Robert J. Herbold

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (Retired), Microsoft Corporation
Managing Director, Herbold Group, LLC

Robert J. (Bob) Herbold, retired executive vice president and chief operating officer of Microsoft Corporation, is the Managing Director of The Herbold Group, LLC, a consulting business focused on profitability, strategic, and operational issues. Herbold is also an Operating Partner of the private equity firm Thoma Bravo and serves on the Board of Directors of Agilent Technologies, Indachin Ltd. Hong Kong and Vision Solutions Inc.

Herbold joined Microsoft in 1994 as executive vice president and chief operating officer, retiring in 2001. During his tenure in that position, he was responsible for finance, corporate marketing, market research, manufacturing and distribution, information systems, human resources, and public relations. During his 7 years as COO, Microsoft experienced a four fold increase in revenue and a seven fold increase in profits. From 2001 to 2003, Herbold worked half-time for Microsoft as Executive Vice President assisting in government, industry, and customer areas.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Herbold spent 26 years at The Procter & Gamble Company. In his last 5 years with P&G, he served as senior vice president of advertising and information services. In that role, he was responsible for the company’s worldwide marketing/brand management operations as well as all marketing related services such as media and retail promotion programs. He was also responsible for the worldwide information technology and market research organizations.

Herbold’s experiences at Microsoft and Procter & Gamble were the basis of an article he authored in the January, 2002 issue of the Harvard Business Review entitled “Inside Microsoft: Balancing Discipline and Creativity”, which focuses on how companies can improve their profitability and agility. In 2004 he authored a book published by Random House titled The Fiefdom Syndrome; The Turf Battles that Undermine Careers and Companies – and How to Overcome Them. In 2007 his second book was published by McGraw Hill titled: Seduced by Success; How the Best Companies Survive the 9 Traps of Winning.

Herbold has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Cincinnati and both a master’s degree in mathematics and a Ph.D. in computer science from Case Western Reserve University. Herbold is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Heritage Foundation, Nanyang Technological University and the Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the Board of Overseers of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and is Senior Executive in Residence at INSEAD, Singapore Campus. He is also the President of The Herbold Foundation, which is primarily focused on providing college scholarships to science and engineering students.

About The Herbold Group, LLC

The purpose of The Herbold Group, LLC is to help organizations improve their performance and profitability. While the Herbold Group is primarily focused on corporations, its efforts can also be helpful to non-profits, educational institutions and government bodies.

The Herbold Group can help you do the following:

• Avoid the Ravaging Legacy Practices Brought on By Success
• Identify and Dismantle Bureaucracy and Fiefdoms
• Improve Profitability and Agility
• Reorganize and Staff for Increased Innovation
• Find Ways to Significantly Improve Your Cost Structure
• Improve the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Your IT Organization
• Avoid Common Marketing Traps
• Put Discipline in Your HR Practices

Bob Herbold, the Managing Director of The Herbold Group LLC, provides presentations for groups of all sizes as a keynote speaker, for annual management meetings, for management teams seeking to find ways to tackle their problems, and a whole variety of other types of groups. The topic areas mirror the issue areas outlined above.

Bob also provides advisory and training services designed to improve the performance and innovation of organizations.