Former Microsoft SVP Speaks: Ballmer Forces Out Anyone Who Could Challenge Him
Ballmer is the wrong leader for software giant, says Joachim Kempin.
A former Microsoft executive has criticized the software giant's CEO Steve Ballmer and his practices.
In an interview with Reuters, former Windows sales senior vice president Joachim Kempin said Ballmer's presence is suffocating the company and the head is always looking to drive out those who pose a potential challenge to his position.
"When you work that directly with Ballmer and Ballmer believes ‘maybe this guy could someday take over from me’, my God, you will have less air to breathe, that’s what it comes down to," Kempin, who worked at Microsoft from 1983 to 2002, stated. "It was Steve’s way or the highway."
"Is he a great CEO? I don't think so. Microsoft's board is a lame duck board, has been forever. They hire people to help them administer the company, but not to lead the company. That's the problem. Steve is a very good business guy, but make him a chief operating officer, not a CEO, and your business is going to go gangbusters. I respect that guy (Ballmer), but there are some limitations in what he can and can't do and maybe he hasn't realized them himself."
"They missed all the opportunities they were talking about when I was still in the company. Tablets, phones…we had a tablet going, we had tablet software when Windows XP came out, it was never followed up properly."
"Just think about the insult of Microsoft coming out with a tablet themselves, trying to mimic Apple, and now they are going to come out with a notebook on top of it," he continued, referring to Microsoft's Surface RT tablet and the imminent launch of Surface running Windows Pro.
Kempin concluded that Microsoft’s board need to seriously consider whether Ballmer is the right individual to lead the company, suggesting that the firm could benefit from a younger chief executive.
"They need somebody maybe 35-40 years old, a younger person who understands the Facebook generation and this mobile community. They don’t need this guy on stage with this fierce, aggressive look, announcing the next version of Windows and thinking he can score with that."
Ballmer is rumored to have fired former president of Microsoft's Windows and Windows Live division Steven Sinofsky as he was too divisive. The latter executive spearheaded the revival of Windows following the widely-panned Vista OS by managing the development and launch of Windows 7.
Analysts believe if Windows 8 ultimately fails in the market, which it has already evidently shown signs of slowing down, Steve Ballmer could make a departure from Microsoft.
He was, after all, manager of Windows sales, not a tech guy, and certainly not a visionary - when did we ever see excellence in marketing their products from Microsoft? I suggest that Kempin himself didn't know all that much about selling Windows himself. Maybe Ballmer cut him off at the knees, but frankly, I'm skeptical.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Ballmer does everything right, but I do think a company that's lead by a single individual with his heart invested in it is better off than a company lead by a committee. I'm not sure Ballmer's heart is entirely in the right place, but neither am I so sure he is getting Microsoft off track overall. Every company has its ups and downs (many of them just go up and come down as the heart that made it leaves for whatever reason).
Microsoft has clearly dropped the ball at times. They did a bad job marketing Zune, and other things some of you have mentioned. They are doing a better job now marketing Windows phones, but they still need to ratchet that up. They need to get the word out AND they need to educate the populace; depending on their position in desktop OS sales isn't going to keep them at the top. I do think they know this though - I just think they, like all big companies, just get a little full of themselves and lose touch at times.
How much is Ballmer's fault? I don't know.
He was also trying to mimic Albert Einstein...
In any case, Ballmer was considered by Forbes the 1º CEO that should have been fired already. Since he took the company, Microsoft has made blunder after blunder.
They had a mobile phone OS, never built upon it until it was too late. Currently throwing money desperately at it in order to gain some market traction.
They had tablet technology and patents much before the iPad appeared. Another missed opportunity.
Vista happened.
Zune happened, and never went beyond a minuscule market.
Now, they're betting their entire traditional market to a new UI that either feels like a stepback (after the transparent windows of Aero, the blocky styling of Metro feels ugly) or it can only be fully taken advantage with a touchscreen.
Ballmer is fucking insane.
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I have no problem with Windows 8 Pro on a desktop, using it right now, but I can see why other people may not like it
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Will it drive millions to Linux or Mac? Not in a million years, they will just bitch and moan till Windows 9 comes out and stay with Windows 7 till then - but switch camps? Not in my lifetime
That is why Microsoft is in trouble now and Windows 8 sucks.