Dell complaints

[PGrefugee]

I get so sick of reading where Kevin Rollins needs to be replaced and how Michael Dell needs to be put back in charge. Folks, Michael is no better than Kevin. He would probably be worse and should be relieved as chairman. If one looks at the history of Dell there is only one man who drove the company during its' most successful years and that was Mort Topfer. Mort came out of retirement from Motorola in order to "train" Mikey on how to be a CEO, which obviously Mikey ignored [i.e.-QUEST (Qualitiy Underlines Every Single Task) and Customer Experience]. Mort was also, always visible in Manufacturing and Development.

When the office of the chair consisted of Mikey, Kevin and Mort, Kevin dealt with sales and finance while Mort dealt with Manufacturing and R & D. Mort was like Eisenhower during WWII where Kevin is like MacNamara during Vietnam. Mort always understood the importance of "people" in the process, where Kevin is too wrapped around statistics without taking in the human element of your customers and your employees.

Alas, it will take bringing in a person of Mort Topfers' (or Mark Hurds') caliber to turn Dell around. Hopefully, when this happens managers that have been riding Mikeys' coat tails for years that have not produced a "value add" (i.e.-John Medica, Jeff Clarke and their cronyies) will be ousted. Remember when Enterprise was taken over by Jeff Clarke because Russ Holt wasn't getting the market share that Mikey and Kevin wanted. Well, under the same rationale why does Clarke still have a job considering that Enterprise market share has decreased?

[Rocke_T_Sinetist]

Well said. Mort was management magic. Aside from his guidance in 'big' decisions, he kept middle management on-message about who they're really working for--customers. That's clearly been forgotten, in a hurricane of PIPs and BPIs.

An identical scenario played out at another tech company at the same time. Adaptec (prime implementer of SCSI) had an almost nostalgic policy. Every 2 weeks before they handed you your paycheck, your manager asked "Who do you work for?" and the answer was "The customer". The policy was instituted by their Mort. Their Mort retired, like Dell's Mort did. The company became aimless overnight, laying off key competencies, winking at quality like it was someone else's problem who didn't work there any more. About all they have left is a box of patents to license out.

Dell doesn't even have that, unless you count the double-hinged drive bay door that tends to fall off the big XPS box (actual patent). There's got to be a line of people clear around the block waiting to license that .

Dell is like a sprawling high-maintenance ornamental shrub. It takes constant attention from a skilled landscaper or it becomes an ungainly weed. Mort was the gardener. He also knew that you can't cost-reduce an already squeaky-tight organization into success. Rollins is like a lounge singer who only knows one song--'Do It Cheaper'. There's a place for that song, but if his Dell DJ hadn't broken he might have learned a few more. Like, 'Treat your customers and staff squarely, they'll know if you don't'.
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Rocke T Sinetist
as in, 'it doesn't take a...'

[sickofdell]

[rustyboots]

Mort did seem to have a way with people and the company was more people oriented then than it is now. When Mort was still in the company, service was king. Now that Kevin is totally in charge, cheap is king and it shows. Outsourcing was the start of cheapness and it continues to this day. The best isnt cheap. Mort knew that. Kevin never understood that and Mikey seems to have forgotten it. You can only squeeze a penny so much before it is your blood flowing onto the ground. Spend a nickle and reap a dollars worth of success. Too bad Kevin cant see that.
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rustyboots (i use to slave at dell)

[Rocke_T_Sinetist]

[FallenAngel]