微软CEO鲍尔默告别股东

    上月末，微软（Microsoft）首席执行官史蒂夫•鲍尔默向员工发表一个了情真意切的演讲。但这还不算完，本周一，鲍尔默又发表了致微软股东的最后一封信，借机歌颂了微软眼下向设备和服务供应商的“转型”，同时强调了过去一年微软公司取得的重大进展。

    鲍尔默在信中写道：“我们推出了Windows 8；在PC、平板、手机和Xbox上实现了统一的用户体验；我们在Windows Server、Windows Azure、微软Dynamics和Office 365等领域取得了重要进展。我们对今年取得的成绩感到自豪，我们将继续前行，以更快地速度推出更好的设备和服务。”

    鲍尔默坦承，微软仍处于转型“早期阶段”，虽然已不可能再亲自实施自己去年定下的发展大计，但他坚信微软未来可期。鲍尔默在8月底时表示，自己将在未来12个月内辞去微软首席执行官职位。微软董事会目前正在寻找继任者，有消息称福特公司（Ford）首席执行官艾伦•穆拉利和诺基亚（Nokia）首席执行官史蒂芬•埃洛普（微软不久前已宣布收购手机制造商诺基亚）都是热门人选。

    鲍尔默去年在微软进行了一系列重大举措，其中包括重量级的组织架构调整。鲍尔默在信中谈到：“我们正在有条不紊地构建7月份公布的新组织架构。整个团队正以崭新而良好的方式合作共进。我们所做的关键调整看起来很简单，但意义重大：我们不再围绕单独产品组织团队，而是按照工程、销售、营销和财务等各项职能来组织。它确保我们拥有统一的战略，统一的团队和共同的目标。”

    鲍尔默在上个月进行了大手笔动作——斥资72亿美元收购了诺基亚的设备及服务业务。“这是我们转型中的标志性事件，它将把微软和诺基亚两家公司最好的移动设备基因结合在一起。它将促进Windows Phone的发展，强化整个Windows生态系统，为我们带来更大机遇。”

    微软借此增加了手机硬件业务，不过，目前尚不清楚，微软打算如何将陷入困境的手机制造商诺基亚纳入自身版图，也不清楚微软计划如何提振市场对它的移动操作系统和手机的需求。目前，苹果（Apple）和谷歌（Google）两家共控制了约86％的智能手机市场份额，微软的Windows Phone操作系统仅占到3.7％的市场份额）。

    不过，在致股东的信中，鲍尔默一如既往的乐观。他写道：“这对我而言是一封特别的信。我热爱这家公司，但这是我作为公司首席执行官写给股东的最后一封信。我们一直坚信，技术将充分发挥人类的潜力，。因此，30多年来，我每天在工作中都满怀热情。”（财富中文网）

    译者：项航  

    Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer isn't done saying goodbye just yet. After a heartfelt speech to employees late last month, on Monday Ballmer published his final letter to shareholders, taking the opportunity to extoll the company's ongoing "transformation" into a devices and services provider and highlight its key milestones over the last year.

    "We brought Windows 8 to the world; we brought consistent user experiences to PCs, tablets, phones and Xbox; and we made important advancements to Windows Server, Windows Azure, Microsoft Dynamics and Office 365," Ballmer wrote in the letter. "We are proud of what we accomplished this year and continue to be passionate about delivering better devices and services more quickly."

    Ballmer admitted that Microsoft is still in the "early days" of any kind of turnaround, and while he won't be around to finish carrying out the strategy he laid out last year, he also said he believes the company's best days are still ahead. In late August the outgoing CEO announced he would step down sometime in the next 12 months. Microsoft's (MSFT) board of directors is still searching for a successor, but rumored candidates include Alan Mulally, the current CEO of Ford (F), and Nokia's (NOK) Stephen Elop (Microsoft recently announced it would buy the phonemaker's device business).

    Ballmer has made a lot of changes at Microsoft over the last year, including a giant reorg. "... we are well underway in implementing the new organization structure announced in July," Ballmer said in the letter to shareholders. "The teams are working together in new and exciting ways. The key change we made is deceptively simple but profoundly powerful: Instead of organizing our teams around individual products, we've organized by function, including, for example, engineering, sales, marketing and finance. It ensures we have one strategy and work as one team with one set of shared goals."

    Last month the CEO made another big move -- shelling out $7.2 billion for Nokia's devices and services business. "This is a signature event in our transformation and will bring together the best mobile device work of Microsoft and Nokia," Ballmer wrote. "It will accelerate our growth with Windows Phone while strengthening our overall device ecosystem and our opportunity."

    But it's still not clear how Microsoft plans to integrate the struggling phonemaker -- and how it plans to drive demand for its mobile operating system and phones, even now that it will control the hardware too (Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) control about 86% of the smartphone market; Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system commands a meager 3.7%).

    But Ballmer remained upbeat in his letter to shareholders, infusing it with some of his signature flair: "This is a unique letter for me -- the last shareholder letter I will write as the CEO of the company I love," wrote Ballmer. "We have always believed that technology will unleash human potential and that is why I have come to work every day with a heart full of passion for more than 30 years."