That's where it all starts. This company became vulnerable a long time ago and began to "wander" and sink, precisely because the management was never ready to make any brave strategic decision for the future. It seems so to me anyways.
What is the problem with making a strategic decision?
It would be foolish to say that they are completely incompetent people at the top, but they certainly do not have leadership skills.
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Forget the mouse, GUI, etc, even the one they did keep (laser printing) was turned into a lucrative $40B/yr business by HP for many years. Cheap Razors/expensive blades model was beneath the NY elites. Imagine the profits that might have been, and what they could have been squandered away on by the visionaries who came and floated away in golden parachutes.
I will choose a path that's clear, I will choose Freewill
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
That’s not what “mile wide and an inch deep means”. But agree with the rest of the previous comment.
In Texas we call this "being a mile wide and a inch deep".
Think of it this way; the decision to make no decision means the executives will never be wrong. It a narcissistic mentality.
The strategy has changed a few times in the last 3 years but key elements remain.
- Market overhyped 3-D printing and oversell the readiness of product and support.
- Drive cost down (more layoffs and bottom rung providers)
- Increase shareholder value (more decisions opposed to growth and employee satisfaction)
- Misrepresent reality to investors
- Keep Icahn and his board happy and never, ever question them about their decisions.
- Believe that your c-level is competent in the Xerox market category
There IS a strategic direction.
- Pay the C-suite and board members to do nothing of value
- Cut expenses everywhere, in a declining company, in order to keep paying a dividend to Icahn and institutional shareholders until the company can be carved up and sold.
- Go back to step # 1.
Hard to build a strategy when the vital building blocks your employees have been
decimated by layoffs, furloughs ,lowered
morale and job security.
Hard to build a strategy when the vital building blocks your employees have been
decimated by layoffs, furloughs and lowered
morale…
exactly correct. it all started to go wrong with the Steve Jobs visit to PARC. Xerox could have been a contender, they had game changing technology in their hand but they threw it to Jobs.
This company’s fate was sealed when they let The mouse and windows go and didn’t see what was right in front of them.
Ichan has changed strategy 3-5 times now and I’m guessing right now their best play is to sell the company for parts.