Imation reviews

Horrible management, total dysfunction, incredibly frustrating. Unclear expectations, bonus goals drove annual plans, and created unrealistic expectations for employees. No communication within departments. No support system. Lots of negativity. Promotions of people who were not qualified. No training. No support. Lots of hires and layoffs.

The company grew on a strong portfolio of recordable media (CDs, DVDs, magnetic tape, etc). Today, that business is rapidly declining. They are trying to mitigate their losses and please shareholders by moving into consumer electronics. Over the past few years Imation has acquired several brands with an eye toward becoming a brand management company in the CE space. The problem is that with few exceptions no one in the organization has any idea how to run a CE company. This is prevalent throughout as sales, product development, and logistics have struggled mightily to transition to the breakneck speed of CE from the media which moves much more slowly. They have hired a lot of marketing staff to effect change, but with the other departments being ill-equipped that has had no effect. The net result is that there is a lot of planning taking place, but none of it is resulting in improved sales as the company continues to lose shelf space and market share in CE. There are frequent organizational changes at the executive level which is creating turmoil. One day the executive in charge will hire an upper level manager to run a division of the company. That manager in turn restructures his area of responsibility and performs layoffs within the department. Three months later that executive will no longer be in charge, and the process will repeat itself. The discretion with which changes are made also leaves a lot to be desired. The company posts job openings for positions that are currently occupied, and/or "eliminates" a position only to post that same position on the company site and other hiring sites. Many of the employees are just waiting for their name to come up on the next list of "eliminated" positions.