Ford's Alan Mulally Could Be Next Microsoft CEO
Move over Elop.
As soon as Steve Ballmer announced his plans to leave his position as CEO of Microsoft, the industry started to speculate as to who might be the next chief executive of Microsoft. Plenty of names were bandied around, from inside and outside Microsoft. Our friends at LAPTOP covered everyone from Julie Larson-Green to Google's Sundar Pichai in their list of potential candidates.
One man who wasn't on the list was Alan Mulally, the CEO of Ford. However, it seems Mulally may now be the top pick, ahead of even Stephen Elop. AllThingsD cites sources close to the situation that say Mr. Mulally is now the front runner among the candidates for the job and that while he wasn't initially looking to move to Microsoft, he has become more open to the idea over the last few weeks.
Mulally has been CEO of Ford since 2006. He started his career as an engineer at Boeing in 1969 and held numerous positions at the company over the decades that he worked there, including senior VP of airplane development, president of the information, space and defense systems, and senior VP. He moved from Boeing to Ford in 2006, 37 years after he stated working for Boeing.
He received Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from University of Kansas. He also holds a Master's in Management from MIT Sloan School of Management.
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Pick someone who'll actually do the company a little justice for God's sake.
One step forward but two steps back, eh? Microsoft only erred when it came too late to the game when it comes to smartphones and touch/tablets. Had the Surface RT launched before the iPad, it wouldn't be heralded as a "failure," it would've been a grand success.
Have you ever used a Windows tablet? And by that, I mean have you done more than play with a store display and walked away grimacing? I felt the same about the display, but then was given a tablet to use for several months. It became a staple in how I did business. That tablet was my primary computer, and the touch interface, the Start Screen, made it so much easier. Especially after Windows 8.1. Using one regularly changed my perspective. So until you walk the walk, don't try to talk the talk.
A CEO doesn't necessary require deep knowledge of a company they are in charge of. That is delegated to division presidents and managers. The CEO just sets limits based on available resources and keeps things running smoothly so the lower managers can get their jobs done, make strategic business agreements with other companies, and major decisions that involve government agencies. It's the job of the marketing people, salespeople, engineers, and R&D to identify potential customers and provide products that they want.
If he takes the reigns, I just hope he has some logic which is whats been lacking the past few years.
NooOoOOooooo
Yet people will probably go for the Steam box. Dumb, really, really dumb. Oh well
Microsoft need someone who has strong passion in what they are doing, like Gates, Google founders. Hp founders.
Some says not to let the company runs by people from Marketing or Sales , because they are good to convinced people to believe, a box of cereal is a steak, The problem with this, there is no fundamental behind it
How long does it take to get it right? This is just an in car navigation system and it takes so long to iron out the bugs and do not mention the UI
Exactly. People reading this see only that he is leading an automobile company and feel it disqualifies him from anything else.
A leader figures out what is right, what is wrong and puts together a team capable of leading the company, letting them do what they do best.