Evil Dell

I have never been much of a friend of any computer, particularly laptop that is not an IBM ThinkPad. Then again, what can I say? Iria, my first Thinkie was simply lovely and grateful, and Omi, my current and beloved, has proved to be, time and again, the best computer ever created. I mean, Omi is simply so perfect, so empathic, so understanding, so marvelous, so beautiful and such a hardworking little fellow, I'd say he's my Guardian Angel. Really, Omi has withstood a lot of stuff with me. My friends sprinkling him with cheese, half his RAM dying, a not so-well motherboard, failing battery, not enough hard drive capacity (only 17 Gb) and yet he turns on and helps me, and saves my stuff, and does all he can to work with me, several times until late night, carry on my Internet use, get carried by me across the ocean, into teh winter, and then to the University, works on the Thesis with me... I mean, he's really, really my Guardian Angel. (God knows I'm a lot of trouble, so He decided to take care of me personally. Since my Guardian Angel was left unemployed, God made him into Omi.)

Now, aside from all the trouble I am, I do love and care deeply for Omi, and thought I know I should send him to the laptop-hospital, I can't be left without a laptop, so Omi has been staying at my side until I find an assistant for him. Good news is that I may have found him in an Acer Aspire, a small thingie that doesn't have a CD unit, which I'll be forced to buy separately (if I make up my mind, that's it), and whose name has not been decided yet. Anyway, I'm giving Acer a chance because it's cheap and Mario says it's a good brand. Can't remember ever working on an Acer, but I have worked on HP and I dislike it, worked on Compac and hated it, worked with Lanix and it was a nightmare and worked with Toshiba and developed muscles carrying that brick.

There was a brand I have not given much though and which Mario tried to sell me for a time now. That brand is Dell. Cheap and good, but you pretty much have to order it online and the whole thing. I really don't like soemthing I can't test first. I want to touch my comp becore buying it, checking it, see how heave it is, check if I can easily fit it in a bag, check the peripherals... you know, inspect the merchandise. So, I wasn't much excited about Dell, and actually giving a better consideration to Mac, which is too big and too expensive for my taste... not to mention that it's so different from my Thinkies. Then news pop up. Dell discriminates women. The pay women less than men for the same job, and pass them by when it comes to promote them. They have no women on the top levels. They discriminate also the elderly, laying them off, and so cutting their change to retire. Dell is a Dude company, that does things for Dudes. I read the news horrified, to say the least. But let me paste you a small extract from Forbes' article "Dell's Problems Start With Top Dude", written by Joan Lappin:

"At the end of the two-day affair, Michael Dell called all the presenters (the new top managers) to the dais. At that moment, it hit me. Of the 12 or 14 executives arrayed on the platform, there was not a single woman.

I raised my hand and observed that a few years ago, Dell ran terrific ads featuring the motto: "Dude, you're getting a Dell!" I suggested that any shareholder who chose to buy the stock would be doing the opposite. "It looks to me as if someone buys Dell, they are getting a dude."

Since the new team had spent some time discussing their future plans to go after the small business market, I also pointed out that more than half of all small businesses are started by women. It would seem logical, but maybe not Texas logical, that if you are hoping to attract women as customers you might want some input from females in management roles.

Earlier this week, I was called by a reporter from The Wall Street Journal who was in the room when I asked my question. He remembered it quite clearly, but when he reviewed the transcript of the Q&A on the Dell Web site, my exchange with Michael Dell had clearly been deleted.

At the time, Michael responded that they had told the head hunters to find the very best candidates for each position they were trying to fill. Alas, none of the women he interviewed quite passed muster. He tried to explain that they had women at the next level down, but they weren't there in the room. He also couldn't remember any of their names so he turned the microphone over to the head of human resources who he hoped might have a better memory and bail him out. Then Michael remembered that there are two women on the Dell board of directors, so he mentioned that.

"Out of how many?" I asked. "Fourteen," he said. I volunteered that was a "good start" but not much more than that."

...

"With only men at the top of Dell and two female board members who are not known as outspoken advocates for women in the workplace, the situation at Dell is not a good one for women. After the April meeting in which I put Dell on the defensive, three or four women came up to me and thanked me for speaking out on their behalf. They said I was right on the money. But recent events show that by deleting my questions from the transcript, Dell did nothing to erase the problem.

The Journal reporter, Justin Scheck, called me because a group of women have now sued the company for discriminatory practices. Their complaints are the standard ones we read about all the time. They were passed over for promotions by younger men with less experience and fewer qualifications. That seems to emanate right from the top of the company. I have every reason to believe their complaints are justified, but that will be decided in court. I have spoken with vendors who do business there, and they comment often about how they don't see any women in their meetings. And there are always the jokes about the Dell dudes."

However, this is not coming only from one paper, as PC World also has an article about the matter under "Dell Hit With Discrimination Class-Action Lawsuit". According to it, there's a sizable gap between what Dell preeches on its site and what really goes on in the company. I paste an extract from the aricle as follows:

"Former senior HR manager Bethany Riches, one of the plaintiffs, was told in an e-mail by Dell Vice President Michael Summers that she shouldn't assume she's personally responsible if she had problems "breaking into arguably one of the toughest old boy networks," according to a press release about the lawsuit. Riches and other female HR managers were repeatedly denied promotions promised to them, the lawsuit alleges.

Another former senior HR manager, Mildred Chapman, was repeatedly denied promotions or pay increases although her responsibilities equaled or exceeded those of younger male directors, the lawsuit alleges. Chapman was laid off from Dell in April."

Sorry, fellas, but this is a client you will never gonna get. If this company can't respect my gender I can't respect them and I certainly will not support them. Sure, we have to wait until the court rules this case, but meanwhile, lets check the site, shall we? So I go into www.dell.com, and surf my way into the Executive Team. This is today:

Michael S. Dell
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

Brad R. Anderson Senior Vice President, Business Product Group

Paul D. Bell Senior Vice President and President, Americas

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Michael R. Cannon President, Global Operations

Jeffrey W. Clarke Senior Vice President, Business Product Group

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Andrew Esparza Senior Vice President, Human Resources

Stephen J. Felice Senior Vice President and President, Asia-Pacific/Japan

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Ronald G. Garriques President, Global Consumer Group

Brian T. Gladden Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

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Mark Jarvis Chief Marketing Officer

David A. Marmonti Senior Vice President and President, Europe, Middle East and Africa

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Timothy W. Mattox Vice President, Strategy

Stephen F. Schuckenbrock Senior Vice President and President, Global Services, and Chief Information Officer

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Lawrence P. Tu Senior Vice President, General Counsel

Okay, so far it looks like men-only. Let's check the next level: Board of Directors.

William H. Gray, III Governance and Nominating; Leadership Development and Compensation Sallie L. Krawcheck Finance; Governance and Nominating Alan G. Lafley Finance, Leadership Development and Compensation (Chair) Judy C. Lewent Audit, Finance (Chair) Thomas W. Luce III Audit Klaus S. Luft Audit Alex J. Mandl Audit (Chair), Governance and Nominating Mike A. Miles Governance and Nominating (Chair), Leadership Development and Compensation Samuel A. Nunn, Jr. Presiding Director, Finance, Leadership Development and Compensation Donald J. Carty Non-Independent Director1 Michael S. Dell Non-Independent Director1

Well, that was right, only two women, and not the best ones, according to Ms. Lappin. Oh, and you weren't counting, but I did. One black man, one Asian and one "might be" Hispanic. Odds are certainly not right. So, you talk about minorities, and you talk about women being discriminated, and I look at this and I'd say, there's a chance of that, and if there's a chance of that, then, for caution, I better don't go into buying their things. Sorry, not me, but feel free to keep the "dudes". Oh, and dudes, if you get a Dell, hide it before you take a date home, or she may pick her things up, smack you in the face with them and leave you for that neightbour you have you always thought to be gay/pothead/nerd/loser.

Please, if you are a woman, pass this message along, because I don't know you, but I don't want to give my money to a company that will not give a chance to me or my sisters.