AT&T: The Company of Missed Opportunities


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REASONS:

* Mismanagement

* Regulatory (monopoly)

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EXAMPLES:

* Source: Issue of IEEE Transaction on Dielectrics
	dedicated to some S... dude --
	mentions an interesting example

* UNIX

* Laser "irrelevant to ATT business"

* Source: Phone quotes from comp.telecom

* Western Union story (A.G.Bell was told: your invention is useless;
	so he started AT&T)

* Hobbit chip -- missed window of opportunity (also, EO and GO)

* Pixel Machine (killed by AT&T; SGI later filled the niche)

* GPS work

* The Blit terminals and early windowing systems (also, Pike's patent)

* PCs ==> had to pay $$$ for NCR (which doesn't work anyway)
	[WSJ 09/27/96 B6]:
	AT&T has transferred $2.84 billion into NCR's coffers since 1993
	to help cover the computer maker's losses,
	according to an SEC filing made public in connection with
	the spinoff of the unit.

* BL invented Cellular Phones, but the idea was killed
	by a flawed marketing research, which showed
	lack of interest by consumers
	(according to Alex; need to confirm -- I always though
	it was due to the legal restrictions)
	==> had to pay $$$ for McCaw

* Videophone:
	the video compression chip is from another company (not BL
	technology) -- incredible!
	(Ona says that later versions contain ATT chip.)
	Also, the product was marketed badly;
	introduced in 70s (earlier? -- word fair -- see wsj article)

* ImagiNation and Sierra on Line (Kicha's department)

* Computers (NCR failure)

* Nearly-missed oppty: 1984 divestiture [WSJ 09/25/95 A1:5]
	The Feds were persistent with AT&T and made it split;
	IBM wasn't so lucky...

* ATT Europe had to abandon Interchange when big clients
	started defecting to the Web
	[WSJ 11/09/95 A16:1]

* 1-800-COLLECT (note: AT&T *invented* 800 service!)

* From Alex Fung at Bell Labs:

> 	Mike is still working on the internet telephone
> software development, but because AT&T (Bob Allen and
> the department heads as well) lacks vision and decision,
> at least 3 companies including Intel and Lucent have
> already taken the initiative by announcing new products
> and service in the internet telephone business within the
> last 2 months. Mike is very unhappy about his current 
> position because there is nothing he can do to change
> the disadvantages that his brainchild now has to face
> against other similar products. To me, this will always
> be a problem if one sticks to the technical field in
> industry. Did I tell you that Mike finally got married
> in June. I was his best man. 

* 
        AT&T stocks have dropped some more even though the
Dow Jones index has broken records after records. The shareholders
are certainly fed up with Allen, but the same group of board directors
got reelected this year despite protests and they threw their
support 100% behind Allen. I think most of the shareholders just
don't exercise their right to vote and they don't have enough
information about the directors to base their votes on. Most of
the time, these so-called board directors hold executive positions
in other firms. The intermixing of these directors and executives
within the organizations of a number of big firms allows these
people to rip mutual benefits from one another. As for the clothless
emperor, his skin is so thick that he doesn't need clothes.


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IMPRESSIONS:

* WSJ 06/16/95 B3:1
	AT&T "rarely an innovator" (Yankee Group analyst).
	Couldn't get its act together on Internet strategy,
	and ended up...

* WSJ 06/21/95
	...hiring BBN to offer Internet services.
	"AT&T...did not have the nerds to do this..." 
	(Forrester Research analyst)

* WSJ 09/19/95 A1:1
	lead article on page 1 is about how AT&T has failed miserably
	in its computer strategy (NCR etc.)
	In particular, they make fun of the "Our Common Bond"
	(plus imposing foreign corporate culture on the NCR people:
	calling bosses "coaches" and subordinates "associates",
	removing executives' office doors, etc.)

* [ATT-article1] page 30 of the Boston Globe on 01/05/96
	Story on how AT&T abandoned Interchange --
	blunder of the same type (but on a smaller scale)
	as IBM bying Lotus

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RESULT:

R&D operation (Bell Labs) is perceived by the management
to be wasteful and inefficient ==> being closed down.

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OTHER:

* "Corporate Anorexia" -- restructuring, downsizing, cost trimming
	(see WSJ 07/05/95)

* Restructuring is ok,
	but the fact that the very same executives who badly messed up
	(e.g., with NCR etc.) are doing this, is not ok --
	can they really be trusted?
	[along the lines of the WBUR's Connection, 01/09/96,
	spoken by the CEO of PowerSoft, I think]

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NEW RECOMMENDED STRATEGY:

Small spin-offs to develop new markets/technologies.
Lucent should act as an outside venture capitalist with respect to the spin-off.
(Lucent is already doing this  - WSJ/DJN 09/18/96)