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Microsoft Narrows Down CEO Shortlist: Elop, Mulally, Bates, Nadella In Mix
rjmarvin writes "Sources have confirmed that Microsoft has narrowed down its search for its next CEO to five external candidates and at least two internal candidates. Rumored frontrunner Stephen Elop, former Nokia CEO, and Ford Motor CEO Alan Mulally are reportedly in contention, along with Microsoft's Skype head Tony Bates and their cloud and enterprise chief Satya Nadella. The other external candidates who've emerged from the approximately 40 rumored names swirling around since August have not yet been revealed."
where the list gets narrowed down daily and the winner is announced after 3 days? In the case of MS, looks like this joke will go on for a year.
My hunch is that Elop already holds the reins to the ruins; this media contest is just a soapera.
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
...that guy that drives companies into ground.
Like naming a new captain to the Titanic after it hit the iceberg.
He did that for a reason. He was trying to promote WinPhone at all costs. Nokia was an acceptable loss. He has no interest in risking Microsoft. That is his team.
So the choices are
a) Nokia - a tech giant that went on major decline, so select their CEO to fix your major decline. Ya ...
b) Former Ford CEO - hey at least Ford has been doing well. But does this guy know a wheel from a mouse?
c) Skype - hey at least they got someone to buy them for a lot of $$$
One choice that was touted at one point was to have have Microsoft buy Netflix and make Reed Hastings CEO. While I think he'd do well as CEO. I'd hate that for Netflix.
Why?
Because he's not a microsoft technology nerd.
Microsoft needs someone at the top who uses their products the way someone who isn't surrounded by microsofties every day does. So they can get their shit together on design. Windows 8 is an example of doing a great job executing a terrible idea. That has to stop. Now.
It also needs someone who recognizes there is a market beyond himself and can support that (this is where Steve jobs always struggled) - car guys get that. This car might not be for me, but there is a market for it.
It also needs someone with an internal employee evaluation system that is going to actually make supportive of co-workers and that rewards everyone doing great work when they do.
Ideally microsoft needs someone who can decide what direction to take the company - an open services and software company that supports a large collection of partners, or a device and services company that has no friends. And to decide which of those is best for shareholders they need someone from outside the microsoft bubble.
Mulally isn't necessarily the best pick - but of the list of known candidates from outside MS he's got a decent track record.