Roger- re: This was strange...
I disagree. This was dangerous.
And the funny thing, people are worried about the stock price now, but the majority of damage from this will be the ignominy of shareholder disrespect.
Whenever anybody reads Microsoft's mission, which in part is to enhance shareholder value, the statement Ballmer made yesterday will forever and always undermine any attempt to cultivate trust in this mission. Whenever Microsoft says publicly it is working in the interest of shareholders, everybody will be able to say, no you are not, you are a company that disrespects shareholder and actively destroys shareholder value. Remember when...?
They will never, ever be able to hide from this.
All are suspicious and vigilant to corporate abuse that undermines shareholder value... we are paranoid. But the corporation can always say "prove it" and we are hard pressed to do so. And they hide behind that safe haven. So we have to establish a tenuous, fragile trust. That is a corporations ace-in-the hole.
Ballmer broke the bond of trust between shareholder and corporation, and as anybody knows about relationships, the detrimental effects last long, long, long past the immediacy of the action.
The seeds have been sown...
Just my opinion.
Jon :) |
