DEC is dead, long live DEC : the lasting legacy of Digital Equipment Corporation / Edgar H. Schein with Peter DeLisi, Paul Kampas, and Michael Sonduck.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schein, Edgar H.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Digital Equipment Corporation--History.

Digital Equipment Corporation.

Digital Equipment Corporation--Biography.

Computer industry--United States--History.

Computer industry.

Management.

History.

United States.

Computer industry--United States--Management--Case studies.

Genre:

Case studies.

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xv, 319 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

San Francisco, CA : Berrett-Koehler, [2003]

Summary:

In the annals of American business, Digital Equipment Corporation's case history ranks among the most interesting. Over its 40-year lifetime, it reached the Fortune 50, had sales of over $14 billion, and for a time was the number-two computer maker, behind only IBM. It also was a computing pioneer, creating a great many of the innovations we take for granted today. Yet it failed as a business and was ultimately sold to Compaq. In this book, DEC insiders analyze the culture of innovation that drove DEC to the top - how it was created, how it evolved, and why it ultimately collapsed. Author Edgar Schein's past and current consulting clients include Apple, Citibank, General Foods, Hewlett-Packard, and others.

Contents:

2. Three Developmental Streams: A Model for Deciphering the Lessons of the DEC Story 16

Part 1 The Creation of a Culture of Innovation: the Technology, Organization, and Culture Streams are One and the Same 29

3. Ken Olsen, the Scientist-Engineer 33

4. Ken Olsen, the Leader and Manager 47

5. Ken Olsen, the Salesman-Marketer 71

6. DEC's Cultural Paradigm 80

7. DEC's "Other" Legacy: The Development of Leaders / Tracy C. Gibbons 90

8. DEC's Impact on the Evolution of Organization Development 113

Part 2 The Streams Diverge, Causing an Organizational Midlife Crisis 125

9. The Impact of Changing Technology / Paul Kampas 131

10. The Impact of Success, Growth, and Age 146

11. Learning Efforts Reveal Cultural Strengths and Rigidities 168

12. The Turbulent 1980s: Peaking but Weakening 195

13. The Beginning of the End: Ken Olsen's Final Efforts to Save DEC 222

Part 3 Lessons and Legacies 239

15. The Lasting Legacy of Digital Equipment Corporation 255

A. DEC's Technical Legacy 269

B. DEC Manufacturing: Contributions Made and Lessons Learned / Michael Sonduck 273

C. DEC, the First Knowledge Organization: A 1991 Memo / Debra Rogers Amidon 280

D. Digital: The Strategic Failure / Peter DeLisi 283.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 303-305) and index.

ISBN:

1576752259

OCLC:

51637880