[Am-info] Ballmer's

[Gene Gaines]

Ballmer's Microsoft
How CEO Steve Ballmer is remaking the company that Bill Gates built

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_24/b3787001.htm


"...Ballmer is making adoption of the new corporate values part of
every employee's annual performance review.

Ballmer's hope is that his code of conduct also will make
Microsoft a better corporate citizen. He says the company's core
values of honesty, integrity, and respect must shine through with
customers, partners, and the tech industry. Microsoft's five-year
antitrust case has put a severe strain on its relationships with
the rest of the industry, but Ballmer believes that by being open
with others about its plans, Microsoft can regain the industry's
trust. "We're going to work even harder on these positive
relationships, whether that means an investment of time, an
investment of energy, or being honest and open and respectful," he
says.

To rivals, making Microsoft kinder and gentler is like getting a
tiger to not only change its stripes but become vegetarian, too.
Indeed, in spite of the tentative settlement Microsoft reached
with the Justice Dept., which is being contested by nine states,
Ballmer doesn't plan to handcuff the software giant. Microsoft
will continue to enter new businesses. Recent forays already have
made it a competitive threat to a new set of companies, such as
Sony (SNE ) in the game-console business and SAP (SAP ) in the
accounting-software market. "The dialogue with us from the
industry has always been, tell us what you're not going to do. If
you ask me today, I'll tell you there's nothing I'm not going to
do," Ballmer says. To Jonathan Schwartz, chief strategy officer at
rival Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW ), Ballmer's statement signals
that Microsoft hasn't changed its ways. Ballmer is acting
friendly, he says, because "they've committed a few felonies and
they're trying to get out on parole." And in a June 5 speech, SAP
AG boss Hasso Plattner chided Microsoft for putting barriers in
front of rival software, comparing the company to the Berlin Wall.
"I want to say, like a famous American once did, `Mr. Gates, tear
down this wall!"' Plattner said.

Indeed, even as Ballmer tries to soften the company's image, the
old Microsoft keeps getting in his way. The giant continues to be
tarnished by legal battles--and it's not just for the hardball,
anticompetitive tactics highlighted in the antitrust case. The
Securities & Exchange Commission spent three years investigating
whether Microsoft, in the mid-1990s, artificially smoothed
financial statements. Such legal skirmishes threaten to undermine
Ballmer's vision. His response: Settle. During Ballmer's tenure,
Microsoft settled the antitrust case with the Justice Dept. and a
host of other cases brought by temp workers, rivals, and
customers. On May 31, Microsoft settled the SEC matter, agreeing
to alter its accounting methods.
..."


An ethical Microsost?  Oh, give me a break!

Gene Gaines
gene.gaines@gainesgroup.com
Sterling, Virginia  USA

 -- Viva Hon. Dr. Edgar Villanueva Nuñez --
 -- Congressman of the Republic of Perú ---
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