In his memo to employees after returning as Dell Inc.'s CEO last week, Michael Dell announced a number of executive changes, including the resignation of former CEO Kevin Rollins. He wrote that he expects to be CEO for the “next several years.”
The company’s number one issue is bureaucracy, according to Dell. Before announcing that there would be no bonus this year because of the company’s disappointing and unacceptable results, he asked managers “to look across your organizations and eliminate redundancies, think about what is best for Dell, and provide the clarity and focus of leadership that we need.”
Predicting a rough “couple of quarters” ahead, Dell writes that the company’s operating expenses grew too fast. It will now have to hold costs and stop any marginal activities. “Long-term, we will be the technology leader known for strong operating performance, a great experience for our customers and a great place to work!” He wrote.
Going forward, he says the company will focus on serving small and medium-sized customers, building its server/storage business and shortening its design cycles. The company will also transition to a “light touch” original design manufacturer model.
“When I started in 1984, it was just me,” wrote Dell. “But now we are blessed to have an awesome team, many great assets and $11 billion or so. It won’t be easy, we’ll have to make some tough decisions and we won’t be shy about those. Our focus will be on building Dell into the company we all know it can be for our customers, our people and our shareholders.”
