Inputs Diagnosis

Inputs Diagnosis

Introduction

This paper is in continuation to a report regarding Organizational Diagnosis that was presented earlier during the course. Resources such as raw materials, people, energy, finances, information and even new systems and strategies are called Business Inputs. These inputs are extremely crucial for the growth of a business as it is these inputs that lead to the required outcomes and outputs. Everything in a business is part of a process that begins with the input. If the input is proper, the rest of the process goes smoothly and efficiently.

Background

The report presented earlier on Organizational Diagnosis was presented to Microsoft and Skype. The seniors at Microsoft appreciated the report and it was decided that the overall congruence of the company would be analysed using the Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model. The purpose of this analysis would be to study the inputs and outputs of the companies but in this paper, the focus shall be limited to the inputs. The companies want to know what their critical inputs are and how they would align with the company strategies. The company chosen for this paper is Skype.

Skype

Skype is a service that provides cell phone and computer users with an application that allows voice-over-Internet protocol. Originally created by Janus Friss and Niklas Zennstrom in 2003, it has since then become the number one application for internet-calling (Credit-Suisse, 2008). In the year 2011, Microsoft took over the company and has been controlling it since. Skype allows users to call other Skype users over the internet for free. Additional uses are instant messaging, file sharing and video calling. Video calling is one of Skype's most popular features. The company has 663 million registered users (2011 report) and the numbers are growing since. The company has its headquarters in Luxembourg.

Skype's strategy & fitting Porter's competitive strategies

Skype is an ...