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Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: QuentR who wrote (70937)	11/4/1999 7:09:00 AM
From: Greg Butcher	Respond to of 97611

Any truth to the rumor about IBM buying CPQ? any links will help thanks.

To: QuentR who wrote (70937)	11/4/1999 7:24:00 AM
From: rudedog	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

I have had some conversations with CPQ rank and file folks. They say that under Pfeiffer no one knew what the company was trying to do - the old CPQ mantra was sell a PC to everyone, but in the new world the message was so clouded that on a day to day basis it was hard to relate your efforts to any corporate goals. "$50B by end of 2000" is not much of a marching order. Capellas has been working inside the company to provide direction to the troops with simple messages that will allow people to be productive while the company is reorganizing. Messages like "build cool stuff" along with some direction about what "cool stuff" is, gave top level direction towards a type of innovation without the need to spell out the details. Just after he was appointed, when asked what "cool stuff" was, Capellas said something like: - It should be immediately attractive, I should want to play with it - when I do, it should be natural to use, easy, and fun - it should do something I need to do, more easily than I do it now and so on... In addition, Capellas has preached the "order of battle" 1 - customer satisfaction is at the top of the list and is everyone's job. Not just a slogan - no one should assume that the other guy will do it. No one will get in trouble for going too far to satisfy a customer. 2 - simplify. Simplify the messages, simplify the product lines, simplify the organization. When someone asks "what is Compaq and what do we do", everyone in the company should know. 3 - Be productive. Take initiative. Don't wait for someone to tell you what to do. Try and link your efforts to the products you produce - "end to end" thinking. Don't have a meeting if you know what to do, just do it. When Continental's Brennerman took over operations, Continental was about the worst Airline in the business. Employees treated customers as an irritation. The only well-articulated goal was cut costs. He took Continental from "worst to first" by changing the way employees thought about themselves and their company, by focusing on what customers experienced when they flew Continental. It took a while but once the company started to turn, results were spectacular, because the goals were clear and well understood. All of this nonsense about how Capellas should be spending more time hyping the stock, kissing up to the analysts, being more definitive about what will happen near term to pop the stock is ill-advised for long term growth and health, which is what long term investors should care about. I am concerned that the cost cutting is going too slowly, that the product lines are still too complex, and that the practices that led to the losses in the PC business were not turned around quickly enough. None of those issues will be dealt with by a smooth-talking CEO hyping the company, they require rapid but careful analysis and quick decision making. We will see in the next 3 to 6 months if the internal measures are bearing fruit. I can do without the window dressing.