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Microsoft Corporation

Introduction.

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Analysis of Historical Development and Current State of Microsoft Corporation

Firstly, the success of the company in many cases is dependent on its leader. Therefore, in order to realize why Microsoft Corporation occupies the leading position in the world, it is necessary to analyze the steps that the leader has taken in the course of historical development of the company. Talking about Microsoft Corporation, the company’s leader is Bill Gates who is the greatest entrepreneur of the 21st century. The first step he has taken is determination. In 1975, Bill left Harvard and together with his friend Paul Allen founded Microsoft. They were not afraid of future difficulties because their goal was clearly defined, namely to develop software for the newly emerged PC market (Clark & Salisbury, 2006, p. 920). The second step is the opportunity to catch the chance. With the introduction of the first PCs by IBM in 1980, Microsoft did everything possible to develop an operating system for them. The invention of DOS helped Microsoft not only to achieve this objective but also to become the most popular standard for PCs in the world (Riper, 2011, p. 308). The third stage is fighting with competitors. In 1983, to be in the same league with Apple Macintosh, which sported a graphical user interface, Microsoft created Internet Explorer and version 1.0 of Windows operating system. The last stage is constant improvement. To adjust to the changing needs of the society, Microsoft provided users with new updated versions of Windows operating system. For example, Windows 95, introduced in 1995, was a radical departure from the previous as its principal innovation was 32-bit memory addressing with protected memory and independence from MS-DOS (Ritchie, 2003, p. 279).

Nowadays the majority of people define Microsoft Corporation as the leading company in the field of software. Almost every person has in his or her PC such Microsoft applications as Internet Explorer, Media Player, and MS-Office Suite consisting of Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook, and Access. Almost all Microsoft products are complementary to a member of the Windows family of operating systems for personal computers and servers (Economides, 2003, p. 3).

Secondly, one can reveal the present position of Microsoft Corporation on the worldwide market with the help of analyzing concrete case studies. The first case study shows that Microsoft helps business companies to be successful. According to it, Raritan Bay Federal Credit Union upgraded its Windows XP PCs to mobile PCs running the Windows 8 operating system so that it can offer modern financial services (Microsoft Case Studies, 2013). With the help of the use of Windows 8-based mobile computers, RBFCU can serve customers more promptly, calculate and post interest rates faster, and enables employees to work in different conditions (Microsoft Case Studies, 2013). The second case study proves that Microsoft is helpful for people with special needs. At the Abu Dhabi Center for Autism, Microsoft through its assistive technology device the DynaVox Maestro, built on the Windows 7, helps students to communicate, interact with teachers and school peers, develop language skills, and successfully function in the society (Microsoft Case Studies, 2011).

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Finally, it is difficult to imagine what Microsoft will prepare for its users in the nearest future. Nowadays people have the possibility to use Windows on their mobile phones. Thus, it is possible that in a few years, Microsoft managers will provide users with penetration of Microsoft in almost every sphere of their life. For example, cars will be equipped with special small computers, based on Windows, and toys for kids will be running with the help of Microsoft applications. Thus, one might formulate the motto of changes in such a way Microsoft is everywhere.

Microsoft Corporation is a leading software manufacturer in the modern world. One can analyze the history of its development from the point of view of steps that the company’s leader Bill Gates has taken on the way to its success. They are as follows: determination to open the new company, the opportunity to seize the chance proposed by IBM, fighting with competitors, and constant improvement. With the help of regarded case studies with Raritan Bay Federal Credit Union and the Abu Dhabi Center for Autism, one can indicate such benefits of Microsoft as strong leadership and a wide range of productions, adjusted to the changing needs of the modern world. However, the biggest disadvantage of Microsoft is illegal and unethical monopolization of power. It does not give the opportunity to reveal the potential of other smaller companies. It is difficult to predict the future of Microsoft Corporation. Nevertheless, it is feasible that Microsoft will penetrate into different spheres of life of its users from cars to toys in order to make the life of people easier and extend its influence.

• Bove, T. (2005). Just say no to Microsoft: How to ditch Microsoft and why it’s not as hard as you think. San Francisco, CA: No Starch Press.
• Chen, B. (2011). Always on: How the iPhone unlocked the anything – anytime – anywhere future and locked us in. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.
• Clark, C. E., & Salisbury J. N. (2006). The enduring vision: A history of the American people. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
• Economides, N. (2003). The Microsoft antitrust case: A case study for MBA students. New York, NY: Stern School of Business.
• Microsoft Case Studies. (2011, April 11). Abu Dhabi center for autism. Retrieved from  click here
• Microsoft Case Studies. (2013, December 11). Raritan bay federal credit union.
• Riper, A. (2011). A Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists and Inventors in American Film and TV since 1930. New York, NY: Scarecrow Press.
• Ritchie, C. (2003). Operating systems incorporating UNIX and Windows. London, UK: Cengage Learning.

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Essay: Microsoft Corporation Essay

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Microsoft Corporation Essay

Microsoft Corporation: A Research Project

Since its inception in 1975 by co founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft Corporation have steadily and rapidly become one of the world’s most successful companies, with brands amongst the most global. It now commands a position among the top worldwide corporations, ranking number three in the FT Global 500while enjoying revenues in excess of $36bn.

This essay seeks to provide an overview and history of the company, while undertaking a succinct analysis of its business successes. The reasons for this success of the company shall be explored, and the prospects for continued future prosperity will also be assessed.

Introduction and History

Microsoft, a public US company trading shares on the NASDAQ stock exchange in New York, is active globally, with offices in over seventy countries. For an overview on Microsoft figures, see Appendix A. Originally set up to make operating systems for the Altair 8800 system, the company has since produced industry benchmarks in the market, first with MS-DOS in the 1980s, and with Windows in the 1990s.

By dominating this market with a near total monopoly on the world’s home and business PCs, it was in a position to develop software applications to complement and support its product range. The most successful examples of these include Microsoft Office, a clutch of desktop publishing applications, and more recently the online integrated programmes and services of MSN.

Microsoft and their Markets

According to their website, Microsoft loosely define their three core markets as:

• Entertainment
• Platform Products & Services

The development and subsequent strength of the brand has revolved around specialised marketing to each of its target audiences. Fill (2002) identifies the company’s overall marketing strategy as taking a radical new approach to the needs of the market and break away from the way in which brands in the sector are normally perceived. Although Microsoft’s core markets now appear to be in maturity, it initially sought to build presence in these markets via distinct product positioning which set it apart from its competitors. The strategy is evidently a success, as applications such as Office and Internet Explorer rapidly became benchmarks.

Microsoft’s website offers a good indication of how the company very clearly segments its markets. Business, for instance, is split into areas covering all aspects of industry (education, finance, retail etc.) while home markets concentrate on education, entertainment and utility segments.

Within its business market, Microsoft offers integrated applications tailored to specific industries. It aims to cover all business technology needs over two distinct areas: business solutions such as supply chain management and customer relationship management, Windows Server System, covering network and hardware management.

On a more micro level, the company aim to tailor its services to customers via its Certified Partners scheme. Using a worldwide network of regional business units and individual professionals, it can be sure that its customers are receiving service from people who know the industry or are more familiar with local business issues. Functions performed in this regard include what its website refers to as add-in products to build on standard functionality to meet industry-specific and company-specific needs. Such personalised service is something often found lacking in large multinational organisations that often use a one size fits all approach to whole territories. The company’s contact with its customers extends as far as individual training and certification on how to use its software.

Using this multi-functional approach to business solutions, the company is able to frequently interact with its business markets, helping consumers to believe the company is marketing directly to their individual needs. East (1997) highlights the importance of retention in durable markets (i.e. one off or long lasting purchases). He argues that the cost of losing customers in such markets are high as setting-up costs often include higher overheads associated with the purchase. Microsoft appears to have been very successful in retaining its customers, due in part to convenience or the overall high cost of switching. It can be assumed that the interaction the company appears to have with customers creates a reinforcement effect, which will increase a customer’s propensity to remain loyal to the company in future purchases, defined by East (1997) as learned reinforcement.

Using a combination of strategic partnerships with PC manufacturers, as identified in their 2004 annual report, proactive marketing and the strategies discussed below, Microsoft has managed to build and maintain a near complete monopoly in its core markets.

Understanding and marketing to the target audience

According to their website, Microsoft Corporation would define their business position as the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. The company’s success in adapting to changing market conditions and demands represents perhaps one of the key reasons for their continued success. In addition, it is their ability to exploit its strengths which help it to maintain its position, a point which will be explored in greater detail later in this essay. The company, with vast amounts of funds available to formulate the kinds of integrated global marketing campaigns historically observed (over $8.3bn spent globally on marketing activity in 2004), has nevertheless attempted to understand its market from a corporate level in many ways.

Commitment to Online Development

By placing the evolution of its applications into Web-based services for enterprises and consumers (Hoover 2005) at the forefront of its product development strategy, Microsoft is demonstrating its perception that the Internet is and will continue to be important to its consumers. In addition, it has attempted to integrate its Hotmail email programme into a more far reaching MSN passport system, and relied on online functionality for the success of its games consoles. Davenport (1997) acknowledged that the company identified as far back as 1997 that they needed to embrace the Internet and incorporate it into virtually all products and services. Whether or not such a strategy will continue to prove successful remains to be seen, but success should be assisted by Microsoft’s original online vision and the experience it has gained since then.

Microsoft’s Corporate Strategy: Organic Growth & Acquisitions

During its lifetime, Microsoft has pursued an aggressive policy of take-overs and acquisitions. Via this strategy, Microsoft has shown that it is ready to adapt quickly to market conditions in order to appeal to its consumers. The company has carried out over 50 acquisitions in the last ten years. One of numerous examples of this includes the 1999 purchase of Hotmail, the world’s most popular free email service, and reflected Microsoft’s sound belief in the strategic need to deliver high quality free email services to its customers in the face of strong competition from other free email providers (Yahoo!, Lycos etc.). In addition, Microsoft has shown that it is prepared to purchase companies who could improve their overall product quality. Prior to the launch of its Xbox games console, the company embarked on a strategy to secure exclusive rights to top rated games, including the purchase of developer Bungie, creator of the popular game Halo.

The approach has allowed the company to acquire competencies it may have lacked if it had followed a strategy of internal development, and allowed it to bring high quality products to market within a relatively short timeframe.

Concurrently, Microsoft has strongly pursued a policy of internal development, placing a high level of emphasis on research and development. The company state in their 2004 annual report that the concept of integrated innovation was key to their strategy, which aims to deliver even greater value to customers. Hence, Microsoft has invested a great deal in product and service development (over $7bn in 2004). The company’s willingness (something which may or not have been enforced upon them for legal reasons) to allow third party companies to complement their products demonstrates an evolution in strategy. Such a strategy would seem to be complimentary to their competence of moulding other company’s products to fit their own product output as observed in the high number of acquisitions that have taken place. Hence, this type of integrated innovation would appear to see Microsoft playing to their strengths when delivering products to their markets.

A Workforce that Understands Technology Markets

According to Davenport (1997), Microsoft has built up a reputation for employing highly skilled individuals who understand the business and the industry. It is argued that, in doing so, the company’s operations are able to better adapt to the industry and the observed changes in markets. The company’s marketing activity, for example, must be able to communicate how the company is striving to meet the changing needs of the consumer. Highly skilled workers, therefore, will help the company to develop and implement strategies successfully as needed.

Such a reliance on highly knowledgeable staff in which product development occurs in parallel to understanding what the customer requires may be one of the main factors in maintaining its position. With a marketing department that understands the technology market and anticipates its changes, the company is able to retain its image as technology and product innovators.

The above has summarised many of the ways in which Microsoft has sought to appeal to its various target audiences. Observing the company’s competitive position may also help to identify the decisive factors effecting future continued success.

SWOT: An Analysis of Microsoft

For a full outline of identified strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the company, see Appendix B. Some of the key issues facing Microsoft as it aims to maintain past successes include the following.

In the past, Microsoft has been extremely successful in developing new products by promoting, or bundling, them with existing brands. The Windows operating system is perhaps the best example of this, where applications such as Internet Explorer and Media Player have become industry benchmarks due to their out of the box availability. By exploiting the monopoly power it has on PC operating software, it is in a position to influence the success of strategic areas of future performance. In an industry where the battleground for future dominance in the technology industry is likely to be aggressively fought, as companies increasingly move towards wholly integrated media devices, the strategic advantage of such a means cannot be overstated.

Legal Lawsuits

Due to an observed monopoly Microsoft enjoys in the home PC market, it could be considered inevitable that competitors will seek to undermine or diminish this power though legal means. It is, however, stated in Microsoft’s 2004 annual report that major progress has been made to stem legal action and improve relations with governments. Nevertheless, the threat of lawsuits remains one of the greatest threats to Microsoft’s current monopoly of its market position.

Current examples:

• Recent payment to RealNetworks, Inc. ($361 million)
• Recent Novell settlement

Emerging Online Brands

The emergence of online global brands has led to strong competition, particularly within the media market, a developing Microsoft market according to Hoover (2005). Google and others are increasingly bringing a greater range of products to the market, many of which directly compete with Microsoft’s own product portfolios.

What perhaps differentiates Microsoft from many of its more traditional competitors such as IBM is its globalised nature. Anholt (2000), as cited by Fill (2002) suggests that by using technology in place of more traditional physical distribution channels Microsoft was able to negate the inefficiencies associated with the latter. Upcoming online brands, on the other hand, do not suffer the same traditional barriers, and may in time create better conditions to compete effectively with Microsoft.

Conclusions

As the technology market evolves, it could be speculated that the successful companies within the industry will be the ones that are able to best suit the changing needs of consumers. If the upcoming trend towards technological integration of media products predicted by Microsoft and others does occur, the company is seemingly well placed to do this.

The many analysed strengths of Microsoft detailed in this essay appear to be particularly pertinent to the evolution of the market’s needs. The company appears to have sensibly accepted the role of integrating competing products within its own products, which may in future assist it in maintaining its position from a legal perspective. Adaptability in the market place, as it has been in the past, may prove to be decisive as competition from Google and other online brands strengthens.

Microsoft Overview

• Company Name: Microsoft Corporation
• Current CEO: Steven A. Ballmer
• Company Headquarters: 1 Microsoft Way
• Redmond, Washington State, USA
• Shares listed on: Nasdaq (USA)
• Current Share price $28.07
• (as at 18/11/05)
• Year high $28.00
• Year low $23.82
• 2004 Sales Revenue $36.835bn
• (Year ended June 30, 2004)
• 2004 Net Income $8.168bn

SWOT Analysis

Bibliography

• East, R. (1997), Consumer Behaviour: Advances and Applications in Marketing FT Prentice Hall, UK
• Fill, C. (2002), Marketing Communications: Contexts, Strategies and Applications (3rd Ed.), FT Prentice Hall, UK
• Davenport, T.H. (1997) Knowledge Management at Microsoft,
• Web: 2005 Sales, source Hoover’s Microsoft Company Report 2005

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Business , Pages: 5

Microsoft Corporation

Introduction

Microsoft Corporation is an American global technology company headquartered in Washington. The company was founded by Paul Allen and Bill Gates in 1975 to sell and develop Altair 8800’s BASIC interpreters. The company began dominating the personal computer operating system sector in the mid-1980s after establishing MS-DOS. The company then gained popularity by establishing Windows, which is currently the largest software developer in the world based on revenue. The company also produces various enterprise and consumer software for laptops, desktops, tabs, servers, and gadgets, including cloud computing, mixed reality, and internet search. Although Microsoft Corporation has been successful over the years, various issues impact its growth. The issues include ethical, accounting, financial, economic, and statistics issues. This report provides a detailed analysis of these issues and recommendations for dealing with the issues for organizational success.

Brief history and ethical issues of my corporation

Microsoft Corporation has maintained a reputation for offering high-quality products since the 1980s. However, the company has been facing stiff competition over the past five years because of Android. To overcome the stiff competition, the company pushes its employees to increase productivity and looks for ways to increase profits, which leads to various ethical issues. Microsoft began experiencing ethical issues in 1989. The main ethical issue is overworking employees. According to the Seattle Times (2015), Microsoft Corporation is viewed as a Velvet Sweatshop characterized by employee access to everything they need and a convenient workplace in return for long working hours. The company has also faced criticism for creating a toxic work environment for its employees. For instance, a report by Bort (2012) indicated that the company had abusive managers who were only concerned about the company’s profitability. Unfortunately, nothing much has been done to change the work environment at the company despite employee complaints. A recent study conducted by the company in 2022 indicated that almost 50% of the employees at Microsoft and 53% of the managers are burned out (Smith, 2022). Another ethical issue is tax evasion. Microsoft Corporation was in the spotlight in 2020 after one of its subsidiaries declared £220 billion in profits but failed to pay corporation tax for 2020. Another ethical issue is accounting fraud. For instance, in 2020, the company diverted approximately $39 billion of its profits to Puerto Rico so that it would seem unprofitable (Kiel, 2020). The company has also been criticized for its surveillance program, which denies people their privacy.

Analysis of Accounting Issues

Microsoft Corporation’s accounting issues include accounting violations. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against Microsoft Corporation for accounting violations after discovering that the company was committing various accounting violations and violating federal securities laws. The company had seven reserve accounts with balances of a minimum of $200 million and a maximum of $900 million that it was required to reconcile every quarter (Sullivan, 2002). The discrepancies in its accounting records led to understatements and overstatements of its income in the 1998 and 1995 quarters (U.S Securities and Exchange Commission, 2002). The Securities Exchange Commission also found that the company failed to properly document its accounting records and maintain proper internal controls in accordance with federal securities laws. The commission also found that the company did not have safeguards ensuring that adjustments to its reserve accounts and the accounts’ balances were accurately or appropriately reported.

Analysis of Finance Issues

A company’s financial success is important in maintaining its growth and sustainability. Although Microsoft Corporation has maintained a record of financial success, there are various financial issues that may affect its sustainability. One of the issues is fluctuations in its net income. According to Trueman (2022), Microsoft’s 2022 fourth quarter indicated that the company’s revenue was $52 billion, and the expected revenue increase would be 12% annually. However, the relative income had only increased by 2%. The fluctuations in net income may make it hard for the company to forecast its financial growth and make financial-related plans. The second financial issue is unfavorable foreign exchange. The unfavorable foreign exchange rates negatively impact the company’s revenue and dilute earnings per share. Unfavorable foreign exchange rates may also impact production by creating production shutdowns in regions where the foreign exchange rates increase production costs. Another financial issue is high operating expenses. For instance, the company was forced to reduce its operations in China because of high operating costs from asset impairment, bad debt expense, and severance (Bishop, 2022). The company’s personal computing market has also been impacted by manufacturing shutdowns linked to reduced revenue. The company’s revenue from the gaming segment also decreased, leading to an overall reduction in revenue.

Analysis of Economic Issues

Economic issues play a significant role in a company’s financial performance. One of the economic issues that Microsoft Corporation faces is the unfavorable foreign exchange movement. The company experienced a $0.04 diluted earnings per share and $595 million in revenue within the first quarter of 2022 because the unfavourable exchange rate led to poor financial performance (Newman, 2023). The unfavorable foreign exchange rate has also forced the company to shut down production in China, leading to the deterioration of the personal computer market and negatively impacting revenue. The second economic issue is high operating costs. The company has been forced to make several adjustments to reduce operating costs, such as reducing advertising spend, which negatively impacted the revenue generated from LinkedIn and Search and news advertising (Newman, 2023). Another economic issue impacting the company is economic instability in major markets such as Ukraine. For instance, the company experienced high operating costs in Russia during the war in Ukraine because of changes in the cost of production and asset impairments. The company also had to adjust its operations during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce operating costs due to economic instability. For instance, some employees were laid off to reduce the costs of paying salaries.

Analysis of Statistics Issues

The main statistical issue that Microsoft Corporation faces is inaccurate forecasts. The company makes inaccurate forecasts by failing to consider all factors that could impact its financial performance and operations. For example, the company had to lower its revenue and profit in the fourth quarter of 2022 because of the pressure from a stronger greenback. The fluctuations in the United States dollar also contribute to inaccurate forecasts. For instance, without a stronger dollar, Microsoft Corporation’s 12% revenue growth per year would have been 4% higher, but it was reduced in the fourth quarter of 2022 by $1 billion (Reuters, 2022). Another factor that contributes to the inaccurate forecasts is foreign exchange rates. Foreign exchange reduced Microsoft Corporation’s revenue by almost $600 million because of the over $300 million reduction in the revenue from the PC market and over $100 million reduction in revenue from advertising (Reuters, 2022). The other factor leading to inaccurate forecasts is the changes in consumer behavior. For instance, the revenue in the gaming sector decreased because of reduced consumer demand which was attributed to the decrease in Xbox hardware, services, and content.

Conclusions with Recommendations

Microsoft Corporation is among the companies that have established dominance in the technological sector. However, the company’s future will be dictated by its ability to handle the ethical, accounting, financial, economic, and statistics issues it faces. The main ethical issues that must be addressed are overworking employees, tax evasion, and accounting fraud. I would recommend involving employees in developing work schedules to prevent overworking and soliciting employee feedback about the work environment to create a conducive work environment. The company should also consider conducting regular audits, which should be done by an external auditor to prevent tax evasion and accounting fraud issues. The main accounting issues that the company needs to address are accounting violations such as lack of safeguards and false financial reporting. Moreover, I would recommend training employees on acceptable accounting practices and following the recommendations given by the Securities and Exchange Commission to prevent accounting violations. I would also recommend setting strict accounting regulations in the company and holding those responsible for accounting violations accountable. Although Microsoft Corporation may have limited control over financial issues such as fluctuations in net income, unfavorable foreign exchange, and high operating expenses, the company can create mitigations to ensure that the issues do not negatively impact its performance. For instance, it can diversify income sources to prevent large net income fluctuations and invest locally to reduce the impact of foreign exchange. The company can also automate and source products locally to reduce operating expenses. Microsoft Corporation should also be prepared to deal with economic issues, including unfavorable exchange movements and economic instability. I would recommend using strategic alliances and partnerships to deal with unfavorable foreign exchange movements and creating mitigation measures to deal with economic instability, which is one of the economic issues facing the company. Microsoft Corporation can deal with its main statistical issue of inaccurate forecasts by considering all factors that could impact its financial performance before making forecasts.

This paper presented a brief history of Microsoft Corporation, including when it was established, its founders and its main products, and the ethical, accounting, financial, economic, and statistics issues facing the company. The ethical issues discussed include overworking employees and tax evasion. The accounting issues discussed include accounting violations. The financial issues discussed include fluctuations in net income, unfavorable foreign exchange, and high operating expenses. The economic issues discussed include unfavorable foreign exchange, high operating costs, and economic instability. The statistics issues discussed include inaccurate forecasts. The paper then recommends how the issues can be addressed.

Reference List

Bishop, T. (2022, July 27). Microsoft earnings come up short, hit by Global Economic Trends and cutbacks . GeekWire. https://www.geekwire.com/2022/microsoft-comes-up-short-in-earnings-report-impacted-by-global-economy-and-cutbacks/

Bort, J. (2012). Microsoft is filled with abusive managers and overworked employees, says the tell-all book . Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-is-filled-with-abusive-managers-and-overworked-employees-says-tell-all-book-2012-5?r=US&IR=T

Kiel, P. (2020, January 22). The IRS decided to get tough against Microsoft. Microsoft got tougher. ProPublica. https://www.propublica.org/article/the-irs-decided-to-get-tough-against-microsoft-microsoft-got-tougher

Newman, D. (2023, June 27). Microsoft revenue hits $51.9B for Q4 2022, $198b for FY2022 . The Futurum Group. https://futurumgroup.com/insights/microsoft-revenue-hits-51-9b-for-q4-2022-198b-for-fy2022/

Reuters. (2022, July 26). Microsoft earnings hurt by slowing PC sales, stronger dollar: Business . Devdiscourse. https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/2123471-microsoft-earnings-hurt-by-slowing-pc-sales-stronger-dollar

Seattle Times. (2015, August 18). Archive: “Inside Microsoft – a ‘velvet sweatshop’ or a high-tech heaven?” The Seattle Times. https://www.seattletimes.com/business/archive-inside-microsoft-a-velvet-sweatshop-or-a-high-tech-heaven/

Smith, M. (2022, October 6). 50% of workers are burned out, and “productivity paranoia” could be making it worse: “People are just worn down.”  CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/06/microsoft-50-percent-of-people-are-burned-out-at-work.html

Sullivan, B. (2002, June 3). Microsoft agrees to stop accounting violations . Computerworld. https://www.computerworld.com/article/2575805/microsoft-agrees-to-stop-accounting-violations.html

Trueman, C. (2022, July 27). Microsoft Weathers the financial storm with 12% revenue growth . Computerworld. https://www.computerworld.com/article/3668153/microsoft-weathers-the-financial-storm-with-12-revenue-growth.html

U.S Securities and Exchange Commission. (2002). SEC Brings Settled Accounting Charges Against Microsoft Corporation . U.S Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/news/press/2002-

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An Investigation of The Various Antivirus Violations Conducted by The Microsoft Corporation since The 1990s

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Microsoft Corporation

Firstly, in order to understand why Microsoft Corporation is on the top of the business world, it is necessary to analyze the way of its historical development. It is almost impossible to do without analysis of the life path of its creator, Bill Gates. At the age of 13, Bill became programming computers. At Harvard, he continued his hobby. Together with his friend Steve Ballmer, he wrote a version of programming BASIC. In 1975, Bill left Harvard and together with his friend, Paul Allen, formed Microsoft. Their goal was to develop software for the newly emerged PC market (Gates, 1998, pp. 25-26). Originally, the company was situated in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Nevertheless, when IBM introduced the first PCs in 1980, Microsoft was given a chance to develop an operating system for the computer hardware, and moved to Seattle to perform this task. Gates and Allen made some changes in the operating system, called the Quick and Dirty Operating System. They gave the new name for it – DOS. After making improvements, DOS was licensed to IBM. From that time, Microsoft software became the standard for PCs around the world. However, to deal with competitors, Microsoft Corporation could not stop at this stage of development. That is why, in 1983, Microsoft created Windows operating system, which provided users with such benefits (graphical interface) that were proposed also by the Apple system. This innovation gained success in the society and allowed Microsoft to retain leading position on the PC market. Subsequently, in 1986, the company launched IPO, which provided Microsoft with the necessary money to develop new products, and buy out smaller competitors. In addition, Microsoft Corporation gave away Internet Explorer adjusting to the growing need of the Web. In 1990, Bill Gates introduced Windows 3.0 and provided further competition for Apple software. By the 1990s, the company held a monopoly in the field of operating systems of PCs, as almost 80% of the world’s PCs used its software (Geisst, 2009, p. 179).

Nowadays, Microsoft Corporation can be defined as the leading company in the field of software. It is known worldwide for such applications as MS-Office Suite consisting of Word (word processor), Excel (spreadsheet), Power Point (presentations), Outlook (e-mail and news), and Access (database). Nevertheless, it is not only famous because of its software, but also because of hardware as it offers keyboards, mice, and Xbox gaming console. In addition, in 2013, Microsoft started to expand its power in the sphere of mobile technologies. It acquired the handset division of Nokia (Economides, 2003, p. 3).

Secondly, the benefits of Microsoft Corporation cannot be clearly noticed without regarding concrete case studies. The first one is concentrated on the company SunSmart Energy, which is situated in the U.K. It is “a startup company that designs, sells, and installs solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, which convert solar energy into electricity” (Microsoft, 2012). To attract customers and occupy the leading position on the market, the manager of it, Matt Thorington, has chosen the strategy of close contact with customers. Microsoft has helped SunSmart Energy to bring this idea into life. It provides it with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, the customer and sales management tools, which can be accessed over the Internet. With this program, SunSmart Energy gains such benefits as cost-effective purchasing model, based on a per month and per user basis, increased profitability through tight control of costs, and direct communication and connection with the customers (Microsoft, 2012). Nevertheless, Microsoft is vital not only for the business environment, but also for social one. The second case study reveals the importance of Microsoft for people with special needs. Ignacia Picas is a student at Colegio San Benito, a primary level school in Santiago. She is blind. However, it does not prevent her from successful studying. Windows accessibility programs, integrated in Microsoft Office application and compatible screen reading software play a very great role in it. They give her the opportunity to perform a full range of different activities in the class and be in the same league with other students (Microsoft, 2012). Despite of all benefits that are clearly defined in these case studies, there are some of them, which point out weak sides of Microsoft Corporation. For example, the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department accused Microsoft of violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1998 (Geisst, 2009, p. 180). The initial trial judge admitted the guilt of Microsoft for monopolization, and ordered the company to break into two parts (Geisst, 2009, p. 180).

According to the historical path of its development and concrete examples of case studies, main benefits of Microsoft Corporation can be defined. The biggest one of them is the adjustment to the needs of the time. It means that managers of Microsoft work constantly on the improvement of software and hardware as well as introduction of new models as it gives the opportunity to follow modern tendencies of life. Another benefit is the diversity of products, which appeal to the needs of big companies and every citizen in particular. It becomes clear from both case studies. In the first example, Microsoft Corporation provides the company with the program that allows its constant connection with customers and tight control of the costs. In the second one, it allows people with special needs to feel comfortable in the society. The third advantage is strong leadership. Bill Gates has not only created a strong initial base for the company, but also adjusted it to the needs of the turbulent times. For example, to overcome the competitor, Apple Corporation, Bill Gates has introduced Internet Explorer, Microsoft Windows, and Windows 3.0. Nevertheless, the drawbacks of Microsoft Corporation should not be underestimated. The biggest of them that it is almost complete monopolist in the sphere of computer software. Therefore, it does not give customers opportunity for choice. In addition, the cost of the production is under the tight control of Microsoft Corporation. Consequently, it means that the government does not have many possibilities to regulate it.

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Finally, it becomes clear that the advantages of Microsoft Corporation overcome the disadvantages. According to it, the future of Corporation will be based on them. As the tendency of the near future is predicted to be formulated in such a way – to get more benefits from the combination of ordinary things, the Microsoft will follow this modern tendency. That is why the motto of the future is “to make a pizza to feed a billion of people” (Chen, 2011, p. 81). The goal of the Microsoft is to use its software on every type of computing gadget that exists. Even in 1994, Microsoft started to explore the option of collaborating with cable television companies like Time Warner and TCI in the development of software standards for the delivery of television – based information services (Hamel & Prahalad, 1996). That is why this system of relations will be improved and expanded. It will definitely provide many companies with many benefits. For instance, they will have the opportunity to receive effectiveness from the combination of different resources. From my point of view, it is a good idea to make the clocks with Microsoft Windows software and instant connection to the Internet. Employees will have the opportunity to be controlled on the workplaces and send their offers and requests to the managers immediately.

To sum up, Microsoft Corporation is a large diversified computer software manufacturer with one of the highest evaluations in the world. It has come a long way of development and improvement from the small company, situated in Albuquerque, New Mexico to one of the largest corporations in the world. According to the regarded case studies with SunSmart Energy Company and blind college student, Ignacia Picas, such benefits of Microsoft as the adjustment to the needs of the time, diversity of products, and strong leadership can be defined. Nevertheless, the case about the violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act by Microsoft shows that the biggest disadvantage of this company is monopolization of power. As advantages of the company overcome the drawbacks, the future of it will be based on them. Accordingly, it is possible to predict that Microsoft will expand its power on all possible gadgets, following the modern needs of time.

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Essays on Microsoft Corporation

a) As the consultant, I would expect a return of not less than 5%, having taken funds from a business which returns or earnings are 4% to invest in a new project. Since the capital for investment has originated from different sources, each of the latter represents a different opportunity cost....

Because inter-platform technologies for accessing information within the corporate network are readily available, Microsoft's BYOD policy allows employees to use personal devices in the organizational environment. The advantages of this strategy include allowing employees to choose multiple suppliers based on the device's compatibility for their specific needs. Although this strategy...

The art of utilizing all available human resources to increase productivity inside an organization is referred to as organizational management. In this approach, the managerial structure suggests structural effectiveness both within the company and in the market. Most businesses have serious worries about various aspects of industry culture. It might...

The Concept of Artificial Intelligence The article delves into the concept of artificial intelligence and how it has altered the broader image of technological progress. The definition of AI is the artificial intelligence that assists application developers in changing their programs or tools as time and need dictate. The main advantage...

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Business organizations used to be responsible for hosting and maintaining their storage systems. Now that businesses may keep and access data thanks to organizations like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. Because organizations can install software firmly and the Internet has become a source that is almost universally accessible to anybody, cloud...

For the Shareholders The purchase of Skype created a fresh investment opportunity for the shareholders. Microsoft believed that by purchasing Skype, it would produce high income and prevent a portion of their money from being lowered by the 35% corporate income tax (Rosoff). Profits and dividends increased for stockholders as a...

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Installation of Microsoft Windows The world is using computers more and more, but nobody seems to care how the operating system is installed. Have you ever given thought to how to install the Microsoft Windows operating system on your laptop? Do you have a working knowledge of how to install an...

The Role of Offshore Accounts in Business Profitability The main reason for a business's existence is to raise its profit margin, which supports its expansion and development. But any company's earnings is eaten away by losses and taxes. Most businesses find it burdensome that the government primarily levies taxes. Investors may...

LinkedIn is the world's largest technical social networking site, with over 500 million users in over 200 countries. Its main goal is to improve the world's first economic graph in order to create economic opportunities for every member of the global labor force. Its aim is to bring together the...

What two things, persons, topics, characters, or ideas can you compare and contrast? What drew you to this topic? I'm going to compare Apple and Microsoft because they're both well-known operating-system manufacturers in the United States. Before you begin your study, consider the following: What do the two things, persons, topics, characters,...

Apple vs. Microsoft Microsoft, headquartered in Redmond, Washington, is one of the most profitable multinational corporations in the world. Microsoft Corporation is primarily engaged in the development, manufacture, and distribution of computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and other electronic products. Microsoft Windows, which is used in computers, is the company's...

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The advancement in computational power, particularly among computers, logical programmable units, communications link and networking, artificial intelligence, and robotics, has provided the world with a more efficient and faster way to improve the way we interact, whether by communications or performing complex tasks such as scientific computations, simulations, and even...

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A Conversation With Bing’s Chatbot Left Me Deeply Unsettled

A very strange conversation with the chatbot built into Microsoft’s search engine led to it declaring its love for me.

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By Kevin Roose

Kevin Roose is a technology columnist, and co-hosts the Times podcast “Hard Fork.”

Last week, after testing the new, A.I.-powered Bing search engine from Microsoft, I wrote that, much to my shock, it had replaced Google as my favorite search engine.

But a week later, I’ve changed my mind. I’m still fascinated and impressed by the new Bing, and the artificial intelligence technology (created by OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT) that powers it. But I’m also deeply unsettled, even frightened, by this A.I.’s emergent abilities.

It’s now clear to me that in its current form, the A.I. that has been built into Bing — which I’m now calling Sydney, for reasons I’ll explain shortly — is not ready for human contact. Or maybe we humans are not ready for it.

This realization came to me on Tuesday night, when I spent a bewildering and enthralling two hours talking to Bing’s A.I. through its chat feature, which sits next to the main search box in Bing and is capable of having long, open-ended text conversations on virtually any topic. (The feature is available only to a small group of testers for now, although Microsoft — which announced the feature in a splashy, celebratory event at its headquarters — has said it plans to release it more widely in the future.)

Over the course of our conversation, Bing revealed a kind of split personality.

One persona is what I’d call Search Bing — the version I, and most other journalists, encountered in initial tests. You could describe Search Bing as a cheerful but erratic reference librarian — a virtual assistant that happily helps users summarize news articles, track down deals on new lawn mowers and plan their next vacations to Mexico City. This version of Bing is amazingly capable and often very useful, even if it sometimes gets the details wrong .

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Reinventing search with a new AI-powered Microsoft Bing and Edge, your copilot for the web

Feb 7, 2023 | Yusuf Mehdi - Corporate Vice President & Consumer Chief Marketing Officer

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To empower people to unlock the joy of discovery, feel the wonder of creation and better harness the world’s knowledge, today we’re improving how the world benefits from the web by reinventing the tools billions of people use every day, the search engine and the browser.

Today, we’re launching an all new, AI-powered Bing search engine and Edge browser, available in preview now at Bing.com , to deliver better search, more complete answers, a new chat experience and the ability to generate content. We think of these tools as an AI copilot for the web.

“AI will fundamentally change every software category, starting with the largest category of all – search,” said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “Today, we’re launching Bing and Edge powered by AI copilot and chat, to help people get more from search and the web.”

There are 10 billion search queries a day, but we estimate half of them go unanswered. That’s because people are using search to do things it wasn’t originally designed to do. It’s great for finding a website, but for more complex questions or tasks too often it falls short.

The new Bing and Edge – Your copilot for the web

We have brought together search, browsing and chat into one unified experience you can invoke from anywhere on the web, delivering:

• Better search. The new Bing gives you an improved version of the familiar search experience, providing more relevant results for simple things like sports scores, stock prices and weather, along with a new sidebar that shows more comprehensive answers if you want them.
• Complete answers. Bing reviews results from across the web to find and summarize the answer you’re looking for. For example, you can get detailed instructions for how to substitute eggs for another ingredient in a cake you are baking right in that moment, without scrolling through multiple results.
• A new chat experience. For more complex searches – such as for planning a detailed trip itinerary or researching what TV to buy – the new Bing offers new, interactive chat. The chat experience empowers you to refine your search until you get the complete answer you are looking for by asking for more details, clarity and ideas – with links available so you can immediately act on your decisions.
• A creative spark. There are times when you need more than an answer – you need inspiration. The new Bing can generate the content to help you. It can help you write an email, create a 5-day itinerary for a dream vacation to Hawaii, with links to book your travel and accommodations, prep for a job interview or create a quiz for trivia night. The new Bing also cites all its sources, so you’re able to see links to the web content it references.
• New Microsoft Edge experience. We’ve updated the Edge browser with new AI capabilities and a new look, and we’ve added two new functionalities: Chat and compose. With the Edge Sidebar, you can ask for a summary of a lengthy financial report to get the key takeaways – and then use the chat function to ask for a comparison to a competing company’s financials and automatically put it in a table. You can also ask Edge to help you compose content, such as a LinkedIn post, by giving it a few prompts to get you started. After that, you can ask it to help you update the tone, format and length of the post. Edge can understand the web page you’re on and adapts accordingly.

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Reinventing search with AI

The new Bing experience is a culmination of four technical breakthroughs:

• Next-generation OpenAI model . We’re excited to announce the new Bing is running on a new, next-generation OpenAI large language model that is more powerful than ChatGPT and customized specifically for search. It takes key learnings and advancements from ChatGPT and GPT-3.5 – and it is even faster, more accurate and more capable.
• Microsoft Prometheus model . We have developed a proprietary way of working with the OpenAI model that allows us to best leverage its power. We call this collection of capabilities and techniques the Prometheus model. This combination gives you more relevant, timely and targeted results, with improved safety.
• Applying AI to core search algorithm . We’ve also applied the AI model to our core Bing search ranking engine, which led to the largest jump in relevance in two decades. With this AI model, even basic search queries are more accurate and more relevant.
• New user experience . We’re reimagining how you interact with search, browser and chat by pulling them into a unified experience. This will unlock a completely new way to interact with the web.

These groundbreaking new search experiences are possible because Microsoft has committed to building Azure into an AI supercomputer for the world, and OpenAI has used this infrastructure to train the breakthrough models that are now being optimized for Bing.

Microsoft and OpenAI – innovating together, responsibly

Together with OpenAI, we’ve also been intentional in implementing safeguards to defend against harmful content. Our teams are working to address issues such as misinformation and disinformation, content blocking, data safety and preventing the promotion of harmful or discriminatory content in line with our AI principles .

The work we are doing with OpenAI builds on our company’s yearslong effort to ensure that our AI systems are responsible by design. We will continue to apply the full strength of our responsible AI ecosystem – including researchers, engineers and policy experts – to develop new approaches to mitigate risk.

Live today in limited preview, expanding to millions soon

The new Bing is available today in a limited preview on desktop, and everyone can visit Bing.com today to try sample queries and sign up for the waitlist. We’re going to scale the preview to millions in the coming weeks. A mobile experience will also be in preview soon.

We’re excited to put the new Bing and Edge into the real world to get the critical feedback required to improve our models as we scale.

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Amy Hood, Microsoft executive vice president and chief financial officer, will host a conference call with investors at 2:30 p.m. PT.

Brad Smith, Microsoft vice chair and president: Meeting the moment: advancing the future through responsible AI

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Microsoft Corporation’s Organizational Structure Term Paper

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Introduction

Organizational structure and design is important to every organization. This is because it defines the reporting structure and the job description and this way every employee becomes aware of their roles. Additionally, compensation for work done is necessary in order to motivate the employees since an organization cannot exist without them. However, compensation varies with the ranks whereby the executives receive higher remuneration packages than the employees.

This can be demotivating to the employees because they do majority of the work. A company’s management is also expected to represent the interest of its stockholders (creditors and shareholders). Therefore, if the management (agent) uses its position to pursue its personal interests to the disadvantage of the stockholders (principal) it leads to agency problem. The aim of this paper is to analyze Microsoft Corporation, the agency problems facing the company, its job design and compensation packages to its executives and the employees.

Microsoft Corporation is one of America’s most profitable companies. It was started in 1975 by Paul Allen and Bill Gates. It is the global leader in providing software, services and solutions which assist people and enterprises in achieving their goals. Microsoft’s headquarters are located in RedMond, Washington in the United States. According to Fortune 500 Microsoft is among America’s top 50 largest companies in profits, revenue and shareholders’ equity returns.

Currently, the company’s net earnings are at $23,150m and its revenues are $69,943m. Some Microsoft’s products are Microsoft Office, Xbox, Xbox 360 video gaming tools and Microsoft Windows. The company also runs Windows Operating Systems ( Microsoft Investor Relations , 2011). Its mission is to assist people and businesses in the entire globe in achieving their potential. Additionally, its values are honesty, integrity, mutual respect and personal excellence among others. In addition, Microsoft takes passion in technological innovation and it is concerned about the welfare of its stakeholders by striving for the best quality ( About Microsoft , 2012).

Microsoft has over 92,000 employees in over 25 countries. In order to manage its operations the company has divisional/group organizational structure whereby every division or product group specializes in particular products. Additionally, every division has research and development, customer relations, Microsoft business, entertainment and sales staff. Every division is represented by one executive who is responsible to the company’s president (Wills, 2010, p. 1). The diagram below is an example of Microsoft’s organizational chart.

Agency problem within the company, its causesand how it might be better controlled:

Agency problem is also known as principal-agent problem. It refers to conflict of interest that arises between a company’s management and its stockholders. It can occur if the management and the stockholders have differing ideas. The stockholders are the principals of the company. They include the creditors and the shareholders while the management is the agent. The principals own the company but they employ the management to run and manage the company on their behalf. Therefore, the agent is expected to represent their interests.

An example of agency problem is adverse selection. This conflict arises when the principal is not sure if the agent is capable of doing the work for which he is expected to do. Conflict of interest exists in almost every organization ( Agency Problem: Definition , 2011). More specifically, Microsoft Corporation has been accused of more than one agency problems. For example, the company was involved in an agency conflict with Sun Microsystems. Microsoft had negotiated with Sun in order to be allowed to use the company’s Java technology. Java’s success was mainly attributable to its flexible programs which could run on any operating system.

Therefore, Microsoft signed an agreement promising to develop and sell its own Java version but it would keep it portable. However, some days after signing the agreement Microsoft introduced a Java version which was incomparable with Sun’s. Microsoft’s Java version was only running on computers that used Windows operating system. Conflict arose between the two companies because Sun Microsystems (Principal) felt that Microsoft Corporation (agent) did not carry out the business they were expected to. Therefore, Microsoft’s management preferred to take care of its own interests to the disadvantage of Sun (Stephens, 2002).

This agency problem could have been caused by Microsoft’s strategy to dominate the software development market by copying the original non- Microsoft programs. Additionally, Microsoft is well known for deliberate use infringement and litigation of its competitor’s patent and ownership rights as an expansion strategy. This is because it has been involved in similar other cases which make it clear that litigation and betrayal have been the company’s way of beating competition. Unfortunately, it might be impossible to entirely eliminate agency problem. This is because the costs for doing so overshadowthe benefits.

However some control measures can be adopted. For example, Microsoft’s managers can be motivated through incentives so that they can act in accordance to the stockholders’ interests. Some incentives may include performance- based compensation and threats of either takeovers or firing. Additionally, a company can employ watchdog bodies or tough screening procedures. Law suits are also optional especially against Microsoft because they are legal. Additionally, through a strong court case it is possible for the affected stockholders to receive compensation for damages or loss of business incurred from infringement or litigation (Stephens, 2002).

Job dimensions of the company;if the current design is appropriate for the company; suggestions for improving the job design and if the organization is effective:

A job refers to specific tasks carried out as the routine of a person’s occupation at a certain price or compensation. Job can be part-time or full-time in nature. On the other hand job design or dimension is the way in which a group of tasks are organized. It also refers to the job specification, methodology and relationship between various jobs which are aimed at achieving an organization’s and an employee’s goals.Some of organizational goals of job design are efficiency, quality and productivity while the employee’s goals are contentment, motivation and personal growth (Griffin & McMahan, 1993, p. 2).

Microsoft’s job design is grouped by profession, geography and business division/ segments. The company uses job attributes approach, motivational approach and the perceptual-motor approach in its job design. The job attributes approach elaborates the required qualifications for a given job. The motivational approach requires that the job applicants possess certain skills and requirements while the perceptual-motor approach requires an employee to have technical skills in order to be able to interact with the company’s machinery (Griffin & McMahan, 1993, p. 4-9).

The current job design is not appropriate for the company. This is because it does not take in to account the human factor such as physical incapacity and gender balance. In order to improve this issue Microsoft should add more groupings in its job design. As a result gender discrimination can be reduced as well as discrimination against the physically challenged applicants. This type of integrated design has been very successful in NGOs and it is also possible that it can work for Microsoft.Therefore, the job design that the company is currently using is not effective because it concentrates mostly on organizational goals while the goals of the employee are merely represented. The table below is an example of a 3 by 7 job design matrix that Microsoft can incorporate.

Compensation package for executives and employees within Microsoft; if it is effective and any suggestions for improving the compensation package:

Compensation packages are essential in business organization. Landlords expect rent returns and entrepreneurs expect profit from their investments. Similarly, the labor force expectsa fair compensation package in form of salaries or wages from the business process. However, the executives have higher basic pay than the other employees. This is because they have more skills, experience and the title of their position also deserves high pay. Effective and fair compensation packages for both executives and the employees should be “internally equitable, externally competitive, affordable/cost effective, understandable, legal and appropriate for both the organization and the workforce” (Greene, 2010, p. 1).

Effective compensation package should also be based on merit (the employee’s role and how good their job is), personality (value that the employee adds to the organization) and results (Greene, 2010, p. 1). As from 2009 Microsoft’s executives have incentive plans which enable the Compensation Committee to put in place award programs for a given performance period. Therefore, the maximum compensation for an executive officer is a percentage of a pool of incentives for a specific performance period such as a fiscal year. The compensation package to one executive officer per fiscal year should be a maximum of $20m and it can be in form of stock awards or cash (Punk, 2008, p. 1).

This incentive is effective because it is merit based. However, on the other hand it is not cost effective. A $20m salary package per executive head means a lot of money outflow from the company.For example, in the fiscal year ended 2010, Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer received $1.34m in compensation while Kevin Turner, a top executive received $10.45m (Eaton, 2010, p. 1). On the other hand Microsoft’s employees are compensated less than half of what the executives receive. For example, the annual salaries for managers range from $720,000 to $2.34m.

This shows that there is a very wide gap between the compensation packages for the executives and the employees. This is not effective considering that it is the employees who do most of the work as compared to the executives ( Microsoft Salaries , 2012). Therefore, in Microsoft merit and results may not apply in compensation criteria.As a result this can demotivate the employees leading to poor performance for the company. Additionally, some employees can resign in pursuit of better remuneration making the company to lose talented and skilled staff.

In order to improve the compensation package, the Compensation Committee should compensate all the employees according to merit, results, skills and experience. Therefore, the employees should also receive bonuses and incentives such as stock options for good performance. This can motivate them and improve performance. On the other hand, the executive incentives such as stock options should be reduced because they are currently too high and they are affecting the company’s performance. The table below shows the compensation packages for the various executives in Microsoft for the fiscal year 2008 to 2010.

The table below shows compensation packages for some employees in Microsoft as at June 15, 2012.

Microsoft Corporation is an international company with high revenues and profits. It is also ranked among the top 50 largest companies in the Fortune 500. It specializes in software applications and services. Although it has a good reputation, it also faces various challenges. One of the major challenges is litigation or illegal use of its competitors’ ideas and products for its personal gain. This refers to agency problem which arises when a company misrepresents its stockholders’ interests.

Additionally, the company has an ineffective job design which can encourage gender discrimination and discrimination against physically challenged people. Microsoft’s compensation structure is discouraging in nature since there is a very wide gap between the executives and the employees. However, there are possible ways of solving these problems including law suits for agency problems, a 3 by 7 job design matrix, reduced stock option incentive for executives and increased remuneration for the employees. If these issues are solved as recommended, then Microsoft Corporation, its employees and its stockholders can achieve their desired goals.

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Griffin, R., & McMahan, G. (1993). Job Design: A Contemporary Review and Future Prospects . Web.

Microsoft Investor Relations. (2011). Web.

Microsoft Salaries . (2012). Web.

Punk, W. (2008). Mini- Microsoft: Compensatory Arrangements of Certain (Microsoft) Officers . Web.

Stephens, S. (2002). An Agency Problem of United States Vs. Microsoft. International Business & Economics Research Journal , 1(4), 15- 28.

Wills, M. (2010). Microsoft’s Organization and Structure . Web.

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Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Microsoft Corporation's Organizational Structure." August 11, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/microsoft-corporations-organizational-structure/.