NEWS

Technology Idol

An online popularity contest for technology vendor CEOs reveals who is liked by their employees - and who is despised

Information Age

July 17, 2008
By Pete Swabey

For their customers, they are always ready to produce a broad smile and finger-crushing handshake. But what are the big-name CEOs of the technology industry actually like to work for?

A new social website launched in the US provides some startling insights. Glassdoor.com collates the experiences of employees from various companies, including their perception of the CEO. The site provides an ‘approval rating’ for the CEOs of many household companies – including most of the big names in IT.

How do the tech CEOs fare? Star performers include Josh James, CEO of web analytics provider Omniture, and Chuck Robel, chairman of the board for security software vendor McAfee, both of whom received 100% approval ratings. Also near the top – unsurprisingly, given his almost cult-like following – was Apple’s Steve Jobs, who received a 90% approval rating.

At the other end of the scale, was AMD’s recently dismissed CEO, Hector de J Ruiz, who received a rating of just 8% from the site’s contributors. Greg Brown, CEO of mobile phone manufacturer Motorola, fared little better, with 11%.

Diane Greene, co-founder and until very recently CEO of virtualisation software pioneer VMware, received an impressive approval rating of 86%.

Clearly, though, popularity among the workers is no guarantee for success. In July, Greene was ousted from her position as CEO by the board of directors, reportedly following pressure from investors.