Corporate Philosophies

HONESTY

We want to be not only technically honest, but also to make sure that the implication of what we say and the impressions we leave are correct. When we make a commitment to customers or to employees, we feel the obligation to see that it happens.

PROFIT

We are a public Corporation. Stockholders invested in our Corporation for profit. Success is measured by profit. With success comes the opportunity to grow, the ability to hire good people and the satisfaction that comes with meeting your goals. We feel that profit is in no way inconsistent with social goals.

QUALITY

Growth is not our primary goal. Our goal is to be a quality organization and do a quality job which means that we will be proud of our product and our work for years to come. As we achieve quality, growth comes as a result.

The product we are selling includes the engineering, the software, the manufacturing, and the services, which include field service, software support, sales, order processing, training and manuals.

RESPONSIBILITY

Plans are proposed by individuals or teams. These plans may be rejected until they fit Corporate goals or until the Strategy Committee feels confidence in the plans. But when they are accepted, they are the responsibility of those who proposed them.

The impetus for the plan may come from outside the group making the proposal, but when it is accepted, the implementation of the plan is the responsibility of the one who proposed it. Others who need to participate in plan implementation are expected to support approved plans.

MANAGEMENT

We particularly want to be sure that management jobs are clear and well defined. Because so many people are dependent on the plans of managers, it is very important that their plans have regular automatic measurements built into them. Meeting financial results is only one measure of a plan; other measures are satisfied customers, development of people, meeting long range needs of the corporation, development of new products, opening new markets, and meeting the commitments made to others in the company. We believe that our commitment to planning assures our freedom to act.

SOCIETY

We are committed as a corporation to taking affirmative action in providing equal opportunity for employment and promotion for all persons regardless of race, color, creed, age or sex. We encourage all employees to take responsibility in community, social and government activities. We are always open for proposals as to what the Corporation or an individual on Corporation time may want to do in these areas. However, activities to be done on company time or with company funds should have a formal proposal including ways of regularly measuring success toward goals

ENVIRONMENT

As good citizens, we believe we have a responsibility to keep our environment free of pollution and to set an example.

CUSTOMERS

We must be honest and straightforward with our customers and be sure that they are not only told the facts, but that they also understand the facts.

To the best of our knowledge and ability, we want to be sure that the products we sell solve the needs of the customer even when the customer is inexperienced. We want our products and services to meet the customers’ expectations, and to do this we must clarify in advance all of those expectations in a way that the customer will understand. When we sell a product to a customer, we want to be sure the Corporation fulfills the obligations we took on with the sale. We sell our corporation, its products and its services, not a single individual. We must be sure all Digital commitments are met.

SUPPLIERS

We wish to be viewed by suppliers as a desirable customer. Business transactions with suppliers will be conducted on an honest, fair and open basis. Suppliers and potential suppliers will be treated courteously and given an. opportunity to present their goods and services for consideration. Competition is encouraged. Our business ethics require that our employees not accept from suppliers any gifts, gratuities, or entertainment that exceed common courtesy or are of nominal value.

COMPETITORS

We never criticize the competition publicly. We sell by presenting the positive features of our own products. We want to be respectful of our own products. We want to be respectful to all competition, and collect and analyze all public information about competitors. When we hire people from competitors, we should never ask them for confidential, competitive information, nor should we use confidential literature they may have taken with them.

SIMPLICITY AND CLARITY

We want all aspects of Digital to be clear and simple and we want simple products, proposals, organization, literature that is easy to read and understand, and advertisements that have a simple, obvious message. We have thousands of employees and many thousands of customers. We have to keep things simple to be sure that we all work together. Our decisions must always consider the impact on the people who will be affected by them.

STANDARD PRODUCTS

Standard products are the base of our business. At times, in certain areas, we will invest in software and hardware specifically for special markets. But we should never lose sight that the base of our business is our standard products.

OEMs

Selling to OEMs is very important to us. There are more applications for our products than we could ever develop. When OEMs take risks and are very successful in a market, we should respect the risk they took.

However, we may compete with OEMs in very large markets or where the OEM covers only a small segment of the market. When we decide to enter a market, we make this decision independently on the basis of the facts.

Thereafter, we look to see if we have an OEM who focuses on that market, so that we can openly communicate our future plans to that OEM. If we do compete with an OEM, we do it openly and fairly. Conversely, we will respect the right of our OEM to compete with us. When OEMs are in trouble with their customers, we tell them so they can improve.

PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT

We encourage people to develop technical skills, breadth of knowledge, and expertise in a specific area. We also encourage people to develop supervisory and management skills. We believe that individual discipline should be self-generated.

PROMOTION

We promote people according to their performance, not only their technical ability but also their ability to get the job done and to take the responsibility that goes with the job. Ability is measured not only by past results, but also by attitude and desire to succeed. Performance results are also used to decide whether individuals should remain in their current jobs.

HIRING FROM CUSTOMERS

We should be exceedingly careful when hiring employees from customers. Sometimes this is reasonable and desirable; but we should do it with all caution and by being sure that the employee first tells the customer.

FIRST RULE

When dealing with a customer, a supplier, or an employee, do what is "right" to do in each situation.

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