Pros
The people. The values instilled by the founder.
Cons
Under the guidance of the founder, Dr. Bose, the company grew to be a household name and one of the most respected brands in the world. When he passed some time ago, there was sure to be some floundering and infighting as the company evaluated its own identity and how to move forward. But instead of coming out of that turmoil, it has never recovered. What today's leaders are reticent to admit is that Dr. Bose's leadership was what made the company successful—and now, rather than look to learn from his legacy, they have cast aside his wisdom in favor of something entirely different. Actions that Dr. Bose would have found abhorrent and immediately put a stop to are now commonplace. Executives pay lip service to the values instilled over 60+ years, then go about the business of instituting layoff after layoff after layoff, callously casting aside dedicated, talented individuals who helped bring the company to this point, then reconfiguring the business to appeal to buzzword-y marketing trends (NFTs? Really?) and worse, products that aren't worthy of bearing the Bose name. And herein lies the rub—the products themselves. The Bose of old was best when they were technological renegades, pushing boundaries of what was thought to be possible, working for years in the lab to create something that when it was ready, could take the world by storm. The Wave Radio did that. The QuietComfort line did that. But that was 20 years ago. Now, products are designed merely to dovetail off the trail blazed by others, are stripped of features that would otherwise make them competitive, and worst of all, lack the audio performance and ingenuity that once made Bose famous. It's sad, really. The end result of all this is an inevitable decline. The company's employee base has dwindled. Those who are left are harried and underpaid, and those still there who remember the energy and leadership of Dr. Bose are surrounded by well-intentioned-but-clueless college graduates who aren't even aware that the name on the outside of the buildings once belonged to a person. Executives point fingers at outside factors to justify the lack of success, plug their ears to the voices of employees sounding the alarm, and then globetrot to far-flung foreign offices in the name of "visibility". The hubris and lack of accountability is truly astonishing. And it's what will ultimately be the company's demise.
