Culture and Leadership in Microsoft - Research Paper Example

? Microsoft Inserts His/Her Inserts Grade Inserts Inserts Here (Day, Month, Year) Contents Contents 2 CULTURE AND LEADERSHIP IN MICROSOFT 3 Organizational Culture 3 Leadership 4 Microsoft 4 Culture at Microsoft 5 Leadership at Microsoft 8 Continuous Learning 9 Conclusion 11 Recommendations 12 Bibliography 13 CULTURE AND LEADERSHIP IN MICROSOFT Culture and leadership are the two main and basic features of the organizations involved in any kind of business or service provision. These elements enable a company to flourish and achieve its aims and objectives in a much clearer way than those workplaces which lack proper formulation and translation of the values and norms. When we see the success stories of the leading, global firms around us, it gives a good realization of the fact that a good leadership and a sophisticated organizational culture form a good organization. This paper discusses the concept of organizational culture and leadership in a detailed context. It also gives a comprehensive overview of these concepts with reference to Microsoft. Organizational Culture The concept of organizational culture plays an important role in the life and functioning of any organization. Defining the term in its specific context, the culture of an organization pertains to an idea referring to the aspect of organizational studies and management which explains the attitudes, experiences, psychology, beliefs and values related to an organization. According to many management experts the concept of organizational culture is described as the explicit compilation of norms and values which are commonly shared by groups and people in an organization. These values, beliefs and norms also influence the way the people in an organization communicate and network with one another and with the external parties and stakeholders outside the organization. To extend it further, these ideas and beliefs explain the nature of goals that the members in an organization normally follow. The culture also translates the suitable standards of behaviors, attitudes and the environment which are used by the members of the organization. Leadership Leadership is one of the main elements of the organizational management. According to many management experts and gurus, the term is described as the process of influencing the society and the workforce in which one member acts as the leaders and lists the support and assistance for other people and the subordinate in order to achieve the completion of a tasks which is being worked on as a mutual goal. The act of leading refers to the creation of a way through which the people in an organization put in their efforts and contributions in order to contribute something unusual to happen. Talking specifically about the implementation and influence if leadership in the organization, the effectiveness of this act pertains to the capability of the /leader to execute a successful maximization and instability to successfully integrate and maximize available resources within the internal and external environment for the attainment of organizational or societal goals 1 Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is the leading organization in the field of the provision of computer hardware and software products. The company is a public multinational based in America and is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA. The company is basically involved in the development, manufacturing, licensing and supporting a diverse variety of services and products which are chiefly connected to the computer-related technology thorough the divisions of many of its product divisions2. The history of Microsoft Corporation briefly dates back to April 4, 1975 and this was the time when BASIC interpreters was developed and sold to Altair 8800. The company also rose to control the computer operating system in the home market in mid-1980s with MS-DOS, which was later followed by the introduction of the modern Microsoft Windows line of operating systems. The Microsoft Corporation has also dominated market of office suite with the Microsoft Office. During some recent years, the company has branched out its services and has made its move into the industry of video game where there has been a strong prevalence and a big market of Xbox and its successor. Besides this, the consumer electronics, Xbox 360 and the market of digital services including Zone, Windows Phone OS and MSN have also integrated and incorporated their services into Microsoft. Culture at Microsoft Culture plays an important role in the success and operations of any organization. The formulation, creation and implementation of a sophisticated culture create a dynamic environment and a peaceful and harmonious workforce3. Networking Keeping this in view, Microsoft Corporation also follows a sophisticated and a well-developed organizational culture. Keeping this in mind, many studies undertaken on the culture of Microsoft have suggested that the company possesses a strong networking and relationship culture. In order to do this, the transactions of the Microsoft Corporation take place through various interconnected networks all across the world. Through this process, there is no chance for anyone to escape from the data or the software being used. The information is sufficiently moved from one place to another. Driven by the technology and advanced infrastructure, the concepts of economic development are being propelled through the utilization of computing and digitalization. In order to keep the culture of networking and public relations intact, the company had launched its own community website for the purpose of serving the users and developers in April 2004. This community, titled as Channel 9, provided the internet and web platforms to its users. Then, the company also introduced platforms for the purpose of providing technical support through its online newsgroups and the CompuServe; all these have been monitored and supervised by the employees of Microsoft. Human Resource Management To some people, the Microsoft Corporation may appear to be a company without any sophisticated corporate culture, but in reality, the organization follows a strong culture which poses advancements and grooming not only in the grounds of technology but also in the aspects of human resource management. There are great minds working at the organization with good mentors and diligent and willing risk takers. This is where the culture of Microsoft is found and this is the specialty of the company. There are the most creative people in the organizational and the place contains a vibrant atmosphere4. This ambiance surrounds the creative minds and the researches taking place inside the building of the company. There is a great pressure of work and an absolute challenging environment inside. Microsoft Corporation is attached strongly to a batch of talented and hard working people. The Microsoft Research Asia lab is one of the biggest partnering of the company and mentions that the lab has been attracting the talents and world-class researchers in order to serve the ‘magnets’ of the company. The company is well-known for its creative questioning and interviewing during its hiring process. Change Besides this, the most important and fundamental word to describe the environment inside the organization is change. This change has led the company to new directions and entirely newer paths. According to employees and the management of the organization, the work which is done within the culture which endorses and encourages change is the work filled up with adventures, challenges and creativity. At Microsoft, the mandate is to nurture the cleverest and smartest minds, respect and protect them so that the potential and existing talent can be cherishes and maintained in the long run5. Creating the Future The management has a strong belief in the concepts of intelligent computing. The belief that the “Cloud + Client” computing is likely to make the internet a more useful co9mputing platform for the end users, is more prominent in the part of the culture which has been predominantly seen at the Microsoft Corporation. The development of human activity has been driven through the idea of software as a service, data centers, and intelligent computing, in eh fields of health care, economy and education. The creation of future has been a definite part of the Microsoft culture which will be possible at the organization through the introduction of digital economy engine6. The vision of Microsoft, ‘creating the future’, has been a motto of inspiration for all the employees at the workplace. It drives the aims and enthusiasm of the human resource and makes them more willing to work. Ballmer mentions that it has only been possible for the company to maintain its leadership through the transforming and accepting corporate culture that it possesses. It has been due to the flexibility and adjustability of the organizational culture that company has been transitioned form the traditional era of text-based interfaces to the computing and graphical technology. This has been possible due to the fact that the organization has been actually committed to building and executing such a culture which is able to introduce transformation, change management on a continuous basis and innovation in the technological and traditional aspects. There ahs been an extensive degree of adaptability and personal level as well as on the level of responding to the evolving competitive threats. Integration of Best Business Practices Even today, the European organizations work like Microsoft and adopt the best business practices at the very basic, middle and higher level of the organization. The functioning of organization in managing quality, environment, health and safety, information and various other legislations allow it to align its short and long term strategies with the best business practices and legislations imposed in European regulations and code of conduct. Microsoft Corporation, along with all its top and lower management, ensures that the employees and they higher management works for the improved standards, enhanced productivity, increased consumer satisfaction and a great amount of community development activities. It has also activated the business continuity management standards as a part of its corporate culture so that the IT, supply chain and all other related departments of the organization are managed properly and are protected in a sophisticated manner 7. Besides the management of internal environment of the company, the Microsoft Corporation also gives special focus to it’s the environment and aims to work for the betterment of the society. It does this by focusing on the efficient and effective deployment and utilization of its resources. The data centers of Microsoft have also worked upon increasing the utilization of its energy resources in order to being hem into operation and work on the betterment of the community and its people. The company also provides special rewards and incentives for the positive reinforcements of its managers who help and give great contributions for the efficient deployment of the organization’s resources. Leadership at Microsoft The Microsoft Corporation has widely been known for it leadership amongst the large scale, leading organizations. The company has brought a dynamic change in ten field of Information Technology cloud computing, and has boosted the utilization of modern technology and concepts to enhance the workers’ productivity. The applications of advanced tools has improved the organizational functions like cost management, meeting customer’s demands and expectations. At Microsoft, the company believes in connecting, networking and maintaining relationships with the people, government, stakeholders, and business partners and with the consumers8.   Talking particularly about the leadership, the company follows a democratic style of leadership form the bottom to the top of the hierarchal ladder. The Microsoft Corporation has been software giant for more than 27 years now. The company had got a real boost in the year 2006, when it had launched its new products including the new version of MS Office, the Windows Vista operating System and the Zune music player. It was a big achievement for the company to grow form a batch of merely 30 employees to an entire base of 80, 000 workers in human resource. According to Steve Ballmer, the president and later the CEO of the company, the leadership of the Microsoft Corporation required a great level of personalization along with the ability to adjust to and adopt the heavy technology and new conditions of the ever changing environment. The company has a style of leading and working towards the lo9ng term strategies, plans and goals. The same motto has been apparent in the launching of its new products such as Zune, Windows and Xbox. Continuous Learning The company, Microsoft Corporation, focuses on the continuous learning of its leaders in order to target the new growth and expansion areas. The Windows and Office franchises of the company have been investing in large amounts, all their resources, chains and finances, so that they can move into newer markets. On this, the introduction of successfully smart products by the Apple Incorporation has only increased a tougher competition and rivalry for the Microsoft in the IT industry. To add to the worries, the company has also faced a huge rise in the various ways of development and distribution of the software product9. In order to face all such huge markets and competition, the leadership required at the company needs to be alert and creative enough to face all the challenges. Therefore, the leadership at Microsoft Corporation is able to adapt to different markets and challenge the targeting of huge customer bases for its expanding product units. For this purpose, a lot of learning and lesson is valuable and worthy for the organization. The leadership at the organization also considers the talking, experiencing, interacting and brainstorming of the people more valuable than only learning. Here, the leaders have set their tone, perception and beliefs wholly about the real purpose behind the working of the organization. They are innovative, creative, and capable of bringing and accepting changes and is more open towards the adoptability of technology and the challenging environment10. Bill Gates was the chairman, co founder and the chief executive officer of the leading company, Microsoft. He had implemented a great leadership at the company and had trained his employees to be just as far sighted as he was. The great leader of the company and a successful entrepreneur was intelligent, passionate and innovative at his leadership. He had instilled the qualities of risk bearing, learning and openness to the acceptance of criticism and challenges in the organizations. The vision introduced by Gates for his successor was based upon ‘A computer on every desk and Microsoft software on every computer’. His entrepreneurship and confident leadership made a great amount of success in the companies for the years to come. Even today, the organization is not only based on a vision, but has a solid team, a long-term approach, ability to question and to learn from its failures. Innovation and Agility Matter When talking specifically about the European organizations, we see that the companies gain a large amount of confidence when they enter into large markets, international business dealings and experience the expanded geographical territories. There are many other companies like Microsoft, which have adopted the marathons of market in an innovative manner once they entered the large markets and faced business expansions. Agility and innovation are counted as their greatest achievement and through one innovation; they are able to take the advantage of another development. Generally, the organizations in Europe are able to invent new things and can also rescale, discipline and execute the other things in a simultaneous manner11. Such agility requires the organizations like Microsoft to comply with various standards and make choices at the same time so that their agility-based situation is sustained. The organization has successfully installed in its culture and leadership, the ability of connectedness in order to enhance the satisfaction of its social and business circle. Its smartest technology has made a wide amount of data and information easily available to it and this, the organization maintains a greater level of accountability and transparency within its culture and leadership. Due to this the practice of influencing the consumers and other direct and indirect factors in a positive way has been possible at a wider level of the organization. Conclusion The culture and leadership plays a vital role at the core functioning and the success of every successful organization. The European organizations, in particular, apply the best business practices in order to integrate the business regulations and standards in the culture and leadership style prevailing in their work environments. One such organization is Microsoft, which incorporates all the best business practices in the development of its product ideas, the creation and selling of its products and in maintaining its internal and external environments. The concepts of networking, proper management of human resource and accepting the challenges is an integral part of the organization’s culture. The organizations possess a flexible culture which is easy for its employees to adopt. This sophistication of culture at Microsoft Corporation is supported through the innovative and creative leadership at the base of its activities. This leadership in the organization envisages a strong vision, continuous learning, and a supporting transformation process. The best business practices have also been an essential feature of the European organizations. Microsoft has been one of the leading companies which have adopted the procedures to keep its customers happy and environment pure and pleasing. Through a proper utilization of its resources and effective management of data centers, the company has embarked upon serving its customers and community effectively. Recommendations The European organizations perform a full fledged appraisal of their activities and environment at regular intervals. In this way, they have become the due compliers of best business practices and have aligned their organizational functions, objectives and goals with the regulations and standards. The success stories of such organizations have translated into them the culture and tradition of the European businesses in a successful manner. However, the organizations still need to enhance their performance and abidance by the legislations in a proper manner by further practicing community development and customer satisfaction programs. In the corporate markets, the business environment is becoming more and more competitive and the economic downturn has been a common feature of everyday challenging environment. This situation is more likely to spoil the current and future anticipations of big organization. Not only this, but, the entrance of the new competitors into the markets has made the context tougher. Only if we look at Microsoft, the rivalry posed by Apple Incorporation has given latter a led due to its more impressive leadership and product differentiation strategy. Thus, the companies such as Microsoft have to take into account further measures to compete with the bigger rivals in the industry. Thus, the organizations currently need to: Focus more upon their strengths and the opportunities available to them in the markets, Consider the processes and implications of the strategic management and undertake to enhance the accommodating ability and flexibility of their organizational cultures, Look into the shifting requirements and demands of the customers and address them in time, Go beyond their present segments and target more customers, create more innovative products and make full use of their deployed resources. Bibliography 1. Microsoft Corporation. “Microsoft’s Top 10 Business Practices for Environmentally Sustainable Data Centers”, 2009. Accessed online. 2. Fried, Ina. "Microsoft follows Apple into the retail business". CNET. CBS Interactive. 2009. Accessed online. 3. Stajano, Frank. "Security for whom? The shifting security assumptions of pervasive computing". Software Security—Theories and Systems. Lecture notes in computer science. 2003. Pp. 16–27 4. Dianne Daniel. Microsoft’s culture of Innovation: An interview with CIO Tony Scott. 2008. Accessed online. 5. NPR. “Bill Gates Targets Visa Rules for Tech Workers". NPR. 2008. Accessed online. 6. Allan, Roy A. A History of the Personal Computer. Allan Publishing. 2008. Pp. 18-29 7. Blaxill, Mark; Eckardt, Ralph. The Invisible Edge: Taking Your Strategy to the Next Level Using Intellectual Property. Portfolio Hardcover. 2009. Pp. 87-92. 8. Jay Greene. Troubling exists at Microsoft. Bloomsberg Businessweek. 2005. Accessed online 9. Wee, Gerald. "Steve Ballmer on management style". ITWorld. CIO Asia (IDG). 2005. Accessed online. 10. Foley, Mary Jo. "MS revives MVP program". ZDNet. 2008. Accessed online. 11. “U.S. v. Microsoft: We're Defending Our Right to Innovate". The Wall Street Journal. May 20, 1998. Accessed online 12. Charles Arthur. "Microsoft falls behind Apple for first time in 20 years | Technology". 2005. London: The Guardian. Accessed online 13. John. “Fostering Alternative Ways to Commute at Microsoft. Microsoft”. 2007. Accessed online 14. NPR. “Bill Gates Targets Visa Rules for Tech Workers”. NPR. March 12, 2008. Accessed online 15. Microsoft. “Microsoft Board of Directors”. Press release. Accessed online Read More