scott..re dell and ibm "old school"
as i stated in chapter and verse yesterday it's a "perception" thing...gerstner and platt have executed, dell has not....all think "spin" not necessary...but consider the following:
many quote "chairman dell's" philosophy on this thread...remember the comments he made about gretzsky, and offense...let's apply his infallible words...and i will paraphrase..
"turn your competitor's strength into a weakness"
fact: dell strongest pc maker in world, tremendous growth, strong balance sheet>
perception: pc market changing, margins down, demand down
cause of perception: "pc is dead"(gerstner) "new pc market,we must reorganize(platt) "whole industry suffers"(pfeiffer)
result of perception: dell downgraded by analysts due to prevalent "perceptions"
summary: doesn't take much to see how the "old school" took dell to task and "weakened" their "strong" points
msd also proffers business advice about being on the offense...seems like a lot of defending going on about the incredible balance sheet..
dell is in a new league, like going from triple a ball to the majors, they are not msft, or intc who are true gorillas in their field...dell a gorilla in the pc field...but in the total solutions and enterprise markets they are more of a chimp..
all this said i'm positive and bullish on dell...but this "strategic inflection point" can separate "boys" from "men".... remember in business, it is not important that you win, for if you have staying power, the question becomes: will the competition lose?"....good luck, ed a. |
