I spent almost 20 years at Bose. In particular, those 2002-2009 NRT years were magic. I’ve never felt more energized, respected, and proud. We had a great team, largely due to the great foundation laid by Bob M.
Sadly, that is a distant memory, like the echo of the Big Bang.
25 year veteran - laid off in 2018 - The biggest mistake was when they hired Brian "I'll outsource anything" Fontaine. I remember when they hired him one of my fellow engineers said "Well, there goes our plant in Columbia because he will move all lines overseas!" He was correct. Another big ripple was when Tom Beeson retired, Tom was tough but fair, tough in that he never held back what he was thinking but he fought to keep MFG in the states. When he retired they immediately began working on "Project Dragon" which started building the coffin for Bose MFG.
I remember Hess was appointed in December and supposed to start in January as CEO. But he broke his leg at ski and stayed in hospital for a few weeks. That was not a good sign to start as a leader. He took credit for starting the WIFI speaker business, but that business failed badly
True, Bob M played a role in Phil H’s ascension, who then drove the company into the ground. I wasn’t close to the action so I don’t know how it went down. However, I always wondered why Bob chose Phil (or did he?)
I’m glad I’ve moved on.
Although things were rosy when Maresca was president and CEO, don't forget that he handed the president/CEO duties off to Hess (a disastrous move), and was chairman of the board that allowed Hess's incompetence to devastate the company.
Maresca was a fine engineer, and an excellent executive (and a fine person and nice guy), but he was complicit in and responsible for Hess's abject and ruinous failure. But it still made Maresca a millionaire. Hess, too.
It’s great to have those memories. I have similar memories of working in R&D throughout those years. It sure was a special place! I was incredibly proud to work for Bose.