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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Azgulor" data-source="post: 5753851" data-attributes="member: 14291">As Jeff Grubb is speaking as someone who lived in the trenches, this is probably the most concise view behind the veil I've seen.  It's also a pretty succint summary of how some corporations are managed.  Note that I said some, not all.I wouldn't expect Mr. Grubb to comment on the approach much, certainly not with a lot of specifcs, as I believe he's still doing work in the industry.  He touches on it with the view of stakeholder vs. stockholder.  However, the fact that has become a morbid tradition, at a minimum, shows that WotC has not made such a transition to a stakeholder-centric view.The stakeholder - stockholder view doesn't have to be at odds with each other, btw.  And this means that outfits like Paizo are not necessarily doomed to a similar cycle/fate.  Take the current tech darling, Apple.Pre-iPhone & iPad, Apple's big play was the MAC.  Despite having much smaller market share vs. the PC-market, Apple was profitable.  They were not only content with their 20-some % market share, they resisted changes to their business model.  Why?  Because that model was much more profitable than the PC suppliers duking it out with each other.  Where Dell, Acer, HP, Gateway, etc. saw prices being driven down repeatedly, Apple continued to do its thing.  Even today, how often do you see deep discount sales in Apple Stores? (Not very often.)By all accounts, the RPG industry is a tough business.  However, the fact that the giant of the RPG industry hasn't found a business model that puts the Christmas Layoff Tradition in its grave is, IMO, a cause for stakeholder concern.  This mentality has either become so ingrained in the culture that no one is looking at alternatives or D&D's model only works well during the edition launch window.DDI, as a net new revenue stream, and as ferociously argued at EN World a profitable one, should have altered the Edition-Launch model.  Perhaps it has, and the number of layoffs is fewer than in pre-DDI years.  It hasn't eliminated it, however.My money, however, is that its cultural.  I've seen companies that couldn't get out of their own way.  They stick to the one true way b/c that's how it's always been done.  Sometimes they're risk-averse.  Change is hard.However, at some point, the culture turns toxic.  This is especially true in the Internet culture of forums, social websites, online research, etc.  Some employees will stay for as long as possible (change is hard, remember?), others are in roles that are "safer", some are driving the bus, & the overall economy factors in as well.  But unless something changes, I think we're going to see (or are already seeing) a decline where the industry "dream job" isn't working for WotC anymore.  At best, it'll be a resume builder for industry cred.Companies can & do change.  However, they are vastly outnumbered by those that are unable, or unwilling to do so.  It'll be interesting to see how WotC comes through it.</blockquote>

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