Conference 7.286::digital

    If Enrico can bring the success he generated under the
    Personal Computers Business Unit to sales we are back
    on our way to the top. He is both capable and aggressive with
    a good understanding of the market(s).
    
    Lucente was the wrong person for Digital. The choice of Enrico
    to succeed him is a very positive step in the right direction.
    
    			-Jim-

	I have a very good feeling about this.

	Time to go back into the stock plan.

							mike

    
    I think Bob caught Ed in his chair one to many times...........
    
    Mark

>>    Lucente was the wrong person for Digital. The choice of Enrico
>>    to succeed him is a very positive step in the right direction.
  
Perhaps, but I fear that this will merely engender another round of 
executive shuffle.

I wonder how the customer base will view us now?

    So how many is that of the "new hires" at top level that have not
    lasted 2 years ?
    
    Just enough time to screw things up and negotiate a golden parachute !
    
    |

    Re .5:
    
    	I think the customers AND stockholders would view this rather
    positivly.  He has driven the "impossible" position of Non PC DIGITAL
    into a force in the PC market that seems to be viewed positivly from
    the outside (looking at the fact that positive DEC PC Articles are now
    fairly regular in the rags).
    
    Perhaps we finaly have a "reorg" worth holding on to ?
    

    
    The stock is currently at 19 1/8 down 1/4 point..
    

    Since when does one who resigns to take another position in
    another business get a Golden Parachute?
    
    
    Robin

    Why does everyone think that Lucente's departure is a good thing?
    
    "Wrong person for Digital..." -- why?  Because he was ruthless?  I'm
    starting to think a little bit of ruthless is the only thing that will
    save us.
    

    re. 6
    
    If the Digital executives had not "screwed" things up so bad, then
    these "outsiders" would not have been given the opportunity to screw
    things up, as you put it.  Think about it.
    

    RE .10
    
    Lucente, whether he wanted too or not had to work with Bob Palmer,
    not against him. Our CEO has enought problems without having
    to worry about the loyalty of his staff. Judging from the position
    Lucente took, i.e. CMU, he was pushed out. I think the operative
    word here is "teamwork".

    I tend to agree with an associate who feels that the position at
    the Univerity didn't come out of the blue, and Mr. Lucente was most
    likely persuing that position for several months or more.
    
    Sooooo, if we're correct in this presumption, it would lead us to
    believe that it took Mr. Lucente only a few months to figure out
    that he didn't fit, or was over his head, or whatever, upon which
    he did the prudent thing and bailed out!
    
    It'll be very interesting to see how the stock analysts view this 
    departure.   We should know very soon.
    
    One thing unique about this departure is that he went somewhere where
    he couldn't take his minions with him; which MAY translate into a
    smaller than normal follow-on list of departees.
    
    I don't envey the folks in those Org's right now.   They may have to
    adopt the "if my boss calls me, get his/her name' scenario for a while.
    
    Starting to sound like a soap-opera!

It's also possible that Lucente kept his options open.  If things had gone
well for him here he would have stayed.  When things began to look bad, he
had someplace to go.

Gee,  how many of the 'management' level of industry today opt to leave the
business climate and enter academia?  It shouldn't take rocket science to figure
this one out, folks.  Academia is the last stop for an industry tycoon.

cw

    
    I wouldn't bet that CMU is Mr. Lucente's last stop -- more likely
    a stopover.  X's-in-residence often appear for a year, kick back,
    do a little networking, and reemerge when the time is right.
    It's very difficult to get dropped out of the higher executive 
    levels -- there's always someone willing to pay a large salary to
    someone who has had a large salary before.  Dropping in on academia
    can be the equivalent to "community service" or "pro bono" work.
    The executive-in-residence is academic shorthand for "I'm not a
    teacher by profession; I just came in to relax for a while and
    give a few lectures while scoping out my next job."
    
    Ron

Re: .10,
> Why does everyone think that Lucente's departure is a good thing?
>    
>    "Wrong person for Digital..." -- why?  Because he was ruthless?  I'm
>    starting to think a little bit of ruthless is the only thing that will
>    save us.

Ruthless with employees when it is the only choice is one thing, but I for
one will not soon forget the way Lucente blew off customers at Decus in
November.  Although the appearance had been scheduled for months, he called at
the last minute (within a week or so) and claimed a "scheduling conflict", and 
rescheduled his appearance.  

When he did appear, he went on and on about how important DECUS was to Digital's
success and how he personally felt that it would be instrumental in turning
around the corporations fortunes.  At the same time, the funding for subsequent
decus symposia were being cut to the point that they will no longer even be
full-week events.

Now just how many customers do you think failed to see through that?

Attitudes like that towards our most loyal customers are not helpful at all.    

    Mr. Lucenti may have done well at IBM I didn't follow his career there,
    but I saw him in action twice -- Once at DECUS in San Francisco last 
    year and once in Dallas to an all Digital Audiance.
    
    The man needs a Dale Carnegie Course on human relations IMHO
    
      -- At least he'd to learn how to deal with an audiance.
    
    I hope he mellows out at CMU...I can't imagine taking a class
    from the man...And paying for the priviledge...
    
    
    John Wisniewski
    
    

    re .11 (re 6)
    
    Naturally I have no idea if there was a golden parachute or not.
    
    The point I was trying to make was that of the new hires at top level a
    couple of years back, quite a few seem to have left already.  This says
    something either about the quality of the hiring process, or the
    quality of commitment to the Corporation of the hired.  In both cases,
    there is an element of failure.
    
    In a senior executive position, it takes at lerast 3 years to give the
    job a real shot.  One year to understand the REAL problems (not just
    assume that the problems that IBM or other companies had 5-10 years
    ago are the same as Digital has now), one year to put a REAL solution
    in place (not quick fixes that affect immediate bonuses but are suspect
    on a long-term basis), and one year to prove whether the solution
    worked (not flee the Corporation when the going gets tough).
    
    IMHO Digital's hiring strategy at top level has might well be a risk to
    the shareholders.... the only worse thing would be for them all to
    leave now and plunge the Corporation into yet another dithering morass
    of indecision and lack of direction.
    
    Let's live with and support those who are in place, good or ungood, the
    Corporation, the customers, the stock market could live with another 2
    years of indecision, reorganisation and rereorganisation.
    
    As evidence, look the priorities in BP's latest press release on 
    what has been achieved by the top level, put yourself in the Customer's
    shoes and answer yourself truthfully:
     	
    	"How has Digital's changes benefited me as a Customer ?"
    
    John
    
    
    

    re .19
    
    There is a major omission... a NOT missing.
    
    The Corporation, shareholders, customers etc could NOT live with
    another 2 years of dithering indecision, reorganisation and
    rereorganisation.
    
    Oooops !
    
    John
    

    OK, Lucente wasn't the type who projected kindness, or patience.  I
    hear he wasn't real helpful with DECUS.  I accept both.
    
    But there seems to be more than that.  Many of the noters back East
    seemed to really have it in for him.  Why?  Because he wasn't one of
    the old guard Digits?
    
    There is more to leadership than making people like you.
    
    Regarding not being able to work with Palmer:  no evidence of that has
    been given.  Certainly he has been abrasive, but maybe he was just
    trying to call things as he saw them, and it ruffled feathers.  
    
    Also, regarding the assumption that Palmer forced him out:  maybe.  But
    maybe he actually left because he wouldn't accept some "last straw"
    decision.  
    
    He could be that he left because Palmer was about to be forced out, and
    didn't like where that was leading.  It's a theory.  Until we know
    more, I have this strong feeling that there is a lot more to the story
    than we know so far.
    
    OK, Lucente wasn't likable.  What else?  And please, don't bring up the
    fabled limousine story again.  The guy is insensitive, but that doesn't
    mean he didn't have the means to make good decisions.  Give me a good
    exec who wastes money on rental cars over one who muddles around but
    makes a show out of just being one of us little people.

RE: .21
    
>    But there seems to be more than that.  Many of the noters back East
>    seemed to really have it in for him.  Why?  Because he wasn't one of
>    the old guard Digits?
    
The reason that I feel good about this announcement is two-fold:

1) Enrico Pesatori took an organization that was unknown in the industry
   and made it a force to be reckoned with in less than 2 years.  Our
   PC division is making a very good product, it is getting very good 
   publicity, it is getting reviewed in all of the major magazines, and 
   it is growing very well.

   Pesatori recognizes the importance of marketing the product, and has
   shown that he knows (or can hire people who know) how to do it.  In
   my opinion, *that* is the single most important thing that Digital has
   lacked in our systems and workstations plans: solid marketing.  Maybe
   now Digital will market its products the way they should be marketed,
   and we can start selling what are truly some excellent products.

2) Ed Lucente made decisions that (again, in my opinion) showed a total
   disconnect from the real world.  Two examples spring to mind:

   a) We have a problem with revenue shortfalls, so we TFSO many of the 
      people who generate the revenue (Sales Reps, Sales Support, Digital
      Consulting, the people at the RMCs, etc).  
   b) He transformed DEC100 from an event which rewards dedicated, competent
      and successful people (and their spouses, who contributed and suffered
      nearly as much as the Digits did), into an event which takes people
      away from their families yet again, and subjects them to "motivational"
      speakers.  If you made DEC100, *you are already motivated*, because
      in these economic times un-motivated people won't make DEC100!

   It seems to me that these decisions are exactly backwards from what is
   needed, and will in fact produce exactly the opposite effect from what
   is necessary to make this company successful again.

If Ed wanted to save money, then *cancelling* DEC100 would be reasonable.
Some people (such as myself, who made DEC100 for the 3rd straight year) might 
be upset, but I think we can all understand that we need to save the company 
some money.  I for one would find it much more acceptable to pass up DEC100 
and keep my job (or have a Sales Rep or Sales Support person on whom I depend
keep their job), than the other way around...

-- Ken Moreau

Maybe it is better if people do hold back.  Those who know, are not
likely to say much in public.  It would be ungracious of them now that
a satisfactory accomodation has been reached.

I know other members of the SLT recommended this action and
had what they believed were good reasons.

    
    The decisions Mr Lucenti made in his tenure here aren't the 
    primary issue here -- 
    
    A salesman/manager who can't talk and sell customers on themselves 
    and Digital isn't worth his salt (eh) salary...
    
    Again IMHO...
    
    John Wisniewski
    
    

    
    What were the two biggest numbers out of wack in the quarterly report
    
    1) Revenue
    2) SG&A Expense
    
    Both fell substantially under one person, Lucente ... do you believe
    either problem has been fixed or a quality fix is articulated and
    is underway? ... the board certainly has stated an opinion.
    
    Greg
    

    re .22
    I'm with you on Dec 100 sorry Digital 100. When I work the hours to
    make the grade, its my family that pays, my wife has to shoulder the
    entire load as I don't have the time. Many a morning I have rolled in
    the driveway after preparing a response to an RFP only to see my kid
    leaving for school.
    To not recognize the others that put in the extra effdort is a
    travesty. Here's one dude who after ten Dec100's won't be going to
    another.
    S.H.

    When Ed Lucente addressed the Culver City, CA office, he said that the
    reason he came to Digital was because he believed it could grow.  He
    pointed out that the industry was growing at 12% per year and that
    Digital could do that, making us double our size in about 6 years.  He
    said we could not reduce to excellence, that we were about at minimum
    size now.  These statements seem in direct conflict with Bob Palmer. 
    This was just about a month ago. I suspect that there was a serious
    difference of opinion on how to turn this company around and it appears
    that Ed lost...

re Note 3023.27 by SIERAS::MCCLUSKY:

>     When Ed Lucente addressed the Culver City, CA office, he said that the
>     reason he came to Digital was because he believed it could grow.  He
>     pointed out that the industry was growing at 12% per year and that
>     Digital could do that, making us double our size in about 6 years.  He
>     said we could not reduce to excellence, that we were about at minimum
>     size now.  

        I like the vision, it agrees with my gut feeling, but did
        Lucente ever communicate a credible plan for achieving that?

        Bob

    re:  .22
    
    You fault him for TFSO'ing sales when revenues are declining.  I agree
    it's counter-intuitive.  The irony here is that Pesatori is expected to
    do even more of that -- moving us to a channels strategy and reducing
    costs.
    
    re:  .25
    
    You fault Lucente for holding responsibility for both areas that got
    out of control:  SG&A and Revenue.  But consider:
    
    a.  It wasn't just the fact that we showed a loss -- Wall Street
    groaned and we deflated internally because it was _unexpected_.  Was
    Lucente responsible for the financial tracking systems that prevented
    our upper management from seeing this coming?  Also note that the
    logical course of action from your complaint would be to cut more Sales
    people -- putting you in conflict with note .22's complaint about too
    much of that being done already.
    
    b.  Decline in revenues is being driven by increased competition in
    services as well as hardware.  Wasn't the drop in services revenue the
    big problem this quarter?
    
    re:  .21 (?)
    
    It is curious now that we should shut up out of respect for "the dead." 
    Also, the implication that the people who hated Lucente had good
    reasons that they can't tell us.  It's hard for me to accept that all
    the people who have been slamming Lucente have a pipe into the SLT and
    know stuff the rest of us shouldn't know.  If you know SLT stuff and
    can't talk, I understand.  For the rest of you, I would still like to
    know what it was about him that caused all the animosity.
    
    I don't care about Lucente personally.  Never met the guy.  But the
    undercurrents of emotion he generated, I think, touch on some of the
    basic reasons for our chaos and lack of direction.  That's why I'm
    curious.
    

    
    re: .back a few..
    
    and how pray tell does one tell from the author field in a notes reply
    whether one is a "back east" noter or "back west" noter (beyond ones
    personal name) etc.. and how is it relevant anyway?

    
re. 29
    
>    You fault Lucente for holding responsibility for both areas that got
>    out of control:  SG&A and Revenue.  But consider:
    
>    a.  It wasn't just the fact that we showed a loss -- Wall Street
>    groaned and we deflated internally because it was _unexpected_. Was
>    Lucente responsible for the financial tracking systems that prevented
>    our upper management from seeing this coming?  
      
    I believe three areas are in deep trouble ...
       marketing and channel development   (points to Lucente)
       financial systems  (I mentioned this somewhere else in H::DIGITAL)
       supply & delivery  (we're still too slow, too $s,  and difficult)
    
    
>    Also note that the
>    logical course of action from your complaint would be to cut more Sales
>    people -- putting you in conflict with note .22's complaint about too
>    much of that being done already.
 
    That is one course of action ... not the one I would recommend BTW. 
    Focus on the development of indirect channels is the ticket IMO ...
    something I've little of from Lucente's world during his tenure. 
    Personally I believe the focus on headcount instead of fixing the
    underlying problems is one of the biggest issues we have right now.
    
            
>    b.  Decline in revenues is being driven by increased competition in
>    services as well as hardware.  Wasn't the drop in services revenue the
>    big problem this quarter?
    
    It's a problem that hopefully has John Rando sweating  ... but that has
    little to do with the the level of marketing and channels progress
    we've made (or not made) in the last year.  This discussion is about
    Lucente not Rando. (BTW dependence on repair service revenue and profit
    is a time proven route to big problems (it's like an addictive drug)).   
            
    Greg
    

    I would think that the financial reporting and control systems of the
    company would be the responsibility of the Chief Financial Officer
    (CFO), Bill Steul.
    

RE: .29
    
>    You fault him for TFSO'ing sales when revenues are declining.  I agree
>    it's counter-intuitive.  The irony here is that Pesatori is expected to
>    do even more of that -- moving us to a channels strategy and reducing
>    costs.
    
You have a valid point, that moving to a channels strategy will necessarily
result in a smaller sales and sales support force.  And I support this move
(actually, I support *any* move which will get us reliably profitable again).

But the point I intended (but failed) to make was that cutting the sales
force is only half the battle.  You must implement a channels strategy as
well as cut the sales force.  Further, the channels must be in place and
productively sustaining the revenue stream before you can cut the sales
force.  Simply cutting the sales force, and then beginning to think about
forming the task force which will come up with the criteria toward starting
to implement the channels strategy, will not work.  And this is what I saw
happening by Lucente's decision.

-- Ken Moreau

    re: .31
>    and how pray tell does one tell from the author field in a notes reply
>    whether one is a "back east" noter or "back west" noter (beyond ones
>    personal name) etc.. and how is it relevant anyway?
    
    	As a very rough guideline, if you take the node name and use NCP to
    give you the node number, the area part may give a pretty precise
    indication of where the author is. Easynet management used to maintain
    a map, but I am not sure if they still do. If the area number is in the
    range from 40  to the low 50s then it is here (Europe). If it is lower
    than that then it is west of here (U.S.). If it is higher than that
    then it is east of here (Australia, Japan, ...). Since the different
    parts of the world have differing marketing needs, differing
    manufacturing possibilities, it is useful in understanding someone's
    point of view when you know that area code 56 is Australia for example.

re .35:

>    	As a very rough guideline, if you take the node name and use NCP to
>    give you the node number, the area part may give a pretty precise
>    indication of where the author is.
...
>    then it is east of here (Australia, Japan, ...). Since the different
>    parts of the world have differing marketing needs, differing
>    manufacturing possibilities, it is useful in understanding someone's
>    point of view when you know that area code 56 is Australia for example.

Loads of exceptions to that.  Area 56 is Stow, MA, USA for example.

-Mike

    Then again, first line of defense might be ELF, if you've got a surname
    and a node name.

If you have an Ultrix machine running DECNET/OSI, you can run the /usr/field/
syntofull utility. 

root>syntofull strokr
DEC:.SHR.STROKR
root>syntofull pastis
DEC:.VBO.PASTIS
root>syntofull dpdmai
DEC:.dlo.dpdmai

FWIW

Chris

    
    In all the discusion about downsizing sales/sales support force,
    has any thought been given to how a win-win situation can be 
    created for the company as well as the TFSOed individuals? A good
    method would be to recruit the departing employees as resellers
    , VARS etc for our equipment through a package of services such as
    training, demo equipment, discounts etc. I know that IBM tried this
    with their initial downsized employees and they became one of the
    best distributors for AS/400 into SME marketplace. Given the product
    knowledge that these sales professionals have of our products, it would
    be a shame to just lose them and then spend lot of effort training
    3rd party employees. This would also help these ex-employees to set
    themselves up in this business with more ease and maybe make more money
    than they ever did working for Digital.
    
    Instead of losing 10,000 employees, may be we can recruit 5,000
    new resellers!
    
    RV
    
    

    Great idea!
    

    
    Ditto: Great idea!
    
    If you can get it to work, give me a call at home!  8^)
    
    Bob "Lame Duck" Hanson

    re:  .31
    
    "Back East" is a condescending term us arrogant Midwesterners use to
    describe the puzzle palace around the GMA (Greater Maynard Area). :-)
    

    
    re .31
    
    There are two additional ways to tell the location of a node. The
    first is findnode, a tool I wrote several years ago. It is available
    from the sw tools clearinghouse (METOO::SW_TOOLS_CATALOG, note 1723). 
    I placed the .kit file at the end of this note.
    
    Basically, it is as command procedure and a couple of indexed data file 
    that map node name to a location code and description. With 92,000 DECnet 
    node names, it does require about 3000 blocks of disk space. An example 
    is as follows:
    
    $ @findnode send
    ZKO Nashua, NH  - Spit Brook - Corporate Software Engineering 
    
    The second is vtx node_location. I am not sure if this is still
    maintained.
    
    Peter
    
$!	VMS Installation kit for FINDNODE
$ FINDNODE_VER= F$VERIFY(0)
$ IF F$EXTRACT(0,2,F$GETSYI("VERSION")) .EQS. "V3" THEN GOTO install
$ WRITE SYS$OUTPUT "Installing FINDNODE"
$ GOTO 'F$MODE()
$ INTERACTIVE:
$ INQUIRE ans "Do you wish to install in batch mode? [Y]"
$ IF ans .EQS. "" THEN ans = "Y"
$ IF .NOT. ans THEN GOTO install
$ default := "''F$LOGICAL("SYS$DISK")'''F$DIRECTORY()'"
$ SUBMIT/notify/noprint/par='default' 'F$ENVIRONMENT("PROCEDURE")
$ GOTO exit
$ BATCH:
$ set nover
$ set default 'p1'
$ install:
$ COPY/LOG SEND""::FINDNODE$KIT:FINDNODE.COM *.* ! 
$ COPY/LOG SEND""::FINDNODE$KIT:FINDLOCATION.COM *.* ! 
$ COPY/LOG SEND""::FINDNODE$KIT:FINDNODE$LOC_CODES.DAT *.* ! 
$ COPY/LOG SEND""::FINDNODE$KIT:FINDNODE$NODE_NAMES.DAT *.* ! 
$ COPY/LOG SEND""::FINDNODE$KIT:FINDNODE$UPDATE.COM *.* ! 
$ ASSIGN /USER NL: SYS$OUTPUT:
$ DIR SYS$SHARE:NM_MAILSHR.EXE
$ NMAIL_STATUS = $STATUS
$ IF NMAIL_STATUS THEN DEFINE STC "NM%METOO::STC"
$ IF .NOT. NMAIL_STATUS THEN DEFINE STC "METOO::STC"
$ IF NMAIL_STATUS THEN DEFINE STC_FINDNODE_SOURCE NM%SEND::BOWER
$ IF .NOT. NMAIL_STATUS THEN DEFINE STC_FINDNODE_SOURCE SEND::BOWER
$ ASSIGN /USER NL: SYS$OUTPUT:
$ MAIL /SUBJ="FINDNODE installed ''f$log("SYS$DISK")'''f$dir()'" -
	NL: STC 
$ ASSIGN /USER NL: SYS$OUTPUT:
$ MAIL /SUBJ="FINDNODE installed ''f$log("SYS$DISK")'''f$dir()'" -
	NL: STC_FINDNODE_SOURCE
$! ASSIGN /USER NL: SYS$OUTPUT:
$! MAIL /SUBJ="Has the tool FINDNODE been installed on this system before?"  -
!	NL: SYSTEM
$exit:
$ FINDNODE_VER=F$VER(FINDNODE_VER)

This must be new record for notesfiles.  The thread continues for a full
42 replies before any computer code showed up!

Does this event effectively end the topic (Pesatori's responsibilities)?

;^)

Chuck

Worldwide News                                 LIVE WIRE

Pesatori promises clear direction (02-May)                  Date: 02-May-1994

Page   1 of 1  
                     Pesatori promises clear direction
 
         (Reprinted from today's issue of "Digital Today," U.S. edition.)
 
         Appointed last week as worldwide Sales and Marketing vice 
   president and general manager of the Systems Business Unit, Enrico 
   Pesatori said he will announce the details of his strategy and plans 
   after careful analysis.
         "It will be my expectation that within a couple of months, we 
   should be able to state -- not only to our sales force and not only 
   to our employees, but to shareholders, analysts and journalists -- 
   what is our strategy, what is our plan of execution, and what is the 
   timetable," Pesatori said in an interview Friday with "Digital Today."
         Pesatori, who retains his responsibilities as general manager of 
   the PC Business Unit, did not promise any quick fixes, but was upbeat 
   that strong management direction can make Digital more competitive and 
   profitable.
         "What I've been given is a very difficult task," he said.  "But 
   I would not have accepted the task if I wasn't totally confident that 
   together we can be successful."
         Pesatori said Digital's sales force has the talent to be successful, 
   but has lacked a clear distribution strategy and a support infrastructure 
   that makes it easier for sales people to serve their customers.
         "There have been a lot of rumors, noise and misunderstanding 
   written about Digital's sales force," he said. 
         "I have met, during my 14 months at Digital, a large number of 
   very talented sales people at every level -- on the front line and in 
   management.
         "I do not think that we have a problem with the talent of our 
   people.
         "We have a problem in directing our talented people to execute a 
   distribution strategy that is clear -- a distribution strategy that 
   will be fixed once and for all.
         "And we have to solve the issues that are not allowing our sales 
   force to be as productive as our competitors, issues with the entire 
   infrastructure of the company," Pesatori said.
         As general manager of the Systems Business Unit, Pesatori is 
   responsible for Digital's Alpha AXP and VAX systems as well as software, 
   network, and component/peripheral upgrade products.
         He is also responsible for Digital's industry marketing 
   organization.
         Prior to joining Digital in February 1993, Pesatori served for 
   two years as president and chief executive officer, Zenith Data Systems; 
   and spent 21 years with Ing. C. Olivetti & Co. in a series of senior 
   technical and management positions.
         A native of Turin, Italy, Pesatori holds a master's degree in 
   electronics engineering from Polytechnic University in Turin.


		DIGITAL INTERNAL USE ONLY

    Finally, someone with a timetable. So if we don't meet the timetable,
    is he out too?
    
    ed

re Note 3023.46 by SUBSYS::NEUMYER:

>     Finally, someone with a timetable. So if we don't meet the timetable,
>     is he out too?
  
        I'm sure -- as well as many of the rest of us!

        Bob

    so......
    how come it's gonna take another two whole months?
    
    
    it's not like no one knew that a strategy was missing.
    
    t.

    The fact that its going to take another two months to divulge the
    strategy strongly infers that there never was one to begin with.
    

    I'll give this guy a couple months. Am I the only one who sees
    something positive in this guy running things. He's been running the PC
    buisness for 2 years and gotten it to increase market share as well as
    put us in  a market where we had nothing but animosity. He and the
    people in his group did it with pretty much ordinary products. 486's
    like everyone else has? Imagine what would happen if he actually
    advertized the fastest microprocessor in the computer world? Or some of
    the best storage devices in the world? Or some of the most robust
    computer systems in the world? I wonder what the Ed guy was doing for 
    the last couple years other than critizing the salespeople he should
    have been directing. 
    
    Fred

re Note 3023.49 by LOCH::SOJDA:

>     The fact that its going to take another two months to divulge the
>     strategy strongly infers that there never was one to begin with.
  
        The strategy would previously have been Lucente's, and one
        could reasonably infer that since Lucente was no longer
        wanted, neither was his strategy (giving him the benefit of
        the doubt).

        (As I wrote elsewhere, it is a return to square one or two,
        which is unfortunate even if it is necessary.)

        Bob

    Come on people. I have been reading virtually nothing but doom and
    gloom in Digital Notes for weeks now. Yes, the problems are real, DEC is
    (and has been in trouble) but if we, the employees can't get out of our
    doom and gloom "oh, the company is going to fail" mindset the co. WILL 
    fail... (self fulfilling prophecy and all that).
    
    We, collectively, MUST work on the positive solutions to this crisis.
    Our jobs depend on it.
    
    Jeff

I'm very inclined to give Mr. Pesatori a break and my backing! Hes the first
senior manager during DECs bad times that has a *PLAN*. He tells you exactly
what hes going to do and when hes going to have it ready. This is something
that Bob pass-the-buck Palmer has never done. Matter of fact I view the memo
in .45 as extrememly good news. I would encourage you to give Mr. Pesatori the
benefit of the doubt...I think hes on the right track. He certainly has a
proven track record of success within the company. I also like the way he
doesnt fill his memo with mangement-speak...I can actually understand what hes
saying w/o the help of a laywer to interpret. ;^)

>>         Pesatori said Digital's sales force has the talent to be successful, 
>>   but has lacked a clear distribution strategy and a support infrastructure 
>>   that makes it easier for sales people to serve their customers.
>>         "There have been a lot of rumors, noise and misunderstanding 
>>   written about Digital's sales force," he said. 
>>         "I have met, during my 14 months at Digital, a large number of 
>>  very talented sales people at every level -- on the front line and in 
>>   management.
>>         "I do not think that we have a problem with the talent of our 
>>   people.
>>         "We have a problem in directing our talented people to execute a 
>>   distribution strategy that is clear -- a distribution strategy that 
>>   will be fixed once and for all.
>>         "And we have to solve the issues that are not allowing our sales 
>>   force to be as productive as our competitors, issues with the entire 
>>   infrastructure of the company," Pesatori said.

Now there's a novel approach, make your employees feel a little better about 
themselves and admit that the leadership has been lacking.

It reminds me of one of those Schwartzkopf principles:

	When in charge, take command!

If this guy cares enough to make me feel better about my contribution to the 
company or even if he's just pretending to care, it's a whole lot more that 
any other SLT members have done anytime recently.

With times being as tough as they are right now, we need a leader to rally 
around. Someone who makes us feel good about ourselves and our company and who 
makes us want to do what it takes to turn things around.

And right now with all that's going on, I'm just hoping that Enrico's that 
LEADER!

Rick C  (with fingers tightly crossed)

 Worldwide News                                              LIVE WIRE
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Henry Ancona resigns from Digital (10-May)                  Date: 10-May-1994
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                    Henry Ancona resigns from Digital 
   
         Henry Ancona has decided to leave Digital to take a senior 
   position with another company.  He has been named executive vice 
   president, Electronic Imaging, with Polaroid Corp. 
         Since joining Digital 21 years ago, Ancona has held positions in 
   Engineering, the Product Lines, Customer Services, Product Marketing, 
   Corporate Business Planning, and the Worldwide Sales and Marketing 
   organizations.  He was responsible for developing Digital's Office 
   Systems Business from the ground up into a $1 billion-plus business.  
   He also spent six years in Paris as European Commercial Product Group 
   manager.  Most recently, he was vice president, Operations and 
   Planning, Systems Business Unit.
         In making the announcement, Enrico Pesatori, vice president and 
   general manager of the Personal Computer Business Unit and the Systems 
   Business Unit, said:  "Henry's many contributions and his loyalty and 
   integrity have been greatly appreciated over his long career at Digital 
   and will be missed.  We wish him well in his new company and count on 
   his continued friendship with Digital."

 Worldwide News                                              LIVE WIRE
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Pesatori to lead Manufacturing and ...                      Date: 20-May-1994
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

            Pesatori to lead Manufacturing and Logistics organization 
 
         As previously announced, Ed McDonough, vice president, Worldwide 
   Manufacturing and Logistics (M&L), will retire in June.  Digital Vice 
   President Enrico Pesatori will assume responsibility for M&L effective 
   immediately.  Prior to his retirement, McDonough will support Pesatori 
   during this transition.
         This expands Pesatori's responsibilities as head of the Personal 
   Computer and Systems business units and Worldwide Sales and Marketing.
         President and CEO Bob Palmer commented: "The large majority of 
   Manufacturing and Logistics resources are currently supporting the 
   Personal Computer and Systems business units which report to Enrico.  
   This change is consistent with our strategy of giving full profit and 
   loss responsibilities to our business unit managers and holding them 
   accountable for their performance.  Storage Manufacturing will continue 
   to report to Charlie Christ."

Hmmm...

From all I've heard, Enrico is a very competent individual.  From that,
I'm happy to see him gaining more and more influence over the future
of the corporation.

My concern at this point is that I'm afraid that he'll soon be spread
too thin to have any appreciable effect on anything.

    The company is quickly getting smaller... E.P is supposedly going to
    announce his plans on divisionalization (a real word?) - Odds are
    the company will small enough for him to manage effectively...
    
    /Bob

    Think six divisions.