DEC Is Dead, Long Live DEC

twelveThe Turbulent 1980S: Peaking but Weakening

In the previous chapters we have seen how the technology stream and the organizational stream diverged and how the culture served both as a continuing source of growth and as a conservative force to prevent effective learning and adaptation. In the 1980s both of these processes became sharper. Most alumni feel that DEC reached its peak in 1987, but this very growth accentuated the forces described in the previous chapter and made it harder and harder for DEC to develop a coherent strategy that would permit it to deal with the changes in the technology and the market. On the surface DEC was peaking, but underneath, the company was weakening.

Detailed accounts of the main historical events in terms ...