Microsoft after Ballmer: Can this company be saved?

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Ginge es nach Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, so hätte er Steve Ballmer bereits 2008 gefeuert.

Scot Finnie, Computerworld’s editor in chief, recently spelled out Ballmer’s shortcomings. Bottom line: Microsoft lost its vision. Instead of being a leader, it’s been playing catch-up in mobile, tablets and search while losing its way on the desktop with its user-hostile Metro interface.

You don’t have to believe us. Look at the numbers. Microsoft’s board cut Ballmer’s bonus because of an 18% decline in Windows Division operating income and a $900 million inventory charge related to Surface RT.

Die potentiellen Kandidaten für die Nachfolge Ballmers hält Vaughan-Nichols für ungeeignet (auf der Shortlist sind angeblich Nokia-Chef Stephen Elop, Ford-Chef Alan Mullay, Microsoft-COO Kevin Turner und dessen Kollegen Satya Nadella)

The one person the Microsoft board is considering who seems like a reasonable choice is Tony Bates. The former CEO of Skype has shown that he can handle both the tech and management sides of business. But I doubt they’ll pick him. He’s only been with Microsoft since 2011.

But where are the visionaries? How about a leader who can radically transform a business? I don’t see any. Can any of them make a slow company agile enough to compete against nimble players like Amazon, Apple and Google? I don’t see that happening. Instead, I see the 2010s shaping up as the decade of Microsoft’s decline.