One man that the assembly was particularly keen to hear was Dave House, Intel Corp alumnus, who was appearing for the first time wearing his new hat as Bay Networks Inc chief executive. But they were not quite so enthusiastic after they had heard him, because his message was that he expects earnings to be flat or near flat until the company addresses some outstanding issues. He found that the company lacks management methods because of its roots as an entrepreneurial company, and that it has ineffective marketing. House, grabbed by reporters after he finished speaking, said that Bay will likely make more acquisitions to add to its product line than it has in the past – and there was nothing he wanted to shed: our problem is not one of scaling down, it is one of focus. He told the Montgomery audience that he has spent his first 20 days in office listenting to customers and to employees, and that he is still trying to size up what problems there are at Bay Networks, which has been criticized, and its chief executive replaced, after its earnings slipped in recent quarters or failed to grow, despite the phenomenal growth of the network equipment market. This is a company without a management process. It really lacks basic systems to control its future, and marketing and branding had been insufficient to point up its strong technology he said.
