MICROSOFT

Microsoft

Table of Contents

COMPANY BACKGROUND3

INFLUENCING FACTORS4

THREE CHANGING FACTORS6

1.Microsoft Office6

2.Culture6

3.Research and Development7

CHANGE MODEL8

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF KEY ISSUE10

EVALUATION OF SUCCESS11

Microsoft

Company Background

Microsoft is one of the largest IT companies in the world. Though Microsoft has lost some of its market share to Apple, the company is still the pioneer in the development, manufacturing, licensing and software support programs. The company produces software products that are related to the operating systems (Allen, 1977, 78). Microsoft has a range of different product that it has manufactured such as, Microsoft Office, MSN, Windows XP, and Windows Vista. There are a lot more different versions of the programs that it has produced. These versions are manufactured with increased features and versions and due to the changing technology. When Microsoft came into being there were no other technological companies, rather there were no competitors; however, now with the increased changing trend with the changing ways of using technology, the company is forced to keep up with the change.

The company was found by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975. The company has been on the verge of success since it has been stabled. The company's operations have remained unchanged because of the strong company background. The company has made sure that it does not loose its market share to any of its competitor. Today, Apple is one of the greatest competitors of Microsoft but because it operates in a different market, the two companies do not face great threat. Apple operates in the market where touch screens are prevalent; however, Microsoft has been the pioneer in producing computers, and has been a market leader since then (Strebel, 1996, 22).

The company's good performance is also evident from the fact that the company recorded revenues of $62,484 million during the end of financial year 2010 that ended in June 2010. This profit increased 6.9% over the past year which means that the company has been doing well since it was established. The company has been very successful in its industry and its performance suggests that it will remain to be successful throughout the coming years.

Influencing Factors

The internal desire to conquer all world markets in the software business is very challenging but Microsoft has proven it can be done with careful planning in regard to rapid change. Externally, the information technology sector changes quickly so Microsoft operates a good portion of their resources to keep up with these occurrences (Andersen, Et. Al, 2008, 46). Each locale around the globe is a different market which has to be catered to accordingly. In order to accommodate to these specific markets Microsoft is flexible to change goals rapidly. Microsoft's global development section has put a great deal of effort into creating software to be used in every country around the world, thus creating an external factor within the planning function.

An external factor that impacts the planning phase of management within technology is competition. With the rapid changes in technology as well as the abundant resources, companies such as Apple are beginning to serve ...