The world, it feels, has been calling for this moment years running. Steve Ballmer has announced he will be stepping down from CEO position at Microsoft within the next twelve (12) months. This transition, appointing a successor and so forth, will occur within this window.
Not saying, "next six months or, if necessary, the six thereafter" is a shame…
… because then it would be… transition… windows.
In a letter to all employees, Steve Ballmer implied his resignation was planned for the middle of his reorganization strategy. He also made a statement for the official press release:
We have embarked on a new strategy with a new organization and we have an amazing Senior Leadership Team. My original thoughts on timing would have had my retirement happen in the middle of our company’s transformation to a devices and services company. We need a CEO who will be here longer term for this new direction.
This should be demonstrably false, apart from some grandiose fluke, if his successor is any of the newly appointed division leads. It would not make sense to be placed at the head of a division, intentionally, for such a short time before becoming the new CEO; it would be too damaging to bungee-boss a whole division unless it was an unplanned decision. The other possibility would be placing candidates as division heads to groom them into lead-executive material; this, too, does not make sense as it would be a very abrupt, short, and disruptive grooming.
Then again, I am only running off logic, not business experience. Maybe I am wrong?
Speaking of selection, Bill Gates confirmed that he would be on the "succession planning committee". Other members include: John Thompson, committee chair; Steve Luczo, chairman of compensation sub-committee; Chuck Noski, chairman of audit sub-committee; and Heidrick & Struggles International Inc, a recruiting firm for executives… trust them, Struggles is their middle name. They are not only considering promotions for existing staff but also candidates from outside the company.
There will be a lot of cheering, especially in the comments, about this event… but not for me. Replacing Ballmer could be a good or a bad move for Microsoft; it could also be a good or a bad move for us, as PC users. Microsoft could become more focused on certification, even more than it currently threatens; they could also be more hostile to the open-source community.
On the other hand, they could be more open to those issues.
Cheers?
developers…
developers…
Let’s hope thenextguythat
Let’s hope thenextguythat replaces him has somecommon sense and listens to his customer feedback.
Win8 is still a piece of sh!t and with some tweaks could be so much better.
hope Bill G votes himself
hope Bill G votes himself back in 🙂
I vote for Woz
I vote for Woz
now that would be awesome
now that would be awesome haha
Bwa Ha Ha Ha! google “monkey
Bwa Ha Ha Ha! google “monkey boy retirement” see how many hits! RETIREMENT RETIREMENT RETIREMENT RETIREMENT RETIREMENT RETIREMENT RETIREMENT RETIREMENT…! Oh the sun, I can see the sun, away you awful Tiles, no more to blot out the sun! So long MB, be sure to take the ribbon lady with you when you go! TIFKAM is the BALLMER scam, it must go, along with anyone that help contrive the METRO interface, clean house!
ummmm.. ballmer didn’t have
ummmm.. ballmer didn’t have anything to do with metro, that was mini steve jobs steven howeveryouspellhislasname.
you know, in real companies…they have departments… with their own structure. the CEO just doesn’t wildly shout commands to everyone, hes easy to blame for everything, but its short sighted at best.
… back to your “monkey boy business”
PS, i’d sure like to have this guys failed career..and the retirement package. If anyone can laugh… its him.
He’s Monkey boy, he’s Monkey
He’s Monkey boy, he’s Monkey boy, and windows 8 is his kiddy Toy! He Jumps around on the stage you see, and does his monkey dance with glee, but dancing will not sale windows 8, so out the door is this monkeys fate!!!
that’s poetry
that’s poetry
doesn’t make it true….
doesn’t make it true….
It does not make business
It does not make business sense to put people in charge of a business group and then yank them out in the middle of the transition to promote them. If the heads of the group were really competing, there would need to be at least a full year of results AFTER the reorg dust has settled.
No, it looks like the board will probably go outside the company for the new CEO. But I got a big laugh when some bobble-head on CNBC mentioned Jony Ive as a possible replacement. If you want to get totally insane, how about Leo Apotheker of HP infamy.
That’s exactly what I was
That's exactly what I was thinking… but not even to the extent of having them compete. If Ballmer knew he was resigning soon, it makes no sense to promote someone to a division head (especially during a reorg) if they were even considered for your job.
An external hire sounds likely… but I am not entirely sure. If I was more within the Microsoft sphere I would look for odd cases where executives came up short of a division head or similar position.
As for Jony Ive? Apple's RDF has lasting side-effects, I guess.
Ballmer announced he would
Ballmer announced he would now be trying his hand at acting saying that he was the frontrunner to play Uncle Fester in the upcoming “Addams Family” movie.p)
in reality these events are
in reality these events are usually well timed, but for companies like microsoft they need to keep them a bit more close to the vest.
my company was 2 years in choosing the last one- and used that time to place the candidates head to head in competition.
12 months is fine- they already have the last candidates selected if he announced and will select from that pool very soon.- when is the next board meeting.
the selection committee is only to keep certain people groomed and in the company – but the selection list is already pretty short