Editing Oracle Corporation (section)

===Sales practices===
In 1990, Oracle laid off 10% (about 400 people) of its work force because of accounting errors.<ref name="zdnet200620" /> This crisis came about because of Oracle's "up-front" marketing strategy, in which sales people urged potential customers to buy the largest possible amount of software all at once. The sales people then booked the value of future license sales in the current quarter, thereby increasing their bonuses.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Abelson |first=Ree |date=June 23, 1996 |title=Truth or Consequences? Hardly |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/23/business/truth-or-consequences-hardly.html}}</ref> This became a problem when the future sales subsequently failed to materialize. Oracle eventually had to restate its earnings twice, and also settled (out of court) [[class action|class-action]] lawsuits arising from its having overstated its earnings. Ellison stated in 1992 that Oracle had made "an incredible business mistake".<ref name="zdnet200620">[http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,39048963,00.htm Oracle cuts rewards for last-minute deals ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219065933/http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,39048963,00.htm |date=December 19, 2008 }} Gilbert, Alorie (June 20, 2002). ''CNET News.com'' via zdnetasia.com</ref>