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Technology Stocks : All About Sun Microsystems -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: rudedog who wrote (24543)	12/10/1999 2:32:00 PM
From: JC Jaros	Respond to of 64865

Re: SUNW management - Scott mentioned that Sun's relationship with GE, perhaps better stated as Scott's relationship with Jack Welsh will be causing Sun to emulate GE's efficiencies of management and production going forward. I think this little dynamic is going to show up on the SUNW earnings line rather soon. In the past, Scott has been a big fan of Jack Welsh. Nowadays, he's receiving private instruction from Jack Welsh directly. -JCJ

To: rudedog who wrote (24543)	12/10/1999 2:47:00 PM
From: QwikSand	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 64865

I think it's an exaggeration to say that SUNW is managed by engineers, or in some way that a Proctor & Gamble manager wouldn't approve of. McNealy started out as the manufacturing guy. He's very concerned with raising inventory turns, and (at least used to) mention the subject in conference calls all the time. Sun's manufacturing has gotten monotonically more efficient over the years. As you say, Sun does R&D and Dell doesn't. That's the whole story. Sun innovates in technology and bears the costs (and long-term benefits) of that, and Dell innovates in assembly efficiency which shows up nowhere but in the short-term bottom line. But that doesn't mean SUNW isn't well- or tightly-managed, in any sense I can think of, whether defined by Proctor & Gamble or anyone else. Engineers have more say-so and incur more costs in a technology leader. In my opinion, McNealy is one of the best managers in the U.S., and Sun is one of the best-managed companies. It's no coincidence McNealy ended up on G.E.'s board and is a rumored candidate to be Welch's successor. Regards, --QS

To: rudedog who wrote (24543)	12/10/1999 5:30:00 PM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

Hello, rudedog, thank you for your post. Actually, I've never met Jim or read one of his posts. Nevertheless, I appreciate your comments about Sun's management that they wanna do it right! And they do it right: technically, their products are great from what I read ~ unlike MSFT's technically inferior products. You mentioned Dell does "almost no research." If Dell sells a box, then research is not a big deal since they put other people's products inside the box. Sort of reminds me of the LINUX model except LINUX software is free. Do you have an opinion about the LINUX PC and the share price? Best wishes, Mephisto