Fortune Magazine Profiles MySQL AB

hdtv writes "Fortune magazine profiles MySQL AB, a midsize company with a fairly large footprint. Fortune magazine popped in on another corporate party, which just happened to take place online across countries and continents." From the article: "'When a company is as spread out as this one,' Basil explains, 'you have to think of virtual ways to imitate the dynamics of what goes on in a more familiar employment situation.' That neatly sums up the broader challenge that many companies are confronting: how to nurture a bond among workers who rarely, if ever, meet. Few businesses are as spread out as MySQL, which employs 320 workers in 25 countries, 70 percent of whom work from home."

Comments

Ha

[neonprimetime]

"I have a very low opinion of human nature, which is that people are both greedy and lazy," declares Michael "Monty" Widenius, co-founder and chief technical officer of MySQL, which is based in Cupertino, Calif. "Of course you have noble people, but they are a small fraction."

Now that's how to gain customers! Insult them in FORTUNE magazine!

Re:Buy your employees online games

[MrAnnoyanceToYou]

What a bloody GREAT idea. "Hey, why don't you start using your computer for something non-productive DESIGNED to be addictive."

Been there. At my .com experience, the first thing they had me do was install Half-Life. And the rest, as they say, is history. This kind of attitude is silly - Skype is a better idea, IRC is a better idea, even Google Bloody Talk is a better idea.

MMORPG's can build teams, yes, but they are designed to suck people in so fast and hard that they don't even realise it when they don't come out. I have no problem with this post if it was meant as a joke, but "insightful" is the worst moderation I've seen in years.

Re:what some fail to understand

[redneckHippe]

I assume you are talking about the open source community and business model. This is probably true for software, but try refining oil, mining iron or making chips with workers and volunteers spread out all over the world.
That said, there is no reason why smaller plants couldn't be built providing they were close to the raw materials. Personally, it really bothers my that we have all our refineries clustered together. It really makes them vunerable to attack or natural disaters.
I think as the world becomes more globalized smaller companies will be more adaptable to changing demands( Think China, India, global warming, shrinking resources, etc.) and the larger corporations will find it more difficult to compete.
I think we are building toward major crises as the general public becomes disillusioned with big business and the whole Capitalist Idealology. The profit above all else mentality of many CEO's and the total disregard for the middle class is really starting to get more airplay on the news channels.
This probably won't cause a revolution as such, but a drift toward more conciensess companies. I'm not saying that there won't be an awaking like we had in the 60's(enviormentalists,civil rights activists, anti-war activists and a general distrust of the status quo) but I think that spending habits, loyalties and personal beliefs will have the main impact.
R.H.