Sas Institute Case Study Answers
1. Introduction-
The SAS institute was founded in 1976 by Dr. James Goodnight and Dr. John Sall, both professors at North Carolina State University, SAS Institute, Inc. provides business intelligence (BI) software and services at more than 40,000 customer sites worldwide, including 90 percent of the Fortune 500 companies. SAS, which stands for “statistical analysis software,” is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina. It is the world’s largest privately held software company, having over 100 offices worldwide with approximately 10,000 employees. With an unbroken record of growth and profitability, SAS had revenue of $1.18 billion in 2002 and invested about 25 percent of revenues into research and development. SAS has been widely recognized for its work-life programs and emphasis on employee satisfaction. The company’s various honors include being recognized by Working Mothers magazine as one of “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers” and by Fortune magazine as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work for in America.” The Working Mothers recognition has been received 13 times and the Fortune recognition has occurred for six consecutive years.
2. Critically analyse the basic management philosophy that governs employee relation management at SAS.
The management culture is a very important factor in the imprinting of a company: it shapes the relationship between working environment and employee satisfaction. SAS’s particular strategy of running the business in which the employees are unbelievably loyal, as a software developer himself, SAS CEO Jim Goodnight knows well that designing software is a creative process, and that SAS’ continued success is built on “products of the mind.” The creativity and puzzle-solving behind great software and the caring professionalism behind great customer service are the most essential resources in an intellectual property enterprise. SAS management believes that workplace culture, company values and employment practices can
The SAS institute was founded in 1976 by Dr. James Goodnight and Dr. John Sall, both professors at North Carolina State University, SAS Institute, Inc. provides business intelligence (BI) software and services at more than 40,000 customer sites worldwide, including 90 percent of the Fortune 500 companies. SAS, which stands for “statistical analysis software,” is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina. It is the world’s largest privately held software company, having over 100 offices worldwide with approximately 10,000 employees. With an unbroken record of growth and profitability, SAS had revenue of $1.18 billion in 2002 and invested about 25 percent of revenues into research and development. SAS has been widely recognized for its work-life programs and emphasis on employee satisfaction. The company’s various honors include being recognized by Working Mothers magazine as one of “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers” and by Fortune magazine as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work for in America.” The Working Mothers recognition has been received 13 times and the Fortune recognition has occurred for six consecutive years.
2. Critically analyse the basic management philosophy that governs employee relation management at SAS.
The management culture is a very important factor in the imprinting of a company: it shapes the relationship between working environment and employee satisfaction. SAS’s particular strategy of running the business in which the employees are unbelievably loyal, as a software developer himself, SAS CEO Jim Goodnight knows well that designing software is a creative process, and that SAS’ continued success is built on “products of the mind.” The creativity and puzzle-solving behind great software and the caring professionalism behind great customer service are the most essential resources in an intellectual property enterprise. SAS management believes that workplace culture, company values and employment practices can
References: Drucker (1974) “The Practice of Management”, Harper and Row, New York. Chaffee, E. (1985) “Three models of strategy”, Academy of Management Review. Buzzell (1987) “Linking Strategy to Performance”, Free Press, New York. Cooper (1991) “The surprising case for low market share”, Harvard Business Review, Boston. Borgerson, J. L. and J. E. Schroeder (2008) “Building an Ethics of Visual Representation: Contesting Epistemic Closure in Marketing Communication”, “Cutting Edge Issues in Business Ethics”, Springer, Boston. Word Count: 2278.