Digital Equipment Corporation achieved sales of over $14 billion,
reached the Fortune 50, and was second only to IBM as a computer
manufacturer. Though responsible for the invention of speech
recognition, the minicomputer, and local area networking, DEC ultimately
failed as a business and was sold to Compaq Corporation in 1998. This
fascinating modern Greek tragedy by Ed Schein, a high-level consultant
to DEC for 40 years, shows how DEC's unique corporate culture
contributed both to its early successes and later to an organizational
rigidity that caused its ultimate downfall.