Pros

Name recognition
Good benefits - besides salary, the benefits package is very good including severence
Insight to new technology and products
Great people (in general)

Cons

Terrible middle management - way too many managers who are just clueless
Too political - expected at big companies such as Cisco
No chance for career advancement - due to combination of terrible management and useless performance review
Unfair and awful performance evaluation - what you get 100% depends on your manager, it has nothing to do with how well you performed.
Zero innovation
Zero respect for engineers - even though technology is what drives this company, management typically has no respect for technical folks. Engineers are treated like warm bodies under managers who have no clue about what they do.
Terrible place for superb talents - superb talents doing superb work are almost never recongized unless he/she kiss a**. Your manager generally takes all the credit for the work.

Advice to Senior Management

Recognize the good people and get rid of the dead wood. Infuse capable middle management and make this place a fun environment to work again.