Boston Scientific Reviews in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN Area

Pros

BSC makes compelling products, and management is pretty forward thinking of late about using the best technology possible. I've had great options for career advancement and feel like I'm part of a solid team.

Cons

It's a very large company - this is both a blessing and a curse. There have been movements to use offshore teams more in the last 4 years.

Advice to Senior Management

Less VPs, more engineers. Follow the Apple model and put your money into engineering better products rather than employing more VPs.

Pros

BSC was a company that seemed to respect it's employees, seemed to be very flexible about accommodating my family's schedule, and had a very friendly atmosphere.

Cons

During my time at BSC, it seemed like there was a lot of miscommunication and/or lack of communication when projects involved more than one department. This would result in a lot of unneeded anxiety, stress, and after-hours work.

Pros

Very competitive benefits, onsite learning opportunities, certain departments hire from within, they take chances on new college graduates, great education reimbursement, some flexible working schedules (depends on what department you are in)

Cons

In less than 3 years of my career there have been multiple layoffs and rumors of future layoffs and outsourcing. Typical corporate atmosphere where their best solution to the political and economic climate is to layoff and/or outsource while senior leadership makes millions in compensation (CEO compensation is a matter of public record. Look it up). There was a major discrepancy in workload for my department, and noticeable favoritism. People who continued to slack off experienced no apparent repercussions while those who worked efficiently were rewarded with more work. Those who carry the workload do so to the point of exhaustion and frustration, with no end in site. The culture is reactive versus proactive. Due to the size of the company, any changes made have to go through so much bureaucratic red tape that by the time the changes comes, nobody can remember the point. Collectively, this all has resulted in a loss of top talent to other companies.

Advice to Senior Management

Gather employee input when making changes to processes. The people "on the ground" have the most knowledge on the actual ins and outs of their department. Leaving the planning of major changes to "corporate" where they have no idea of how their changes actually impact the employees will only serve to further decrease morale.

Get with the times and get creative. Don't be such a typical corporation. Do something different. There are so many other ways to cut costs. Just ask your employees and I'm sure they could give you an earful. Allowing more telecommuting and flexible work schedules would be a good start.

Don't continue to ask the employees to make due with less, while there is no apparent suffering at the top. If we make due with less, than so should our leadership.

Do more to retain talent within the company. Reward those who consistently excel in their role. Don't continue to push along those who continue to be a drain to departments.

Pros

Excellent pay and benefits. If you excel, there are promotions available.

Cons

If you don't excel, promotions are not likely. Like most companires, there is a lot of politics to deal with.

Advice to Senior Management

Fewer reorganizations would help to reduce turnover rate

Pros

Boston Scientific is engaged in bringing innovative medical products to market. They have been a leader in the areas of stent production and heart rhythm devices (defibrillators and pacemakers). This means that the work you do as a member of the company directly improves the lives of individuals. The annual Quality Day event showcases specific patients and their families in a way that brought tears to my eyes every time I saw how the technologies I worked on helped people in very tangible ways.

Cons

Boston Scientific has become increasingly focused on cost reduction through outsourcing key functions (IT, R&D, manufacturing). This has resulted in a series of layoffs over the past 4 years. The result has been devastating to both the people laid off and the people remaining behind as the survivors have seen workloads increase and financial resources shrink.

Advice to Senior Management

Remember the roots of the Guidant culture -- strong customer focus, strong focus on employee satisfaction, strong focus on innovative products. Those are the three legs that built the Guidant workforce that Boston Scientific acquired.

Pros

The people and culture are very enjoyable.

Cons

Things move slowly when trying to get projects done because of regulations.

Advice to Senior Management

Could better organize

Pros

Hardworking people committed to saving lives. Technology generally improves lives. Company focus on assuring full access to its therapies.

Cons

Senior leadership struggles with defining and executing a vision for the company. Company tends to overvalue transactions rather than an appropriate balance between people and transactions.

Advice to Senior Management

Focus the company's resources on creating an adaptable culture to meet the challenges of new and diverse global markets. BSC has an opportunity to lead the development of the next generation of medical device companies, one focused on high net margins providing superior economic value to its customers and their patients.

Pros

1. Great work life balance
2. Great flexiblity
3. Good employee benefits.
4. Great insurance

Cons

1, Ineffective communication from senior management.
2. Biased CIO who favors 1 outsourced vendor due to old connections.

Advice to Senior Management

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate with your employees !!!!

Pros

Family Work balance
Fair Pay
Good people

Cons

Industry downturn
stock instability
Segragated supply chain

Advice to Senior Management

reorganize organization to reduce independant functions and operate an integreated business units.

Pros

An interesting industry, very competitive pay and great people make this an enjoyable place to work. With sites in both east and west metro there is more room for advancement.

Cons

Continually changing priorites coming from HQ made it very difficult to stay energized. We would not be done implementing one major iniative when it would be scrapped and replaced with something else. The revolving door for CEO's doesn't help.

Advice to Senior Management

Make thoughtful, INFORMED desicions. Get enought subject matter experts involved to truly understand the issues and then stick with your initiatives.