"... Of course, back then the sense of mission was boosted by the fact that Microsoft stock increased 90-fold in the 1990s, creating a host of stock option mill

"... Of course, back then the sense of mission was boosted by the fact that Microsoft stock increased 90-fold in the 1990s, creating a host of stock option millionaires. Those days are long over, and Microsoft shares are still well below their 1999 peak. The idea that the company can embody a start-up spirit at this stage of its development might also be a stretch. A recent book published anonymously by two former Microsoft employees, called ‘Stack Rank This!', portrays a company beset by abusive managers and dysfunctional teams where the appraisal process - the notorious stack rank system - actually works against the company's progress."