Company: Oracle
Date: 2010-04-03
Overall rating: 2/5
Employment status: current

Top-down management style in some groups, review formats lack balance
Pros: Benefits are comparable with other companies.  HQ on-site amenities are excellent and under construction for improvements with a wide range of healthy foods.  Cafeterias are working toward local produce and environmental balance.  Oracle has plenty of great ideas for going green and other reasons to be proud as a whole.
Cons: My specific experience is yielding my negative review, but I will focus on more general issues also.

Work-life balance, including telecommuting flexibility is available, but whether you get it depends on your specific manager.  Because of the top-down approach and the power of managers, there is wide variation.  Recently it seems there is lessened flexibility with more people being asked to telecommute less and much more pressure overall across multiple groups to push harder and put work above life.  Given the economy it is not surprising that management will take advantage if they can.

Direct from HR, there are really no 360 reviews and no peer reviews.  Definitely there is too much red tape and not enough listening by or communication from management.  I do not feel there is an employee voice.  There is minimal communication from senior management about company direction and there are no regular appropriate-level meetings to both help employees understand their value and their role in company success, or to boost morale - not even quarterly or twice a year.

I am seeing this top-down management approach stifle innovation, cause power struggles and lower morale.  Recent experiences have shown specific management to have expectations that are completely  unrealistic and in these cases management  at multiple levels is very inflexible.