Redmond may still be searching for its next CEO, but one can guess things are moving towards the final stretch now with the various public comments made on the matter.
And while the last report on the matter claimed that Ford boss Alan Mulally and Satya Nadella were the leading candidates, the vice president for executive recruiting firm DHR International believes that Elop is the obvious choice for the hot seat.
In an interview with Business Insider, Adam Charlson said that while Alan Mulally sees to be the right candidate, he does not have the technology knowhow necessary to lead such a large organization.
Redmond, Charlson believes, needs a leader that speaks the language of the company:
“There’s a way to force positive change and there’s a way to shock the system where it could possibly break. Getting a CEO of a car company … would abandon the roots of what made company successful.
Microsoft plans to become more of a mobile company. If they are going to abandon that strategy after buying Nokia for $7 billion, that’s highly doubtful. And if they are going to go with a mobile, Elop is the obvious choice.”
Stephen Elop previously served as the head of the Business Division at Microsoft before moving to Nokia, and although it is clear that he is already familiar with the direction the technology titan is heading, the board, it seems, has other ideas.
The special committee tasked with finding a new CEO is expected to announce the new name by the end of the year. The next two or three weeks could be real interesting.
All Comments
I once thought the same way regarding Elop as the right choice. But, I just don’t trust the guy for some reason. I don’t think he has the chops to be his own man, for one. Also, anyone who is open to dumping Bing’s services and Xbox is not the visionary that Microsoft needs at the helm, but a knee-jerk reaction to the share holders. I got news for you, share holders are not what made Microsoft the company it is today. You have to think long-term strategy and not with some instant gratification scheme.
In my mind, Tony Bates or Satya Nadella is the more obvious choice. Alan Mulally would only be an interim coach waiting to be replaced, a figurehead. Why would he want that when he is ready to retire and has said as much?
I once thought the same way regarding Elop as the right choice. But, I just don’t trust the guy for some reason. I don’t think he has the chops to be his own man, for one. Also, anyone who is open to dumping Bing’s services and Xbox is not the visionary that Microsoft needs at the helm, but a knee-jerk reaction to the share holders. I got news for you, share holders are not what made Microsoft the company it is today. You have to think long-term strategy and not with some instant gratification scheme.
In my mind, Tony Bates or Satya Nadella is the more obvious choice. Alan Mulally would only be an interim coach waiting to be replaced, a figurehead. Why would he want that when he is ready to retire and has said as much?
Just because he left MS to go to Nokia and is heading up the mobile sector that doesn’t mean he should run the whole deal, even if being more mobile is their goal. If that was the case, every company that wanted to expand into a certain sector should make the next CEO someone from the division that relates to that sector.
I don’t see how the headline matches the article, It isn’t obvious anyway!