During Chambers time as CEO he set a clear vision for Cisco - “Change the way we work, live, learn and play”, along with his decision to be either number 1 or 2 in each product category Cisco sell. This vision brought Cisco to be a true leader in many areas for over two decades.
During the term of Chuck as CEO it looks that there is no clear vision for the company and Cisco is no longer number 1 or 2 in almost all product category even in its core business.
Vote if you agree.
Layoff is terrible! I agree to that but I feel a lot of the comments here are simply to "attack" CR, ELT, Leaders ... the all Cisco. If you feel that CR only cares about his bank account, ELT sucks, and so on ... why are you still working in this company? Could some of the ones who comment here be also just p... off because they're afraid of losing BIG paychecks while doing "not that much"?
I don't believe the all ELT take these decisions without a care. I've been in this company for 10 years, I've seen a lot of LRs happening over the years, saw many friends and colleagues leaving and IT IS SAD! But I also saw the effort HR made each and every time to help those people find another position and I am witness of MANY of those employees coming back to CISCO as soon as they could (although they were already working on another company). So I guess CISCO is not that bad or people wouldn't try to come back.
Again! LAYOFF is terrible but that doesn't imply CISCO is bad.
His bonuses from after this layoff will prove this fact again.
This is how business has been done in the US for longer than Cisco has existed. When Chambers completely failed to meet the goals for his bonus he paid himself out anyway - he just tacked on an extra day of forced vacation at Christmas for the company to pay for it.
Do they still force you take that vacation while mandating you be on-call with a 15 minute response time when you aren’t even an on-call employee?
During Chambers time as CEO he set a clear vision for Cisco - “Change the way we work, live, learn and play”, along with his decision to be either number 1 or 2 in each product category Cisco sell.
He changed the way Cisco worked by buying other companies, paying those who know how to do actual development to leave and keeping the staff that can’t even bug fix the remains which is why they did quarterly layoffs for ages (in Chambers’ own words, the sign of failed leadership.) A far better goal would have ended with the words “for the better.”
As for being number one or two in the industry, it’s just one of the many things he blindly copied from Jack Welch of General Electric, another stock value leader that has faded into the background due to decades of poor leadership.
While we’re at it:
He bought Flip and passed on VMware.
VMware is software and Cisco can’t do software so Cisco would have destroyed it. Cisco, the company that took ages to develop the world’s trailing tablet that was advertised as having the game changing business application which was to display a white screen to act as a flashlight. Then there was the expensive home teleconferencing system with an additional $60/mo fee at a time when Cisco’s own employees were following the rest of the teenagers in refusing to use a phone to talk to each other, preferring text messaging. The low margin bits they eventually jettisoned before completely destroying them from Linksys to cable boxes and modems remain buggy junk to this day.
“Chuck cares about ALL employees equally “
All employees are just worker bees filling his bank accounts. His bonuses from after this layoff will prove this fact again. Immediately after this layoff you will see ELTs, managers and friends get promoted and large bonuses.
Chuck and the board have no vision for the company.
The vision is clear... it's a managed decline
We sell & market legacy network equipment, the objective is quietly and slowly cut costs and our real estate portfolio.
Chambers was not for ALL the people. Chuck cares about ALL employees equally not just the ones that look and think like him. Judging by the way some people speak to the CEO during check-ins, I would get rid of y’all too. There’s respectful ways to get your message across & many of you (and you know who you are) cisconians know no respect. Best of luck on Dec 12th.
Ask yourself:
Where will I be if I stay for another year?
Can I build a future here?
What opportunities await if I try to stay for another five years?
How much more in demand in the job market will I be if I stay versus go somewhere else?
Do I trust Cisco Leadership enough to commit my best effort?
You already know the answers.
Chambers and Chuck are both nauseating sales guys who surround themselves with yes men/women. It’s going to a real technological leader to make Cisco grow, not tinkering with licenses and success tracks. It’s a disgrace there is no chief technology officer on the ELT.
Chuck be singing, “I can see clearly now the lower 5% is gone…”
Chambers proved to be a one trick pony as he rode the growth of the Internet as far as it would take him. Once it became clear that networking was becoming commoditized, he had no idea how to create the next wave of growth for Cisco. He definitely had an amazing ride, but he stayed at Cisco way too long.
Stunningly, the Cisco Board hired another sales guy to ensure there was no subsequent growth plan for the company. Cisco has basically rested on its laurels for over a decade.
Chambers used to say, "You have to treat the world the way it really is as opposed to how you want it to be" as he watched Cisco crush legacy technology companies during the halcyon days of Internet growth. That's now what every one of Cisco's competitors is saying about it.
JC was a brilliant strategist?
He bought Flip and passed on VMware.
He created gridlock & chaos thru "boards & councils".
He let MPLS run amok and do whatever they want at the expense of everything and everyone else.
The good old days.
Not.
Chambers and Chuck both suck.
Chuck has proven time and time again that he only cares about filling up his bank account and could care less about the employees
Chuck is not CEO material