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In-Depth Information
tional structure which couldn't possibly satisfy them: he gave
Edwards, not Laraya, Ramer, or Rea, the main responsibility
for
MCM
's new hardware and software directions. Wallace
appointed Edwards as vice-president of research and develop-
ment, giving him sole responsibility for new product design and
initial development to the prototype stage. Edwards was now
in charge of the
MCM
/
APL
language and, in addition, was ex-
pected to investigate new technologies. Ramer was appointed
the manager of
MCM
's Kingston branch and the adviser to the
president on all technical matters of concern to the company,
possibly to compensate for his loss of control of
APL
's develop-
ment. Laraya, however, kept his vice-president's title but saw his
assigned responsibilities greatly diminished, reduced mostly to
managing the engineering of products turned over by Edwards'
research and development group.
Wallace's reorganization did not help to bring
MCM
any
closer to manufacturing its computer in volume, raising even
more concerns about the future of the company among its em-
ployees. In another document issued by eighteen employees on
24 September, the signatories recommended once more that the
development of the brute force power supply be assigned to an
outside developer and that Laraya be given sole responsibility
for the power supply project. They also wanted Kutt to come
back, claiming that the “current management structure is not
solving the problems. Mers Kutt if reinstated can give the re-
quired leadership.”
However, these recommendations, resolutions, and demands
were never given serious consideration. In his 30 September
memo to employees, Laraya reported on his meeting with Wal-
lace which had taken place four days earlier. “During this con-
versation,” he wrote, “I was directed to tell all the employees
who signed the 'petition' that after 1 October 1974, either him-
self or Mr. Mers Kutt would be sitting in the Managing Direc-
