What I want to convey is the same message that was expressed so eloquently last month by Hector Ruiz, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, when he accepted the 2006 Morgan Stanley Leadership Award for Global Commerce. Ruiz, who received the award at the Computerworld Honors event in Washington, provided a captivating glimpse into the corporate culture at AMD.
"I am delighted to be part of a company that is made up of thousands of people who not only come to work to earn a living -- they come to work to change the world," he said. "And I'm thrilled to be able to be their leader and follow them."
I could really identify with what Ruiz said about being in a leadership position and doing the following. Computerworld is produced by an extraordinarily talented, dedicated group of individuals. I learn from them, I'm inspired by them, I'm uplifted by them. They make me determined to try to work even harder than they do, which is a task that's nearly impossible to accomplish. So, yes, I know exactly what Ruiz meant. And that's what I'll try to convey when I accept the Magazine of the Year award on behalf of the people who earned it.
But back to that part about wanting to change the world. In his remarks, Ruiz spoke of how that desire drives the 10,000 AMD employees he represents. What AMD wants to do, he said, is work with other companies to "make [technology] accessible to everyone in the world, regardless of income, regardless of position, regardless of where they live." Realizing that desire would mean "we could truly make the world a better place," Ruiz said.
There was a conviction and sincerity in Ruiz's remarks that stuck with me, and that I recalled earlier this month when I read about the progress being made by Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child initiative to produce a US$100 laptop for children in developing countries. It didn't surprise me when I learned that AMD is participating in the OLPC project -- or that Intel, the Goliath to AMD's David, is not.
I couldn't help but recall Ruiz's comments again last week when I read about Intel's ongoing reorganization and layoffs, as it struggles to deal with sliding profits and loss of market share to AMD. Donald MacDonald, vice president of corporate brands and marketing, captured his company's corporate culture in remarks to the IDG News Service.
"We had become bloated. It's like middle-age spread," MacDonald said, patting his belly. "You don't know how it happens, but one day you look down and it's there." It's an interesting simile, considering that "middle-age spread" is a blessing that most of the world's population can only dream about.
Being fat and happy makes it easy to forget some things. Intel is boasting about its five-year, $1 billion initiative to promote the use of computers in developing countries, with a $400 laptop serving as the program's hallmark. It appears no one at Intel realizes that $400 is still far too unaffordable to do any real good.
Intel is a leader that's been doing a lot of following of late. But in this case, being a leader that follows isn't all that compelling.
Don Tennant is editor in chief of Computerworld. Contact him at don_tennant@computerworld.com.