sdai Posted February 24, 2008 Share #301 Posted February 24, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) Erwin Puts has just updated his site with comments on recent events. Leica Angst and the departure of Steven Lee (february 23 2008) The Leica company has seen a decade of turbulence and five CEO’s, three of them in the last five years alone: Coenen, Spichtig and Lee. Investors came and went: from Schmidheiny over Hermes to Mr. Kaufmann’s investment firm (ACM Projektentwicklung). ... I have had several very lengthy discussions with Steven Lee about all kinds of topics, and one of the themes that recurred every time was the difficulty of changing the culture of the management and the workforce. Where Steven Lee operates on a time scale of a year, the company prefers to think in a five year period. Lee tried to change that attitude of Angst for new ways of thinking and managing that fit more in an Apple style of company. ... It could imply that the conservative powers within the Leica company will gain prominence, which would bode ill for the company. My gut feel is that Leica is best to be left to its own employees, if I were Dr. Kaufmann, I would have already put an employee buyout plan on the table. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 Hi sdai, Take a look here Steven K.Lee gone. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Guest stnami Posted February 24, 2008 Share #302 Posted February 24, 2008 Leica is best to be left to its own employees and with Lee gone what will become of the beta testers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravastar Posted February 24, 2008 Share #303 Posted February 24, 2008 The Leica company has seen a decade of turbulence and five CEO’s, three of them in the last five years alone: Coenen, Spichtig and Lee. Investors came and went: from Schmidheiny over Hermes to Mr. Kaufmann’s investment firm (ACM Projektentwicklung). ... I have had several very lengthy discussions with Steven Lee about all kinds of topics, and one of the themes that recurred every time was the difficulty of changing the culture of the management and the workforce. Where Steven Lee operates on a time scale of a year, the company prefers to think in a five year period. Lee tried to change that attitude of Angst for new ways of thinking and managing that fit more in an Apple style of company. ... It could imply that the conservative powers within the Leica company will gain prominence, which would bode ill for the company. My first reaction also was to notice the comments that you had quoted from Erwin's discussions with Lee. My gut feel is that Leica is best to be left to its own employees, if I were Dr. Kaufmann, I would have already put an employee buyout plan on the table. You mean the employees would very soon learn that they need to change their 5 year ways if the company is to survive? Bob. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdai Posted February 24, 2008 Share #304 Posted February 24, 2008 and with Lee gone what will become of the beta testers You can start another thread and let people apply ... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdai Posted February 24, 2008 Share #305 Posted February 24, 2008 You mean the employees would very soon learn that they need to change their 5 year ways if they are to survive? I mean ... perhaps there're better places where Dr. Kaufmann could spend his money. Look, this would be a win-win situation, Leica could be managed the way it was, Dr. Kaufmann's new investment could yield better results. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemalk Posted February 24, 2008 Share #306 Posted February 24, 2008 Thank you Mr. lemalk for your very kind words. In reviewing my post, I think I got a bit carried out there and failed to add the necessary caveats. The pictures were fantastic in my regards. My friends and associates are ordinary folks and are no art critics. But for a 72 year old retiree, they were images I like and they like. Am willing to post some of them if I only know how. Is it the Insert Image icon? But my images have no URL. Miguel Miguel - you can upload pictures from your hard drive with the "paperclip" icon. There are a few photo forums here on the site where you can display your work. Best of luck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron Flatline Posted February 24, 2008 Share #307 Posted February 24, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) From Puts' article... Leica is very reluctant, if not afraid to introduce products that have a chance to fail in the market. This attitude may explain Leica’s current almost obsessive attention to internet user groups, trying to find clues about user preferences. LOL. OMG, I hope they don't actually listen to some of the suggestions made on this forum. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemalk Posted February 24, 2008 Share #308 Posted February 24, 2008 From Puts' article... LOL. OMG, I hope they don't actually listen to some of the suggestions made on this forum. EXACTLY what I thought. Next thing you know, they'll start using this "anecdotal" evidence as actual indicators of what a Leica shooter does. "According to our reports, the average Leica user talks about taking pictures and equipment 5.7x more than they actually use their equipment. They are cat lovers with an appreciation for anonymous bum shots of women in urban cities. They also have short tempers." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdai Posted February 24, 2008 Share #309 Posted February 24, 2008 I've no doubt by listening to the forum, it has costed them a bundle ... have they really ordered 100000 units of Digilux 3 from Panasonic? Man, the "Digital Forum" does look creepy ... why do I care about "Panasonic Service" for example? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stnami Posted February 24, 2008 Share #310 Posted February 24, 2008 Man, the "Digital Forum" does look creepy ... who are you to call us creepy, either put up or shut up otherwise we shall invite you to Bullamakenka to have it out. Mick's itching for a scrap and Raelene is always on the lookout for a new male to get his/her claws into....................... by the way please pick me up a nice bottle of Malt whisky at the airport:cool: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted February 24, 2008 Share #311 Posted February 24, 2008 ...have they really ordered 100000 units of Digilux 3 from Panasonic? Simon, that was a joke from me... with all the promotions, lukewarm response from the market, they must regret contracting for as many as they did, thinking it would be a repeat of the Digilux 2. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdai Posted February 24, 2008 Share #312 Posted February 24, 2008 ... by the way please pick me up a nice bottle of Malt whisky at the airport:cool: For once, I was able to follow your post ... do you want to add some chicken pasta too? LOL Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdai Posted February 24, 2008 Share #313 Posted February 24, 2008 Simon, that was a joke from me... with all the promotions, lukewarm response from the market, they must regret contracting for as many as they did, thinking it would be a repeat of the Digilux 2. I suspect that they've sent the new old stock back to Japan, Mark ... it appears that Panasonic is going to re-introduce the L1 in US market. Panasonic | DMC-L1K DIGITAL CAMERA (BLACK) | DMC-L1K | B&H Photo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwelland Posted February 24, 2008 Share #314 Posted February 24, 2008 I'm just sorry that the millions of Euro it will cost to pay-out Lee's termination will be wasted on that, rather than spent on R&D. .... - N I would imagine that given the harsh wording of the termination there may be cause for dismissal which typically wouldn't result in a nice golden parachute ... although reading Puts's view on things (culture clash) maybe Kaufmann is just pretty bad at letting people go with dignity. Whatever the payout I'd doubt we're talking mega buck deals here - it's Leica, not Merrill Lynch after all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhsimmonds Posted February 24, 2008 Share #315 Posted February 24, 2008 " Last post from me with any info regarding Leica ." Guy Manusco I certainly hope it isn't "THE Last Post" in memorium. The next 100 days will be crucial and no amount of speculation will change anything. I do know from personal experience that privately owned German companies are very capable of recovering from trauma and go on to greater things; no less so than when managed by their owner! We all wish him and the employees and managers at Leica well, of that I am sure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pascal_meheut Posted February 24, 2008 Share #316 Posted February 24, 2008 Erwin Puts has just updated his site with comments on recent events. And as usual, Erwin is in the outer space. It starts by saying: Leica has never been known for a drive for innovation Of course. Leica did not invent the 35mm camera, a lot of major innovations in optics, was not one of the first company to offer a multi-automatism/multi-metering mode 24x36 SLR, was not designing AF enlargers, is not the only to offer a digital back to a film SLR... It happened during the history of Leica that they stopped innovation indeed. But "never been know for" is a nonsense. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted February 24, 2008 Share #317 Posted February 24, 2008 LOL. OMG, I hope they don't actually listen to some of the suggestions made on this forum. Right, I'm off to read the article, but before I do I like to say that if ever there was a company that _didn't_ adopt a 'focus group led' development model it would be Leica. Aren't they rather famous for taking the exact opposite view - "here it is, like it or leave it" <grin>? If internet groups were so important to them why did they abandon their own forum? <pause> I've read the article and I guess it can be summarised as "I don't know why Lee has been sacked, but here's what I think...". In other words he's guessing just as we are. One thing he disagrees with is that it happened because he spoke of the hope for a full frame M9 - perhaps Damien and Guy could let us know what evidence they have that Erwin is wrong? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted February 24, 2008 Share #318 Posted February 24, 2008 Am willing to post some of them if I only know how. Is it the Insert Image icon? But my images have no URL. At the top or bottom on every section is a link to how to post images. You don't need a URL, but you do need to keep them within the size constraints of the forum. And, please post them in the "Photo" section of the forum, not here. Thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
huwge Posted February 24, 2008 Share #319 Posted February 24, 2008 Can't help but feel that this is somehow a reflection of the financial markets. Somehow someone thought Leica were manufacturing sub-prime lenses and the CEO had to go. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted February 24, 2008 Share #320 Posted February 24, 2008 I still don't understand how Lee may have decided to replace the M8 shutter by a downsized one and i wonder if this curious idea, to say the least, is not somewhat linked to his dismissal. My bet is the next upgrade will keep the existing shutter instead of replacing it and Leica will find another way to get it quieter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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