Richard Seltzer's
home page Publishing home
mgmt memo
.
Volume 8, #6___________________________________________________________________
August,
1989
Corporate
Operations Committee Created
Dave Sager
Promoted To Senior Consulting
Engineer
Field Service
Renamed Customer Services
Some economists
are still
predicting a continued downturn in the U.S. economy but our
overseas business
remains strong and, with our constant flow of new and improved
products, I
believe we are in a strong position in the marketplace.
Our investments in
products are
continuing to pay off. We recently announced a wide range of
hardware and
software products that give customers more powerful VAX and RISC
systems at a
lower price. With the new UNIX-based RISC systems, we can offer
a complete
product family using this operating system. Thus, we allow our
VAX customers to
combine UNIX-based machines with the robustness and richness of
VAX/VMS
systems. This, in addition to our expanded Network Application
Support (NAS)
puts us in a stronger competitive position, especially when it
comes to
integrating and networking different systems.
One of our
problems over the past
year has been that we really haven’t made our product message
clear in some
parts of the company. As a first step in eliminating this
problem, we created
Digital University. This summer, sales people from the U.S. and
GIA are taking
classes to learn more about our products and competitive
position. This type of
investment in our people should pay off, as well as our
investments in
technology. In the last year, we also have put over 2,400 more
sales support
people in the Field and increased our total involvement with the
customer. We
are simplifying our internal systems so that our sales people
can spend more
time with their customers.
However, we can’t
get comfortable
or try to convince ourselves that everything is better. The
challenge ahead of
us is to change with the technology —to change the way we work.
The intense competitive environment in which
we operate is
forcing us to make changes in the way we work and, at the same
time, to learn
to manage change. It is becoming increasÂingly clear that we
need to involve
all employees in achieving our overall business goals,
especially in the areas
of quality, productivity, and expense reduction or avoidance.
Recently the Executive Committee asked for a
framework for
employee involvement at Digital. We intend to launch a
company-wide effort in
September which we’re calling "You Make a Difference." Simply
put, we
want to accomplish the following:
o Invite employee ideas and other forms of
participation to
help improve quality and productivity and to control costs.
o Demonstrate that constructive employee
participation is
valued.
o Convince employees that everyone manages
valuable
resources and has a responsibility to manage them carefully.
o Help all employees feel a sense of
ownership in Digital.
This effort should be a catalyst and a
valuable resource to
those organizations that do not have a system for involving
employees. We
recognize that some organizations already practice employee
involvement. That
work should be reinforced — perhaps further stimuÂlated — by the
company-wide
effort that kicks off in September.
Employee involvement systems have been in use
for nearly a
century. They range from relatively simple idea or suggestion
systems, to
problem-solving or quality circle groups, to high-performance or
self-managed
work teams. Each approach represents change and requires both an
investment in
time and energy for implementation. We have developed a few
company-wide
standards, but organizations will determine what type of system
works best for
them.
Obviously, some internal assessment is
necessary before an
employee involvement system can be implemented. For example, an
idea or
suggestion system is not likely to succeed in a group if a
manager has not yet
opened channels of communication with employees. It’s important
to determine
the readiness of an organization before an employee involvement
system is
implemented.
As managers, you have two roles in employee
involvement
systems. First* you are an emÂployee, and your ideas are valued.
The first role
you will play is as a participant. Secondly, for an employee
involvement system
to succeed, you need to encourage your emÂployees to
participate, listen to and
acknowledge ideas, and act on the good ones.
The involvement systems will allow all
employees to grow and
develop, and provide more creative solutions to issues and
opportunities. If we
all dedicate ourselves to making the systems work, they can make
us better
managers and better listeners, and cause us to recognize,
understand,
appreciate and value the differences among all of our employees.
We will support your efforts by supplying
materials to help
kick off the effort, articles in employee publications, and
training programs
that support system implementation; and by organizing a network
of experts to
provide consultation as needed.
Employee involvement is critical to Digital’s
success.
(Based on a presentation made to employees in
Geneva on May
10.)
Changing technology is creating new
challenges in the
computer industry. Machines today have more power and at a lower
cost, and this
trend is going to continue for the next 10 years at least. This
means that you
sell more power in smaller and smaller units. The negative side
of that is that
a smaller unit costs less, so you have less revenue and
therefore a smaller
profit per unit, as well as smaller service revenues from that
part of our
business.
While the trend to smaller, more powerful
units is great for
customers, it is causing computer manufacturers and suppliers to
dramatically
change their strategies and to scale down their earning
expectations. For
Digital, the results of this trend are most apparent in the US.
Digital Europe
hasn’t been severely affected yet, but the trend is a worldwide
phenomenon.
Given these circumstances and with 1992
around the comer,
Digital Europe has to make changes now in order to continue to
prosper. This
involves rethinking the role of cenÂtralized operations and
headquarters,
restructuring in order to get even closer to our customers and
slowing the
growth of expenses.
Think of two cars on a highway, the one in
front being a
"revenue generator," the one following being an
"expense-related" car. One is essential to the other. The first
car
cannot run without the second one. They are both important.
If the first one slows down, the second one
has to stay
behind for support, not pass it and certainly not crash into it.
To win, the
first car has to go faster and faster. The problem today is that
the definition
of "faster" has changed.
Extending the analogy to growth in the
computer industry, a
few years ago, 30-40% annual growth was uncommon. Today, 10-20%
is more the
norm, and Digital must adjust. To genÂerate 20% growth today,
you need to sell
a mountain of machines. It takes a lot of proÂ
grams, a lot of activity, and a lot of
imagination to keep
the car at a speed with which we feel comfortable.
With Digital’s innovative spirit, there is no
reason we
can’t continue to outpace the industry. But what happens in the
second
"expense car" is the crucial ingredient to future success.
Revenue
growth will slow no matter how many innovative programs we
deÂvelop; and, if a
balance isn’t struck, profits will not be sufficient for future
needs. That’s
why we must act now.
Last year, when we missed Q3 FY88 badly, it
took us a year
to reduce the speed of the second car to match the front car. It
took us four
quarters to get expenses down.
The problem is that nobody believed they
needed to cut
expenses themselves. It’s always the "other guy." So it takes a
while
to adjust the distance between the cars.
To make matters more difficult, there is the
issue of
pricing. Today almost every vendor claims to offer the same
products at cheaper
and cheaper prices. On top of that, a number of our competitors
who are in
financial trouble are dumping their products on the market at
almost any price.
Thus Digital’s price-competitive situation is becoming more
diffiÂcult.
The solution is to review why and what we do
in both cars in
order to simplify our work and reduce expenses in line with our
growth.
First, we are going to create the necessary
flexibility by
creating smaller units. I believe some of the country operations
have become
too big with too many people who proÂvide support, and too few
who do things
related to the customer.
So we’ll decentralize to smaller units, with
clear
objectives, closer to the customers and with authority to make
decisions. All
of today’s hierarchy of power doesn’t make sense. So, we’re
giving all the
power to the people in front or near to the customer.
Over the next three years Digital Europe will
optimize its
structures at all levels to ensure that we have the right people
in the right
place, doing the right tasks. However, in order to accomplish
this there will
be no wholesale movement of staff out of central operations.
Studies will be
undertaken to determine which jobs are strategic and which are
operational, and
how work can be simplified at all levels of the company.
If we want Digital to continue to be healthy
we have to
achieve this result by reducing complexity and retraining our
people in line
with the new activities we will need, and in total, reducing
expenses; that is,
not running bumper to bumper in our two cars.
From a management point of view, work will be
simplified,
fewer people will be hired, and
the company will draw more on
already-existing skills.
Individual employees can contriÂbute by cutting back on waste
around their
offices and plants, reducing the number of meetings they attend,
and even
analyzing whether their current job is really necessary. The
sooner employees
do this, the sooner we have a chance to retrain, re-skill or
find another place
where they can have fun again. The sooner we know, the sooner we
can proÂvide
an alternative.
In the final analysis, the company has no
choice. I want to
continue to make Europe successful, and I think the way to
succeed is to
continuously adapt to these changes, to lead these changes.
In summary, Digital will have to adopt more
prudent business
plans, meaning planning to spend less, and doing a little more
to increase our
revenues. We have to be less naive about our future results. And
we also have
to continue to attract, motivate and keep the best employees.
We need to build new skills and rethink how
we work to meet
the competitive challenges of the 1990s. We’re trying to ensure
that we have an
organization and a workforce that strengthens our
competitiveness by being
adaptable and effective. We are positioning ourselves for the
long term, which
means having the right resources in the right place, organized
in the right way
to ensure our long-term competitiveness. Our overall program,
"Digital:
the Next Decade," is designed for the U.S. Field, but the
implications
extend to the whole company.
Simple hiring freezes, designed to reduce
costs for the
short term, limit our ability to make necessary replacements and
to hire people
needed to develop important new business. We need to
systematically determine
what parts of the Field organization need to grow and, at the
same time,
identify work that is no longer needed. This enables us to
concentrate our
resources appropriately and still meet our overall cost goals.
In other words, to invest in one part of the
company —
perhaps hiring UNIX engineers or networking experts — we may
have to
"disinvest" somewhere else. Otherwise we could miss important
opportunities to meet new customer needs and win new business.
To determine our priorities, we need to
rethink our business
models on a country-wide basis to determine how many people we
need where and
what kind of work they should be doing. To help in this work,
we’re setting up
a committee with representatives from each of the U.S. Field
businesses,
including Sales, Marketing, Enterprise Integrated Services,
Customer Services,
Finance, Personnel, Administration and Manufacturing.
For instance. Customer Services needs to make
huge
investments in value-added networks and servicing competitors’
equipment. At
the same time, in Sales and Software Services such technologies
as UNIX,
clusters, networks and enterprise integration are becoming
increasÂingly
important. In addition, we always need to identify opportunities
to improve cusÂtomer
satisfaction and the quality of our products and services.
If, as is the case right now, we can’t afford
to hire all
the new of people to address all these opportunities, then we
have to learn how
to stop doing some things and shift our resources. So, while
we’re trying to
identify the new needs, we’re looking at changes such as
organization and
productivity improvements that might free up people who can deal
with these new
requirements. We then need to help match the right people to the
right jobs,
offering support and counseling for reassignment, retraining,
reskilling and
reloÂcation. Tied to these efforts, we will need new policies
and metrics that
prioritize corporate objectives over those of individual
functions, departments
and cost centers.
Through this committee we plan to identify
and publish all
of the openings across all of the U.S. Field businesses.
Already, we know of
hundreds of job openings in Sales and Sales Support. We believe
that we already
have, the talent inside the company, and we want to fill those
positions from
within. One of our approaches will be the use of internal career
fairs or
opportunity days to enable groups with job openings to recruit.
The first "career opportunity" event was held
in
Marlboro from Aug. 8-10. Over 3800 employees from all
organizations attended to
learn about a wide variety of opportunities.
As a long-term effort, we are motivated by
the fact that
there are only a limited number of people in the world with the
skills that
Digital needs. We are facing a dwindling worldwide talent pool,
which is in
sharp contrast to the 1970s when it seemed that labor was an
infinite resource.
Then, all we had to do was run an ad in the newspaper and
hundreds people would
apply. Now, skilled people are becoming increasingly scarce and
are ever more
important assets to the company.
We want to keep the people we have, retrain
them to meet new
business needs and continue to benefit from their previous
Digital experience.
In many cases, it takes longer to acclimate a new person to the
Digital working
environment than it does to retrain a DigiÂtal person for a new
job.
In summary, this is a program of opportunity.
We’re trying
to organize ourselves to win and to be effective. We want to be
leaders in our
industry and in how we dynamically reallocate and reskill
people.
Our employees are assets. We want to invest
in them, enhance
their skills and develop them; and we know that there will be a
return for this
effort.
This whole process will give employees more
career choices.
For instance, some people who started their careers in Finance,
Personnel or
Manufacturing may want to move into a business unit or become a
sales or sales
support person.
While we implement plans to respond
effectively to market
demands, our number-one priority is to develop and deliver all
programs in a
manner that is consistent with Digital's values and traditions.
We encourage
all employees and managers to look to new challenges, and take
this opportunity
to learn the skills that will benefit both themselves and the
company’s
long-term competitiveness.
The
Expanding And Changing
Role Of Manufacturing by Lou
Gaviglia, vice
president, U.S. Manufacturing
Since the creation of the U.S. Manufacturing
organization
last year, the "job of manufacÂturing" has been expanding in
four
directions. We are working much more closely with Engineering
and the Field,
and with vendors and customers.
The roles and responsibilities of the plants
have been
increasing. We focus on their ability to be profitable, to
improve quality, to
improve customer satisfaction, to have more flexibility, and to
improve cycle
times. The plants now have long-term product alignments and are
building
long-term relationships with specific Engineering groups.
For example, Albuquerque, N.M,, has built an
excellent
relationship with the Workstation Group, which has led to timely
product
announcements, rapid product ramp-ups and high quality.
Similarly, Burlington,
Vt., works closely with the engineers in High-End PerÂformance
Systems and also
with the Manufacturing people in Cupertino, Calif.
The main advantage that has come from the
creation of the
U.S. Manufacturing organization is that we now have one focus
across the
country. The country team, the districts and the industry groups
have one
manufacturing focus to satisfy the customer.
The main part of our work with the U.S. Field
has to do with
planning. We want to make sure that our Manufacturing plan is
synchronized with
the rest of the country plan. Close communication is important
so we can ensure
that we are making what Digital needs when it is needed. That
means we can
satisfy more customers more promptly. Today, because we’re able
to track
customer demand closely, we build to order rather than to
schedule, which leads
to lower inventories and other efficiencies.
Working with Mike Kalagher’s people in U.S.
Administration,
we’ve made great progress in the area of customer distribution.
We now have
only one Customer Distribution Group that includes our Fast Ship
Program in
Nashua. N.H., along with Phoenix, Ariz.; Colorado Springs,
Colo.; Contoocook,
N.H.; and Westminster, Mass. That has lowered cost, improved
delivery, and has
reduced scheduling slips throughout the U.S. At the same time,
working with
John Alexanderson’s Installed Systems Group, we have
significantly increased
the menu of products that we can ship quickly to customers.
We are also working more closely with our
suppliers, getting
more involved with their schedule and quality and
specifications, so they can help
us improve in the areas of inventory and quality. In particular,
our Augusta,
Maine, plant has been working with General Electric, a supplier
of important
components in the communications gear they make.
Using an Electronic Data Information (EDI)
application that
they developed themselves, Augusta’s Manufacturing people can
allow managers at
General Electric to look at relevant parts of their data base.
When Augusta
sees a change in demand from a Digital customer, General
Electric immediately
sees a change in the demand for the parts they supply AugusÂta.
As a result,
the General Electric plant is becoming a natural extension of
our busiÂness in
Augusta. Digital is now considering making this EDI application
a corporate
product.
Meanwhile, we’re building strategic alliances
and
collaborating with the Manufacturing people of our major
customers. For
example, I’m the Executive Partner for five accounts as well as
for
Pennsylvania. I’m also the USMC Employee Communications Partner
for the
Northeast Area. This allows me, representing the Manufacturing
function, to
bring a different perspective to the Field, and it allows the
Field to help
Manufacturing underÂstand their issues, problems and concerns.
We have a variety of related programs whereby
people from Digital
Manufacturing help sell Digital products because of their
manufacturing
experience and knowledge. At the same time, we learn from
customers and bring
that information back to our organization so we can continue to
improve.
While the Field is organizing around
industries,
Manufacturing increasingly needs that kind of industry expertise
as well, so we
can talk to customers in their own language about pertinent
applications and
solutions. We’re going to have to develop and train some of our
people in that
direction.
Another new area of customer contact is
opening up as
Digital takes on major projects. For instance, our manufacturing
people are
working closely in collaboration with Russ Gullotti’s Enterprise
Integration
Services Group on a major project for Boeing. Digital is the
prime contractor
for building and setting up a new Boeing manufacturing plant fqr
sheet metal;
and Mike Dolan, from U.S. Manufacturing, is the overall project
manager.
We are now planning for future business of
that kind. We’re
working with the Phoenix, Ariz., plant to train and develop
people and to get
software tools and systems in place. Already, we have people in
Manufacturing
in Phoenix who develop software — Manufacturing applications
tailored to the
specific needs of customers. And soon we’ll need more softÂware
people, project
people and program managers. We’re gearing up to make sure we
will have trained
people available who are ready and willing to move to a customer
site to work
on large projects.
In other words, the "job of manufacturing" is
evolving and growing in directions that would have been
difficult to foresee
ten years ago. People often lose sight of the fact that while
the old
traditional kinds of manufacturing roles are dwindling, the
overall job of
manufacturing is really expanding.
Ten years ago. Manufacturing viewed itself in
terms of
direct labor (the people on the line who built and shipped
products) and
indirect labor (the people who supported them). Back then, it
was a sign of
efficiency to manage the business with as few indirect labor
people as
possible. We don’t have those kinds of conversations anymore. As
a matter of
fact, we have probably gone from a 70-30 ratio (DL to IL) ten
years ago to a
current 30-70 ratio. Today we see greater value in
communicating, consulting,
dealing with new technoÂlogies, talking to customers and
building
relationships.
The work of Manufacturing now has a much
broader definition.
In fact, we have about 2000 "consultants" in the Manufacturing
organization worldwide. They are consultants to us both
internally on how to do
things better and more efficiently and also to our customers —
sharing
knowledge and technologies.
While the need for traditional manufacturing
jobs continues
to shrink, new, challenging jobs are being created. We aren’t
retraining people
to fill old existing jobs in other plants, but rather to move
into new and
growing areas of our business.
Overall, we will end up needing different
skilled people in
different locations. People in Manufacturing have to realize
that there are
tremendous opportunities on the horizon. But, to take advantage
of these
opportunities, they will need these new skills and a willingness
to be flexible
and adapt. Some people may want to move in the direction of
process-intensive
Manufacturing work in clean-room environments. Some may develop
enginÂeering
skills. Others may want to work more closely with customers.
While we deal with our current affordability
problems, We
are also introducing new, excitÂing work within Manufacturing.
In recent years, the economy of the U.S. has
changed
significantly, and other economic powerhouses have emerged in
Japan and Europe.
The U.S., which had provided much of the world’s political,
social and economic
momentum, now no longer has a dominant position in technology,
capacity,
productivity and natural resources. Business and trade have
become global,
rather than centered on the U.S.
We see this "globalization" manifested in:
o the migration of technology from the U.S.
to Japan and
Europe,
o the emergence of a tri-polar trading model,
as opposed to
a model based on the economic dominance of the U.S., and
o the emergence of "vertically integrated
competitor/suppliers" (VICs).
To be competitive and to continue to grow in
this new global
environment, Digital must make adjustments to its business
models.
For years, the U.S. was the source of
technology and the
only large, unified growth market in the world. Digital, like
many other
companies that called themselves "multinational," largely
exported
products from the U.S. to other countries. This was natural
because of the
relative economic strength of the U.S.; and since technology
flowed from the
U.S., it was the logical place to concentrate investments.
Today, much technology is coming from Japan,
and more is
likely to come from Europe. Of course, investments must continue
in the U.S.
But to meet our goals, we need to increase our investments in
Japan and Europe
because, to sell solutions, you have to be part of the business
infrastructure
of the neonle whose problems vou are trvine to solve.
Japan is now the second largest data
processing market in
the world. In order to gain share in that market, we need to
make investments
to tailor our products to Japanese needs. For instance, we need
to master
applications like banking and telecommunications, which are
closely tied to
differences in language, culture and local practice.
ApplicaÂtions such as
these can’t simply be generated in the U.S. and then exported to
Japan. We also
need to get close to key technologies in which Japanese
companies excel, such
as manufacturing and semiconductor technology.
As a corollary, we can see the increasing
importance of
human resources and knowledgeÂbased industries. Japan has been
able to ascend
to a powerful position in the absence of any real natural
resources. Their success
is largely attributable to the fact that Japan has a literacy
rate of over 99%
and a culture that supports a very strong work ethic. The
Japanese have shown
the world the value of a highly-educated workforce in an
economic global model
that puts technology as the most highly-prized commodity. As
Europe and the
U.S. seek to become more competitive and productive, the need to
improve the
quality of education will become a crucial question of public
policy. And for
Digital, the recruitÂing, development and retention of
well-educated and
highly-skilled employees throughout the world will continue to
be of the
highest importance.
World trade has changed to a tri-polar model
including
Japan, Europe and the U.S. Digital is in the process of
developing an integrated
response to these changes that signals increased competition and
more
aggressive behavior on the part of the trading countries of
Europe and Asia.
Globalization is also fueling consolidation
in our industry
and other industries. As economies of scale become critical and
the cost of
keeping pace with technology grows, companies must have
worldwide markets in
order to generate sufficient sales and profits to afford the
investments
necessary to stay competitive. Many of Digital’s competitors are
turning to
global manufacturing strategies and are becoming increasingly
vertically inteÂgrated
- making rather than buying critical components. In other words,
globalization
affects many aspects of our business - not just trade, marketing
and sales, but
also engineering and manufacturing.
For instance, ten years ago the semiconductor
market was
dominated by dozens of suppliers, nearly all of which were U.S.
companies.
Today there are only about 10 suppliers, and only two of them
are U.S.-based.
This means we face the risk that vertically-integrated, global
competitors
could become our only source of supply for critical
technologies. That’s one
reason why we need to reevaluate our strategies and business
models in the face
of the changing worldwide business environment.
The transitions from pens and pencils to
typewriters, and
from typewriters to terminals, were stressful. The stress really
started when the
use of terminals spread from technical users to the general
public. Suddenly,
the general public was doing word processing and electronic
mail, and computers
were used widely.
Now technology has taken another leap forward
with the new
generation of desktop computer devices. Workstations, windowing,
and the
ability to handle many different tasks at the same time are
changing the style
of computing and the way people work.
Today, with the advent of a new generation of
desktop
computing — including windowing and the ability to perform
several tasks
simultaneously — managers should be sensitive to the stress that
employees may
undergo with first-time use of new technology, and should be
alert to occasions
when a change in the work area or in job design might be
appropriate.
Soon we’re going to have voice as well as
keyboard input,
and voice output as well as windowing screens. Power comes from
the increased
flexibility of being able to pay attenÂtion to and deal with
more than one kind
of input and output at a time. The new techÂniques for
interacting with
computers are not just for engineers. They are for the general
public. That
will add a new level of complexity and another level of stress.
This new
technological wave is just beginning now.
Typically, the first people to use new
systems are the ones
who really want them and, therefore, understand how to use them.
Then comes the
stage when managers realize that these capabilities can increase
the
productivity of the other employees. As a result, they start
introducing them
widely, and that’s when employees feel stress, as they did with
the
introduction of terminals and personal computers. At that time,
around 1980-83,
some people reported health problems such as headache, neck and
shoulder pain,
back pain, eye strain, etc. On investigation, it turned out that
these effects
were due mainly to job-related stress, work-place design and the
surrounding
work environment.
In those days, personal computers tended to
be inflexible.
They typically had no tilt, swivel or anti-glare features. They
were heavy
units with fixed keyboards. It took a while for manufacturers to
modify their
equipment designs and for users to learn how to adjust lighting,
furniture and
job design so this new technology could be used comfortably and
productively
for an eight-hour day in the office.
If managers are sensitive when introducing
new technology,
much of the stress and anxiety can be forestalled. For instance,
in our
department, people continue to use their current terminals while
bringing in
the new equipment. For an indeterminate time, they will have
both setups. I’m
telling them they now have a complete VAX computer on their
desks, and that
this represents a whole new level of complexity. 1 expect some
will have
difficulÂties and frustrations initially. During the transition
to the new
equipment, they should
be able to use what they had before, as one
way to reduce
the stress of change. At some point 1 expect them to dump their
old terminals
in my office and say they don't need them anymore. That will
tell me the
process is done.
Managers have to remain flexible, sensitive
and open to
change. They should keep in mind that workplace discomfort
appears to be
generated by a number of factors. Studies have indicated that
people who are
required to perform highly-repetitive tasks involving little
independent
judgment may suffer adverse physical reactions. To guard against
this conÂcern,
users should be given varied tasks, including some that require
the exercise of
independent judgment. They should be accorded reasonable breaks
and, more
generally, be fully integrated into the department’s and
company’s operations.
Pregnant women in partiÂcular should be sure that their work
areas are set up
to minimize undue physiological stress that can be caused by
working in an
uncomfortable position for long periods of time.
Questions have been raised about the
possibility of adverse
health effects from exposure to electromagnetic fields produced
by video
display terminals and many other electrical and electronic
devices. While such
effects have not been scientifically demonstrated, this
continues to be an area
of controversy and further studies are being conducted.
In the summer of 1988, a report known as the
"Kaiser
Permanente Study" showed a statisÂtically significant increased
incidence
of miscarriages among women clerical/administra- tive support
workers using
video display terminals more than 20 hours per week. Three other
job
classifications of women who also regularly worked with
terminals showed no
such increase. The researchers suggested several possible
explanations for the
increase inÂcluding: electromagnetic radiation, increased
job-related stress in
clerical jobs, or ergonomic factors such as poor lighting,
little opportunity
for movement, or seating discomfort. Stressful conditions may be
associated
with problem pregnancies.
The National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health
also is conducting a large-scale human epidemiological study of
Bell South
telephone operators in order to address the question of
reproductive problems
in modem office environments. Results of this study will become
available early
next year.
Our Human Factors Group continually tests and
evaluates
systems and components from the user point of view, and has done
so since 1980.
We also visit customer sites to better understand user needs,
requirements and
productivity issues. This information helps us to identify
future needs and to
influence the company’s design and development efforts. It is
also important in
our on going participation in international standards
activities.
With the introduction of today’s new
technology, we might
once again see stress-related health complaints. However, stress
is a factor
that the individual can control or elimiÂ
nate. And. if managers take the time to learn
the
capabilities of the new technology and introduce it
appropriately, there will
be an enormous increase in productivity.
We must remember, too, that we need new ways
to measure
productivity. Industrial age productivity was measured in
tangible units, for
instance, how many "widgets" per day came off the production
line.
People were viewed as an extension of machines. But how do you
measure
"cognitive productivity," which includes creativity and
flexibility?
We’re still at an early stage of the post-industrial age. There
are many
changes to come in the interaction of people with machines and
people with each
other. There are many tools yet to come to help us better manage
and filter the
vast quantities of information now made available through
communications and
computer networks.
(A brochure entitled "Introduction to Video
Display
Terminals for Managers and Operator" provides guidelines on how
to
organize the work environment to minimize job-related stress.
For copies of
this brochure, contact Charles Abernethy, DTN 223-5641, @MLO.
Digital employees
with questions regarding their work environment should contact
their local
Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) department or Health
Services for
assistance.)
A Corporate Operations Committee has been
formed with the
goal of improving the company’s business outlook. Because
Digital needs to
organize resources more effectively on a global basis to better
serve the
account managers, the committee will have an international
perspective.
The responsibilities of the committee are to:
o meet quarterly earnings projections,
o provide a forum for resolving mid-course
corrections to
annual segment plans,
o integrate actions of the segments and
resolve
inter-segment issues,
o allow for critical peer-review of segment
plans,
o create a way to help segments achieve plans
and goals in a
supportive, problem-solving environment,
o be passionate about meeting the needs of
the customer; and
o provide clear recommendations to the Executive Committee,
"Committees, in general, play an important
role in
Digital, but they don’t replace the responsibilities managers
have to do their
own jobs," notes Abbott Weiss, secretary to the Executive
Committee.
"At Digital, committees don’t make decisions. They are viewed as
forums
for gathering knowledge.
"Segment managers and functional managers are
accountable for the choices they make. But through the work of
committees, such
as the Operations Committee, these managers are able to make
more informed
decisions.
"Because committees are usually comprised of
peers,
they force managers to do their homeÂwork, provide a means to
gamer internal
support for their plans and assess each others work
constructively for the
benefit of the entire corporation. As Digital's business needs
change,
committees will adapt and evolve to meet the challenges."
The members are:
Chairman, Ken Olsen, president
Vice-Chairmen, Jack Shields, senior vice
president and Jack
Smith, senior vice president
Secretary, Willow Shire
Product/Segment managers
- Bill Demmer, vice president, Mid-Range
Systems
- Bob Glorioso, vice president, High
Performance Systems
- Dom LaCava, vice president, Low End Systems
Geography managers
- Pier Carlo Falotti, president and CEO,
Digital Europe
- Dave Grainger, vice president, U.S. Sales
and Service
- Dick Poulsen, vice president, GIA
Service/Segment managers
- Don Busiek, vice president, Professional
Services
- Don Zereski, vice president, Customer
Services
Manufacturing, Bill Hanson, vice president,
Manufacturing
Operations
Software/Architecture, Bill Strecker, vice
president,
Product Strategy and ArchiÂtecture
Applications, Pete Smith, vice president,
Product/Applications
Networks/Communications, Bill Johnson, vice
president,
Distributed Systems
Corporate Controller, Bruce Ryan, vice
president, Finance
Chairperson of PMC, Dick Farrahar, vice
president,
Personnel, for Engineering, Manufacturing and Product Marketing
Other members of the Executive Committee may
attend as they
deem necessary.
Dave Sager has been promoted to Senior
Consulting Engineer,
reporting to Steve Jenkins, group manager, Large Mid-Range
Systems. Dave has
been with Digital for more than 12 years. He is well-regarded
for his expertise
in advanced high performance processor design and for his
broad-based skills
that range from electrical design (electrons and physics) to
system
architecture. He has made major contributions to the development
of the VAX
8700 and VAX 8800 family of products and to several follow-on
ECL processor deÂsigns.
Patents have been issued to Dave that relate
to the design
of cache memory systems and high speed data transmission and
clocking schemes.
More patents in these areas are penÂding. His ideas around
parallel processing
and very fast cycle time techniques have led to innovative high
performance
system designs for Digital.
In recognition of its expanded definition and
role within
Digital, Field Service has been renamed Customer Services. The
change affects
all corporate, geography, area, region, district, and unit names
and titles.
In announcing the new name, Don Zereski, vice
president,
Corporate Customer Services, noted the evolving scope of the
Customer Services
organization. "Our concept of service has undergone tremendous
and
exciting change, especially during the past few years. Today, we
define service
in multiple dimensions and levels."
Dave Berry has been named Executive
Education manager
reporting to Pat Cataldo, vice president, Educational Services.
In this role,
he will be responsible for extending Digital’s ability to
educate senior-level
customers and prospects on our strategies, architecture, and
products. Dave
will assume the management of the Corporate Leaders Forum and
look for
additional ways to extend educational offerings to other
senior-level customer
staffs. Dave has 18 years of sales, sales management, sales
training and marÂketing
management experience in Digital. Previously, he managed the
Mid-America
District.
John Doyle, M.D., has joined Corporate
Health
Services as assistant medical director, reporting to Richard
Porter, M.D.,
medical director. Jack will develop, implement and supervise
health protection
and medical monitoring programs for employees working with
potentially
hazardous materials and provide consultation on problems in
general and occuÂpational
medicine and clinical toxicology. Jack was an attending
physician in the DepartÂment
of Emergency Medicine of the Milford-Whitinsville Regional
Hospital. He also
served in the U.S. Public Health Service, working in the
Emergency department
of Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet, Ill.
Jack Geissert has been named corporate
manager of
Industrial Hygiene, Safety and ToxiÂcology, reporting to Dave
Barrett,
corporate manager, Environmental, Health and Safety. Jack will
be responsible
for working with Digital’s worldwide businesses in strengthening
safety and
industrial hygiene programs, coordinating employee health
studies and develoÂping
compliance programs and policies. He joins Digital from Harris
Semiconductor,
where he was director of Health and Safety.
Rose Ann Giordano has been appointed
vice president
of Public Sector Industry Marketing for the U.S., reporting to
Bob Hughes, vice
president, Industry Sales/Marketing. Public Sector includes the
health care,
state and local government, and education markets. Reporting to
Rose Ann will
be the Health Care Industry Marketing manager, Dick Corley; and
State/Local and
Education Industry Marketing manager, Bob Trocchi. In this
position, Rose Ann
will integrate Public Sector marketing efforts with Industry
Sales (headed by
Bob Long), to be more responsive to customer needs and grow our
business into
the 1990s. She retains her responsibility for Consultant &
Information
Systems Marketing and DECUS. Rose Ann joined Digital in January
1979. In 1984,
she was appointed vice president, Large Systems Marketing. She
assumed her
current position in 1987.
Max Mayer
has been
appointed to the position of Customer Services Marketing and
Business
Development manager, reporting to Don Zereski, Corporate
Customer Services vice
president. In this new role, Max will be responsible for the
marketing of
customer services world-wide. In addition, he will be
responsible for managing
the new Customer Services lines of business, including the
planning, designing,
source funding, development, and execution of new business
opportunities. A
Digital employee since 1980, Max began his career at DigiÂtal as
the
Microsystems Business Manager for Customer Services in the U.S.
Most recently,
he was the U.S. Customer Services Marketing and Sales Support
manager.
Dave Person has been appointed Human
Resource manager
for the Corporate Personnel organiÂzation, reporting to Rob
Ayres, senior group
Personnel manager for Strategic Resources, Corporate Operations,
Finance and
Law (SRCOF), and Dick Walsh, vice president, Personnel for
Sales, Services,
Marketing and International. Dave has been with Digital for 17
years in a
variety of Personnel staff and line positions. In his most
recent assignment,
he was the Field Personnel Staff manager.