Material Sciences – “Good people and lots of knowledge but poor decisions by upper management.”

Pros

Good balance of talent in the low and middle ranks, pleasant work environment. Management willing to spend money in growing areas. Excellent middle management with good project vision who are unfortunately held back by superiors. Good professional development opportunities in some departments with encouragement to seek more education and build skills.

Cons

High stress short term assignments, lack of long term vision. Too much micromanaging in some key departments. Lack of good cross training in others leading to single skill employees and missuses of resources. Some department require a lot of travel with facilities and customers all over the globe which can be rather stressful.

Advice to Senior Management

Develop a long term plan for the company