It's hard finding counter-examples since no two companies are in the same business and situation, but consider Microsoft: stack-ranking coincided with their lost decade where they stagnated, ceded control of mobile & web to Apple & Google, etc.
A new CEO changed many things so it's hard to say whether stack-ranking was more a cause or symptom of Ballmer's bad management but from the outside it certainly seems like a healthier company now that it's gone.
That's also important to think about from the other perspective: stack-ranking seems like a frictional cost — Microsoft would have been profitable no matter what since anything short of discontinuing Windows/Office would have left a massive cash flow, but it's harder to see where pushing people out cost you until after the fact. Amazon has enjoyed a massive first mover advantage from the cloud and they're certainly executing well now but I would not be surprised if, say, strong competition lead to a point in a few years where they might wish that they hadn't lost staff due to their checkered reputation for being an enjoyable place to work.
A new CEO changed many things so it's hard to say whether stack-ranking was more a cause or symptom of Ballmer's bad management but from the outside it certainly seems like a healthier company now that it's gone.
That's also important to think about from the other perspective: stack-ranking seems like a frictional cost — Microsoft would have been profitable no matter what since anything short of discontinuing Windows/Office would have left a massive cash flow, but it's harder to see where pushing people out cost you until after the fact. Amazon has enjoyed a massive first mover advantage from the cloud and they're certainly executing well now but I would not be surprised if, say, strong competition lead to a point in a few years where they might wish that they hadn't lost staff due to their checkered reputation for being an enjoyable place to work.