March 3, 2008 7:35 am : Comments 001
Microsoft’s proposed $45 billion bid for Yahoo has received some well-deserved critical coverage. It’s pretty much accepted as a given that most big mergers don’t work out, particularly when they involve technology companies (AOL and Time Warner, H-P and Compaq immediately come to mind).
Most of the media analysis on the proposed deal to date has focused on the sizeable challenge of melding Microsoft’s lumbering culture with Yahoo’s more freewheeling ways. But Forbes‘ Victoria Barret raises another potential problem in the February 25th issue that could be far more ominous: a free software product out of Germany called Adblock Plus.
Microsoft covets Yahoo! because of its success selling display advertising. But with Adblock, a product created for users of the ever-popular Firefox browser, intrusive banner ads and annoying videos disappear, replaced with simple white space instead. According to Forbes, three million already have downloaded use Adblock Plus [including me] and every three months another million join us.
Microsoft has antagonized a lot of customers over the years with problem-riddled products that were prematurely brought to market. So the company could be at risk if all those disgruntled customers suddenly came to realize they could even the score by simply downloading some software that badly undermined the rationale for the deal.
It could be like one of those flash mob incidents except, instead of coming together at the rug department at Macy’s to accomplish their task, the masses would descend upon the Adblock servers to get the job done. You know what they say about paybacks.
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September 5, 2007 1:17 pm : Comments 000
I have a love/hate relationship with human resources people at big corporations. While their advisory role can be – and should be – as critical to a company’s well-being as, say, that of its attorneys and accountants, my personal experience has not been so… productive. How can I put this? HR people frustrate me. A lot.
I know, I know… when human resources people pushed back, it probably meant they were saving me from myself. And, to be fair, I know that there are lots of exceptional, appreciated human resources professionals out there who are making significant impacts on the cultures and bottom lines of their organizations. Unfortunately for me, I’ve only had the pleasure of crossing paths with one of them in my entire career (and he was a client so I pretty much had to like him).
HR-speak is akin to PR spin. It’s filled with empty catchphrases, trendy buzzwords, and legal counsel-approved language that mollifies executive leadership and mortifies the rank-and-file who see right through it. I’m still aghast at the response an internal Human resources executive once gave me when I complained about the unimpressive job candidates she was sending me: “You know, Eric, your standards are just a little too high.”
Needless to say, I perked up when I read that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer shares my critical view of HR folks. According to a fascinating article in the current issue of BusinessWeek by Michelle Conlin and Jay Greene, Microsoft was suffering a serious brain drain two years ago. But instead of hiring a traditional HR executive to turn things around, Ballmer gave the HR reins to Lisa Brummel, a popular and experienced product manager that he moved over from the Home & Retail Division. Ms. Brummel has achieved considerable success in the two years she’s held the top spot, no doubt because she refused to follow “the usual HR script.”
Some examples:
- Brummel refused to benchmark “best practices” at other companies, much less impose them on Microsoft employees. “Before you go running off campus, you should know what’s going on on campus.”
- She quickly established a reputation as a “no-B.S., jargon-allergic, truth-teller” when she admitted to reading a popular and highly critical Microsoft blog written by an anonymous employee.
- She eliminated the bell curve in annual employee performance evaluations.
The BusinessWeek article is a great read for anyone desperate to have their faith restored in the potential of the human resources function. On the flip side, anonymous Microsoft employee blogger “Mini-Microsoft” suggests that BusinessWeek is a tad too generous in its praise of Brummel and her efforts. [Tough crowd – HR really is a thankless function!]
Still, Conlin and Greene deserve kudos for reporting on the untraditional approach and its impact to date. The bottom line is that Brummel seems to be staunching the company’s employee hemorrhage… at least for now (all bets are off if she takes the towels away again).
Now if only Brummel could do something about Microsoft’s ghastly “Your potential. Our passion.” tagline.
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