08-29-2013, 11:01 AM
There was a bump when Ballmer announced he was stepping down, I'm thinking that if a strong successor is announced, there'll be another bump.
I don't think Ballmer was the worst CEO, but Microsoft's stock has been stagnant for the last 13 years and their market cap is almost half of what it was when he came on. He missed the boat on a litany of new market opportunities. What's worse is that Microsoft was actually first in some of those segments. Microsoft was making smartphones long before Google or Apple, yet it took Microsoft 3 years to respond to the iPhone. Hotmail and MSN search were out long before Google came on the scene.
Ballmer's failing is that he lacks strategic vision. He has failed to see the future, and he has failed to respond adequately when competitors began capitalizing on new opportunities.
The worst thing he did IMO is implement the stack ranking performance eval system for employees. Now, instead of employees focusing on beating the competition, they're focused on beating their coworkers. It's resulted in people spending way too much energy on politics and turf wars and not on delivering great product. Microsoft used to be one of those places people dreamed of working at, now the smartest people are going to the competition.
Microsoft's new CEO's first order of business should be to get rid of that stupid system. Beyond that he/she will need to get MS on the road to taking advantage of new fronts in computing, not showing up to the party so late that their offering is irrelevant. Cloud services are a place that MS should be the market leader and maybe if they play their cards right they can claw back some ground on mobile.
I don't think Ballmer was the worst CEO, but Microsoft's stock has been stagnant for the last 13 years and their market cap is almost half of what it was when he came on. He missed the boat on a litany of new market opportunities. What's worse is that Microsoft was actually first in some of those segments. Microsoft was making smartphones long before Google or Apple, yet it took Microsoft 3 years to respond to the iPhone. Hotmail and MSN search were out long before Google came on the scene.
Ballmer's failing is that he lacks strategic vision. He has failed to see the future, and he has failed to respond adequately when competitors began capitalizing on new opportunities.
The worst thing he did IMO is implement the stack ranking performance eval system for employees. Now, instead of employees focusing on beating the competition, they're focused on beating their coworkers. It's resulted in people spending way too much energy on politics and turf wars and not on delivering great product. Microsoft used to be one of those places people dreamed of working at, now the smartest people are going to the competition.
Microsoft's new CEO's first order of business should be to get rid of that stupid system. Beyond that he/she will need to get MS on the road to taking advantage of new fronts in computing, not showing up to the party so late that their offering is irrelevant. Cloud services are a place that MS should be the market leader and maybe if they play their cards right they can claw back some ground on mobile.
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Past: 2018 Honda Civic Type-R, 2015 Yamaha R1, 2009 BMW M3, 2013 Aprilia RSV4R, 2006 Honda Ridgeline, 2006 Porsche Cayman S, 2012 Ducati 1199, 2009 Subaru WRX, 2008 CBR1000RR, 2009 Kawasaki ZX-6R, 2000 Toyota Tundra, 2005 Honda CBR600RR, 1996 Acura Integra GS-R, 1996 Acura Integra GS-R, 1997 Honda Civic EX
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Past: 2018 Honda Civic Type-R, 2015 Yamaha R1, 2009 BMW M3, 2013 Aprilia RSV4R, 2006 Honda Ridgeline, 2006 Porsche Cayman S, 2012 Ducati 1199, 2009 Subaru WRX, 2008 CBR1000RR, 2009 Kawasaki ZX-6R, 2000 Toyota Tundra, 2005 Honda CBR600RR, 1996 Acura Integra GS-R, 1996 Acura Integra GS-R, 1997 Honda Civic EX
http://www.aclr8.com