16 1991 18:39 | 28 |
I've been using a very different analogy. Digital is a 34 year old
tree. It is a magnificent Maple that is so common in New England.
It has developed well, spread its branches far and wide, and has a
well established root system. It provides life to many animals in
the forest.
If insects or a disease attack a tree limb, that limb may be lost.
Then it is time to call a tree surgeon and remove that dead limb.
There are probably a few dead limbs around the tree of Digital,
but for the most part, I don't see them being trimmed off. This is
part of the problem that got Digital to where it is today, but not
the core of the current problems.
The tree of Digital is suffering from a drought. For the past year
or two there has been little rainfall. The forest is crowded by
several older Oak trees, and many new Poplars. All of the trees,
including the tree of Digital, are withering. In nature, this tree
would expand its root system, shoot out new buds, and hold on
until the rainy season finally arrives. Instead, this tree is
prematurely losing its leaves, causing its food production to
drop. It is cutting off its established root system, because the
ground there is so dry. Soon its very sap will stop flowing thru
its limbs. Someone will cut down what is left of the tree and haul
it off to a lumber mill.
Now is not the time to cut back the live branches and starve the
tree. It is the time to prune the dead wood, become more
aggressive, send out new leaves, twigs, and branches, and grow.
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