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The ongoing case study presented by Microsoft and the scrutiny of the Justice Department and Congress serves as an excellent departure point to establish the nature and premises of organizational theory and design since it allows for examination from both the viewpoint of the public and the economic aspects of the situation in which Microsoft finds itself. While issues of organizational structure and corporate policies as related to costs, revenue, profit and market structure are inherent in the study of any company or organization, it is important to recognize the unique aspects of Microsoft.
Microsoft, undeniably, has a larger presence throughout the computer software industry and the users of its many products since its operating system defines, to a great degree, how work is done in the modern business world. With a company that has virtually always been in a "near-monopoly" situation such as Microsoft, it comes as no surprise that there are many who believe the company should be split into two (or more) independent organizations. However, that has little to do with the organizational design reality that actually is the Microsoft Corporation.
Most companies grew out of their perpetual search for profit and how to make that profit grow bigger each year and Bill Gates and Microsoft are certainly no exception to that rule. In fact, they are the personification of the rule! Such a determined search for ever-increasing profits has resulted in large, vertically integrated organizations. But it is essential to keep in mind the fact that economic growth does not end in profit accumulation. In the case of the computer and software industry, growth came in the form of reliance on external economies, that is, keeping apace with the technological progress of other companies in the same industry rather than each company going its own way. Microcomputer companies that remain active to this day are the ones that view computers as open ended machines, ready to be upgraded and improved from time to time, at pace with the current technology advances. Again, Microsoft presents the definitive example of such a company.
Organizational Design for the 21st Century
Any business or business process has had to face a certain level of re-engineering or reconstruction in order to fit into the managerial revolution of the 1990s and the move into the 21st cent...
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...loyees and grand plans for the future. For both start-up ventures and existing firms, entrepreneurship carried on in the pursuit of business opportunities spurs business expansion, technological progress, and wealth creation. The Connor Model would certainly verify that fundamental fact.
In order to adequately plan for the future, especially in terms of making the appropriate organization design plans for the future, Microsoft has had to broaden its collective understanding of information and other aspects associated with non-bureaucratic organizational design in order to appropriately commit to the ideas Connor advocates. Clearly, the current changes in organizational environments, are disturbing the century-long domination of the bureaucratic organization but a company such as Microsoft has not had to deal with such hidebound "traditions." However, it is also important that it not allow itself to be "married to" the unique traditions and processes it has established. Considering the past performance and accomplishments of the company, regardless of decisions made by the government, it is likely Microsoft will continue to evolve in ways that assure its success
While the Microsoft Empire maintains its status as a vast company of large-scale production, readily contributing to the national GDP, and yielding high interest and profits to its associates, criticism and controversial accusations keep mounting. The thought of a monopoly as the economic device for good business seems almost mind-boggling to Microsoft’s competing corporations, as well as the entire economic community, legal and commercial.
Microsoft is arguably the most influential IT company ever, controlling standards in both the corporate and domestic computer marketplace. With their share of the desktop PC software market and a substantial proportion of the server business, Microsoft is now dictating many of the standards on which today's information systems are built, and has achieved an unprecedented level of recognition among business management. Microsoft is following a long-term strategy to dominate four interconnected core markets (the enterprise, the Internet, electronic commerce, and information appliances), and looks set to exert a major influence on every aspect of IT over the next few years. How large enterprises react to these developments will affect their business strategy into the next millennium.
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?
Organizational structure is one of the three key organizational assets that could contribute to the effectiveness of operations of any organization (Zheng, Yan and Mclean 2009) It is joined together by different flows of information, decision processes, hierarchy of authority, specialization and working materials. (Enz 2009; Mintzberg 1980) Furthermore, it also determines the operating workflow, control of information, decision-making in the organization and the line authority (Mintzberg 1980). The facets of the organizational structure, the relationships that exist within it, and how the business processes (Bititci et al 2011) are controlled, determine the managerial style that should be utilized in addition to the strategies the organization could implement. Going further, a company’s organizational design and the parts that constitute it are seen as a contributing factor to superior performance, which ultimately provide an organization with competitive advantage over its competitors. (Enz 2009; Zheng, Yang, and Mclean 2009)
Microsoft, from its inception, has been known for its software, especially its Windows platform. It has changed the way we operate computers and through its software, has made the computer user-friendly and very efficient. Microsoft, however, does not want to only specialize in the software department. They have thus expanded their excellence in other departments such as gaming, music and hardware.
Organizational structure, along with the different elements it encompasses, is a significant factor in the overall design of any business. Establishing a clear picture of what a department’s responsibilities are, classifying job roles and functions, and defining where people fit into the chain of command, can make everyday tasks and decisions easier for both employees and managers alike. In addition, astute planning and organization can also have a large impact on a company’s bottom line, with an effectively organized company saving money by reducing redundancies and improving processes and work flow. By outlining and analyzing the general organizational structure that is present at the Dakkota Integrated Systems Windsor Plant, one can identify both its strengths and weaknesses.
The Internet was growing at an outstanding pace and many people believed that it was going to affect every business. However, Gates dismissed the Internet and Netscape as unimportant, saying that they would have no impact on him. He quickly found out how wrong he was and how these new threats in the environment were going to affect his business, and he managed to find the way for converting this threat into an opportunity. Thus, he changed the direction of his strategy and he entered into a new business: the Internet world. He realized that he was missing out an opportunity in the market that could make his company grow in a huge way; so he adopted a follower strategy, which is very ironic knowing that they have always been the leaders. He strategically fit-in by matching his resources and strengths (capital, know-how and people) to the changing environment. As Netscape was ahead he needed to act quickly before it was too late, so he took advantage of his power as a leader and focused on regaining position over Netscape by adding the browser as an integral part of Windows, giving free copies to the public and forcing manufacturers to install the browser on the machine. In other words, he used his best existing resource which was Microsoft Windows as part of the strategy and used his monopoly to stifle competition and defeat its rivals. However, this strategic choice could have never succeeded at the business level, if Microsoft wouldn’t have the competitive advantage of understanding the customer and the market as they do.
Microsoft, currently one of the world’s biggest and most influential software companies, was found in 1975 by William Gates and Paul Allen.[1] It quickly positioned itself as a leader in the software community and due to the strength growth of its user base for the Windows operating system and numerous other products, it became both widely popular and widely hated. Many consumers love the suite of products that Microsoft offers because they are easy to use, are widely supported, and have many applications written specifically to for them. On the other hand, there are many who dislike Microsoft, claiming that their policies lead to an uncompetitive market and that their practices are unethical. In recent years many court cases, including a major anti-trust suit have been brought against Microsoft. This paper aims to focus on the issue of Microsoft’s product pricing structure and to discuss the issues that have arisen because of it.
Microsoft is the leading and the largest Software Company in the world. Found by William Gates and Paul Allen in 1975 Microsoft has grown and become a multibillion company in only ten years. It all started with a great vision – “a computer on every desk and every home” - that seemed almost impossible at the time. Now Microsoft has over 44,000 employees in 60 countries, net income of $3.45 billion and revenue of 11.36 billion. Company dramatic growth and success was driven by development and marketing of operational systems and personal productivity applications software.
In Microsoft, organization is extremely important as organization is the distribution of organizational resources to achieve strategic goals. In order to keep the company running efficiently and successfully, it is instrumental that they have an organization chart which is the visual representation of who runs which station or which person is in charge of which individual or individuals. Microsoft is a flat structured company which is an overall broad span of management and a few hierarchical levels. The individual in charge in this structure is the CEO, Satya Nadella along with the board of directors and the chairman of the board. The chairman of the board is John Thompson and some of the directors on the board include William (Bill) Gates and Steven Ballmer. These people are in charge of telling those on different echelons of the stations what to do and how to do it. The levels of work stations include accounting, marketing, devices, etc. and those who are designated to be in charge of a work station are expected to be good leaders and to keep their sector of the company operating smoothly with every other work station. This can also be referred to as the chain of command which is an unbroken line of authority that links all employees in an organization and shows who reports to whom. For example, if an individual were to have a problem in marketing, they would go to whoever is in charge of marketing and, their management notwithstanding, the duty of finding a solution falls to the CEO and board of directors. A defining characteristic of Microsoft’s organization structure would be departmentalism which entails a grouping of positions into departments and these departments into the overarching organization. Microsoft is ...
Organizational structure within an organization is a critical component of the day to day operations of a business. An organization benefits from organizational structure as a result of all it encompasses. It is used to define how tasks are divided, grouped and coordinated. Six elements should be addressed during the design of the organization’s structure: work specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, spans of control, centralization and decentralization. These components are a direct reflection of the organization’s culture, power and politics.
In this paper, team B will discuss the internal and external factors of the Microsoft Corporation. We will explain how these factors affect the four functions of management, planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Also, we will explain how globalization, technology, innovation, diversity and ethics will be delegated to manage the different factors. Microsoft Corporation was established in 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico producing software for developing, manufacturing, licensing, and support for range of software products and service for different type of computing devices. Microsoft grew from six employees to the largest personal computer software company in the world. By 1978, Microsoft earned $500,000 in the first quarter, and by the end of the year they earned revenue of $1,000,000. In the early 1980s Microsoft, in collaboration with IBM they released MS-DOS as their first 16-bit operating system. However after the late 1980s, Microsoft started to build its reputation by creating the Microsoft windows operating system and Microsoft office product, which includes internet explorer, excel, PowerPoint, and word programs. Then in the late 1990s, Microsoft teamed with Sega to incorporated their windows software package into the game developer’s Dreamcast hardware. Also they developed their own gaming system called the Xbox and that eventually was replaced by the xbox360. Microsoft has come a long way and is no longer just a worldwide leader in computer programming but also a major part of the technology world. Microsoft windows have been the flagship and accounts for most of its revenue for Microsoft: but the company has also branched ...
Organizational structure is the way that an organization arranges people and jobs so that work can be performed and goals can be achieved. Good organizational design helps communications, productivity, and innovation. Many organization structures have been created based on organizational strategy, size, technology, and environment. Robbins and Judge (2011, p. 504) listed three common structures: simple, bureaucracy, and matrix. In this post the author will describe the matrix structure, and discuss its advantages and disadvantages.
Organizations must operate within structures that allow them to perform at their best within their given environments. According to theorists T. Burns and G.M Stalker (1961), organizations require structures that will allow them to adapt and react to changes in the environment (Mechanistic vs Organic Structures, 2009). Toyota Company’s corporate structure is spelt out as one where the management team and employees conduct operations and make decisions through a system of checks and balances.
In past few years, companies and industries of various sizes have become aware that they need to improve business processes such as product development, order fulfilment, planning, distribution, and customer service. So everybody is now focusing on doing process improvement or redesigning.