[sf-lug] OLPC to become more like Microsoft...

[Sameer Verma]

jim stockford wrote:
> well, seems to me that the folks in the other silo
> companies are pretty much the same: market
> share is the goal, as is the annual bonus.
>   
When I ask my class about the ultimate goal of a company, they always 
say profit and not service. My view is that service is the ultimate 
goal, and if the value proposition is worthwhile, customers will pay. I 
wouldn't put Microsoft in a different category from the others. 
Microsoft gets the attention because of their market share. In a choice 
between cooperating vs. defecting, they usually defect.

OLPC has very different goals, but they have to play the game with these 
companies because they have to operate within the same ecosystem as 
Microsoft, Intel, etc. They'll need a CEO who not only understands the 
game, but can play hardball when necessary.

Sameer

-- 
Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Information Systems
San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA 94132 USA
http://verma.sfsu.edu/
http://opensource.sfsu.edu/


> On Mar 10, 2008, at 11:54 PM, Usr Bin Sh wrote:
>
>   
>> Jim,
>>
>> Cannot agree that people at microsoft are no different than in other
>> IT companies.
>> The whole microsoft's practice is built around profit (should i say 
>> "greed"?).
>>
>> OLPC has totally different mission than getting a ticker on NASDAQ.
>> It should be non-profit like corporation, and its CEO should fit 
>> accordingly.
>> In this sense having CEO may help OLPC a lot!
>> --
>> Pavel
>>
>>
>>
>>     
>>>  Message: 2
>>>  Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2008 21:48:13 -0700
>>>  From: jim stockford <jim at well.com>
>>>  Subject: Re: [sf-lug] OLPC to become more like Microsoft...
>>>  To: Asheesh Laroia <asheesh at asheesh.org>
>>>  Cc: Linux userGroup <sf-lug at linuxmafia.com>
>>>  Message-ID: <62e092fb514efc90a6dbe4e1a05219ac at well.com>
>>>  Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
>>>
>>>
>>>     as a note, the people at microsoft are no different
>>>  from those at other companies in the "computer
>>>  industry." the greatest of american sports is the free
>>>  enterprise game, and most of the top executives are
>>>  ferocious winners.
>>>       
>> _______________________________________________
>> sf-lug mailing list
>> sf-lug at linuxmafia.com
>> http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug
>>
>>     
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> sf-lug mailing list
> sf-lug at linuxmafia.com
> http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug
>