Though Michael Dell assured last november that Kevin Rollins' job was safe, he eventually decided to push him out and personnaly replace him.
Will he do as well as returning wonderkid Steve Jobs, who grew Apple's market cap twentyfold since he in 1997 took back the helm of the company he founded back in 1976, before being himself pushed out by cold-blooded and corporate-shaped Sculley 9 years later ? The ex PepsiCo executive believed he was a true visionnary, but history proved him wrong. Creating fascinating technological products and selling sodas, this is 2 different businesses, requiring a very different set of skills. Doing great in one business, being a proven manager, is no guarantee to create value in another world.
So now is Michael Dell back in place, as he believes he can do better than Kevin Rollins for the near future. And as for Apple and Steve Jobs, this will be no easy task. Whereas Dell was flying several points market share ahead of n°2 HP, they are now lagging 3 points behind (14.7% vs 18.1% in PC worldwide market share).
Wall Street cheered the move as the stock climbed more than 3% in the immediate hours following the announcement !
When Steve Jobs returned, Apple lacked great products which would strongly appeal to customers. The story is different with Dell, product innovation is neither in their DNA nor is their business which is all about supply-chain, manufacturing, efficiency. This is what Michael Dell hinted when he took charge back : "I think you're going to see a more streamlined organization, with a much clearer strategy".
True, Dell is, or was, a fantastic supply-chain and manufacturing organization. But the issue is that the operational job were supervised not by Michael Dell himself but a strong n°2. It was credible to believe Steve Jobs could insufflate new products within Apple, I found it harder to believe that Michael Dell himself can improve Dell's core operations.
We shall see in the coming quarters how Michael Dell performs as new CEO of the company he founded more than 20 years ago in a Texas University dorm !
Michael Dell's past duo with a strong operational n°2 reminds me of Photoways ! There, I made a kind of dream team with my partner Martin Genot. I took charge of all the front office, he took care of all the back office, esp the manufacturing side which is so important now in our business (see note on Jim Clark's resigning from the chairmanship of Shutterfly). And that worked magnificently, as at Photoways we now have the best plant in the business as well as the most innovative product range !
Since yesterday January 31st, the dream team is now out, looking for a new challenge !
Bonjour
Nouveau venu sur votre blog depuis 1 mois environ, je suis ravi de voir que quelqu'un a les memes interets que moi : l entreprise, le management, apple, les restaurants, notre pays ! .. et tellement de choses en +
Bravo pour photoways c est une reussite fabuleuse
Etiez vous present hier au salon des entrepreneurs pour la venue de B Gates et Luc Besson ?
Bien Cordialement,
EL
Posted by: Etienne | February 02, 2007 at 12:02 PM