On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:06:01 -0500, dpb wrote:

Marissa Payton wrote:
dpb wrote:
...

And a mere shell of what _the_ Westinghouse of George was...

"He [George Westinghouse] was one of the world's true noblemen, of whom
America may well be proud and to whom humanity owes an immense debt of
gratitude." - Nikola Tesla

This article is getting dated, but it might help you understand "What Happened to
Westinghouse."
I pretty much know what happened...
...
interested in reading the article: http://news.pghtech.org/teq/teqstory.cfm?id=229

That article is classifiable as making a silk purse from a sow's ear I
see...

"... Westinghouse found itself sinking under the weight of bad real
estate loans and struggling desperately for survival.

In the end, the name survived, but the institution did not. Beginning in
the mid-1980s, Westinghouse began to divest itself of its many
businesses in an attempt to service billions of dollars in debt. The end
of its role as an industrial icon was sealed in 1995 when it acquired
CBS Corp. ..."

As noted, mismanagement and diversion from the business that got them
where they were when the MBA suits got control forced their hand.

That the Pittsburgh Technology Council has a vested interest in painting
the present situation in as good a light as possible is understandable,
but doesn't hide the fact that the management of W drove the bus into an
underpass abutment a la Diana.

There's no way to tell, of course, but it's quite possible if management
hadn't been diverted by their wandering pursuit of quick returns in the
financial and other unrelated business areas the core businesses would
have done as well or even better.

And, of course, much of GE's problems can be traced to the same or
similar dilution of focus during the same time frame.

I've given enough hints that it shouldn't be at all difficult to tell
with which competitor I was -- I departed their when they were acquired
from outside owing to observing that new management was not an R&D
organization and being in internally-funded R&D organization wasn't
going to be career-enhancing. Consequently, I went the consulting route
rather than waiting for the inevitable.

Thank you. I fully agree with your assessment. Westinghouse was
slowly bled to death by senior management in an effort to maximize
shareholder return, whatever the long-term cost. Their management
suite was the original "Dilbert Zone".

The Tesla quote you provided speaks to the personal character and true
genius of this man. I believe I'm correct I'm saying that George held
more patents than even Thomas Edison and Edison was known to patent
anything that came within ten feet of his person, including his
shadow.

Cheers,
Paul