Bose Reviews in Boston, MA Area

Pros

smart and amazing people.
intersting projects
good work environment
small city... slightly less expenisve than boston.. but generally more expensive than the rest of the US
nice socials to meet and understand other people and their projects...
freedom to work anywhere anytime anyhow...
freedom to choose the kind of work you want to do
ever changing workforce and work tasks... so new people working wiht you on differnt projects every 8 months...
motivated management
in depth research available... soo college like enviornment with a team dedicated to research in a narrow field with loads of research funding and loose time limits

Cons

most people there are smarter than you.. so could develop an inferiority complex....
no housing help in a small city with veyr few(and expensive) appartments
people who cant cope with change will have a tough time adjusting to the ever changing and reorganizing work force(as the case with any big company)

Advice to Senior Management

give the first week as a slow introduction ot the new employees...
let engineers be engineers... not data feeders or updating windchill or SAP pages...

Pros

Very liberal atmosphere. Very much like a college. Very good benefits and family oriented with regards to leave etc.

Cons

Engineers are God. Marketing takes a distance second place. A very geadstrong company in regards to doing things the BOSE way.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen more to employees.

Pros

Bose is a very successful, stable and well-managed company. The cultural values of work/life balance, giving and receiving respect, and striving for innovation are well-entrenched and usually honored. You don't have to work 80 weeks unless you want to. Bose's customers love their products--customer satisfaction and brand ratings are off the charts. As a result, there's a huge amount of pride in working for the company.

Cons

There's a lot of "old guard" management and a lot of "the way we've always done things." Dr. Bose, although he is a great product and marketing innovator, is a terrible organizational leader who is very comfortable pulling the rug out from under project teams when he thinks he knows a better way. The company is extremely conservative financially to the point of being risk-averse. The company strongly values people that keep their heads down, don't rock the boat, and wait patiently to get ahead.

Advice to Senior Management

Be comfortable expressing to the workforce that Dr. Bose is not always right, and that you will go to bat for employees when he's not.

Pros

Bose does a great job of recognizing performance and people who go out of their way. Also, they have very flexible work hours, and will let you take time off for family, school, etc. issues.
The company is split up into multiple divisions, and this type of organization allows for flexible advancement within the company. Also, if a segment of the company has a down year, the other parts of the company can keep the whole company in a positive cash flow.
Being a private company, Bose reinvests profits back into internal projects. I have worked for public companies, and you live and die by the shareholders / contracts.

Cons

Since it is located in New England, the cost of living is high. While this is not anything Bose can do, it is a downside. Also, people tend to be very liberal (politically). I am not :-)

Advice to Senior Management

Value your employees.

Pros

People are nice and the culture has a good family style atmosphere. Headquarters is a nice building with a great view. Their Stow location is great all around building and location. Many employees work there for a long time. Some even work their way up from custodian to design engineer. I know it sounds odd, but I met the guy myself. Many interesting stories on the history of Bose abound. Dr. Bose is nice and personable and even holds talks. If you are an audio engineer you will like Bose.

Cons

Super heavily political; tons of nepotism; favorites; adverse to all change even if it improves profit or efficiency; low pay with little respect; unless you are in engineering development the company does not care about you at all.

Advice to Senior Management

overhaul the company, delegate more authority down the management ladder, kill off nepotism, and treat your employees better.

Pros

The company focuses on quality of work - engineering, marketing, sales, etc. The product is of high quality and is manufactured to high standards. In certain divisions it also focuses intently on innovation which is exciting and allows you to think about things beyond what is being sold and made today.

Cons

The corporate culture is very stuffy and formal. The infrastructure is very outdated - meeting rooms without projectors built-in, a terrible intranet and no easy way to find information, not a focus on today's programming/software technology. It's very old school and stuck in old ways.

Advice to Senior Management

Open your eyes to new technologies. Spend the money to hire talented young software engineers. Provide better and more growth opportunities. Cross train. Do away with the "Not Invented Here" syndrome.

Pros

Bose has a great group of people, especially the research and engineering groups. As a whole most of the employees just want to do the right thing for the company and the customers. The products are fantastic, and the ability to participate in providing a great experience for customers both in the store, and with the product at home is great.

Cons

Senior management often provides conflicting direction and leaves it to the worker bee to resolve the conflict. Many of the senior management have been in the company 10+years and have developed domains of control within the company. This often results in awkward situations and creates a distrustful environment.

Advice to Senior Management

Learn how to manage. Talk of professional development is cheap, providing the environment is hard to do. Learn how to coach, how to build teams and how to motivate employees with honest intentions.

Pros

Good brand name. Stable environment. A lot to learn if you are lucky to be in the right group.

Cons

Very conventional company. Compensation is not tailored for early and middle career professionals. Growth opportunities are nil. Forget about promotions, you will be stuck in your position for years, no matter what you do.

Advice to Senior Management

You have to change as per time. Think about compensation package. Think about how to keep early and middle career professionals happy. I think Dr. Bose's leadership is good but the problem is it hasn't tricked down.