Skype’s acquisition by Microsoft --- a strategic decision??
Microsoft- Company history & current situation:
Microsoft Corporation is one of the largest software companies in the world which is headquartered at Washington, USA with annual revenues in excess of $50 billion. The company's core business is based on developing, manufacturing, and licensing software products, including operating systems, software development tools business and consumer applications, server applications as well as Internet software technologies, and services. Microsoft was founded in late 1970’s by Bill Gates & Paul Allen who sold BASIC, the first computer language program to MITS computers, their first customer. In 1981 Microsoft, Inc. was incorporated & sold software to IBM, the dominant mainframe company. From 1983, Microsoft was led by Bill Gates; Chairman of Microsoft & one the world's wealthiest individuals and most famous businessman. Microsoft has succeeded in placing at least one of its products on virtually every PC in the world, setting industry standards and defining markets in the process. Microsoft worked closely with Apple during the development of Apple's Macintosh computer, which was introduced in the year 1984. Revolutionary in its design, Mac featured a graphical user interface based on icons instead of the typed commands used by the IBM PC. This made its programs simple easy to learn and simple to use, even by computer novices. Microsoft introduced Mac version of Word, BASIC and the spreadsheet program Multiplan, which quickly made Microsoft the leading supplier of applications for the Mac. Revenues jumped from $50 million in 1983 to nearly $100 million in 1984 (James 2004). Bill Gates & his colleagues moved from a company base...
... middle of paper ...
...ers, T. (2011). May 10th,2011:The Day Skype Died. Available: http://toddcarothers.com/2011/05/may-10th-2011-the-day-skype-died/. Last accessed 22nd June 2011
15. Jagger, S. (2007). EBay admits to bad call on how much it paid to take over Skype. Available: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article2570267.ece. Last accessed 23rd June 2011.
16. Global Future Report. (2000). Scenario-Based Decision Making - Technique. Available: http://www.globalfuture.com/scenario1.htm. Last accessed 22nd June 2011.
17. Zahorsky, D. (2011). Scenario Planning for Tomorrow. Available: http://sbinformation.about.com/cs/newseconomy/a/scenario_2.htm. Last accessed 21st June 2011.
18. IRM. (2002). A Risk Management Standard. Available: http://www.theirm.org/publications/documents/Risk_Management_Standard_030820.pdf. Last accessed 23rd June 2011.
By 1993 Microsoft's windows computer programming function became the most widely used operating system in the world. When Microsoft was still an idea, Bill Gates led Apple to believe he would help them succeed in creating the best computer programming systems in the nation, however, Gates left it unknown to Apple he planned to release his own software. Gates took notes and allowed Apple to release the software he helped them to create. Then shortly after, Microsoft introduced windows. Apple claimed Gates had stolen their ideas, as windows looked surprisingly similar to Apple's version. Gates claimed he used his own ideas because it was his own that made Apple's renowned software. As Microsoft was leading in the world, Apple threatened Microsofts position in the world of technological advances by introducing a new software program that could potentially take Microsoft's top spot in the market away from them. Gates quickly said that he had created a new software that was set to release also, although he had no idea of new software at the time and made the excuse to possibly buy himself a bit of time. About eight months later, Microsoft released the new software program, as bill gates had proclaimed, retaining the top spot in the market. Microsoft's expansion today has reached every technological realm possible. Occluded in the newest developments are
Roy, B. (1993). Decision science or decision-aid science? European journal of operational research , 66 (2), 184-203.
Microsoft is an American company that was founded by William Henry Gates III, as known as Bill Gates, and his his high school friend Paul Gardner Allen in 1975 April 4. But unluckily, Paul Allen resigned from Microsoft in 1983 after developing Hodgkin’s disease. In 1985 October 20, Microsoft released Microsoft window. It is the first original operating system. It is a graphical extension for MS-DOS. Even though, it’s not handy like nowadays Microsoft window. Then in 1990, Microsoft introduced Microsoft office, which is a bundle office productivity application with Microsoft Word and Microsoft excel. The Microsoft Word was the first application that could display italics. And the Microsoft Office would be available for free for all the PC World’s computer that is produce on that same year in November. In the 2000 February 17, Microsoft released Window 2000 operating system, and according to Microsoft it is the most safe operating system in the world at that time. But still, there are so many problems and glitches need to be fixed. Besides there are mutable computer viruses are made specially to attack Window 2000. Rush to gain back the sales. In the 2001 October 25 Window xp is available. The new operating system fix most of the problem. Although some of the user were still complaining the system that it will take your information, but in the 2007 January, there are 76% of people in the entire world are using the operating system.
The now highly profitable and cash rich Microsoft diversified into a wide variety of software products including: compilers and interpreters for programming languages and word processors, spreadsheets and other office software some of these products were successful, and some were not. By the turn of the millennium, many of Microsoft's software products dominated the market in their respective categories.
This was the same year when Bill Gates and Paul Allen co-founded Microsoft. In 1981, Bill Gates’ company was hired to develop an operating system but rather than creating a new operating system they decided to buy a preexisting operation system called QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System) for the amount of 50,000 dollars. After modifying the operating system they bought, they renamed the operating system to MS-DOS. After MS-DOS began selling it brought in a steady income for Gates due to the fact that the PC market was growing and there weren’t many competitors in the market for them to compete with. In 1986, when Microsoft Corporation went public, it made Gates into a millionaire overnight. The following year, Microsoft released their first ever version of
It is a well-known fact that Microsoft is the most marketed operating system. This can be explained by the decision by Microsoft to design and sell its operating system to other computer manufacturers. This meant making it compatible with other hardware. Apple did not choose to do this, making its operating systems only compatible with its own computer hardware (Derene, 2009). In a website article called “HongKait.Com: Online Tips for Designers and Bloggers” Nina Krimly states statistics that identify Microsoft as controlling 91% of the market while Apple Mac around 5%. The exclusivity of Apple did not make it popular among those who used the computer to work on projects both at home and at work in the past ...
"Microsoft Corporation, is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44.28 billion and 71,553 employees in 102 countries as of July 2006. It develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices. Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA, its best selling products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software, each of which has achieved near-ubiquity in the desktop computer market. Microsoft possesses footholds in other markets, with assets such as the MSNBC cable television network, the MSN Internet portal, and the Microsoft Encarta multimedia encyclopedia. The company also markets both computer hardware products such as the Microsoft mouse as well as home entertainment products such as the Xbox, Xbox 360 and MSN TV" ("Microsoft").
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 ...
Skype was introduced into the market back in 2003 and other companies such as eBay and Microsoft acquired the company soon after. Skype market timing introduction was well thought out because other services such as you msn, Aol we not in demand any more people switch to Skype because it was available on more than one device.
Microsoft’s mission of placing a “PC running Microsoft software on every desk and in every home” drove their overall strategy early on. Depending on the business segment within Microsoft, one would see in place very different business models as the strategy for each line of business could vary. In the operating system (OS) segment, Microsoft initially brought in an existing product and modified this (MS-DOS) to work with the Intel microprocessor, which were the “brains” of the IBM PC. Microsoft partnered with IBM to provide the operating system for the IBM PC. In addition to developing Windows, Microsoft during this period was working to write applications for the Apple OS.
Gates suggested that IBM “license it and charge a fee for the software” (Bill. Biography). Over the next three years, everything “exploded” and the stock price shot up. Gates and Allen incorporated Microsoft, with Gates as president and Chairman” (Bill. Biography). Microsoft was eventually “running thirty percent of the world’s software”. The IBM deal was possibly the biggest event in the history of Microsoft.
By 2001 the telecommunications market was softening; meaning prices were falling due to an excess of supply and a decrease in demand as the dot com boom ended. WorldCom had already signed contracts with third party telecommunication companies promising to complete their calls. These multi billion dollar contracts were actually costing more in expenses than what the company would or was receiving in revenue (Sandberg, Solomon, & Blumenstein, 2002).
This is the open-system view of the organization. Prior to the accident, BP was concerned with its procurement process, technology development, infrastructure and human resource. BP was also using SWOT Analysis through which the company examined strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Internal analysis here refers to BP’s capabilities and resources, which define her strengths, and weaknesses while opportunities and threats derive from the external context of BP operations. However, after the accident, BP became more aware that the external environment is where opportunities and threats exists and must be constantly monitored and scanned. This can be explained with The ‘PESTEL’ model which identifies the key elements of Political (Legislation/ Ideology, government expenditure and legislative factors); Economic (Macro-economic factors and business cycles); Socio-demographic (Changing societal attitudes towards ethical standards and life style choices); Technological (technologies that can affect an organization); Ecological / Green issues (Opportunities and threats, impact of pollution or reclying and carbon reduction) and legal factors (legislative or regulatory framework under which the company operates that create opportunities and threats). The essence of using the PESTEL model here is to identify the key drivers that allows scenario planning to occur in relation to market
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.
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.