Management and Leadership in Microsoft - Assignment Example

1. At Microsoft everything at Microsoft is guided by their corporate values, s of conduct and company policies. This provides good stewardship of the environment. Leadership is the ability to counsel, manage conflict, inspire loyalty and imbue subordinates with a desire to remain in the job (Eric, n.d.). Microsoft leaders have been in the press as they face government sanctions for their monopolistic behavior (Smallwood, 2000). The leaders at Microsoft have a desire to lead in the industry and their distinct leadership creates value by differentiating and impacting their management. This leadership is only to excel in the industry with little concern for the employees within the organization who are the greatest contributors. While the employees are highly skilled and educated at Microsoft, bureaucracy rules (Nachtigal, 2006). When the CFO was anxious that his finance team would not get the due credit (Teach, 1999), promotions in this department was announced that recognized the contribution of key personnel in the organization (Microsoft, 2000). Risk and innovation are essential for growth and managing these is a mammoth task but these required the leadership of the CFO. This demonstrates that both leadership and management are effective and essential to run any business. Hence leadership at Microsoft is not directed towards motivating the employees but towards creating a leadership brand in their industry. 2. A leader is a man who can persuade people to do what they do not want to do or do what they are too lazy to do and like it. Competence is not a sufficient quality for leadership. It requires gaining the commitment and trust if everyone in the organization (Eric, n.d.). at Microsoft, however, people are not persuaded to do what they do not want to do but forced to do what they are said to do. Compliance with laws, policies and procedures are management functions. The management culture at Microsoft is healthy and forward-looking. The managers support their team members and even fight that their team members be given high performance appraisal. However, leadership extends beyond this and requires purpose, passion and imagination. In times of crisis, hope and inspiration comes from leaders and not managers. Leadership requires motivating the staff, inculcating positive culture, encouraging high performance, analyze and interpret outcomes, be responsible for the results and maximize human resources. Managers would trade rewards for performance but a leader would inspire commitment and trust. The training opportunities offered to the employees worldwide speaks of the leadership and management at Microsoft (Microsoft, 2007). To bring the best out of their employees, they help in nurturing their skills that make leaders more effective in their current roles. They also prepare their employees for the upcoming challenges and create a pipeline of talent through out the employee population. At Microsoft, annual performance review is conducted which amounts to little more than closed-door popularity contest where the managers fight for higher scores for their team. Leadership helps to reduce absenteeism, improve work morale but the performance evaluation system at Microsoft leaves them demoralized. 3. The four management functions include planning, staffing, organizing and controlling. A healthy organizational culture is important to achieve goals and company objectives. Leadership requires the creation and management of culture. Culture is deep-seated and change is not an easy task. Both leaders and managers are equally responsible for creating and maintaining a healthy culture. Organizational culture affects performance, recruitment and selection, the motivation and retention of human capital including downsizing. While Microsoft has not experienced downsizing, of late salaries have become redundant and defections high at Microsoft. To achieve these goals, it first requires identifying the areas in which the personnel need to be trained in technology. The leadership techniques specific to the company needs to be organized along with the business knowledge that will benefit Microsoft. They do claim that their employees’ passion, creativity and dedication are their greatest strengths. While they do concentrate on staffing and training, of late salaries have become stagnant and defections high at Microsoft. The learning process has to be well developed which includes the training tools and the training materials. This is where the planning comes into the picture. They develop innovative software that transforms the way people work. To deal with the internal and external environment, change in culture becomes essential. This requires organizational learning, which Microsoft is taking care of through well organized programs. During any change the role of the leader becomes important and Microsoft is able to efficiently impart this amongst the employees. Control is through bureaucracy and not motivational techniques. The motivation is used only to the extent of technical support and does not stretch beyond this. Thus, the overall culture at Microsoft is not a very healthy one. 4. Organizational change at Microsoft has become essential in the face of changing work environment and increases in competition. This requires guiding and managing human resources in a way that would minimize defection and enhance productivity. They have to first increase their adaptability to change. Change always brings resistance and honesty, trust, openness, employee participation, all helps to achieve high motivation among staff. Motorola had to undertake a major re-organization program and their customer focused approach, informal coordination and integration of functions helped the company to dismantle the debilitating bureaucracy and end a culture of rivalry. Thus reorganizing and change can bring enormous gains for Microsoft. If the employees are well informed of the outcome of change they are not resistant. As product life cycles have become shorter, learning initiatives have to be considered not just to train the employees at the lower end but the senior executives as well. To bring about smooth transition or change, the leaders would first need to be trained to implement the process of change. The company should be able to capture critical assumption and the environment in which it operates. For example, as defections have increased, Microsoft should necessarily concentrate on retention and motivation of human capital as they are the greatest asset of an organization today. This would foster a healthy culture but training the senior executives is of paramount importance. References: Eric (n.d.), Leadership for Excellence, 19 July 2007 Microsoft (2000), Promotions in Microsoft Finance Organization Underscore Strong Leadership Team, 19 July 2007 Microsoft (2007), Be a Leader in Creating Leaders, 19 July 2007 Nachtigal, J., (2006), Rising Frustration with Microsofts Compensation and Review System, WashTech, 19 July 2007 Smallwood, N., (2000), Leveraging Leadership Competencies to Produce Leadership Brand: Creating Distinctiveness by Focusing on Strategy and Results, 19 July 2007 Teach, E., (1999), GREGORY B. MAFFEI - MICROSOFT CORP, CFO Magazine, 19 July 2007 Read More