Conference 7.286::digital

3212.0. "Is a Corporate Standard/Directive Corporate-wide?" by ROMEOS::TREBILCOT_EL () Mon Jun 27 1994 17:07

    I am confused about the definition of Corporate Standard.
    
    I worked in an office where every few months we would get a memo handed
    down to us explaining that per a Corporate Directive, we were no longer
    going to provide...
    
    Let's see, first the coffee went, then the napikins, forks, spoons, and
    other things went.  Then we got new vending...
    
    Then we were told that Corporate had re-negotiated the contract and we
    were no longer allowed to use Federal Express, but now had to use
    Airborne.
    
    These directives continued and as corners were cut we lost quite a bit
    from our facilities.  
    
    During this time I had the opportunity to go to other DEC sites for
    training and whatever...and I noticed that other parts of the country
    didn't seem to be affected the way we were.
    
    They were still using Fed-X, for example, and they often had nicer
    facilities and still had a lot of the amenities we had lost due to
    "Corporate Directive."
    
    I thought at first that it was only the offices in the corporate area
    which remained so nice, and for obvious reasons...they were corporate. 
    They were above the rest of us little grunts...
    
    Then I went to non-corporate sites and they were nicer, still used
    Fed-X, had nice amenities...
    
    Then I relocated to another part of the country and lo and behold! 
    They have a nice facility, they still use Fed-X and they still supply
    all kinds of things we were no longer being supplied with.  
    
    I remember when they used to say soon we wouldn't have any toilet paper
    either!
    
    So now I'm confused...
    
    Is a Corporate Directive really a corporate standard?  Or were we just
    being told what was going on, ordered by corporate, so we wouldn't
    complain?  Kind of like when you're little and your parents say,
    "Because I said so and I'm the mom/dad!"
    
    How come some parts of Digital have such nice facilities and some are
    "less than Park Avenue?"
    
    I mean for years we had cubes that were all different colors, some
    walls orange, some blue, some grey, some brown, and we were told there
    was no money for uniform panels...
    
    What gives?
    
    

    What gives?? Nothing new.
    This is standard behaviour all over the world.
    Before I started working for Digital I worked for ENKA and AKZO Pharma,
    both part of AKZO.
    Usually "unpleasant" announcements were made on behalf of the board of
    AKZO (the holding). This didn't usually mean the directive was
    affecting the whole corporation, but by presenting it as a corporate
    directive it prevented local management from getting a lot of flack.
    
    Charles