NY Times Contributor Dick Brass provides some insight into Microsoft’s corporate culture and why the giant company struggles in delivering cohesive products to the masses.

Internal competition is common at great companies. It can be wisely encouraged to force ideas to compete. The problem comes when the competition becomes uncontrolled and destructive. At Microsoft, it has created a dysfunctional corporate culture in which the big established groups are allowed to prey upon emerging teams, belittle their efforts, compete unfairly against them for resources, and over time hector them out of existence.

This statement actually makes me feel a little sorry for Microsoft engineers.  I hadn’t given much thought to the fact that there are many talented people at Microsoft and sadly the internal competition and office politics restrict the company’s effectiveness.

Read more from the NY Times.