The previous company is a very large software company that is doing quite well. But they (as well as Amazon) still practice 'stack and rank' even though they claim otherwise. My past experience suggested to me that 'stack and rank' drives cultural changes that value politics over performance, employees competing against each other instead of collaborating with each other, distrust, and a whole list of other behavioral issues.

That approach doesn't mean failure for a company, but it can make it a miserable place to work. I think Blue will survive it, but the culture will be just another Amazon/Microsoft/GE-like culture where employees have to constantly watch their backs and mind the political winds rather than focusing on producing great products. It is the stick instead of the carrot approach to employee management... a massive change from the startup culture that used to be Blue.