A Critical Consideration of "Inside Microsoft: Balancing Creativity and Discipline" by Robert J. Herbold
In this revealing article from the Harvard Business Review, Mr. Herbold describes his acculturation to the freewheeling and maverick style of operation at Microsoft and how it compared with Procter & Gamble, where he had spent a good deal of his career, working his way inexorably up the pyramid. The article describes how Microsoft had a terrible organization and did nothing by any accepted theory or philosophy of management.
In fact, it was not until Herbold, using all of the knowledge, sensitivity, intelligence, tact, and his vast knowledge of how a corporation should be run that the company began to show some structure and organization. Prior to Mr. Herbold's arrival, this bad organization and lack of structure had created a company where there were a lot of millionaires who were working for it. However, much to Mr. Herbold's shock and disbelief, the company didn't even know how many employees it had. Another thing that is pointed out in the article is how important good grooming is. When you wear a nice suit and have an Ivy League background, then you will be more respected among the right circles. In a way it is too bad that Bill Gates doesn't have any of that management style.
The main problem is that Microsoft is in a mess, and Gates hired Herbold, with all of his knowledge and background and experience in the corporate world of Procter and Gamble to set things straight. The problem was very serious, since without an organization structure put onto the company, there would be no way to keep things under control, and there had to be someway to stop the continued growth at Microsoft, and bring it more in line with the standard 2 to 3 percent growth at P & G, or maybe even move the company into the negative growth like so many other East Coast businesses.
One of the big problems was that all of the people d...