Pros

Great team with boatloads of experience and talent in North America
World class products that will compete anywhere
Loyal, but small reseller following

Cons

Talent not utilized to the fullest
Channel runs the show, like the tail wagging the dog.
Too much of a not invented here mentality and keeping the "good old boys" around

Advice to Senior Management

Utilize the assets in the NA team. Grow through organic sales and not depend on a channel that only wants to push boxes without concern for margin or growth.

Pros

smart folks
people of director and below work hard
nice building and perks

Cons

direction changing frequently
executives with golden parachutes and no loyalty
no strategic leadership
attitude of not listening to those in trenches
old-boys

Advice to Senior Management

fire the board

Pros

Good salaries and bonuses, and good people in the working environment. Interesting products and the work can be very enjoyable and rewarding.

Cons

Executive management is aloof and uninterested in the careers of employees. Routinely hire and fire to fit the current executive "strategy". Core of company is the China operation. US operation exists only to market China products and support executive management jobs.

Advice to Senior Management

It is a shame that management is not concerned about building a company where US employees can thrive and make a long term career.

Pros

3COM had a great corporate culture, employees were valued and treaty fairly and compensated well. My overall compensation package included : base salary, sign-on bonus, 3 bonus (quarterly), profit sharing and stock options. They also had a great tuition reimbursement plan and excellent onsite facilities (3 cafeterias, onsite laundry, gym, etc). We were always kept in the communication loop by senior management and employee morale was high. The environment was professional, relaxed and high performers were recognized. Employees were courteous and friendly, in general. Managers were accountable and tried hard to make the environment pleasant for employees. What more can I say ?

Cons

Really none. It was overall a great place to work. Sometimes. interdepartmental communications were not very effective as other departments knew things that our department did not know. But, management tried hard to improve overall communications. Overall, some acquisitions that 3COM made were poor and led to the company's demise a decade ago. It does not appear that 3COM has ever recovered from these corporate decisions. 3COM did not have the sharpest folks, but most folks were there that wanted a work/life balance and 3COM was excellent at providing this. Managers were generally understanding when it come to granting time off, etc.

Advice to Senior Management

N/A

Pros

3Com has a good corporate culture, like some other bigger US corporate. My life at 3Com had been good and memorable. Things still get done efficiently, and biz stress are not directly passed down to engineering. It's a good place to remember.

Cons

Since 2001 and beyond, 3Com has lost focus of its engineering R&D interest. Various re-organization and executive plannings breaking up the company and then regroup them back-and-forth are adding to the spiral downturn of 3Com reputation. At the end, it simply becomes a sales channel with the higher prize product but just "streets" router/switch quality. Sigh...

Advice to Senior Management

Be more engineering oriented. Back to the old 3Com culture.