Pros
When I joined Cisco, they were able to attract "type A" personalities who were generally bright, self-motivated individuals. There was unspoken but obvious competition to be he most knowledgeable in ones chosen field and the most successful both for and with their customers and partners. Together with the reputation that Cisco had in the industry, and the strong leadership in marketing that allows Cisco to punch way above their products weight, there was always a feeling that anything was possible. The level of employee empowerment and IT systems were incredible, and no excuses were tolerated. Senior leadership team was strong at the time.
Cons
Stock options did not perform and were always intended to be a supplement to the relatively poor basic salary - these did not perform as projected. Compensation was not comparable to those packages available on the San Jose campus. The matrix management scheme was full of inexperienced middle managers, who had little or no people management skills. Technical staff were offered no advancement beyond a certain level of income / staff grading. The only options to earn more money were to become an account manager, despite several senior directors having been home grown from the technical side of the business. New recruits were given higher salaries to start and better grades, which obviously was a bitter pill to swallow for the more experienced and therefore more productive employees.(Cisco is a big company and it takes a couple of years to build the relationships necessary to deliver value) Quality of new entrants to the organisation is somewhat lower now than when I was recruited. Failure was rewarded with promotion, provided you could spin it the right way and kiss the right butts. Nepotism was rife - not the place to work if you are a workaholic - it will bury you.