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Former Microsoft executive says Ballmer culls internal rivals to retain power

uk.reuters.com

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Re: Former Microsoft executive says Ballmer culls internal rivals to retain power

#41

Post by transitionality »

dmk23 wrote: post #5

I am not sure why this is considered news. Guess just because this guy went on the record to state the obvious? Every large company develops internal politics with various degrees of harm to itself and its performance. If the business is led by a non-founder, non-technical, non-performing CEO it is a given that he will always feel like an insecure usurper/impostor more concerned about protecting their job from rivals…

There was a lot of speculation as to the reasons for Sinofsky's departure a few months back. For me, at least, this item provides a likely explanation from someone who was in a position to know.

Re: Former Microsoft executive says Ballmer culls internal rivals to retain power

#42

Post by varjag »

glass- wrote: post #36
chris_wot wrote: post #2

There does seem to be a lot of own goals going on at Microsoft at the moment. But then again, some of the "talent" that has left is still making those own-goals. Stephen Elop went to Nokia, and instead of using the one thing that I believe could have competed in the market - Maemo and then Meego - was dropped in favour of Microsoft's operating system. That's an own goal, if ever I've seen one. So IMO, it's not really…

> instead of using the one thing that I believe could have competed in the market - Maemo and then Meego I owned an N900 and I liked it, because it had a full terminal and could run a Debian desktop on it if I really wanted to, but normal people don't care about any of that. If Nokia had stuck with Maemo and Meego they would be in the same position as they are now, except their "ecosystem" would have less apps, less…

Aren't those checks essentially rebates on licensing of Microsoft products?

Re: Former Microsoft executive says Ballmer culls internal rivals to retain power

#43

Post by chris_wot »

WhaleBiologist wrote: post #40
chris_wot wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... and thus causing massive destabilization in whole economies. No thanks! Think about it. If a corporation employs 1 million employees, and that company fails, then the economy will most definitely take a hit. On top of this, that company would hold far too much power and could use the power of the number of people working for it to force governments into doing things that it wouldn't do for the greater good. It ha…

Banks got retarded amounts of taxpayer money because of "too big to fail"

I appreciate you illustrating my point.

Re: Former Microsoft executive says Ballmer culls internal rivals to retain power

#44

Post by chris_wot »

glass- wrote: post #36
chris_wot wrote: post #2

There does seem to be a lot of own goals going on at Microsoft at the moment. But then again, some of the "talent" that has left is still making those own-goals. Stephen Elop went to Nokia, and instead of using the one thing that I believe could have competed in the market - Maemo and then Meego - was dropped in favour of Microsoft's operating system. That's an own goal, if ever I've seen one. So IMO, it's not really…

> instead of using the one thing that I believe could have competed in the market - Maemo and then Meego I owned an N900 and I liked it, because it had a full terminal and could run a Debian desktop on it if I really wanted to, but normal people don't care about any of that. If Nokia had stuck with Maemo and Meego they would be in the same position as they are now, except their "ecosystem" would have less apps, less…

I don't consider tightly coupling Nokia with Microsoft a particularly wise decision.

Re: Former Microsoft executive says Ballmer culls internal rivals to retain power

#46

Post by nonamegiven »

chris_wot wrote: post #2

There does seem to be a lot of own goals going on at Microsoft at the moment. But then again, some of the "talent" that has left is still making those own-goals. Stephen Elop went to Nokia, and instead of using the one thing that I believe could have competed in the market - Maemo and then Meego - was dropped in favour of Microsoft's operating system. That's an own goal, if ever I've seen one. So IMO, it's not really…

Elop: It's pretty common for a manager who made a splash at X with A to move to Y and impose A.

Re: Former Microsoft executive says Ballmer culls internal rivals to retain power

#47

Post by noarchy »

chris_wot wrote: post #25
rpm4321 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly enough, Larry Page is on record recently talking about the possibility of Google scaling up to a million employees: http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Lar...

... and thus causing massive destabilization in whole economies. No thanks! Think about it. If a corporation employs 1 million employees, and that company fails, then the economy will most definitely take a hit. On top of this, that company would hold far too much power and could use the power of the number of people working for it to force governments into doing things that it wouldn't do for the greater good. It ha…

Wal-Mart has over two million employees. What would you propose to do about this? Given that it didn't get to that point overnight, one might suspect that it grew because of its success, rather than it being any kind of threat (it is a threat to its competitors, to be sure).

Re: Former Microsoft executive says Ballmer culls internal rivals to retain power

#48

Post by peteretep »

panacea wrote: post #18
meaty wrote: post #8

Probably throws chairs at them... To be serious, this is normal in most corporates. It starts when you let the MBA* with the personality disorder in, you're fucked. I've watched three companies fall at the hands of such people. * This is not true of all MBAs, but I seem to see a trend where there are more borderline psychopaths.

What's in a title? Imagine if you could come out of a computer science or design course with "Master of...[domain]" appended to your name. The grandiouse title giving should probably be reigned in.

I'm on my way to being a MASTER OF SCIENCE for my computer degree... Doctor Strange better look out...

Re: Former Microsoft executive says Ballmer culls internal rivals to retain power

#49

Post by arethuza »

WhaleBiologist wrote: post #40
chris_wot wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... and thus causing massive destabilization in whole economies. No thanks! Think about it. If a corporation employs 1 million employees, and that company fails, then the economy will most definitely take a hit. On top of this, that company would hold far too much power and could use the power of the number of people working for it to force governments into doing things that it wouldn't do for the greater good. It ha…

Banks got retarded amounts of taxpayer money because of "too big to fail"

I don't think the banks got bailed out because of the impact of their employees suddenly being out of work, but because of the huge impact of not having a functioning banking sector would have on the wider economy and society in general.

Re: Former Microsoft executive says Ballmer culls internal rivals to retain power

#50

Post by blisterpeanuts »

meaty wrote: post #8

Probably throws chairs at them... To be serious, this is normal in most corporates. It starts when you let the MBA* with the personality disorder in, you're fucked. I've watched three companies fall at the hands of such people. * This is not true of all MBAs, but I seem to see a trend where there are more borderline psychopaths.

MBA programs attract borderline personalities? That's a new one.

In reality, the MBA provides managers with a framework to conduct business in a methodical manner. It gives them a process to use, so that their personalities don't have to be such a large factor.

I've never done an MBA but I know many who have; it's mostly case studies and common sense. If you ONLY have an MBA and no other particular expertise, then yes, you are just another talking head. But if you are an ME or EE or SWE with an MBA then you have a formidable set of skills to draw on.

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