Dive Brief:
- Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says the culture created inside the walls of any company isn't just important, "it's everything," according to an article at USA Today.
- Nadella told USA Today that "ultimately what any company does when it is successful is merely a lagging indicator of its existing culture."
- According to USA Today, the Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant has been in the throes of a small cultural revolution, one largely guided by longtime employee Nadella. Where Microsoft's ethos under predecessors such as Steve Ballmer and co-founder Bill Gates had autocratic and anti-Silicon Valley overtones, the company has made concerted efforts in the past few years to both promote internal dialog as well as forge external relationships.
Dive Insight:
USA Today reported that where Microsoft employees once received mandates from the C-suite, today they share ideas at company-wide hackathons. And where Microsoft once had combative relationships with rivals such as Apple, today the company has forged a variety of new partnerships with Salesforce, Box, as well as Apple. These moves are seen by many analysts as make-or-break plays to try and position Microsoft for growth in a competitive cloud- and mobile-first world, writes Marco della Cava in USA Today.
Nadella doesn't hesitate when asked about the Amazon workplace debate, though he doesn't mention the cross-town company by name, reports USA Today.
"The notion of having work-life harmony in a highly competitive economy is a first-class topic," Nadella told USA Today. "I think the key is to make sure you're engaging in a dialog with your employees. There also needs to be flexibility in all the [workplace] policies that someone like me sets and propagates. You cannot have people burn out. It's bad for your company, and it's bad for society."
