Article Abstract:
DEC founder and Pres Kenneth H. Olsen weathers a storm of controversy as his management style and judgement are questioned by top executives. Olsen, who founded the company in 1957, has often encouraged competing activities and priorities within DEC in order create innovation. This strategy has worked for years, but in the face of $400 million of losses in less than one year, DEC's top managers question Olsen's judgement. By Jul 1, 1992, a total of 25,000 jobs will have been cut due to lagging profitability. Additionally, several executives have left the company in frustration. William D. Strecker, former vice president of engineering lost his job over a bitter disagreement with Olsen that resulted in the signing of a cooperative agreement between DEC and Microsoft Corp. Strecker was reappointed in another capacity. While Olsen maintains that he has a direct and simple management philosophy, critics charge that DEC's multi-layered decision-making process is inefficient. Despite the criticism, Olsen has no intention of resigning.
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Article Abstract:
Digital Equipment Corp (DEC) and MasPar Computer Corp, Sunnyvale, CA, will jointly sell software developed by DEC to run on MasPar parallel microprocessors. DEC is the first major computer company to enter the 'massively parallel' market. Massively parallel machines are superfast, high-end computers that use at least 128 microprocessors running in parallel. Maspar's product line includes massively parallel computers using between 1,000 and 14,000 processors and costing between $200,000 and $1 million. Such machines, which have become available in the past five years, are classed as supercomputers. The massively parallel market was estimated at $183 million in 1990, but DEC believes that massive parallelism will become a multibillion-dollar business. DEC hopes to encourage a 'common programming environment' for massively parallel computing.
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Article Abstract:
Digital Equipment Corp (DEC) files for a shelf registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to offer $1 billion in debt securities. Industry observers note that this marks an apparent shift in policy for DEC. Kenneth H. Olsen, who founded DEC and led the company for 35 years, avoided debt. Now, Olsen has resigned, and he will turn leadership of the company to Robert B. Palmer on Oct 1, 1992. A spokesman for DEC says the company's shelf registration has nothing to do with Olsen's departure. The spokesman points out that interest rates are low, and it is therefore a good time for the company to borrow. DEC will use the money from the sale of its securities for restructuring, capital expenditures and working capital.
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic: