Annually, Fortune magazine releases a list of the top 500 largest companies in the United States (Time Warner Co., 2008). Being ranked no. 44 in 2008, Microsoft has increased its revenues 15.4% since 2006 because of its continued efforts to release latest technology (Time Warner Co., 2008). To understand how Microsoft continues to lead in profits, sales and technology, the consumer must realize internal and external factors influence how Microsoft performs and operates. In depth, Microsoft’s planning functions are influenced by the consumer’s need, which continues to influence Microsoft’s products and services. The purpose of this paper is to identify and explain the internal and external factors which impact the planning functions of management within Microsoft Corporation.
The internal desire to conquer all world markets in the software business is very challenging but Microsoft has proven it can be done with careful planning in regard to rapid change. Externally, the information technology sector changes quickly so Microsoft operates a good portion of their resources to keep up with these occurrences. Each locale around the globe is a different market which has to be catered to accordingly. In order to accommodate to these specific markets Microsoft is flexible to change goals rapidly if the local market doesn’t seem lucrative for the future of the company. Sound business planning and monitoring ensure such rapid changes have an advantage for the company.
Microsoft’s global development section has put a great deal of effort into creating software to be used in every country around the world, thus creating an external factor within the planning function. They have standardized operating systems so the whole world is on the same page. Many reasons exist for Microsoft to develop their products globally, including: increased revenue and profit potential, lower support costs, increased customer satisfaction, and moving ahead of the competition (Microsoft Corporation, 2008). Developing software that is world-ready is a way to deliver products quickly and at a lower cost for international markets. Software must have the capability to support all languages in order to be effective in the global market, especially in regard to the input of data using a keyboard. Some of the difficult languages with characters instead of letters (i.e. Japanese) pose a challenge to even the best programmers.
Technology can be viewed as an internal and external factor within the planning function at Microsoft.
The IT department needs to collaborate with the business to better understand how organization changes impact applications and systems. Moreover, IT needs to strengthen the IT-business alignment to stay abreast of future changes. One methodology that may assist here is business architecture, a blueprint of the business that supports aligning strategic objectives and tactical demands. 7. There are limits to customer-centric responsiveness.
In a firm, management and leadership are important and needed. Leadership and management are similar. Actually, leadership and management are totally different. The leadership would influence the firm. The leader would have difference leadership styles to lead the subordinate.
The argumentative aim of this paper seeks to address Bernard Williams in his piece ‘Internal and External Reasons’ and show that Williams is in fact correct in saying there are in fact no external reasons and all reasons are actually internal.
Knowledge can be achieved either through the justification of a true belief or for the substantive externalist, through a “natural or law like connection between the truth of what is believed and the person’s belief” (P.135). Suppose a man named George was implanted with a chip at birth, which causes him to utter the time in a rare Russian dialect. His girlfriend Irina, who happens to speak the same Russian dialect, realizes that every time she taps his shoulder, he tells her the time and he is always right. She knows that he is right because she checks her watch. Because she thinks this is cute, she never tells him what it is that he is saying. One day, Irina’s watch breaks but instead of getting it fixed, she just taps George on the shoulder whenever she needs to ask for the time.
What are the three or four most important drivers of Microsoft’s business model over the past 10 to 15 years that have accounted for the company’s spectacular results?
Planning aims to reduce uncertainty. It does this by forcing managers to look ahead, anticipate change, consider the impact of change and develop appropriate responses. (Robbins 2012) Through attempted monitoring of conditions in a changing environment, one is able to respond quicker to new information and new circumstances, thereby becoming more flexible. In addition, having the environment under constant observation enables managers to analyse how the organisation will differentiate itself from its competitors, therefore facilitating more chan...
Strategic planning directs every movement in a business and is very essential to business performance (London 2002, pp.26-33). The strategic plan and operational plan are extracted from Best Buy Form 10K to better clarify the current situation and future direction of Best Buy.
In today’s competitive business environment, effective management plays a crucial role. The article Five Minds of a Manager by Jonathan Gosling and Henry Mintzberg, identify some important aspects of effective managers. According to the author, “The world of the manager is complicated and confusing.” Consequently, mangers need to think above ordinary employees. In particular, managers should, think global and act local, collaborate through competitions, be agents of change and maintain order. This paper provides a reflective review of the article Five Minds of a Manager by Jonathan Gosling and Henry Mintzberg.
The first function of management is planning. Planning is a process that managers use to identify and involve goal setting and decide the best way to achieve the goal.(Bartol 2007) Planning connect the gap between where we do, where we intend to go. It predict the possible things to happen which would not otherwise happen (MSG 2012). There are several steps to the planning process, which are determine the goals of the organisation, evaluate the current position, consider possible future conditions, identify possible alternative actions and choose the best. Planning is the criteria thinking through goals and making decision to achieve the goal of the organisation’s objective, which requires a systematic way. Also objectives focus the managers how to achieve the final result as managers have to predict anything will happen, avoid the problem and fight back to competitors. An example of planning, which is the President Canon Inc Tsuneji Uchida and lead Canon Company become the no.1 in the global business (Canon.Inc 2011). Tsuneji Uchida has to understand what is the company objective and goal. First, make decision to protect the position and the aim of canon, improve the operation more diversity. Second, he creates the new design of camera and new technology, he plan to do these things to maximise profit.
Facing to more complex business environment, systematically marketing plans are important to organizations in terms of maintaining a high level of operating efficiency and achieving goals fully. According to Sally and John (1996:3), marketing plans are “the written document or blueprint for implementing and controlling an organization’s marketing activities related to a particular marketing strategy” (Sally, D., Lyndon S., & John, B., 1996: 3). A successful marketing plan is able to improve organizations’ profits and growth, uses in objective setting and monitors results (Subash Jain, Michael D. Clemes, Gregory Brush, 2008: 5)
Relate Microsoft’s problems with its control and evaluation systems to each of the stages of growth in Greiner’s model.
This essay plans to focus on the corporate strategy of Microsoft, and show how Microsoft has used diversification successfully within their corporate strategy to gain a competitive advantage.
Over recent years companies have become less dependent on paper and more dependent on technology. Take American Honda Motors for example; the Davenport Parts facility recently converted computer systems to more efficiently manage its inventory. Prior to its new system months of preparation was needed in order to ensure a smooth change over. Without the four basic functions of management all working together success would not have been possible.
Globalization and economic slowdown has made businesses subject to a great deal of uncertainty. In this time of rapid change, economies worldwide change rapidly, new markets open up and old ones change, and demand for products is often uncertain. As such, businesses must be flexible and adaptable in the types of methods that they use...
HRM comprises a set of policies designed to maximize organizational integration, Employee commitment, flexibility and quality of work. (Guest, 1987) as cited by (Armstrong, 2009) this statement entails that HRM function has policies to guide its activities, if these policies are well integrated with the strategy of the organization, it can enhance employee commitment and result in quality of work, as cited by (Armstrong, 2009) that the overall purpose of human resource management is to ensure that the organization is able to achieve success through people, however the function of HRM is affected by several other factors, this essay will look at three Internal and external environmental factors affecting HR Specialist.