Microsoft shakes up management – again

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Microsoft has once again reorganized its management structure, marking yet another strategy shift for a company that has a very mixed track record in restructuring its business operations.

The shakeup, which Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) announced Thursday, is intended to better align the company’s organizational structure with its new corporate strategy. CEO Steve Ballmer declared in October 2012 that Microsoft would transition to a “devices and services” company, focusing on making hardware, online services and apps that work together seamlessly across multiple screens and gadgets.

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The company will break up its product silos, concentrating on four core areas: operating systems, apps, the cloud and devices. Teams in each of those units will contribute to all of Microsoft’s core products, including Windows, Office, Server and Tools, enterprise software, Bing, and Xbox. (Microsoft Dynamics, the company’s business solutions division, will continue to run independently of the larger structure.)

The new strategy, called “One Microsoft,” will “enable more cross-group contribution,” according to a memo Ballmer sent around to his staff.

That has long been a problem for the company. Insiders say the corporate culture has traditionally been so competitive that collaboration with other teams has been discouraged.

Microsoft will hold a conference call at 12:30 p.m. PT to discuss the plan in more detail.

“Times change, and Microsoft has to change with it,” said Al Hilwa, an analyst at IDC. “They are generally executing on the outlines of the right strategy, but speed of execution and responsiveness is their biggest issue right now. The new organization is likely focused on exactly that.”

To read the rest of the CNN/Money article, click here.

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