Not a popular opinion, but maybe, just maybe, this is the best thing that has happened to Xerox. Clearly the old and trusted management didn't have a clear idea how to move the company forward, let alone taking it into the digital age, except for trying to protect their jobs by coming up with the Fujifilm deal. Many years away from that, digital is not just about the printing machine, it's about the whole business model.
Originally posted by @YEixEuY-3wnl.
Been going on better part of 30 years; project after project failing, team celebrations as the teams simply moved to the next project to not achieve. Millions upon million wasted as the solution was to always fall back to products, systems that already existed. Poor management is a term that does not capture the magnitude of the incompetence.
you're an id--t
The “old management” also sent thousands of jobs off shore: India, Jamaica, Philippines, Guatemala, Poland ... all jobs that were once American middle class workers.
Sorry for all those that lost jobs or will lose jobs because of the current management, but there’s no good reason to look back longingly to the old realm. They milked the business for years and didn’t treat people much better. It was just a different group that got the shaft.
Old mgt. or new mgt. it may not be fixable due to the years of mismanagement, the current state of the company and the current and future state of the industry.
It’s sad that it has come to this; if you are young enough to move on, get out.
Let's not kid ourselves. Icahn has made billions off of companies. He is not known to be a guru on how to go in and fix companies and make them healthier because he cares.
There was no reason to trust the old management either. Not only were they incompetent in many ways, they lived out of the business with special compensation plans, personal travel, family travel, unethical assignments of jobs, sales quotas, territories ... it had gone on for decades. For most of the last 20 years the place practically ran on autopilot. Stupid and pointless re-orgs took place annually to feed egos and fill pockets of the few. Execs that fell out of favor for whatever reason were protected with new jobs in supplies, investor relations, “strategy”, marketing, channels - wherever they weren’t in the way - at their same or higher salary and bonus levels. Even the tech R&D executives got away with their horrific performance (solid inkjet) Poor decisions and fraudulent actions were outrun by a huge post equipment sale annuity. Presidents, EVPs, SVPs raped Xerox for years. UMB and JJ were certainly not the only ones to do so. Several of those that did are still around and still getting away with it. (And no telling how much XRX paid in settlements to cover the unfair decisions and harassing behaviors of more than a few of them.)
Icahn was not wrong when he said XRX had been poorly managed for years. The declining print/copy market could no longer provide a cover for the amount of money being taken/squandered by the (many) top layers. The sad truth is that the layoffs and distinction today is the result of years and years of scandalous behavior and decisions.
Define "the best thing to happen to Xerox". If the goal is to just have the name Xerox exist in one form or another who really cares? If the goal is to make some 80+ year old man who doesn't give a rats a-- about anyone else in the world except making as much money for himself as possible, who really cares?
Xerox was a company that started with a man who had a vision and a innovative idea called xerography. It blossomed into a company that supported thousands and thousands of people and their families for decades. People were able to buy homes, support their families and put their kids thru college. It helped to grow a small town (Webster) and anchor Rochester. The company grew across the US and became a worldwide business to help employ thousands of people.
It is true that companies come and go over time. It happens for one reason or another. Jobs are lost. Communities are sometimes ruined. Families are affected. There is a lack of grace and humanity that can go along with a company when it is on its way out. The stockholders and the folks at the top have financial security when they walk away. Many of them can walk away and never have to work again. Not the same scenario as many of the employees who have relied on Xerox over the years to put food on the table, make the next mortgage or car payment or the hope to give their kids a better life than they had by giving them a college education. Yes people will find new jobs when the time comes and they are forced out. People will survive. Some will make more money some will make less. Life will go on.
Maybe Xerox will go on or the name Xerox will live on but once that relationship between employee and a company ends..........................who cares what what happens to the company?
I would have a little more confidence in this theory if they hadn't (1) lied to the employees about what has happening (2) picked a completely incompetent group of dimwits (HCL) to 'outsource' our jobs to India (3) had a good transition plan in place (4) offered retention bonuses to key players to make sure that business operations continued well (5) didn't fire key personnel that were needed to keep the business running (6) didn't wreck the GIS model that was profitable for them (7) didn't disrupt hard working, knowledgable, loyal and dedicated GIS employees' lives by replacing them with people from India that can't speak English and that know nothing all because Xerox Corporate's business plan and lack of growth is an embarrassment to the business community.
Other than that this is a GREAT move - SO HAPPY THAT ICAHN AND DOUCHEBAG JOHNNIE WILL MAKE MONEY ON THE BACKS OF TERMINATED AMERICAN JOBS.
Thank you for posting this !!!