The Oracle of Oracle. (Bookshelf).Amacom, 226 pages. $24.95.Florence M. Stone. The oracle in question, of course, is Oracle Corp. founder and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Lawrence Ellison. Ellison is often painted as a larger-than-life figure -- audacious, controlling and self-assured to a fault, a lover of Japanese samurai samurai (sä'm  rī`), knights of feudal Japan, retainers of the daimyo. This aristocratic warrior class arose during the 12th-century wars between the Taira and Minamoto clans and was culture, a playboy with platinum tastes. He's been in the news lately as the huge software firm has slumped a bit, while he personally maps out a campaign for the upcoming America's Cup America's Cup: see sailing. America's Cup Most prestigious trophy in international yachting competition. First offered under another name in Britain in 1851, the cup was won easily by the America from New York and subsequently became known as the yacht races Noun 1. yacht race - a race between crews of people in yachts sailing-race boat race - a race between people rowing or driving boats . Author Stone has written books about Dell Computer and Amazon.com, so she's certainly familiar with the high-tech arena. And like Dell and Amazon, Oracle is largely identified with a founding chief executive -- but Ellison has been around a lot longer, since Oracle began as Software Development Labs in 1977. Despite some ups and downs ups and downs pl.n. Alternating periods of good and bad fortune or spirits. ups and downs Noun, pl alternating periods of good and bad luck or high and low spirits , Oracle is the second-largest software company in the world, behind that certain behemoth behemoth (bē`hĭmŏth, bĭhē`–) [Heb.,=plural of beast], large, fanciful primeval monster, like Leviathan, evoking the hippopotamus mentioned in the Book of Job. in Redmond, Wash., and Ellison is one of the world's richest individuals. Apart from some profile material in the opening chapter and a later one on Ellison as a leader, this really isn't a book about Ellison himself; it's certainly miles from a biography. Its focus is on Oracle as a company, its strategy, products and ethos -- much of which reflects Ellison's tastes and dictates. For a book compiled largely from secondary sources -- books and magazine articles -- Stone has done an effective job of summarizing where Oracle has come from and where it seems to be going, and why. |
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