Pros
BASES, Nielsen Online divisions seem to choose and cultivate talent better than other divisions. If you are not part of one of these organizations (and to a lesser degree, Nielsen Media), you can very easily get lost in the crowd.
Cons
Highly inconsistent from company to company. There has been a big push for integration, which as far as I could see, continues to fail. As mentioned in the pros above, some divisions carefully grow talent to poise them for Sr. Mgmt positions. The rest of the company seemed to be run like those old "choose your own adventure" books. It was not uncommon to write my own performance review, and forget about training! Training opportunities are not encouraged or discussed. Everyone is focused on the client, which in itself is not a bad thing, but internal care is needed as well. As far as irresponsible, it's no secret that there have been layoffs across the board (not just IT, but client-facing positions as well). Some very incompetent people are still at work, while top performers have been let go. I do not feel that the GE 70-20-10 model has been followed at all. Layoffs have been a headcount / numbers game, and NOT a talent management endeavor in the least.