Yes, Microsoft does need to reinvent itself: CEO Nadella
22 Feb 2014 6:52 AM IST
The 46-year-old Nadella said in his new role he would work on reinvention and innovation in the company in the new technology environment instead of harping about Microsoft's past successes.
Hyderabad-born Nadella succeeded Steve Ballmer as only the third CEO in Microsoft's 39-year history earlier this month. ‘Longevity in this business is about being able to reinvent yourself or invent the future. In our case, given 39 years of success, it's more about reinvention. We've had great successes, but our future is not about our past success. It's going to be about whether we will invent things that are really going to drive our future,’ he told the New York Times.
‘Everything now is going to have to be much more compressed in terms of both cycle times and response times,’ he said in the NYT interview on Thursday. ‘You have to be able to sense those early indicators of success, and the leadership has to really lean in and not let things die on the vine,’ he added. Nadella said he wants Microsoft to grow into a company where people find meaning at work.
‘One of the things that I'm fascinated about generally is the rise and fall of everything, from civilisations to families to companies. We all know the mortality of companies is less than humans.
There are very few examples of even 100-year-old companies. For us to be a 100-year-old company where people find deep meaning at work, that's the quest,’ he added. A Microsoft veteran of 22 years, Nadella as CEO would be supported by co-founder Bill Gates in shaping technology and product direction.
Gates, previously Chairman of the Board of Directors, assumed a new role on the Board as Founder and Technology Advisor to devote more time to the company. Describing leadership lessons he learned from Gates, Nadella described the software tycoon as the ‘most analytically rigorous person’. He said Gates is always very well prepared and could point to a ‘logical flaw’ in his presentation within seconds despite his best efforts to be thorough.
‘In the beginning, I used to say, 'I'm really intimidated by him (Gates)'. But he's actually quite grounded. You can push back on him. He'll argue with you vigorously for a couple of minutes, and then he'll be the first person to say, 'Oh, you're right.' Both Bill and Steve (Ballmer) share this. They pressure-test you. They test your conviction,’ he said.
No, Nadar does not plan to sell software services arm: HCL
New Delhi: Shiv Nadar-led HCL Corporation, the firm that controls HCL Technologies and former PC maker HCL Infosystems, on Friday said that there are no plans to sell its IT services firm. The company has also denied reports of HCL founder Nadar seeking potential buyers for the country's fourth largest software services exporter, HCL Technologies.
‘HCL Corporation denies any plans to exit HCL Technologies,’ it said in a statement. According to analysts, HCL Technologies has been consistently performing well in the past few quarters and the firm beat market estimates in the October-December 2013 quarter to post healthy results.
It reported a 58.4 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,496 crore for the second quarter ended 31 December, 2013 against Rs 944 crore in the year-ago period. Consolidated revenues grew by 30.4 per cent at Rs 8,184 crore in the October-December quarter of this fiscal against Rs 6,278 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.
Historically, operating margins have been a concern for HCL, but now the company has consistently posted an increase in operating margins for the past six quarters.
Founded in 1991, HCL Technologies provides IT and engineering services expertise covering financial services, manufacturing, consumer services, public services, and healthcare among others.
With a turnover of $5 billion, the firm has global offshore infrastructure and network of offices in 31 countries and employs over 88,000 people.
Scrip rises 3% on rumours
Mumbai: Shares of HCL Technologies on Friday settled for the day with gains of nearly 3 per cent and in the process added Rs 4,654 crore to its market capitalisation.
The stock witnessed an uptrend and had surged as much as 4.93 per cent during the day to touch an intra-day high of Rs 1,546 after news surfaced that HCL founder Nadar seeking potential buyers for the country’s fourth largest software services exporter, HCL Technologies.
Hyderabad-born Nadella succeeded Steve Ballmer as only the third CEO in Microsoft's 39-year history earlier this month. ‘Longevity in this business is about being able to reinvent yourself or invent the future. In our case, given 39 years of success, it's more about reinvention. We've had great successes, but our future is not about our past success. It's going to be about whether we will invent things that are really going to drive our future,’ he told the New York Times.
‘Everything now is going to have to be much more compressed in terms of both cycle times and response times,’ he said in the NYT interview on Thursday. ‘You have to be able to sense those early indicators of success, and the leadership has to really lean in and not let things die on the vine,’ he added. Nadella said he wants Microsoft to grow into a company where people find meaning at work.
‘One of the things that I'm fascinated about generally is the rise and fall of everything, from civilisations to families to companies. We all know the mortality of companies is less than humans.
There are very few examples of even 100-year-old companies. For us to be a 100-year-old company where people find deep meaning at work, that's the quest,’ he added. A Microsoft veteran of 22 years, Nadella as CEO would be supported by co-founder Bill Gates in shaping technology and product direction.
Gates, previously Chairman of the Board of Directors, assumed a new role on the Board as Founder and Technology Advisor to devote more time to the company. Describing leadership lessons he learned from Gates, Nadella described the software tycoon as the ‘most analytically rigorous person’. He said Gates is always very well prepared and could point to a ‘logical flaw’ in his presentation within seconds despite his best efforts to be thorough.
‘In the beginning, I used to say, 'I'm really intimidated by him (Gates)'. But he's actually quite grounded. You can push back on him. He'll argue with you vigorously for a couple of minutes, and then he'll be the first person to say, 'Oh, you're right.' Both Bill and Steve (Ballmer) share this. They pressure-test you. They test your conviction,’ he said.
No, Nadar does not plan to sell software services arm: HCL
New Delhi: Shiv Nadar-led HCL Corporation, the firm that controls HCL Technologies and former PC maker HCL Infosystems, on Friday said that there are no plans to sell its IT services firm. The company has also denied reports of HCL founder Nadar seeking potential buyers for the country's fourth largest software services exporter, HCL Technologies.
‘HCL Corporation denies any plans to exit HCL Technologies,’ it said in a statement. According to analysts, HCL Technologies has been consistently performing well in the past few quarters and the firm beat market estimates in the October-December 2013 quarter to post healthy results.
It reported a 58.4 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,496 crore for the second quarter ended 31 December, 2013 against Rs 944 crore in the year-ago period. Consolidated revenues grew by 30.4 per cent at Rs 8,184 crore in the October-December quarter of this fiscal against Rs 6,278 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.
Historically, operating margins have been a concern for HCL, but now the company has consistently posted an increase in operating margins for the past six quarters.
Founded in 1991, HCL Technologies provides IT and engineering services expertise covering financial services, manufacturing, consumer services, public services, and healthcare among others.
With a turnover of $5 billion, the firm has global offshore infrastructure and network of offices in 31 countries and employs over 88,000 people.
Scrip rises 3% on rumours
Mumbai: Shares of HCL Technologies on Friday settled for the day with gains of nearly 3 per cent and in the process added Rs 4,654 crore to its market capitalisation.
The stock witnessed an uptrend and had surged as much as 4.93 per cent during the day to touch an intra-day high of Rs 1,546 after news surfaced that HCL founder Nadar seeking potential buyers for the country’s fourth largest software services exporter, HCL Technologies.
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