Digital Equipment inching forward in uneasy search for Olsen's successor

Article Abstract:

There is concern at DEC about who will eventually succeed Kenneth H. Olsen, the company's founder and president. Olsen has led at DEC since the company started in 1957. Industry observers expect that DEC Sr VP John F. Smith will be named as chief operating officer, but Olsen himself does not appear to be ready to step down. Unlike the situation at Compaq, where the board of directors ousted its chief executive, Joseph Canion, Olsen dominates his board and says he has no plans to crown a successor. Nevertheless, the matter causes concern because Olsen is now 65 years old, and Digital's results have not been good during the past year. Critics say Olsen is too autocratic. They complain that he stifles leadership in others. No one, they say, will contradict him if he is wrong.

Chief executive officers, Digital Equipment Corp., DEC, Management Style, Executive, Outlook, Financial Stability

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Data General abandons plan to develop communications gear for Japan's NTT

Article Abstract:

Data General Corp decides not to go ahead with its plans to develop high-speed hubs with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT). The computer company drops its plan with the Japanese NTT, along with 2,400 jobs; Data General will have around 9,300 employees in 1991, compared with a peak of 17,000 in 1985. The cancelling of the product development strategy, code named 'asparagus,' happens after five years of losses at Data General and engineering delays. Data General has invested millions of dollars in the failed data communications venture. The products being developed were to link voice, data and computers in large, private communications networks.

Communications Equipment, Telecommunications equipment industry, Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Corp., Data General, Strategic Planning, Computer Industry, Telecommunications Industry, DGN

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