Avantages
There are a lot of bright, dedicated, and hard working people who are very committed to their customers. The local management recognized and rewarded top performers. The local management seemed very supportive of internal moves to provide people with challenging growth opportunities. In general, the local management was very supportive of achieving a good work/life balance (see downsides).
Inconvénients
Long-term vision, planning, process improvement were always talked about, seldom, if ever, executed. This seemed primarily due to a lack of adequate resources and support from upper management -- and an abundance of work. While the local management was very supportive of allowing people to pursue a healthy work/life balance, the amount of work needing to get done, combined with the number of people doing it (and their experience levels), made it virtually impossible for most people to achieve.