Michael Dell, founder, CEO, and chairman of
Dell Computer, reflected with satisfaction on
the company’s first decade of achievement. By
1994, the company had topped $3.3 billion in sales
and its desktop computers had a significant share
of installations in large U.S. corporations. With
nearly 30 percent of its sales in 1994 derived from
overseas business, Dell had broadened its international
reach. However, with a close call in calendar
year 1993 when it had only $20 million in cash to
support its operations, Michael Dell concluded:
“The only constant thing about our business is that
everything is changing. We have to take advantage
of change and not let it take advantage of us. We
have to be ahead of the game.” Dell had recently
added many luminaries to its board, the CEO of
Westinghouse and CFO of AMR Corporation.
Almost its entire top management team was new;
and at the very top Michael Dell had hired, as vice
chairman, Morton Topfer—the seasoned and experienced
general manager of Motorola’s Two-Way
Radio sector and Paging Group.