Pros
SAS is famous for the perks it offers employee--its main claim to fame. Its software is (and becoming less so) indispensable to corporations worldwide. Rather than taking all of the profits, Goodnight has invested large sums of money back into the company which is why it has $3.1 Billion in sales in 2013. Until 2001/2002, new ideas were embraced. This is a company that has an enormous talent pool. Overall good for employees and not so good if you are a customer sustaining the cash flows into the company.
Cons
The rivers of cash and enormous talent pool are not that well harnessed in today's competitive environment. Goodnight has no shareholders or board of directors to help guide the company. His decision making style is opaque, leaving many to divine his intent. Executive management are mainly long-tenured employees whose outside perspective has dimmed over time. Only one corporate officer from a Fortune 500 company has held a position in the company and that was less than 2 years. Read as this is a very insular company. Customers are to be milked and alliance partners are to be used as stop-gaps until R&D can build a competing product.