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Microsoft and Nokia merger case study
Microsoft and Nokia merger case study
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Strategy of Microsoft and Nokia
Microsoft and Nokia have mentioned the acquisition in the 2013 annual report. Both companies have outlined a clear strategy that will connect the two businesses together.
The leadership team of Microsoft has highlighted three aspects for enhancement in 2014. Firstly, Microsoft has designed a new organizational structure in June 2013. The changes are small but were considered very effective. The leadership team changed the way of how each team was organized. For example, the engineering team that specializes in engineering solution and software construction (Jones, 2014), and also the sales team is responsible to promote the products. All the teams are working together as a coherent fashion in order to help
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(2012). International Business - An Asian Perspective. 9th ed. Singapore: McGraw Hill.
The chart explains the lifetime of a product or business from its early idea through its various sales stages as well as its inevitable death (David, 2005). Nokia was clearly on the decline curve of the cycle. The evidence is that Nokia was struggling and losing market share in the smart phone business before the acquisition.
While the product life cycle for Microsoft is a little bit different, Microsoft has completed its stage of maturity since it completed the IPO in 1983. Yet Microsoft is still remaining strong on many products and services. In the meanwhile, Microsoft also experienced failures in some products and services such like Windows Vista. However, there is no sharp decline for the company. Therefore, Microsoft should be placed on the slight decline curve of the product life cycle, and it has been making efforts in growing stronger as a company that provides both great software and hardware to the global
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Nokia has a long history of success in the mobile phone industry. Nokia also has extensive research and development segment and many manufacturing facilities that run around the world. On the other hand, Microsoft is a technology giant entered the market early, and the company still enjoys a large portion of the market of their operating systems and software applications.
Microsoft acquired the mobile phone division and the extensive supply chain and logistics network from Nokia through the acquisition. The purpose is to gain more advantage in the mobile phone industry as a successful technology company.
The acquisition of Nokia has brought the magnificent manufacturing capability in the smart phone business for Microsoft. Microsoft could leverage on the productivity and logistics of Nokia to differentiate itself in the smart phone business. The acquisition would help both companies to resist competitions, since the competition is getting more and fiercer as innovation happens every day in the technology industry. However, Microsoft needs to come up with new ideas to preserve the dominant status in the many sectors. In the meanwhile, Nokia needs to focus on the rest of its business that had not been sold to
Two organizations that show the importance of aligning a company’s business strategy with their IT strategy are Cirque du Soleil and Major League Baseball. Both of these organizations rely on digital technology to make it easier to provide to their customers better entertainment through collaboration.
Microsoft has devoted huge amounts of effort to marketing in developing their products and services, as well as to the integration of their software products with one another in an attempt to create a seamless and consistent computing environment for the user.
Sigurdson, J. (2004), ‘The Sony-Ericsson Endeavour: Part 1’, Institute of Innovation Research of Hitotsubashi Unniversity, Working Paper, (Tokyo: Japan).
The reason that I have chosen to do this question is that I want to discover whether there is a viable solution for a company as large as Microsoft to increase their profit margins or if Microsoft 's size prevents them from further increasing their profits. It is important to find out as if there is a clear way to increase profits it may be possible for other similar firms to also increase their profits. Since Microsoft 's establishment in April 1975 they have grown into a monopoly within the technology market, bringing huge innovation to the technology market. Successes such as the ‘Windows’ Operating system along with further inventions such as the ‘Xbox’ have allowed Microsoft to become diverse within their product portfolio
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 ...
In today’s current economic state, the likelihood of a company entering into a global market is inevitable. Multinational corporations (MNCs) such as Vodafone are required to standardise their Research & Development activities throughout the world in order to penetrate the market. This is achieved by obtaining new technological opportunities, such as the most up-to-date phones, thus maintaining a competitive driver in the market.
Microsoft was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and provides products, services, and devices in 190 countries around the world. They sell a wide variety of goods and services including laptop and desktop computers, video games and systems, applications for both phones and computers, and cell phones among other things. Their strategy is designed to allow them to accomplish three key goals: “reinvent productivity and business processes”, “build the intelligent cloud platform”, and “create more personal computing” (Microsoft Form 10-K). The main competitor for Microsoft today is Apple, who competes with Microsoft with its own line of laptops, cloud services, and phones. All of these devices use Apple operating systems and software which are direct
Microsoft was able in the OS segment to double their revenue per PC when Windows 3.x emerged which still needed MS-DOS to run. Most of the sales Microsoft made were to OEMs who would take the additional step of installing Windows on a computer’s hard drive. This strategy was effective in that the cost of production was relatively low, as an OEM may only need a single master copy to do the installation. The costs to Microsoft would largely be bore in R&D expense rather than production. As part of the Microsoft business model for this segment, Microsoft designed their OS to need periodic upgrades. The upgrades did come at a cost, and in essence, Microsoft was able to create an “annuity” stream for the Microsoft OS segment. In this segment, Microsoft had a monopolistic structure that allowed them to realize huge returns, especially during such a period of technological growth and rapid obsol...
I believe that Microsoft has the best intensions for society, because they are constantly developing the software market into a more competitive and challenging industry. Microsoft’s success as a company is partly due to its commitment to making the best product possible and strategic business practices. The first reason Microsoft is not a monopoly is because of the standardized quality of its OS. Second is the intelligent business practices Microsoft has engaged in through many of its business partners. The legal issues of the alleged antitrust accusations from the department of justice are just totally overrated.
I. Executive Summary Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation that manufactures, licenses, develops, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and services. Microsoft’s best known software products include the Windows line of operating systems, Internet Explorer web browser and Microsoft Office. Microsoft offers all sorts of electronics from computers, tablets, to gaming consoles, and also offers other services to its customers as well. Microsoft takes a lot of pride in every aspect of products that it sells, but with other companies releasing newer products, they must keep up in the market. The basis for this marketing plan is an analysis of the opportunities, strengths, and weaknesses for the company.
Microsoft is currently the largest company in the computer industry. With a market capitalization of $291 billion, Microsoft has built an empire by dominating software sales for personal computers. Stock growth over the past 25 years has increased by more than 30,000%. However, Microsoft’s growth has substantially decreased since the market collapse of 2001(Niemond 25 April 2007).
"While practically everybody today is a potential mobile phone customer, everybody is simultaneously different in terms of usage, needs, lifestyles, and individual preferences," explains Nokia's Media Relations Manager, Keith Nowak. Understanding those differences requires that Nokia conduct ongoing research among different consumer groups throughout the world. The approach is reflected in the company's business strategy:
By the end of 2003, Nokia was the clear market leader in the mobile phone industry in terms of sales and profitability. It was ahead of giant companies like Motorola, Ericsson, Siemens, Samsung, and other worthy competitors. Since the early 1990s, Nokia's Strategic Intent was to build distinctive competency in product innovation, rapid response, and global brand management. Its strategic intent required rapid growth in the core businesses of mobile phones and telecommunications networks. This goal was achieved by Nokia's development of new products and expansion into new markets. In order to become the global leader as it is today, the company had overcome numerous challenges and obstacles over the last decade.
This essay will utilise the following structure. It will commence by providing the reader with a brief history about Microsoft and then go onto explaining what corporate strategy is. Following this will be Microsoft’s diversification strategy in parallel with the reasons why they choose to diversify. Within this section the author plans to explore Microsoft’s related diversification approach, their corporate rationale, alongside why skill transferring is essential to them sustaining a competitive advantage and also how they achieved and utilized economies of scope (EOS). In the section regarding reasons why Microsoft chooses to diversify will be notions of proactive and defensive reasons, along with the idea of increasing market power and spreading risk. Then finally, a conclusion will follow summing up Microsoft’s overall ability to sustain a competitive advantage.
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.