Does anybody else think that all the restructurings we've had in the past several years would have more credibility if there was a growth plan included there somewhere? As it stands now, the only thing all the restructurings do is reduce the number of employees. How is that helping the company in the long run? How will that help Cisco grow?
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The networking ship is sinking.
Chambers rode the growth provided by the innovation of early Cisco engineers. When he left, the innovation engine had been dismantled by the migration of engineering jobs to India.
At that point, the Board decided to ignore the need to rejuvenate the innovation engine and hired another sales person as CEO to milk all that was left from the early innovators. Cisco embraced the "innovation by acquisition" model, but soon learned that the innovators that were acquired wouldn't stay beyond their required vesting periods.
At this point, there isn't anyone left in the company that actually knows what it takes to successfully define, build, sell, and deliver innovative technology to customers. Given that, there is no actual growth plan, only a continued effort to financially engineer the numbers to make them look as best as possible for Wall Street. Kelly Kramer left once she figured out that she couldn't put any more lipstick on the pig.
The ELT has a growth plan. Extract as much income as possible from the company... while distracting employees with social justice initiatives and wall street with high-level industry buzzwords