Sinofsky: I never tried to take over Windows Phone division
The former Microsoft Windows boss responded to charges that he tried to make over the company's Windows Phone division, as well as its developer business.
Former Microsoft executive Steven Sinofsky has sounded off on claims that he tried to take over the company's Windows Phone and developer businesses.
Hal Berenson, president of True Mountain Group, a company that provides technology and management consulting, wrote in a blog post earlier this week that he'd heard from Microsoft employees that Windows chief Sinofsky was waging battles over the last several months to take control of the company's Windows Phone and Developer divisions. His actions were turned away by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and other top executives, leading to his departure, Berenson claims.
Sinofsky rebutted that notion yesterday with a comment on Berenson's blog post, saying that he "never initiated any discussions to bring together the organizations/products" Berenson mentioned. He also said that "no one ever approached me to manage them as part of Windows 7 or 8."
He continued:
If we had worked together you would know that historically, very few things moved into teams I managed as (you've no doubt seen in internal blogs) and when they did I usually pushed back hard looking for a cross-group way to achieve the goal (in other words, decide open issues rather than force an org change to subsequently decide something). it is far better to collaborate with the org in place and avoid the disruption unless it is on a product cycle boundary and far better to plan and execute together than just organize together.
Microsoft announced Sinofsky's ouster Monday evening. Sinofsky said in an e-mail to employees that he felt it was time to move on to other opportunities. CNET reported earlier this week, citing executives familiar with the move, that no single event led to Sinofsky's exit, but that he increasingly had become a divisive figure. Sinofsky's relationship with Ballmer was increasingly strained as well.
Still, it's believed that the decision for Sinofsky to leave was mutual.
(Via The Verge)