[...] Well, this morning, we made a big mistake in our pricing engine that capped everything on the site at $49.95.  The mistake started at midnight and went until around 6:00am pst.  When we figured out the mistake was happening, we had to shut down the site for a bit until we got the pricing problem fixed.

While we’re sure this was a great deal for customers, it was inadvertent, and we took a big loss (over $1.6 million – ouch) selling so many items so far under cost.  However, it was our mistake.  We will be honoring all purchases that took place on 6pm.com during our mess up.  We apologize to anyone that was confused and/or frustrated during out little hiccup and thank you all for being such great customers.  We hope you continue to Shop. Save. Smile. at 6pm.com.

Detaliile erorii aici. La nivel RO, un magazin online de carti, in care s-au investit 1,2 milioane euro recupereaza investitia in 4-5 ani:

“In ceea ce priveste recuperarea investitiei, ca la orice proiect in private equity, estimam ca in 4-5 ani vom amortiza investitia. Break-even vom avea dupa 6 luni de activitate si vom incheia primul an de activitate cu profit”, a mai afirmat omul de afaceri. Libraria online lansata in varianta beta se numeste Elefant.ro, iar suma de 1,2 milioane de euro necesara pentru dezvoltare pana la sfarsitul primului an de functionare [...]

PS: Intre timp a fost lansat si e-Romania, un tun rasunator care “va contine urmatoarele domenii de interes national: e-Administratie, e-Sanatate, e-Mediu, e-Transport, e-Agricultura, e-Justitie, e-Educatie, e-Cultura, e-Biserica , e-Turism, e-Asociativ, e-Sport, e-Participare, iar 13 programe vor fi dedicate persoanelor fizice, pe cand restul celor juridice“.

Guvernul a aprobat strategia națională e-România, propusă de Ministerul Comunicațiilor și Societății Informaționale (MCSI), Executivul alocând aproape jumătate de miliard de euro pentru perioada 2010-2013.

În acest moment, e-Romania este prezentat ca un portal CONCEPT. Informaţiile cuprinse nu au caracter definitv, urmând ca, respectând configuraţia actuală, să se construiască o bază de informare coerentă şi integrată.

…

e-Romania va fi poarta ta spre serviciile guvernamentale!

Solutia este atat de “complexa” incat include opensource (tot respectul, dar gratuit) pentru administrare si continut (CMS bazat pe http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/). Deci, 500 mil. euro e pretul pentru instalarea unei platforme gratuite (ca Joomla, WordPress sau Drupal) plus hosting plus continut pentru un stat roman economicos si atent cu banii publici.

Ma apuc sa caut stat “economicos” care sa investeasca juma de milion de euro intr-un WordPress personalizat.

Prima confesiune, distrusi prin politica, vine de la un senior manager care pleaca de la Microsoft dupa aproape 20 de ani si povesteste despre trecerea de la echipe de lucru mici, flexibile si cu tinte precise la echipe prea mari, birocrate si pierdute in jocuri politice interne:

When I left, I told Steve [Ballmer] my reasons. Microsoft lost its competitive edge. Too much politics, too much BS, too much ‘what can I do to you today, to make myself look better tomorrow.’

[...]

While I love Steve [Ballmer] to no end, he’s too removed from what’s really happening, and only gets info from the politically motivated ass kissers that just want to keep their jobs, not do the right thing.

A doua confesiune, o familie foarte disfunctionala, prezinta experienta unui consultant de service si implementare a produselor Microsoft la companii din Fortune 100. De la lungirea brusca si fara sens a cailor ierarhice si dezvoltarea personala in dezavantajul echipei reprezentate, strategistii vizionari din cadrul companiei au fost prinsi in jocuri politice si pup-in-curiste ale managementului si lasati sa plece.

Processes became more bureaucratic and individuals were less empowered to take action. In fact, oftentimes the incentive structure encouraged individual contributors not to do the right thing, but just to do what they committed to in their review the year prior. In other words, if you committed to include Feature A in Windows, and half-way through the year you realized that was a bad thing for Windows and Microsoft customers, the incentive structure actively discouraged you from trying to kill the feature, because then you wouldn’t have achieved your commitments.

[...]

The company as a whole seemed more and more focused on chasing competitors into any business where they might someday present a threat — which to me always felt like ego on the part of SteveB [CEO Steve Ballmer] —  and seemed to completely lose sight of its core strengths and where it could deliver the most value to its customers.

A treia confesiune, saracele albinute, povesteste despre diviziile cu program prea incarcat din Microsoft in care cei ce nu pot tine ritmul sunt penalizati. Media de lucru era de 80-90 de ore pe saptamana (16-18 ore pe zi)  timp de cateva luni. Cei ce nu erau dispusi sa tina pasul cu acest program deveneau persona non grata, din cauza unui manger cu probleme de performanta si tehnici de guerilla asupra propriilor subordonati.

The opportunities? [They] can be among the most amazing for your career that you’ll ever encounter. This is balanced, however, by the reality that merit isn’t always the primary criteria by which opportunities are given out, and that opportunities that are given in the blink of an eye can be — and sometimes are — taken away in the blink of an eye for no apparent reason at all.

[...]

Pregnant women ended up on early bedrest from the stress. People slept at the office in order to use the commute time for more work. For some, there were weekly all-nighters in the schedule.

Update: A patra confesiune (si cea mai lunga), o gramada ce clovni, prezentata de un adevarat veteran Microsoft (din era MS-DOS si Windows 3.1), arata inceputurile, desfasurarile, punctele culminante, hatisurile, personajele negative si pozitive, si sfarsitul unei activitati incepute din ’90.

There were a ton of bozos. Arrogant bozos. Not to suggest that I’m some sort of genius. Far from it. But the intellectual rigor demonstrated by much of the management — and strategy — was sadly lacking. In some ways it was funny, but mostly depressing.

[...]

There’s little or no interest in sustainability. No recognition for doing a job consistently well over time. No incentive for effective cross-team work (unless you can get another team to do work you can take credit for).

In continuare, Joe continua sa colecteze sub linistea anonimatului negarantat (datorita continutului detaliat) povesti din Microsoft, cu numitor comun Steve Ballmer. Si cum am conchis mai demult la bere: capitalismul se compune din multi-microcomunisme.

Wall-Street Live-Text este un nou concept editorial, reprezinta un instrument util pentru o publicatie online din Romania si consta in a invita doi manageri, antreprenori sau consultanti sau personalitati ale mediului business pentru a raspunde cititorilor Wall-Street. Prima sesiune Wall-Street Live-Text a fost concentrata pe brandingul personal aducand in timp real un flux de intrebari din partea cititorilor si raspunsuri ale invitatilor pe durata a doua ore. Chestonarele Wall-Street vin in completarea sesiunilor Live-Text prin analiza opiniei vis-a-vis de tema discutata.

Urmatoarea sesiune Live-Text pe Wall-Street.ro va avea loc pe 23 Aprilie 2009, tema in dezbatere fiind Management de criza.

Microintreprinderile vor fi obligate din luna aprilie sa plateasca trimestrial un impozit minim de 1.625 lei, in cazul in care suma datorata statului nu depaseste aceasta valoare. Aceasta inseamna un impozit lunar de de minim 540 lei. Raportat la cursul valutar de 4,2198 lei pentru un euro anuntat, joi, de Banca Nationala, impozitul trimestrial de 1.625 lei calculat la nivelul intregului an reprezinta echivalentul a aproximativ 1.500 euro pe an. Raportat la micile intreprinderi, inseamna moarte lenta, intr-o economie agonizanta, stapanita de un guvern incapabil sa ia decizii inteligente.

Mai multe informatii, pe wall-street.ro.