Comments on: No Loyalty or Responsibility from Dell – Don’t Call Them "Lean" http://www.leanblog.org/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell/ Mark Graban's leanblog.org - Lean Healthcare, Lean Thinking, Lean Manufacturing, Toyota Production System Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:01:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Dell Gives Up on Manufacturing? — Lean Blog http://www.leanblog.org/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell/#comment-22881 Dell Gives Up on Manufacturing? — Lean Blog Thu, 28 Jul 2011 03:47:28 +0000 http://leanblog.bigbigdesign.net/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell-dont-call-them-lean/#comment-22881 [...] a former Dell employee (1999-2000), I was surprised and maybe a bit angry when they announced, earlier this year, that they were shutting down a factory I had helped open in [...] [...] a former Dell employee (1999-2000), I was surprised and maybe a bit angry when they announced, earlier this year, that they were shutting down a factory I had helped open in [...]

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]]> By: Jim http://www.leanblog.org/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell/#comment-3962 Jim Mon, 08 Sep 2008 23:19:00 +0000 http://leanblog.bigbigdesign.net/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell-dont-call-them-lean/#comment-3962 You worked there...are you really surprised? I worked there for about 1.5 years and watched them chew up and burn through employees left and right.....and these were high paying white collar jobs. <br/><br/>They are ruthlessly efficient and view their employees as as expense not an asset. <br/><br/>Heck, I was turned down on a request to buy me a pack of three hole ruled notebook paper...I had a 4 million dollar per quarter sales quota, I was forced to send key people from multi-million dollar accounts to sit in call queues for help from customer service bec Dell wouldnt staff customer service bec it was OpEx....and all this was 1999 when they were doing great.<br/><br/>I too feel feel working at Dell was a great experience, but a yr and a half was plenty, and I cant say that I'm a bit surprised to see them closing a factory if they think it will save a nickle a day. You worked there…are you really surprised? I worked there for about 1.5 years and watched them chew up and burn through employees left and right…..and these were high paying white collar jobs.

They are ruthlessly efficient and view their employees as as expense not an asset.

Heck, I was turned down on a request to buy me a pack of three hole ruled notebook paper…I had a 4 million dollar per quarter sales quota, I was forced to send key people from multi-million dollar accounts to sit in call queues for help from customer service bec Dell wouldnt staff customer service bec it was OpEx….and all this was 1999 when they were doing great.

I too feel feel working at Dell was a great experience, but a yr and a half was plenty, and I cant say that I’m a bit surprised to see them closing a factory if they think it will save a nickle a day.

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]]> By: Mark Graban http://www.leanblog.org/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell/#comment-3741 Mark Graban Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:01:00 +0000 http://leanblog.bigbigdesign.net/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell-dont-call-them-lean/#comment-3741 "employee" comments from Dell people on the austin newspaper's site:<br/><br/><a HREF="http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/theticker/entries/2008/03/31/do_you_work_at_the_dell_topfer.html" REL="nofollow">LINK</a><br/><br/>One of them uses the same "respect" word. Sad that they aren't getting any. “employee” comments from Dell people on the austin newspaper’s site:

LINK

One of them uses the same “respect” word. Sad that they aren’t getting any.

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]]> By: Adam Zak http://www.leanblog.org/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell/#comment-3601 Adam Zak Wed, 28 May 2008 18:28:00 +0000 http://leanblog.bigbigdesign.net/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell-dont-call-them-lean/#comment-3601 Mark, I've been needing a new laptop for a while now. Just too much stuff on the hard drive and no 5S in ages, so I guess I'm not practicing what I preach. In any event, I began my explorations for a hot new machine over the long weekend. It came down to two solid choices. <br/><br/>Interestingly, the Hewlet-Packard (HP) had more features than the similarly-priced Dell. The HP had a more comprehensive warranty. The HP got significantly more positive user reviews than the Dell on CNET. And then I remembered your (this) post. No contest. I'll be booting up my new HP tonight. <br/><br/>Maybe the people at Dell who work on features, pricing, quality, performance and warranties were part of the cost cutting in Austin?<br/><br/>Adam Mark, I’ve been needing a new laptop for a while now. Just too much stuff on the hard drive and no 5S in ages, so I guess I’m not practicing what I preach. In any event, I began my explorations for a hot new machine over the long weekend. It came down to two solid choices.

Interestingly, the Hewlet-Packard (HP) had more features than the similarly-priced Dell. The HP had a more comprehensive warranty. The HP got significantly more positive user reviews than the Dell on CNET. And then I remembered your (this) post. No contest. I’ll be booting up my new HP tonight.

Maybe the people at Dell who work on features, pricing, quality, performance and warranties were part of the cost cutting in Austin?

Adam

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]]> By: JollyRoger http://www.leanblog.org/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell/#comment-3404 JollyRoger Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:06:00 +0000 http://leanblog.bigbigdesign.net/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell-dont-call-them-lean/#comment-3404 I'm inclined to agree with anon about the tendencies of American CEOs to lavish compensation on themselves while whining about the need to "cut costs" to "stay competitive." The American megacorp CEO is all too often a parasite that destroys his or her (Carly) host. I’m inclined to agree with anon about the tendencies of American CEOs to lavish compensation on themselves while whining about the need to “cut costs” to “stay competitive.” The American megacorp CEO is all too often a parasite that destroys his or her (Carly) host.

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]]> By: Anonymous http://www.leanblog.org/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell/#comment-3399 Anonymous Sun, 06 Apr 2008 03:43:00 +0000 http://leanblog.bigbigdesign.net/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell-dont-call-them-lean/#comment-3399 I don't think it's quite as bad internally as it looks from the outside. Some of it is also a matter of perspective. I recently learned from one of the very top executives at Dell that at some point in the future my facility will probably go away also (this is years and years away, but eventually). I don't mind, I'll pick up the skills and experience to make my way somewhere else. In the mean time beating HP is a great game. <br/><br/>Another thing that I think is interesting is that you never hear about Apple or HP closing down their manufacturing plants in the US because they don't have any -- all of their systems are outsourced. Dell is the only pc maker (that I know of) with domestic manufacturing (Actually I think Sun does some kitting work for servers in Oregon, can't recall). The closing of TMC sucks, but a lot of us are continuing to do good work (even a lot of "lean toolset" stuff) to try to give the customer better service at lower cost. I won't argue that Dell is TPS compliant ;) I've heard our design team has some cool stuff coming out -- we'll see on that count. I don’t think it’s quite as bad internally as it looks from the outside. Some of it is also a matter of perspective. I recently learned from one of the very top executives at Dell that at some point in the future my facility will probably go away also (this is years and years away, but eventually). I don’t mind, I’ll pick up the skills and experience to make my way somewhere else. In the mean time beating HP is a great game.

Another thing that I think is interesting is that you never hear about Apple or HP closing down their manufacturing plants in the US because they don’t have any — all of their systems are outsourced. Dell is the only pc maker (that I know of) with domestic manufacturing (Actually I think Sun does some kitting work for servers in Oregon, can’t recall). The closing of TMC sucks, but a lot of us are continuing to do good work (even a lot of “lean toolset” stuff) to try to give the customer better service at lower cost. I won’t argue that Dell is TPS compliant ;) I’ve heard our design team has some cool stuff coming out — we’ll see on that count.

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]]> By: Anonymous http://www.leanblog.org/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell/#comment-3398 Anonymous Sun, 06 Apr 2008 03:39:00 +0000 http://leanblog.bigbigdesign.net/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell-dont-call-them-lean/#comment-3398 Umm, the reality is that there is only one company called Toyota and to torch any org that doesn't measure up is pollyanish especially for anyone that doesn't sit in their boardroom.<br/><br/>What is the root cause that they decided to move? It wasn't because they weren't Toyotaish enough and if they stayed it wouldn't have been because they were.<br/><br/>The answer might be that they didn't contract out enough so when the biz flattened they had to hang their own employees out to dry rather than the contract employees like Toyota would and has done. <br/><br/>Or maybe they haven't been at this long enough to learn everything they need. Remember Toyota had 30 or 40 years of operating in a protected market before anybody thought their products were much more than crap.<br/><br/>Another root cause might be how the CEOs in America can loot their own organizations while underperforming.<br/><br/>The bottom line is the fatheads at Dell made some bad decisions and their employees are having to pay for it. <br/><br/>My employer is hooked on their products but my next laptop won't have a dell label on it.<br/><br/>Jackson Umm, the reality is that there is only one company called Toyota and to torch any org that doesn’t measure up is pollyanish especially for anyone that doesn’t sit in their boardroom.

What is the root cause that they decided to move? It wasn’t because they weren’t Toyotaish enough and if they stayed it wouldn’t have been because they were.

The answer might be that they didn’t contract out enough so when the biz flattened they had to hang their own employees out to dry rather than the contract employees like Toyota would and has done.

Or maybe they haven’t been at this long enough to learn everything they need. Remember Toyota had 30 or 40 years of operating in a protected market before anybody thought their products were much more than crap.

Another root cause might be how the CEOs in America can loot their own organizations while underperforming.

The bottom line is the fatheads at Dell made some bad decisions and their employees are having to pay for it.

My employer is hooked on their products but my next laptop won’t have a dell label on it.

Jackson

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]]> By: Mark Graban http://www.leanblog.org/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell/#comment-3395 Mark Graban Sat, 05 Apr 2008 20:42:00 +0000 http://leanblog.bigbigdesign.net/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell-dont-call-them-lean/#comment-3395 Michael *did* admit "screwing up" in 2001, the first time they resorted to layoffs.<br/><br/>"Michael Dell has admitted that his company's recent job cuts are 'an "admission that we screwed up" by overhiring'."<br/><br/><a HREF="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/04/09/dell_admits_job_cuts_mean/" REL="nofollow">LINK</a> Michael *did* admit “screwing up” in 2001, the first time they resorted to layoffs.

“Michael Dell has admitted that his company’s recent job cuts are ‘an “admission that we screwed up” by overhiring’.”

LINK

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]]> By: rearden215 http://www.leanblog.org/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell/#comment-3393 rearden215 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:31:00 +0000 http://leanblog.bigbigdesign.net/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell-dont-call-them-lean/#comment-3393 Dell managed to get to 1999- and stopped there.<br/><br/>Boring products and late on the curve- that's why I am an Apple person. Now that I think of it, does anyone ever call themselves a 'Dell person'? Doubt it. Dell managed to get to 1999- and stopped there.

Boring products and late on the curve- that’s why I am an Apple person. Now that I think of it, does anyone ever call themselves a ‘Dell person’? Doubt it.

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]]> By: Anonymous http://www.leanblog.org/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell/#comment-3392 Anonymous Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:57:00 +0000 http://leanblog.bigbigdesign.net/2008/04/no-loyalty-or-responsibility-from-dell-dont-call-them-lean/#comment-3392 Doesn't surprise me a bit. Dell has no sympathy for it's employees (I used to be one). They let everyone know they are always expendable, even top performers. They work you till you drop and then step on your neck. The people who get ahead are those that have that same mindset. As to stock holders, they treat them badly also - what, no dividend after all these years? Of course not, why would Michael want to share the profits of the company with shareholders. He claims stock appreciation is how the shareholder gets paid.....well, take a look at a 5 year chart and see where you would be today as an investor. But hey, if you want to work all the time, have no job security, and turn into a nervous wreck, it's a great place to work. Doesn’t surprise me a bit. Dell has no sympathy for it’s employees (I used to be one). They let everyone know they are always expendable, even top performers. They work you till you drop and then step on your neck. The people who get ahead are those that have that same mindset. As to stock holders, they treat them badly also – what, no dividend after all these years? Of course not, why would Michael want to share the profits of the company with shareholders. He claims stock appreciation is how the shareholder gets paid…..well, take a look at a 5 year chart and see where you would be today as an investor. But hey, if you want to work all the time, have no job security, and turn into a nervous wreck, it’s a great place to work.

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