Concepts

Company Structure

What a company makes — and how it makes it — in indelibly tied up into how the company is structured.

  • Services, not Devices

    Microsoft needs to first understand the type of company it is, and choose its strategy accordingly. That means focusing on services, not devices.


  • The Uncanny Valley of a Functional Organization

    Consider this Part 2 in an accidental series on Microsoft’s recent reorganization, and functional and divisional organizations. Part 1 focused on a divisional organization, while today’s Part 2 focuses on functional ones. The “Uncanny Valley” is most typically associated with animated films (although it was originally about robots). From Wikipedia: The uncanny valley is a […]


  • Why Microsoft’s Reorganization Is a Bad Idea

    Steve Ballmer is reorganizing Microsoft into a functional organization: it is a mistake that misunderstands the company he leads.


  • Tim Cook is a Great CEO

    Perhaps my favorite Steve Jobs keynote moment was one of his last, at the iPad 2 introduction in March 2011. The last demo of the day, just before Jobs introduced the idea that Apple existed at the intersection of technology and liberal arts, was GarageBand for iPad. The demo was truly spectacular, and it clearly […]


  • The Intel Opportunity

    A new CEO has taken over Intel. Their core business, upon which the company has been built, is floundering. Does the new CEO, who is not really new at all (he’s the current COO), have the vision to ensure Intel’s continued success? I’m not talking about Brian Krzanich, who today was promoted from COO to […]


  • Apple and the Innovator’s Dilemma

    This paper was originally written in 2010 for a Corporate Innovation class at Kellogg Business School, and thus predates Stratechery by several years.