Everyone else must fail
Subtitle: the unvarnished truth about Oracle and Larry Ellison
By: Karen Southwick
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Crown Business
Published: 2003
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 306
Subjects: Ellison, Larry.; Oracle Corporation -- History.; Computer software industry -- United States -- History.; Businessmen -- United States -- Biography.
Genres: Biography.
Description: "Karen Southwick's unauthorized account provides the full story of Larry Ellison's brilliant, controversial career. Ellison's drive and fierce ambition created Oracle out of the dust and built it into one of America's great technology companies, but his unpredictable management style keeps it constantly on the edge of both success and disaster. The hostile bid for PeopleSoft is just the most recent example. With one clever strategic move, Larry Ellison threw much of the business software field into play." "The saying "It's not enough that I succeed, everyone else must fail" has been so often used by or associated with Ellison that most people think it originated with him. It's actually attributed to Genghis Khan, but it's a dead-on way to describe not only the way Ellison thinks about competitors but the way he runs Oracle. His weapons are not marauding hordes, but Oracle's possession of database technology that is crucial for keeping mission-critical information flows working at thousands of organizations, corporations, nonprofits, and government agencies."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [293]-297) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: "It is not sufficient that I succeed. Everyone else must fail."; title: Days of the Departures: "The people who get closest to Larry the fastest also fail the fastest."; title: Who's Larry?: "He lays awake late at night thinking how to make Oracle - and himself - number one, bigger than Microsoft, bigger than anyone."; title: The early years: How Oracle grabbed a new market from under the nose of IBM; title: On the Ropes: How Oracle Ran Amuck; title: Saving Oracle : Larry Gets Some Much Needed Help; title: Remaking Oracle: Growing up reluctantly; title: Becoming a household name: "The PC is a ridiculous device."; title: Turning the Oracle battleship: Embracing the Internet; title: "Memo to Oracle: Stop blaming customers."; title: Going for the jugular: "We're kicking ASK and taking names"; title: Uphill battles: "Its never a good thing to have that many people in an industry cheering for your demise."; title: Cult or culture: "I will buy you ... the General Electric Corporation, which is quite expensive and even dinner on Friday."; title: On the Edge: Oracle peers into the precipice.