These are some tough times, maybe the toughest in the company history, and I tend to think that there is a big probability that we’re witnessing the last years of the company. How long do you think Xerox is going to last given the current situation. I reach my pension in 2 years so I hope the company lasts that period, That is if I don’t get laid of in the meantime.
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There was no reason to trust the old management either. Not only were they incompetent in many ways, they lived out of the business with special compensation plans, personal travel, family travel, unethical assignments of jobs, sales quotas, territories ... it had gone on for decades. For most of the last 20 years the place practically ran on autopilot. Stupid and pointless re-orgs took place annually to feed egos and fill pockets of the few. Execs that fell out of favor for whatever reason were protected with new jobs in supples, investor relations, “strategy”, marketing, channels - wherever they weren’t in the way - at their same or higher salary and bonus levels. Even the tech R&D executives got away with their horrific performance (solid inkjet) Poor decisions and fraudulent actions were outrun by a huge post equipment sale annuity. Presidents, EVPs, SVPs raped Xerox for years. UMB and JJ were certainly not the only ones to do so. Several of those that did are still around and still getting away with it. (And no telling how much XRX paid in settlements to cover the unfair decisions and harassing behaviors of more than a few of them.)
Icahn was not wrong when he said XRX had been poorly managed for years. The declining print/copy market could no longer provide a cover for the amount of money being taken/squandered by the (many) top layers. The sad truth is that the layoffs and distinction today is the result of years and years of scandalous behavior and decisions.
Not a popular opinion, but maybe, just maybe, this is the best thing that has happened to Xerox. Clearly the old and trusted management didn't have a clear idea how to move the company forward, let alone taking it into the digital age, except for trying to protect their jobs by coming up with the Fujifilm deal. Many years away from that, digital is not just about the printing machine, it's about the whole business model.
Depends on how you view it, I suppose.
They’ll sell off pieces and perhaps the right to use the brand in different market segments and geographies. In that sense it could last quite a while. (Kodak is “gone” in most ways but there are still a small number of Kodak employees and a variety of products using the brand around the world. Kodak’s demise was spread over several years.)
The “end” probably won’t happen in one single definitive event; probably going to be a drawn out sequence of events. Whether you can hang on for two more years could depend on many factors such as your specific job, location, what parts sell and when, what is outsourced and when, etc. Predicting the future is a difficult thing, indeed. Who knows? Not even Carl or John.
As soon as the economy exhibits any stress, Xerox will be done.
Ironically I think our executive committee believes that xerox employees are incompetent and can’t do anything right. That they believe that we have a bad attitude and that prevents us from succeeding.
That might be true in part, but it also applies to them.
This is like a Shakespearean tragedy. Where both are right and wrong at the same time. And our inability to see and work together will lead to our mutual destruction.