The process of management is of very critical and vital in nature; its impact on the final results and performance of a firm is direct and immaculate. One example of such a firm has shown great results since day one of its creation is Microsoft. Microsoft has been the leader in the software industry for quite some time now. It is not just about the technological edge that has kept Microsoft on the top, a very vital role in this regard has been played by the Human Resource managers of the firm; who have made the firm’s manpower intact and alive all the time; and hence has produced high-quality results. In this paper, we would analyse Microsoft’s organization
Microsoft is a multinational giant in the computer software industry both system software and application software. The firm is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, United States. Microsoft’s and its founder’s contributions toward the development of this industry as a whole are praised by all. The market of Microsoft is huge; will surely be an understatement. To calculate the number of users and the actual market of this firm is very difficult (Microsoft n.d).
Most of the computer users no matter in what part of the world they live in get to see the logo of Microsoft Windows when they switch on their systems; not only this in most of the offices around the world the software used for the general office works is called Microsoft Office; in recent times many of the people who uses pocket PC’s are opting for Microsoft windows as their operating tool. In addition to this the most popular internet browser in the world is still Microsoft’s Internet Explorer; in sum, Microsoft has become a household name all around the world in a very short span of time (Stross, 1997).
As Microsoft is equally popular all around the globe therefore its offices are spread in almost every part of the world. This immaculate and rapid growth has made Mr. Bill Gates one of the richest people in the world. After getting hold of the lion’s share of the computer software industry Microsoft has moved into the hardware and the home entertainment industry as well by introducing the products like Xbox, Microsoft Mouse, Zune, MSNTV etc. The link to the organizational chart of this software giant has been placed below.
Organizational Chart
The topmost spot in the organizational chart is of the owner and the founder of the company Mr. Bill Gates. His role in the company has been vital since the day one; he is the one who has led the firm from the front at all the times and has provided a clear and pragmatic vision. After him, the next person in the hierarchy is Steve Ballmer who holds the office of the Chief Executive Officer. He is known as the backbone of the firm some of the critical decisions are to his credit which has paid hugely to the firm.
Some of the top managers of Microsoft include Ray Ozzie (CTO and Chief Software Architect), Craig Mundie (Chief Research and Strategy Officer), Eric Rudder (SVP Servers and Tools), Lisa Brummel (VP Human Resource), Robert Bach (President, Microsoft Entertainment and Devices and Chief Xbox Officer), Yusuf Mehdi (SVP and Chief Advertising Strategist), Jean-Philippe (President, Microsoft International), Brad Smith (Director, Interactive Marketing) etc. (Microsoft n.d).
All the top managers are head of one division and these divisions are further divided into sub-divisions and teams just to make sure that the work pressure does not pile up. In addition to this constitution of teams by the management of Microsoft is a step taken to make sure that no segment of the business is left unaddressed. In this way, the focus of the managers remains intact as they have clear know-how about what their duty is and what exactly is expected of them (Ian, 2006).
The division of the departments can be observed by analyzing the organisational structure of Microsoft. One prominent example in this regard can be the can be the division of the Microsoft International; a department whose function is to look at the affairs of Microsoft around the world outside the native country; this is an important department and hence the authority must be delegated and divided in a very cautious manner so keeping this is in mind the firm has got a president for this department which is a title only assigned to one more Head of the Department.
The President of the Microsoft International at the moment is Mr. Jean-Philippe, under him, comes the Vice Presidents and Chairmen of all the regions of the world; division of the world in terms of region enables the managers to focus on that very region and the problems related to that very region, under these regional VPs comes the Presidents for the regions; this is one reason which has contributed towards the development of the firm.
Reason to Work
The information that has been presented by me in the report is a result of extensive research from various sources including one of my relative who is an employee in Microsoft. Traditional work groups were never present in the company; this is one reason for the innovation of the company and that is why the people are willing to work for the organization as they have got every right to express their thoughts and they are appreciated for presenting innovative ideas; unlike the other firm where due to the presence of traditional work groups the employee don’t speak their hearts out as the manager is the one who is the epicentre of power and he is the one who controls the affairs of the group (Roger, 1997).
Microsoft Environment
In Microsoft the concept of self-managed teams is present, the managers only formulate the teams and assign them the tasks, the rest depends upon the team members and they can take all the decisions for themselves (team) by themselves without facing any intervention from the managers. Even the team members assign the tasks themselves so that they can accomplish the goals that the management has assigned them.
In addition to this, the concept of cross-functionalism is also present in the company and the teams are formulated on this basis as well because in the software industry, all the process are so interlinked that separating them can be harmful. The distance amongst various departments is less in Microsoft than the other competing firms, and the employees from all the departments have good relations among them.
This increases the inter-departmental harmony which is beneficial for any company in the longer run, one reason for this inter-departmental harmony is the constitution of the teams on the basis of cross-functionalism, as the employees from various departments can interact which each other which helps them in understanding the mindset of each other. As it has been stated above that software development is an integrated process so good collaboration amongst the various technical experts is necessary in order to get a good final product.
Teams at Microsoft
The teams at Microsoft are also successful because the targets assigned to them are of very clear in nature and has got no ambiguity, in addition to this the managers at the time of the formulation of the teams inform all the team members categorically about the contribution they can make to the company by accomplishing their assigned objectives. This helps in increasing the motivational level of the team members as they start feeling as they are the ones in whom the management has vested its trust and that is the reason they deliver successfully.
In addition to this , the innovation in the products of the Microsoft is largely due to the self-managed teams in which civilized disagreement is always appreciated and even the incentives are given to the out-of-the-box thinkers (Drucker, 2007). Deviance is catered in most of the cases by the mutual consultation of the team members and the team leaders so conformity does not offer any hurdle to thinking at Microsoft.
Due to the vast expansion of the firm and to develop global consumer acceptance, the managers are keen in constituting teams based on the lines of diversification; in which the employees from all the regions of the world are included (especially in the case of virtual teams). The concept on the making of diversified teams is necessary for all the companies competing in the software market because worldwide acceptance of the products is what is desired by all of them, as the costs of production and distribution are too high, especially in this industry.
The allocation of resources is one of the major issues that have the potential to affect the performance of the teams; no matter how good the team is but if they are not backed by the justified and desired volume of resources they will not be able to pay back. Since Microsoft is the leader in its domain so its volume of assets are also very huge; therefore the teams are fully backed by their wanted amount of resources so that they stand up to their required tasks. The incentives for the good performers are also offered so that the extrinsic motivation remains on the higher side (Daniel, 2007).
Virtual Teams at Microsoft
The concept of virtual teams is not novel to the people at Microsoft since the company has expanded rapidly in almost every region of the world therefore it is not possible for the team members to have frequent face-to-face interactions. This increased and diversified growth of Microsoft made the managers to think about forming virtual teams. The formation of the virtual teams was also necessary so that in the product development and upgradation stage the views from the users all around the world are taken into consideration; so that the product can excel in all the markets. The technological way of interaction for the teams is less expensive and is less time consuming so the employees saves a lot of travelling time.
Because of the fact that software industry is very volatile, changes have to be done on immediate basis so that the market share can be protected and the competitive advantage is not lost, in this regard too the concept of virtual teams have helped Microsoft as its mangers form all around the globe can discuss about the changing situations, analyze it and can make fast decisions without spending any time in travelling and boarding. The top management of Microsoft also uses technology to interact and formulate strategies.
The differences in my opinion from the theoretical expectations as far as Microsoft is concerned is not much, the managers at Microsoft are working quite good as per the book; and have got their basics right. Even though some of the issues are observed in this regard which are highlighted in the later part of the report. But on the whole it can be stated that the people managers at Microsoft are working quite well; this work of theirs’ is evident from the performance of the firm in the industry.
As stated above the Microsoft’s managers have done quite well as per the book but there are some grey areas where the room for improvement is present. Some of the recommendations in this regard are as follows:
- It has been observed that the sizes of the teams at Microsoft are increasing that can decrease the cohesiveness amongst the teams and so sub-groups are formed amongst the teams which is not healthy.
- The diversity in the teams is not paying off well in recent days for Microsoft as the employees of some regions are thinking as if their opinions are not given equal importance; this can be damaging as the regional war can come up with in the company. Some of such countries where the employees have grievances are India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh etc.
- One more issue that should be catered is regarding the interventions from the manager in work, this must be taken seriously so that the employees can come up with innovative ideas.
Bibliography
Daniel, L. (2007). Group dynamics for teams. Sage Publications.
Drucker, P.F. (2007). Innovation and entrepreneurship: practice and principles. Elsevier.
Ian, B. (2006). Organisational behaviour: individuals, groups and organizations. Financial Times Prentice Hall.
Microsoft. (n.d). About Microsoft. Web.
Mullins, L.J. (2006) Essentials of Organisational Behaviour. Prentice Hall Financial Times.
Roger, B. (1997). Organisational Behaviour. Pitman Publishing.
Stross, R.E. (1997). The Microsoft Way: The Real Story Of How The Company Outsmarts Its Competition, Basic Books.