A Multinational Computer Software Corporation Commerce Essay

A Multinational Computer Softw ar Corporation commerce EssayMicrosoft Corporation is a multinational computing machine parcel product mass headquartered in Redmond, Washington. With annual revenues of more than 50 billion, Microsoft Corporation is more than the largest package alliance in the world (Kooten, 2011). It was founded by pen nib furnish and capital of Minnesota Allen in 1975.In early school days, elevation Gates was the opera hat of the class. Bill and his friend Paul Allen starts to skip classes soon after they were introduced to computers in 1968 (Balu, 2011). They started to find issue how these computers race, read books most them, and they started to write programs then, at the mount of 13. After finishing schooling days, they joined Harvard University and this was the clip when they got into full time into the world of computers. Gates was not graduated from Harvard University as he dog-tired most of his time in computer center and his total liaison i n programming.The Microsoft Empire started when Bill Gates saw a sham of magazine in 1975 in which featured the saucily Altair 8800 microcomputer do by MITS computer. He showed MITS the application of the BASIC programming language for their computer. Gates and Allen moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico to be close to MITS Computer and this was where they established Microsoft. same(p) most start-ups, Microsoft begins small, but has a huge resource a computer on all(prenominal) desktop and in any home. The companion was incarnate in 1981 and it became Microsoft Inc. They launched the first Windows operational system on November 20, 1985 (Microsoft, 2012).Microsoft is known globally for its Microsoft Windows ope grade system and Microsoft self-confidence suite of products such as, profit explorer, set aside Point, Excel and Word programs. The companys core business is on maturation, manufacturing and licensing softw ar products. Microsoft is attached to the mission of he lping their clients to realize their full potency. They incessantly update and break their products, continually evolving their company to accelerate new technologies for serving their customers better. Therefore, there are a total of eight business pieces in Microsoft offering greatest potential to service of process their customers. They are Online Services Division, Server and Tools Business, Microsoft Business Solutions, Microsoft Office Division, Interactive Entertainment Business, Windows Ph nonpareil Division, Windows Windows Live Division and Skype.Led by Gates, Microsoft has succeeded in placing at least one of its products on virtually every personal computer in the world, setting labor standards and defining markinget places. confineAn utile organization should quartet important perplexity functions in rig to help managers to achieve organizations mission. The four way functions are namely Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. In this content, we depart analyze Microsoft Corporation in using these four wariness functions effectively.2.1 PlanningIn this current global marketplace, a multinational dope such as Microsoft is required to have a corporate refinement and an inclusive business environment. Employees with varied perspectives, skills, and experiences are functional together in this corporation to meet global consumer demands. The collaboration of cultures, ideas, and different perspectives is what that brings forth greater creativity and innovation.Microsoft found out that U.S. and global diverse markets represent horrifying sources of value in the workplace and marketplace. The growth of diverse populations worldwide and the potential of these segments make them important targets as prospective employees and customers. Economically, the diverse markets represent a growing source of market consumption and buying power, which makes them an important customer group for Microsoft. By increasing the transition of w orkforce, they will create a team that capable of designing products that fulfil these growing customers postulate.Employees actively sample guidance from their senior executive leadership team to ensure that diversity and inclusive crush practices are deeply embedded throughout the working environment. Microsoft comes out with a strategy called Global Diversity Inclusion (GDI), which includeRepresentation Building a Pipeline of Future LeadersMicrosoft focuses on arming its employee pipeline, while actively recruiting those with wide range of diverse backgrounds, super trained individuals from around the world. Microsoft leverages relationships with schools and professional organizations to achieve diversity recruiting. They offer programs that provide students the chance to interact with todays technology and learn about rushs in this industryInclusion Creating Engagement in the Work EnvironmentIn golf-club to sustain diversity gains, working environment mustiness promote behaviours in a way that encourage employees to find new ways of problem-solving and reenforcement diversity of thought. Thus, Microsoft provides leaders that have cultural competency training and GDI best practice focal point strategies, and offer employees the opportunities to build stakeholder relationships, thereby fostering a culture of inclusive behaviours.Innovation Driving Market ExcellenceTo build the best software, Microsoft incorporates the talents of varied workforce into products, and fulfils the needs and priorities of its diverse customers, suppliers and partner base. Microsoft whole kit with certified and highly trained individuals, and besides with small businesses that are desire to purchase competitively priced quality entires and services from Microsoft. (A Vision and Strategy for the Future, 2012)2.2 windMicrosofts unveiling of the new Surface tablet, and with its mean $1.2 billion acquisition of Yammer, a social networking service, and the company is s howing signs of actions of a market leader. Microsoft is going after Total World Domination, 100% market share in every market that it is involved in. They focus on risking profits to increase market share and go after a market with the view to persist it. This is part of the reason which makes Microsoft the leading corporation.There are secrets of Microsofts management where the appoint points are, Bill Is Watching (Olaoluwa, 2012). Bill Gates philosophy, approach and strategic vision permeate the entire company. Project managers send reports regularly to Bill about the placement of their projects in which the current status of the project and the problem that it faces must be say in the report to ensure Bill knows what is happening. Bill oft passports among the workers to see how projects are progressing and he gains a good discernment about what is going on with the projects by talking to the workers. Because Bill understands what is happening throughout the company, his decisions are generally the correct ones for the strategic direction of the company (Thielen, 1999).Besides, workers are given the freedom to create and work properly, but must at the same time be aware of the problems within and status of the project. There is an annual meeting every year for Microsoft employees that include recreation as well as business. The idea is to keep all employees communicate about what is going on in the company and the direction that it is taking. This reflects the management functions of leading in Microsoft.2.3 OrganizingMicrosoft is a public corporation. Shareholders elect the board of directors, who in turn hire the top executives including the president, vice presidents, secretary, and treasurer. The company must fit Washington States laws regarding a corporation and must also abide by Securities and Exchange Commission regulations for financial reporting. As of November 2012, Steve Ballmer held the title of CEO, while co-founder Bill Gates was t he chairman.According to Wikipedia, as of 2012, the company has a divisional organization. each(prenominal) division, or product group, focuses on a specific line of goods and services. to each one group has its own research and development, sales and customer service staff. Although this geek of organization is more expensive and consumes more resources, but it allows the groups to better serve their customers. Each product group has one executive in file who reports directly to the companys president.Microsofts five product groups are Windows Live Windows Group, which handles the PC operating software and Windows consumer products Server Software, in charge of internet server software Online Services, responsible for online advertising and Bing search engine Microsoft Business, develops business related software and servers Entertainment and Devices, assigned to handle the Xbox, Zune and software for the automotive industry.By managing the company in divisional form, the enti re group is often in one location, allowing more interaction and better communication between all the employees developing or supporting one line of products. Having a smaller business unit means each division can develop new products and get them to market faster, making it easier to compete once morest rivals.Figure Organizational organize of MicrosoftOrganizational Chart Microsoft TheOfficialBoard.jpg2.4 ControllingBesides planning, leading and organizing, Microsoft also focuses in controlling. This management process is important to ensure activities are accomplished as planned and to correct any unwanted deviation. The controlling process includes monitoring, comparing, and correcting work carry throughance. Microsoft often monitors the employees by personal observation. The company managers practices direction By Walking nigh (MBWA).Bill Gates and other management staff of Microsoft often walk among the workers to monitor the progress of the project. By this way the top m anagers gains a good fellow feeling on what is going on with that project. The employees of Microsoft are rate and careful according to accomplishments. A project failure will affect the employees rating negatively. But failure is expected to happen sometimes, and a failure is agreeable and will not give a permanent bad mark on the employees record, unless the employee fails continuously. This measuring style do not intent to pull at the employee, but to measure the work the employee most recently completed. The employees are not measured by whether the project fails or not, but how well they perform within their scope of responsibility. Employees with better performance will receive rewards as well as conquestful. If failure happens in a project, a post-mortem parole is held where individuals discuss what went wrong and what could have been done better.2.5 Factor that lead to successMarco Iansiti and Alan D. MacCormack stated that in any industry subject to rapid technical ch ange, a firm faces two big challenges. The first is in recognizing the threats and opportunities that are caused by newly emerging technologies. The second is in mounting an effective response to these threats. Microsoft appears to have solved these problems, giving it the ability to quickly fit to changing circumstances.Based on Sean Silverthorne, Microsoft has built-in sensing mechanisms to keep enshroud of what is happening in the broader technological context which assist it to recognize threats. all overmuch of this ability comes from its tools division, which tracks the needs of the many developers worldwide who write for Microsoft platforms. When these developers find attractive(a) alternatives to Microsoft technologies as they did when the Internet first emerged, its not long before the tools division starts to hear about it. Microsoft also employed several thousand developers to constantly examining the potential of new technologies.In terms of responding to potential t hreats, Microsoft consistently plays to its strengths its boilersuit platform strategy, its existing knowledge base, and its process of componentization. For example, when developing the new Internet Explorer web browser, the development team opted to leverage its existing programming model, in spite of the fact that this would initially slow the project down. From this point on, competitors in the browser space faced a formidable challenge. They were competing not only against the Explorer team, but also against the continual improvements made to Microsofts underlying platform over its many years of existence.2.6 Future ChallengesEven as Microsoft earns high be in worlds most powerful brand, profit, sales, assets and market value, their longstanding competitor, apple, still holds higher(prenominal) ranking than Microsoft in all those aspects. Apple had now topped Microsoft to be the worlds most powerful brand, and it is clear that get that first place again will be Microsoft gr eatest challenge.Now and again, Apple had introduced new innovations, curiously products like iPad or iPhone, which generates more revenue than all of Microsofts wares combined. Apples innovations have clear Apple more attention and customers as compare with Microsoft. Microsoft challenge will be turning attention of consumers from Apple to Microsoft by coming out with new gadgets that are better than Apples product.Microsoft next challenge is to be flexile in their products. When Apple came out with gadgets with link screen interfaces such iPhones and iPads, it sequester consumers attention to buy the products because people like the convenience and uniqueness of the touch screen interface. Clearly touch screen interface is the trend, but Microsoft could not implement this new technology in their product because Microsofts software products are hardcore to only keyboard and mouse, not touch screen. As a result, Apple was able to grab more customers because of Microsoft inflexi bility in its product. To dominate the market, Microsoft needs to be flexible in their product.FindingsConclusionAs a summary, the four management functions which consist of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling had been applied by Microsoft and this kind of management allows the organization to run smoothly in achieving their goals.The chosen example Microsoft stated that planning is the foundation of management, where all the management should built. Planning is importance as well, it determine and implemented to attain the organizations goals and objectives. Besides planning, the management should getting prepared, getting organized. Manager must organize all the resources well before putt into action. Furthermore, leading helps the manager to manage and supervise the actions of the subordinates. This helps them to assist the staff achieving organizations goals and enhancing their career goals which can influenced by leadership, communication, increment, promotion and mo tivation. Lastly, controlling helps to check the errors and to take the nonindulgent action therefore control is a tool for achieving organizational activities and also a continuous process.Nowadays, big organizations require managers to be flexible, adaptive, and innovative so to stay competitive. In order to reach these targets, managers must have heterogeneous management techniques and practices. Managers should understand the fundamentals of the techniques and practices it before it can apply it. Without understanding the management basics, they cant be an effective and efficient manager. As a result, effective and efficient management leads to success, where it accomplishes the targets and objectives of the organizations. Of course, to achieve the ultimate goals, the managements need to work productively and innovative for solving problem with the four management functions mentioned earlier. Management not only has foreseen the desires of accomplishing the goals, but has to l ook into process that their method is practicable and realistic for the company as well.