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Volume 7, #3__________________________________________________________________
May, 1988
Network
Application
Support by John Rose, manager, PC Integration
Communicating
Digital’s
Values by Jack Smith,
senior vice president
Digital’s
Policy
For Protecting Proprietary Information
Implementation
Schedule
For JEC Extended
Headquarters
For
Latin American/Caribbean Moves To Florida
Bob
Glorioso
Named IEEE Fellow
Digital
Sponsors
AIDS Lifeline Tv & Educational Programs
Fortune
Rates
Digital Tops In Quality Of Management
"The first part of Digital’s overall strategy
is to provide a complete line of compatible products to serve the
wide variety of computing styles favored by our customers. Today,
these products range from video terminals, VAXmate networked
personal computers and VAX workstations at the desktop level, all
the way up to multi-million-dollar mainframe VAXcluster systems,"
explains Dom LaCava, manager, Low-End Systems Engineering.
"The second part of the strategy is to provide
a single open DECnet/OSI network, linking all the computing
resources in an organization," he adds, "This network can link not
only Digital’s computing products, but also those of other major
vendors, such as Cray, IBM and soon, through a joint development
effort, Apple. Digital’s strategy also embraces a variety of
software operating systems, including VAX/VMS, VAX/UN1X*, Apple
Macintosh*, MS-DOS* and OS/2*."
This strategy is based on the increasing
importance of networks and on Digital’s unique strength in that
area. Digital is continuing its tradition of protecting its
customers’ investments, supporting open international standards
and enabling the desktop computers made by other firms, such as
Apple, to function as part of DECnet networks. Customers who have
already invested in Macintosh and in IBM-compatible PCs can make
them part of an enterprise-wide network, thanks to Digital’s
networking software and VAX server products.
For years, Digital has supported distributed
computing. At first, that meant each department should have its
own computing systems rather than depend on the central computing
resources of the corporation. Later, that meant connecting those
departmental and corporate systems with networks. More recently,
it has meant linking a multitude of single-user desktop systems
with departmental systems and the company network. Now technology
has evolved to the point that the network itself is becoming the
system, and computing power is becoming a general utility shared
by many different people who access it from a variety of desktop
devices.
"With this strategy," notes Bill Strecker, vice
president, Product Strategy and Architecture, "a user -- whether
sitting at a conventional video terminal, a VMS workstation, a
UNIX workstation, an MS-DOS-based PC, or an Apple Macintosh - can
access departmental or enterprise applications running on a VAX
computer. And, through the SNA and VAX Supercomputer gateways, the
user can access data on IBM* and Cray* computers.
"Customers can link all their computers into a
cohesive network that allows them to communicate across every
level of an organization, and enables them to utilize all of the
resources of an organization, as needed, to solve business
problems."
At the same time, Digital provides a full range
of its own industry-leading desktop products. "The most
cost-effective desktop solution for most customers is a terminal,"
notes Henry Ancona, vice president, Business and Office
Information Systems. "For them, we offer the VT300 family. For
people who want industry-standard software together with Digital’s
networking capabilities, we offer the VAXmate networked personal
computer. For others, we offer desktop VAX systems — the
VAXstation family of products -- that provide the full power that
Digital has developed with its VMS and ULTRIX operating systems.
All these products are very important to our strategy, and there
will be enhancements and follow-on products in all three of these
product families."
The compatibility of the VAX family combined
with Digital’s networking and server products makes it very easy
for customers to add computing power when and where it is needed,
and in appropriate increments. Investments in hardware, software
and training are preserved.
* Apple, AppleTalk and Macintosh are trademarks
of Apple Computer, Inc. MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft, Inc.
IBM and OS/2 are trademarks of International Business Machines
Corporation. Cray is a trademark of Cray Computer, Inc. UNIX is a
trademark of AT&T and Bell Labs.
(The following three articles discuss related
topics: reasons behind the Apple agreement, software development
efforts and the effort to get third-party desktop applications
running on VMS and ULTRIX.)
Digital and Apple recently signed an agreement
to jointly develop open standards and products. These development
efforts will enable Macintosh* personal computers and AppleTalk*
networks to work smoothly with VAX systems and DECnet/OSI
networks.
This is not a marketing agreement. Digital
continues to compete with Apple in desktop computing. Apple’s
openly stated goal is to replace every terminal with an Apple, But
our goal is to replace every terminal with a better Digital
terminal, a VAXmate or a VAX workstation.
The Apple arrangement is part of Digital’s
larger Network Application Support strategy. Today, Digital's
customers have many different computing devices on their desktops.
For instance, studies have shown that about 36% of VAX sites now
use Macintosh. Other customers use MS-DOS machines made by such
companies as IBM, Compaq and Olivetti. Others are beginning to use
OS/2. These customers are actively seeking ways to integrate their
desktop systems into their enterprise-wide networks.
To meet such customer needs, Digital is
tackling the difficult job of integrating Macintosh, MS-DOS and
OS/2 desktop architectures — in addition to VMS and UNIX — into
local-area and wide-area networks. Digital’s strategy is to
provide that integration with a single architecture — using
network application services on VAX systems and DECnet software,
and in compliance with open international standards. These network
application services include applications access, business
communication and information resource sharing.
Digital has had a working arrangement with
Microsoft for several years, and there is a lot of expertise in
MS-DOS within Digital. So a year and a half ago, Digital was able
to provide a set of products that integrate MS-DOS very well with
the DECnet architecture and VAX systems — VMS Services for MS-DOS
and DECnet/DOS.
The software environment in the Macintosh is
not an industry standard like MS-DOS, and very few people outside
of Apple are familiar with the technical details of it. In order
to satisfy the needs of Digital’s customers who have Macintosh
desktop devices, Digital made a joint development agreement with
Apple. Apple will provide features in the Macintosh and AppleTalk
networking software, and Digital will provide the integration
products on the VAX and DECnet side. In other words, each company
will concentrate on the things that they do well and ultimately
provide a set of products that will integrate the Macintosh and
AppleTalk environment with Digital's networking and VAX
environment.
Digital also plans, as part of Network
Application Support, to provide OS/2 capabilities as that
operating environment becomes important to increasing numbers of
customers.
The VAX/VMS and DECnet/OSI architectures are
robust enough to accommodate all these different computing
environments. These have become the standard for timesharing. They
have also been successful in providing server capability to
intelligent desktop devices. They are becoming successful as a
transaction processing platform. And, through Digital’s
workstation efforts and evolution into lower cost desktop devices,
they are becoming a very good platform for personal computing.
Digital also provides a comprehensive set of
services for multi-vendor enterprise-wide networks. These cover
the various software environments integrated into the network, the
network itself, and even other vendors’ products that are in that
network. This approach enables customers to put what they want
where they want it and still have a common set of network services
available for all those different desktop architectures.
As Digital integrates desktop devices made by
competing vendors into customers’ networks, people who never
before used VAX computers or VMS and ULTRIX software will become
familiar with them. So the PC integration effort not only solves
pressing problems of customers today, but also prepares the way
for sale of Digital’s own desktop products — both those available
today and those to come in the future.
Digital recently outlined how different desktop
devices will connect into one workable system for the customer,
with VAX machines as the servers, running either VMS or ULTRIX
software. For instance, we will make a number of services
available to the Apple Macintosh programmer, such as file access,
mail, notes (our electronic conferencing tool), data bases and
videotex. In addition, the Macintosh will be a DECWindows display
device.
Digital’s Applications Integration Architecture
(AlA) specifies the programming interfaces for all of these
services on a VAX computer. For instance, DECWindows specifies how
VAX/VMS and VAX/ULTRIX applications view their user interface, so
that all applications that we supply and that customers get from
third parties will have a consistent look and feel to them, as if
they had all come from the same developer.
Our objective when integrating other vendors’
personal computers in our networks is to add value but not change
the underlying environment. So a Macintosh user will see a
Macintosh with new services - not different services. Our job is
not to change the culture of Macintosh users, but rather to give
them something that they don’t have today.
Wherever possible, the Applications Integration
Architecture is based on industry standards. For example,
DECWindows is the program for about JOO software projects within
Digital that are intended to upgrade the user interface of all our
existing tools and build new tools that use graphics for the user
interface. The standard it uses for network distribution and for
access to displays is the X-Window standard, that was developed as
part of the Athena Project at MIT.
In cases where there are no standards, we try
to influence standards bodies with our specifications. In general,
our program emphasizes openness. When we provide Apple with a
programming interface for our mail server on the network, we’re
also going to provide it to any other third party.
The A1A specifies the standards as they exist
on the VAX servers and allows other operating systems - Macintosh,
MS-DOS, OS/2, UNIX - to connect to those; so all these operating
systems can coexist with VMS on the same network. Obviously,
Digital’s products will be very tightly integrated with the A1A
services. Other devices, such as IBM PCs and Macintoshes, will be
able to attach to them and use the services, but will not be as
completely integrated as, for instance, VAX workstations. So there
will continue to be a differentiation between our devices and
those of others.
The A1A is part of our effort to open Digital’s
standards and expand the capability of connecting different
devices to our central VAX architecture. It is a natural extension
of the VAX architecture, the VMS architecture and DECnet.
One of the benefits of this program will be
applications that look and feel like they came from the same
developer, applications that interact with each other and have
concretely defined access to data and databases. There will be
consistency of data access, data manipulation and user interface.
Different applications will be able to interchange data or
documents. One application will be able to use another application
to perform some service.
Programmers will benefit because they will have
a set of foundation architectures from Digital that they can
depend on being stable no matter what happens to the underlying
hardware and operating system platform. Users will benefit because
they will be able to get software for Digital computing systems
from a variety of sources. And they will be able to build
enterprise-wide networks that enable the variety of desktop
devices that they already have to work together smoothly.
The low-end strategy is like a three-legged
stool. The legs are the hardware platforms, the software platforms
and the applications. All three have to be there. Without any one
of them, the stool falls over. It won’t do us any good to have the
right hardware and software if we don’t have the applications.
So while VAX hardware development continues and
while VMSand ULTRIX software development moves further into the
area of the Applications Integration Architecture, industry
standards and the DECWindows environment, we are building
relationships with independent software vendors (ISVs) who have
established strength in desktop applications. We want them to port
their applications to VMS and ULTRIX and to use the capabilities
of DECWindows.
Our integration strategy is a related effort
that gives these third parties an additional option. They can use
our Network Application Services to enable their MS-DOS or OS/2 or
Macintosh applications to play on Digital networks. But,
ultimately, we want them to port those applications to run on VAX
hardware and to write their new applications for VAX systems.
Today, there are many applications written for
competing operating systems. Competing personal computers are
sitting on many of the desks of some of our biggest customers.
These customers want to connect them to our networks and preserve
their investments. So it is important that we allow them to do so,
that we absorb MS-DOS, OS/2 and Macintosh applications onto our
network. Also, many of Digital’s Cooperative Marketing Partners,
who already provide hundreds of applications on the VMS and ULTRIX
platforms, want to take advantage of integrating MS-DOS, Macintosh
and OS/2 desktop devices as part of distributed applications.
At the same time, our PC integration effort
represents an opportunity to build relationships with software
suppliers we haven’t dealt with before, to get them to evaluate
our hardware and operating systems, to let them know how much more
they could do with VMS and ULTRIX - the advantage of being a
full-fledged member of the VAX family, rather than just a
participant on the periphery.
Compared to 1982, when we introduced our first
personal computers, today we have a tremendous advantage in that
we are talking about the VAX architecture. Many ISVs already use
VAX computers to do their development work. Applications they
develop on the VAX architecture they have today will run on
follow-on VAX products to come.
Last December we began training software firms
in the use of our DECWindows capabilities. By the end of June over
250 third party software firms will have gone through that
training. About a hundred of those are Cooperative Marketing
Partners who already have applications running on VMS and ULTRIX.
The others are developers of workstation and
Values at Digital have always been interpreted
and communicated by behavior rather than by written documents. If
you are open, the people who work for you are open. If you are
fair, they are fair. The main thing that you have going for you as
a manager is your own behavior. That is what is really
transmitted.
In the early days, almost everybody was exposed
to the senior management of the company. You would see how they
behaved, and their actions would show you what values they thought
were important and what values they didn’t think were important.
The founders came from an engineering
background and weren't professional managers. Therefore, they were
constantly learning and relied a lot on others to teach them about
business and supervision. So the work environment became one of
complete openness - you could offer any idea and it wouldn’t be
rejected out of hand. That type of atmosphere was very encouraging
to someone who was interested in learning and growing.
I can think of many times when I did a good job
and was rewarded. And I can think of many other times when I did a
bad job and I knew about it. But there was an environment of
fairness.
We used to solder the underside of our printed
circuit boards by dipping them in a solder bath. As we grew
larger, we started looking for automated equipment. As the
supervisor of that particular area, I chose a soldering machine
made by a shoe machinery company that was trying to get into the
electronics business. For those days, it was a big expenditure —
$2500. After the machine was installed, it never worked right. I
used to sneak in at night and on Saturdays and Sundays to try to
keep it going. For a while that kept up the illusion that we were
having some degree of success with the machine. I kept that up for
about four months. Then it became obvious to me that the machine
was never going to make it. So I went looking for another machine
and found one that worked very well and that we eventually used
all over the corporation. So 1 brought in the new machine and
phased out the old one, and no one ever said anything about it.
Eight years later, I just happened to be
walking around the Mill and stumbled across this old machine
covered with dust. There was a piece of paper attached to it with
the words, "Smith’s Folly." It was signed by Ken Olsen. He must
have stumbled across it in one of his walks around Mill.
The failure of that machine was an experience
that could have been devastating. That was a big capital purchase
in a very critical operation. From the standpoint of encouraging
risk-taking, that could have been the absolute best or absolute
worst experience that a young person in business could have had.
Ken knew that. He also knew that I came in after hours to try to
keep it working. He concluded that it would do us absolutely no
good to take this in a negative way.
I learned from that. And I have had similar
experiences with people I have managed through the years, some of
them involving hundreds of thousands of dollars, and handling the
situation in the wrong way could have shut someone off very early
in their career from the standpoint of risk-taking.
I think Ken’s approach has always been to make
sure that the person knew whether he or she had failed or
succeeded. And once he was sure that the person knew, just walk
off, and never say anything about it.
That style of management says, "We’re all
learning. We’re all going to make mistakes. The only important
thing is to know when you made a mistake, so you can go on."
That’s the kind of environment that any growth
company needs. If you lose the ability to take a risk or you lose
the enthusiasm about doing new things, the company is going to
lose.
How do you keep that spirit alive in a company
with almost 120,000 employees? It has to permeate through the
organization. Managers and supervisors have to understand that to
the employees who work for them, they are Digital. People in Ayr,
Scotland, or in Kaufbeuren, West Germany, or wherever, don’t know
Ken Olsen. All they know is their front line supervisors and
managers. Regardless of documentation and orientation books and
whatever else we do to try to impart our philosophies, the
overriding message they get is from the personal behavior of their
managers and supervisors.
People take their lead from the behavior they
see. If the supervisor comes back from lunch at 1:30 instead of
12:30, then that is the norm by definition, not some rule written
in a book.
We have to impart to our managers and
supervisors what we feel are the true values of the company. We
have to insist that they not only impart this to their people, but
that they believe those values themselves and behave that way.
When you find pockets where values are not understood or upheld,
typically the problem is that the immediate manager doesn’t
believe in them, and his or her behavior destroys the group or
section. It doesn't have anything to do with the distance from
Maynard. Mass., or the nature of the operation. All the cases I’ve
seen always boiled down to personal action.
As long as we continue to grow, we’re going to
have to ask our people to do a lot of "unreasonable" things. We
demand a lot of our people, and they demand an awful lot of
themselves. Many things get accomplished simply because of the
interaction between people, the influence they have on one
another. When you start losing some of the basic values we’re
talking about, people start losing respect for each other, and the
whole thing starts to fall apart.
We have to maintain these values to create the
environment we need to be successful in the future.
To the new manager or supervisor, I would say —
be open, be honest in what you’re doing and what you’re not doing.
No matter what you are doing, worry about the next step and the
next step. Be successful at what you’re doing, but be fair with
the people who work with you. Basically, care about your job,
about the people who work with you, about yourself — care about
getting the job done.
To better protect the company’s vast
information assets, Digital has revised and updated its policy for
dealing with proprietary information. "Digital's success has given
the company increased visibility in the marketplace. With that
visibility comes curiosity as to what we’re doing," explains Ray
Humphrey, director of Corporate Security.
"Any loss or compromise of information that
negatively affects the introduction of a product, product cost,
existing product sales, or future products, could hurt the
company’s long-term market position. Business information is a
corporate asset. As such, every employee has an obligation to
manage it responsibly. So it is corporate policy that business
information will be controlled and protected for what it is — a
vital business resource."
It is management’s responsibility to take the
lead in assuring information security.
"Proprietary information" is any information or
material that is owned by Digital or entrusted to Digital, which
requires protection against unauthorized disclosure and has been
so designated. This includes trade secrets, plans, ideas, or data
that Digital would not want a competitor or the general public to
know. This could be technical or business data, or real estate
acquisitions or employee data. (Employee publications, such as
DECWORLD, MGMTMEMOandDigitalThisWeek.areeditedandreviewedtoensure
that they do not contain proprietary information.)
Digital’s enhanced Proprietary Information
Policy and Standard identify and discuss the responsibilities
Digital employees have in protecting information. They also
describe the four classification categories:
DIGITAL INTERNAL USE ONLY indicates that
unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure could cause business damage
to the corporation. This information can be distributed to Digital
employees but should not be given to customers, competitors,
vendors, or other persons or organizations without authorization
from the originator. Examples include Digital telephone
directories, daily operational memos, or selected policies,
standards and procedures.
DIGITAL CONFIDENTIAL indicates that
unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure could have a substantially
detrimental effect on the operation of the company. This is
information that is sensitive to Digital and normally associated
with a particular process, project or function, the very nature of
which requires limited need-to-know distribution. Examples include
customer information, customer lists, supplier or vendor lists,
marketing strategies, product sales reports, competitive survey
data, organizational financial plans and results, pricing data,
new product training information and service accounts.
DIGITAL RESTRICTED DISTRIBUTION is the highest
Digital classification category. Unauthorized or inadvertent
disclosure of this information could cause serious damage to the
operations of the corporation. This category includes the most
sensitive plans, ideas, financial data, R&D activities, and
similar information that only a few people within the corporation
have an absolute need-to-know. Examples include unannounced new
product or engineering data, code names, manufacturing processes,
forecasts or projections about financial results, pending stock
announcements, acquisition plans, long-term strategies,
unannounced financial summaries, market strategy papers, potential
real estate purchases or divestments, executive-level personnel or
business decision papers, and information required by law to be
preserved or shielded under the highest classification system.
DIGITAL PERSONAL is the label for personal data
about individuals that will be distributed in a manner based only
upon local law and an absolute need-to-know. Examples include
salary data, performance evaluations, medical information, job
applications, personal or family details, resumes, etc.
Proprietary information is to be used only for
authorized Digital business purposes. Information must be
protected appropriate to its assigned classification by all
persons who handle, use, or have access to such information. The
policy applies to information stored in whatever form: paper,
microfilm, or in any electronic medium, such as computer files or
electronic mail.
"Appropriate labeling and handling of
information lessens the likelihood that proprietary information
will get into the wrong hands," notes Ray. "But equally important,
it helps establish and maintain Digital’s ownership of the
information; so even if outsiders do gain access to the
information, Digital can take legal action to prevent them from
using it.
"We place a great deal of trust in Digital
employees to do the right thing," Ray emphasizes. "We give
employees access to significant business information, with the
expectation that it will be treated with care and prudence. People
who work at Digital should be aware of the value of information
they create and store, and should realize that it should be
handled constantly as an important business asset of the company -
whether it’s on a piece of paper or in electronic form. Basically,
as competition in the industry escalates, we have to
proportionately heighten employee awareness. The extremes are
complacency and paranoia. Digital’s approach is a mature balance
between the two, based on common sense, trust and the pride of our
employees in safeguarding that which is uniquely ours."
The major security challenge is not technology,
but people. Therefore, Digital is launching a security awareness
campaign. As part of this campaign, in the near future, local
security and information security organizations will provide
detailed awareness training outlining employees’ responsibilities
regarding labeling, distribution, destruction, accountability,
etc. For more information about this campaign and about the
Proprietary Information Policy and the related Proprietary
Information Protection Standard, contact your local security
representative.
The schedule for implementation of the Job
Evaluation and Classification (JEC) project has been extended.
Hundreds of Personnel and line managers have been involved in
delivering training, completing and reviewing questionnaires and
evaluating work. To date, all benchmark jobs (ones that can be
compared through marketplace surveys to similar positions in other
companies) have been evaluated. However, the final integration of
all jobs (benchmark and non-benchmark) which includes an
assessment of external market relationships and internal
cross-functional relationships, is not yet complete. The extension
is necessary so that the high quality of work that has been
produced thus far is maintained through the completion of the
project.
The extension of the JEC project implementation
does not affect the timing or scope of this year’s U.S. salary
planning process, which will occur as scheduled.
The JEC project was undertaken in the U.S. to
ensure that Digital has the tools and systems in place to
consistently and equitably evaluate work and classify exempt
employees. This is necessary to maintain the company’s competitive
position in the marketplace and to ensure consistency among
similar jobs within the company.
During the next few weeks, the JEC project
team, the U.S. Compensation and Benefits Committee (USCBC) and the
Personnel Management Committee (PMC) will assess the remaining
work and the time required to complete it and will publish a
revised implementation ‘schedule for JEC completion.
Salary planning will proceed as scheduled
during Q4. Plans for exempt employees will be based on their
current, non-JEC, job codes against current salary ranges, which
will be updated to reflect the competitive market position.
Managers should stop submitting Employee
Classification Input Forms (ECIFs). The Employee Classification
System (ECS) will freeze records on all employees who have been
classified into new JEC job codes to date. Classification
decisions should be reviewed when the classification process
resumes, and appropriate changes should be made at that time.
Managers should retain such documents as Job
Overview Questionnaires (JOQs) and ECIFs until employee
classification resumes. At that time, managers will review such
documents for accuracy, taking into account changes in employees’
work which may have occurred in the interim.
JOQs will be required when classification
resumes. Managers may continue the JOQ process now, or wait until
the revised implementation schedule is released. However, if an
employee changes jobs or the work content of his or her current
jobs changes significantly before classification resumes, a new
JOQ will be required.
Meanwhile, the Job Information System (JIS)
remains accessible. This videotex application contains job
descriptions and job evaluation information for all jobs
identified and described thus far. New non-benchmark job
descriptions will be added to the JIS as they are completed. All
descriptions on JIS are still subject to review and editing until
classification resumes. Managers should use the extension period
to become familiar with the job descriptions, to make suggestions
about the content and wording, and to call attention to work which
has not yet been included in JIS.
To get closer to customers, the headquarters
operations for the Latin American/Caribbean Region are moving this
summer from Acton, Massachusetts, to Deerfield Beach, near Boca
Raton, Florida. The new site is within two hours flying time from
Mexico and Venezuela and is just a short commuter flight from the
Caribbean islands. The move reduces a round trip to Brazil by
seven hours. In addition, many Latin American companies that are
customers and potential customers of Digital have established
entities in southern Florida to help in their day-to-day dealings
with U.S. banks and firms.
Managed by Bill Glover, vice president, the
region is presently structured as four districts: Brazil, Mexico,
Puerto Rico and the General International District, which manages
business in other countries through distributors. A number of
operations, such as Educational Services, Regional Sales and the
General International District, have already relocated to Florida.
They will be consolidated in the new facility, which will include
a demo center for customers.
Bob Glorioso, vice president, High Performance
Systems, has been named an IEEE Fellow for "leadership in the
development of high-performance minicomputers." Bob joined Digital
in 1976 as a consulting engineer in the Research Group. He became
manager of Corporate Research in 1979, manager of the VAX 8600
project in 1981, manager of High Performance Systems in 1984 and
vice president of High Performance Systems in 1985.
Before joining Digital, Bob was associate
professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University
of Massachusetts in Amherst. He received a B.S.E.E. from
Northeastern University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science
from the University of Connecticut. He has authored and
co-authored several technical papers and books, including "CMOS
Designs Primer and Handbook" and "Engineering Intelligent Systems:
Concepts, Theory and Applications." He is also past associate
editor for architecture of IEEE Transactions on Computers.
Digital is contributing $200,000 to support the
local broadcast of the AIDS Lifeline series of television programs
on WBZ-TV in Boston, Massachusetts, and on KPIX-TV in San
Francisco, California. This includes five primetime television
specials intended to help inform the public about this major
health hazard. Because there is no cure for AIDS, education such
as this is key to stopping it from spreading.
The programs are: AIDS 101, the week of March
7; Heterosexuals and AIDS, the week of May 30; AIDS and
Healthcare, the week of September 5; How to Talk to Your Children,
the week of December 26, 1988; and The "Names" Project, date to be
determined. Related educational efforts, also sponsored by
Digital, will include distribution of videotapes to libraries and
school systems.
Digital has contributed $75,000 to support the
AIDS Lifeline in Boston and $125,000 in San Francisco. The major
portion of this contribution will be donated to organizations
providing AIDS services in those communities.
The broadcasts will include a 30 second message
from Digital, showing Ilene Jacobs, vice president and treasurer,
talking about Digital’s involvement in the AIDS Lifeline Project.
She will affirm that AIDS is the predominant health issue today,
and that Digital is proud to be among the corporations supporting
research and education concerning AIDS.
For further information, contact Jane Hamel in
Corporate Contributions at MSO1/K10, DTN 223-6550, (617) 493-6550.
Digital rated tops in quality of management in
Fortune magazine’s sixth annual Corporate Reputations Survey. Over
300 companies and 8000 top executives, outside directors and
financial analysts were polled, and 3480 responses were received.
Companies were rated in their own industry category on eight key
attributes: quality of management, quality of products or
services, financial soundness, innovativeness, long-term
investment value, community and environmental responsibility, use
of corporate assets and the ability to attract, develop and keep
talented people. Digital ranked first in quality of management, in
the top three in all the other categories and number two overall,
after IBM. Other companies in the same industry category include:
Apple Computer, Control Data, Gould, Hewlett-Packard, NCR, Pitney
Bowes, Unisys and Wang Laboratories.
Bonnie Bedell has been named Corporate
Human Resource Development manager, reporting to Carol Burke in
Corporate Personnel. She will establish the Human Resource
Development directions and strategies for the company in
conjunction with the Human Resource Development Management. She
will also be responsible for functional management for Human
Resource Development, including Management Development, Training
and Executive Education. Bonnie has been with Digital for 17 years
and most recently served as Personnel Programs manager for U.S.
Sales.
Michel Ferreboeuf has been named country
manager for France. Michel has been with Digital for 14 years and
has played a key role in the development of the French subsidiary.
He has held management positions in sales in France and served as
Marketing manager, Europe. Most recently, he was the Sales and
Marketing manager for France.
Michael Taylor has joined Digital as
Group Systems Engineering manager, reporting to Peter Smith, vice
president, Product Marketing. Systems Engineering includes such
activities as supporting marketing and engineering groups in
translating customer needs into system requirements and then
testing, characterizing and positioning the resulting systems.
Mike’s responsibilities include functional management of the
Systems Engineering groups within the individual Product Marketing
groups and direct management of the Systems Engineering activities
of Digital's Customer Solution Center. He comes to Digital from
AT&T Information Systems, where he was responsible for Systems
Engineering.