[Am-info] Ballmer's

[Roy Bixler]

On Tuesday 11 June 2002 11:06, Gene Gaines wrote:
> 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. 
<snip>

That says it all, doesn't it?  He has just "honestly, openly and 
respectfully" told all that he wants to put everyone out of business, take 
their money and own their data.  Anyway, it's good to hear it from the 
horse's mouth.

R.