Microsoft Strategic Management
Table of Contents Background 3 External Environment 5 Porter’s Five Forces Model 6 Force 1: Potential Competitors 6 Force 2: Rivalry Among Incumbent Firms 6 Force 3: Supplier Power 6 Force 4: Buyer Power 6 Force 5: Substitute Products/Services 6 SWOT 7 Strengths 7 Weaknesses 7 Opportunities 7 Threats 8 Capability and Resource 9 Intangible 9 Leadership and managerial capabilities 9 Brand name 9 Patent 9 File systems patent 10 Strategic Partnership 10 Tangible 10 Researching Centre and facilities 10 Employee 11 Strategies 12 Recommendation 14 Bibliography 15
Background
It’s the 1970s. At work, we rely on typewriters. If we need to copy a document, we likely use a mimeograph or carbon paper. Few have heard of microcomputers, but two young computer enthusiasts, a nineteen year old kid and his twenty-two year old business partner (Bill Gates and Paul Allen) sold their first program to a little computer company in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The program was called BASIC, and it was the start of this company we call Microsoft. We see that personal computing is a path to the future.
In 1975, Gates and Allen form a partnership called Microsoft. Like most start-ups, Microsoft begins small, but has a huge vision—a computer on every desktop and in every home. During the next years, Microsoft begins to change the ways we work.
Starting in 1980, Microsoft formed an important partnership with IBM that allowed them to bundle Microsoft 's operating system with computers that they sold, paying Microsoft a royalty for every sale. In 1985, IBM requested that Microsoft write a new operating system for their computers called OS/2; Microsoft wrote the operating system, but also continued to sell their own alternative, which proved to be in direct competition with OS/2. Microsoft Windows eventually overshadowed OS/2 in terms of sales. When Microsoft launched several versions of Microsoft Windows in the 1990s, they had captured
Background
It’s the 1970s. At work, we rely on typewriters. If we need to copy a document, we likely use a mimeograph or carbon paper. Few have heard of microcomputers, but two young computer enthusiasts, a nineteen year old kid and his twenty-two year old business partner (Bill Gates and Paul Allen) sold their first program to a little computer company in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The program was called BASIC, and it was the start of this company we call Microsoft. We see that personal computing is a path to the future.
In 1975, Gates and Allen form a partnership called Microsoft. Like most start-ups, Microsoft begins small, but has a huge vision—a computer on every desktop and in every home. During the next years, Microsoft begins to change the ways we work.
Starting in 1980, Microsoft formed an important partnership with IBM that allowed them to bundle Microsoft 's operating system with computers that they sold, paying Microsoft a royalty for every sale. In 1985, IBM requested that Microsoft write a new operating system for their computers called OS/2; Microsoft wrote the operating system, but also continued to sell their own alternative, which proved to be in direct competition with OS/2. Microsoft Windows eventually overshadowed OS/2 in terms of sales. When Microsoft launched several versions of Microsoft Windows in the 1990s, they had captured
Bibliography: Cutcher L., & Wailes N., (2006), Cases in Strategy and Management, North Ryde, McGraw-Hill,p.100. Chakidan, 2011. Microsoft Business Strategy Analysis. [online] Available at:< http://chakidan.blogspot.hk/2011/04/strategy-analysis-for-microsoft.html> [Accessed 26th Dec 2012] Microsoft, 2012. Microsoft partner program. [online] Available at:<http://www.microsoft.com/taiwan/partner/CertPartner/p10.htm>[Accessed 26th Dec 2012] NETMARKETSHARE, 2012, Browsing by Device Category, Net Applications.com, [online] Available at:<http://www.netmarketshare.com/report.aspx?qprid=61&qptimeframe=M&qpsp=144&qpnp=24> NETMARKETSHARE, 2012, Desktop Operating System Market Share, Net Application.com, [online] Available at: http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8&qpcustomd=0 scribd , 2009. Project Report: Impact Of Company’s International Strategy on Its Business Performance (Microsoft). [online] Available at:<http://zh.scribd.com/doc/39600843/Impact-of-Microsoft-s%E2%80%99s-International-strategy-on-its-business-performance >[Accessed 26th Dec 2012] scribd, 2012. Diversification. [online] Available at:<http://zh.scribd.com/doc/12376024/Advantages-and-Disadvantages-of-Diversification >[Accessed 26th Dec 2012]