Steve Ballmer, Communicator - Master or Moron?
When Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer opens his mouth, the value of the company’s shares go down.
Mini-Microsoft’s analysis is harsh, yet probably not far from the truth.
Reading the comments to this post was like reading four or five really good blog posts on the topic. It’s not an official company blog, but Mini-Microsoft serves a devoted group of MSFT employees, shareholders and watchers, who read unofficial news about Microsoft, and use the blog comments as a discussion area.
The consensus: Ballmer is not a good communicator; Microsoft does not have a clear vision of how it will succeed in the future; Microsoft does a lot of things, but fails to do many of them well; the CEO is supposed to improve confidence in the company, not undermine it.
A company must be careful when providing guidance to analysts about it projections for the year. In this case, Ballmer made several murmurings of enthusiasm about other aspects of Microsoft’s business, but repeatedly warned of overestimations of Windows Vista sales by analysts.
In dampening Wall Street’s enthusiasm for Vista sales, Ballmer provided an excuse for analysts and shareholders to get bearish about the stock. Strong future performance can offset the impact of last week’s announcement. So would a clear vision of Microsoft’s plan for future growth.
It will be interesting to watch the announcements by Microsoft leaders in the coming months, to see if they answer the question: What will be the next big profit-maker for Microsoft? Based on pronouncements like Ballmer’s, it’s hard to figure out the answer
The Ballmer analysts’ webcast.
Tags: microsoft, msft, steve ballmer, investor communications, vista, wall street
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POSTED IN: Communication Skills, Executive Mindset, PR, Reputation Management
4 opinions for Steve Ballmer, Communicator - Master or Moron?
Dawud Miracle
Feb 19, 2007 at 9:36 am
I wonder the same question. Especially being a Mac user, Balmer gets made fun of a lot. I have to think he’s a brilliant business man to be running Microsoft. But who knows. Anyhow, he certainly has done some very interesting things that have been caught and shared on video.
AndrewK
Mar 3, 2007 at 6:06 pm
MSFT corp talk has always been about lowering profit expectations. The real problem is that for years they haven’t met even those lower expectations. Sure they paid a dividend, but people demand to see companies battle like gladiators in an arena, a victor to win and shares to go higher. Rinse and repeat two to three times per year in the tech sector and your stock goes higher.
As for Balmer’s lack of communication skills, one only had to watch the Bill Gates Vista interview on the Daily Show to see he’s not the only one. Even though he’s worth billions people have cut Gates a ton of slack. They point to his still being a geek, an image he nurtured by doing things all through the mid 90’s like going to the movies “alone” with reporter in tow. Balmer though rarely gets a free pass because he comes off as aggressive.
Presenting an image of aggressiveness and while being head of a declared monopoly does not sell well with the public who would rather root for the underdog.
As for the question “What will be the next big profit-maker for Microsoft?” that one is easy. There is no one thing.
Software as a Service in the CRM niche. Fee increases to corporate licensing. Incremental paid upgrades from Vista Home to other versions. New gadgets (think computer peripherals not the Zune) and publishing.
How to stem the bleeding inflicted by
open source? Use training to create “people ready” to fill spots in business that just happen to know their software.
While the last approach worked well for selling Swiss Army Knives at the counter and putting other products into stores it’s probably the most risky thing they are doing.
That’s the way I see it, though I could be right. And no I do not own MS stock or even use their OS for my main workstation.
Nordquist Blog » Blog Archive » Is Microsoft Dead?
Apr 8, 2007 at 12:20 pm
[…] if you’re a Microsoft employee you just hope the stock doesn’t dip too much whenever he opens his mouth. And I’ll bet there are many, newly minted college graduates who hear Balmer’s […]
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