Pros

ABB is a Large Company with good benefits. There are many opportunities in other parts of the company if you don't like where you are presently. A large company also rides the vissisitudes of the market easier than a small company. Perhaps the best reason is the benefits. The company does more than it has to in some areas. 401k is average. Vacation is wonderful as is the severence package if you're unlucky enough to use it. They also have good tuition reimbursement and adoption benefits. If you woud rather loaf than work, ABB is the place for you. It's easy to hide in a nook or cranny of the corporate structure if you want.

Cons

Large Company with much politics. Trying to get anything done quickly is impossible. As a marketing manager, it was very difficult working with marketing communications (the people who are responsible for corporate image and rule of how documents and other media should look.) They always shot down our ideas because they didn't fit with the European mentality, even though they fit perfectly with a US customer. ABB is a European company which means most discisions are by committee and consensous instead of a dictator style. Trying to get consensous on everything is impossible or you end up with something that no one likes. The Web site was terrible when I was there but it's improved a bit since then.

Advice to Senior Management

Learn how to integrate the ABB portion of the company with the Bailey Controls part of the company better. Job swap programs between Sweden or Switzerland (or Germany) and the US would be helpful. It seems that the Bailey controls sub-group is still thinking like Bailey controls while the European ABB group is pushing things down the necks of the US group without thinking about ramifications.