Pros

Abbott has a good benefits package and product discounts. There is a lot of movement internally, so you can try many different roles. There are also various locations, so if you're not sold on Lake County, it's not as big of an issue.

Cons

From my experience, Abbott is very big on office politics. Many times promotions will be based on who is in good with management rather than who is more qualified. However, this may differ based on work site.

Advice to Senior Management

Focus more on developing product lines and R&D rather than rushing to get into new markets by acquisitions. While expansion is necessary at times to stay competitive, it seems like lately there are less and less Abbott developed products and more products gained from companies acquired.

Pros

Good salary and benefits.
Great coworkers at the organization.
Some buildings at the company are very nice and great to work in.

Cons

Corporate politics are very difficult to navigate through in order to go above and beyond.
Employees shuffling around the company to different departments, buildings, desks, etc is very common.
So much red tape makes you feel like a fool when you suggest new ideas.

Advice to Senior Management

Overall, the pay and benefits are great, but this is just a downright depressing place to work because of the sludge of Politics and Bureaucracy.

Pros

Good entry level pay (started at 52K as, now at 57K with 2 yrs of exp)
Good experience for entry level candidates
Good Benifits
Lots of places to move around when you want a new position

Cons

Old school environment gets old QUICK!
A lot of managers are ass holes and feel entitled to treat people like crap solely because of their' positions.
Long hours
The promo process is based strictly on experience and not actual quality of work
Depressing older culture

*Disclaimer
-I am unfortunately in a group with a manager who has a serious case of Napoleon syndrome. Therefore my opinion is slightly biast. There are quality managers. You just got to be lucky to find one.

Advice to Senior Management

Managers are there to help individuals grow, and not belittle them (which I have seen happen multiple times). Need to understand the old school environment does not work well with recent grads.

Pros

The compensation and benefits are competitive
The company is in a stable industry and should remain profitable
Work life balance is excellent

Cons

Things can move at a fairly slow pace
Promotions and advancement can take a while and are not always merit based

Advice to Senior Management

Continue with the acquisition strategy which has been very successful
Continue to focus on growth industries and divest poor businesses

Pros

The company is a solid performer that is very financially or numbers driven and provides good benefits. It is more a company to retire in rather than start a fast-paced career with (although different divisions have their own personalities). But, then that is no secret.

Cons

The decision making can be slow and bureaucratic at times. Senior management does not follow a hands-off approach and will try and impose US-think to other parts of the world (even though it does not work the same). I was surprised by how little direct exposure top management has to international markets particularly in the emerging markets.

Advice to Senior Management

More international people should be seen in top management positions. Almost all top managers are wasp with narrow thinking and a restricted worldview. Greater customer focus.
What works in the US or Europe does not necessarily work in the developing markets, yet same templates and expensive American expat managers are imposed in geographies where they take a year to find out what is happening, another year to blame their predecessor and the last one to find something new to do back home!
Strategic thinking about business during reviews. My experience has shown only numbers and more numbers being discussed almost to the exclusion of business issues or market or customer.

Pros

Opportunity for growth, stable company, good benefits, work life balance* and training & development opportunities.

Cons

Pay is a bit lower than that of competitors (depends on what level you come in), work life balance - as long as noone needs anything from you, layers upon layers on management, highly political evironment.

Advice to Senior Management

Being a risk taking company can be expensive - but being a me-too company doesn't attrack top talent either - there needs to be a balance.

Pros

This is related only to IT field: Many different projects.

Cons

This is related only to IT field: many of the employees who have been there for a while do not seem to be up -to-date with the latest trends, best practices and related education, which makes it difficult to complete projects to the best interest of the clients. IT overall could be more sofisticated and helpful over there.

Advice to Senior Management

Promote best practices and world class practices in IT.

Pros

Great people, good projects, good benefits, flexible work environment, good city, good employee support programs such as mentorships and other support

Cons

sometimes the company can seem a little slow and old faishoned. Although that seems to be changing. It is big company - so sometimes you can get lost

Advice to Senior Management

Need to change the following - sometimes the company can seem a little slow and old faishoned. Although that seems to be changing. It is big company - so sometimes you can get lost

Pros

Work/Life Balance, diversified corporate portfolio that has kept stock healthy, opportunities for advancement and training

Cons

The newly empowered FDA shook up all pharma co's earlier this year - and Abbott is particularly conservative. As a marketer, you often feel like your hands are tied and you're being spun in your seat... there can be little professional satisfaction if you have experience in less regulated categories.

Advice to Senior Management

Provide proactive, consistent and centralized leadership with regards to med/reg guidelines that still leaves room for consumer communications to be effective and minimize waste as the "rules change."

Pros

They believe in training the employees, providing them with the right qualitification for the job and even encourages employees to upgrade themselves.

Cons

Being a new setup in Singapore, there are alot of improvements required in the process. But management is supportive for changes.

Advice to Senior Management

The management is too lean. Will require more headcounts to counter all the problems that the factory is facing. Be more open to listent o employees.