The Growth, Expansion, and Consistency of the Microsoft Corporation - Annotated Bibliography Example

University: Research and Planning Assignment. Name: Date: RESEARCH AND PLANNING ASSIGNMENT. INTRODUCTION. This research project assessment takes a detailed look at the operation of the Microsoft Corporation. The specific reasons for the selection of the Microsoft Corporation for this study is the fact that the company has been able to successfully compete in the market over a span of more than three decades. Moreover, Microsoft presents a very interesting case study with regards to the changing economic models, theories, and strategies that it has used over the years. For example, by considering the New Trade Theory, we observe that Microsoft’ high market share and increasing returns have been facilitated by massive exports of its products and increasing economies of scale. This brings the focus of our study to this company, bearing in mind the key role it has played in reshaping the business model and raising the bar on the scale to which a company can rise from a small enterprise to a multinational company. Further, the growth, expansion, and consistency of the Microsoft Corporation are evidence of the company’s successful internalization. This makes it an interesting and informative company for conducting market analysis with regard to international business. The sources for the data gathered have been categorized into three distinct groups based on the nature of the source: LIBRARY CATALOGUES 1. MUELLER-EBERSTEIN, M. 2010. Agility Competing and Winning in a Tech-Savvy Marketplace. Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons. The author of this source describes the winning strategy that has been applied by the Microsoft Corporation to keep it afloat throughout the turbulent economic times. The source argues that the company has been a global leader in the manufacture of operating systems and the sale of computers and has been a trend setter in the field of technology and business. It further cites the major competitive advantage that the Microsoft Corporation has had over the years being its tremendous ability to hire and maintain top talent in the organization. The author notes that the firm’s activities do indeed reflect the fundamental understanding of the New Trade Theory in that the company started out initially as the first company to produce operating systems and it has taken full advantage of its early market entry to capture new clients while retaining its former clients. 2. HUTT, M. D., & SPEH, T. W. 2013. Business marketing management: B2B. Australia, South-Western, Cengage Learning. Hutt makes very intriguing observations with the Microsoft competition model. He argues that in as much as the company has successfully penetrated in the global market, the company has been somewhat slow to innovate technology that could have catapulted the company to even higher competitive advantage than the company currently enjoys. The author recognizes that as Microsoft’s business model grows, there is urgent need to embark on better ways to diversify their products. Moreover, the author indicates that previous marketing models of the company have been detrimental to competitors as the company created a near monopoly competition until the year 2006 when due to litigation, the company lessened their strategies of phasing out competitors through underhand competition strategies. 3. HITT, M. A., IRELAND, R. D., & HOSKISSON, R. E. 2008. Strategic management: competitiveness and globalization. Mason, Ohio, South-Western. Essentially, this source focuses on the economic and legal system and their contribution towards the general success of the business. As the authors note, the success of a company depends entirely on the timeliness to enter the market and outlast the competitors. The source presents Microsoft’s case as a unique and meteoric rise to the global arena as driven by their understanding of foreign direct investments and engaging highly competent staff. While the source still maintains that Microsoft still has opportunity for growth, it raises the question on whether the company has braced itself for the future competition from other established brands such as Oracle whose prices are lower and are widening their market segment to capture the lesser developed economies. 4. DAFT, R. L. 2006. Organization theory and design. Mason, OH, Thompson-South Western This source provides insights on the organization form and structure used in Microsoft. The source explains in details the use of the divisional structure and how it has helped the Microsoft Corporation in organizing the employees and also serving customer needs. While Daft makes a very convincing comparative analogy between various organizational structures, he cites some of the benefits of the divisional structure being that it enables Microsoft serve the needs of its clients better since it is able to refer customers requiring assistance to a specific division that deals with that particular product. This is of great importance to Microsoft since it has different products under its brand. However, the author notes that this structure has a shortcoming in that it splits the workforce into the various divisions therefore limiting the tremendous economies of scales that would be otherwise achieved by combined effort of this workforce if they all worked together to undertake a common research project. ELECTRONIC DATABASES 1. Sunny Baker, 2008, ‘What Every Business Should Learn from MICROSOFT’, Journal of Business Strategy, vol. 19, pp. 36 – 41. This articles delves into the core business strategy of the Microsoft Company in the 21st century. The author exposes very tactical and savvy ideologies that have sustained the tech giant as one of the leading and most profitable companies in the world. The article is engaging and answers the perplexing question on internationalization. The author is of the opinion that one of the main factors that has led to the characteristic growth of the Microsoft Company has been its integration and strategic use of its knowledge of the foreign markets to establish networks in what would be termed as rather competitive and underdeveloped parts of the world. This journal asserts that the decision making process during tough economic times such as financial crisis determines the extent to which organizations prosper. 2. Jihye Kim., Yungwook Kim. 2007. ‘Issues evaluation’: the case of Microsoft, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 6, pp. 76 – 81. This journal takes an empirical approach in the analysis of the Microsoft’s international operations in its operating and financial activities. The authors explore the relevance of the Ecleric paradigm in relation to the company’s large market share. Further, the article cross examines the ethical issues that the multinational corporation has faced over a span of 30 years it has been operational with a view of bringing into perspective the pivotal role the company has played in setting pace to other multinational corporations. Particularly, the journal reflects on the changes in the global patterns of trade and takes the Microsoft’s case as a focus to indicate the key areas that this company has helped bring about tremendous change in the way of handling a dynamic consumer market. 3. Elena Bonfiglioli., Lance Moir., Veronique Ambrosini. 2006, ‘Developing the wider role of business in society: the experience of Microsoft in developing training and supporting employability’, Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society, vol. 6, pp. 401 - 408 This article forms the fundamental basis for developing the theme on the role of international organizations in enhancing internationalization as well as improving the economic systems in the countries they are located. The article provides an analytical approach to the pertinent issues of corporate social responsibility with a keen assessment on the role that Microsoft has played in the countries that it has opened its vast networks. The authors emphasize on the need for corporations to recognize that every country has a unique set of rules and regulations and adaptability to these rules forms a critical success factor. Moreover, the article provides insightful reflections on a resource based approach to the activities that have given Microsoft a major competitive advantage over its rivals in the tech industry. The article discusses the monumental increase in the value of the company’s intangible assets primarily driven by a company’s involvement in projects in the society. 4. Chris Bernard. 2009, ‘Cultural innovation in software design: the new impact of innovation planning methods’, Journal of Business Strategy, vol. 30, pp. 57 – 69 This articles takes a critical review of the cultural business environment and demonstrates the radical steps that shaped the innovations behind the Microsoft Corporation. Essentially, the article examines the implications of a company gaining comparative advantage over its competitors through production of higher quality products and encouraging innovation through customization of products to fit a specific niche market. The concepts applied by this journal constitute an invaluable source of research data on the rise of Microsoft to the corporation that it is today. INTERNET SOURCES 1. Williams, J. 2011. What does the future hold for Microsoft’s business model? [online] Computerweekly.com. Available at: http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/What-does-the-future-hold-for-Microsofts-business-model [Accessed 4 Sep. 2014]. This source brings to attention the changing face of the Microsoft Company with the increase in competition from other software companies over the last one decade. The site has good reputation, coming from one of the most respectable authors and business analyst. The source informs us on the strong business model that Microsoft has adopted by changing from merely being a product oriented company to being a service oriented one. While the author highlights and analyzes the latest innovations from this company, he emphasizes the need to maintain the company standards so as to retain the high market share it already enjoys. The source does provide reliable and up to date information based on Microsoft’s financial statements. 2. Beattie, A. 2010. A History Of U.S. Monopolies. [online] Investopedia. Available at: http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/08/hammer-antitrust.asp [Accessed 4 Sep. 2014]. Beattie is one of the most respected researchers in the business world. From this source, we get an in-depth understanding of the correlation between globalization and brand loyalty with the extent of a firm’s control of the market. This source discusses the impacts of New Trade Theory by conducting a case study of the early entry and market domination of the Microsoft Corporation. We get a glimpse of the intensity of control the company has had over the years as well as the rewards from internationalization that has occurred gradually. 3. Stammers, R. 2011. Rising Dividend=Rising Prospects? The Future of Microsoft. [online] Forbes. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/cfainstitute/2011/10/11/rising-dividendrising-prospects-the-future-of-microsoft/ [Accessed 4 Sep. 2014]. Stammers is a respected financial analyst and a CFA holder. In his analysis of the future prospects of the Microsoft’s corporation, he analyzes Microsoft’s opportunities for growth with regards to recent performance. The author challenges conventional wisdom of correctly valuing the performance of a company by using financial indicators such as rising dividends. The source notes that with the recent developments in Microsoft such as acquisition of Skype, the company is forging in the right direction towards increasing market share in the highly competitive global market while at the same time remaining relevant and socially responsible. ASSESSMENT. The findings from these sources draw a strong basis for a well-founded research work. A critical review of these sources indicate that the Microsoft Corporation, though highly competitive in the market, stands at a potent risk of losing some of its market segment in its bid to expand rapidly. There is a worrying trend, as with other big corporations that this expansion to the global scale may within a few years lead to negative economies of scale caused by losing out on customers. This is especially so when the company expands but fails to maintain consistently high quality services. This worrying trend forms the fundamental basis for the thesis: Could Microsoft’s rapid expansion result to an eventual market sales erosion? PLAN. This plan will focus on developing the thesis that shall draw references from the sources given above. From the sources and my understanding of my thesis question, I do feel I have gathered sufficient data to develop a thesis from the outline given below: Introduction A brief history of the Microsoft Corporation. A description of the position of the Company currently. Introduction of the thesis statement. Industry Analysis Describe the market size and market leaders in the tech industry. Briefly analyze the market distribution and concentration. Project industrial growth. Expounding the thesis statement. List the major points that are to be made. Define the order in which the points are to be made. Arguments. Categorize the Arguments, with the strongest arguments being the first and last: a. Argument 1. Give supporting evidence while including relevant references Any additional evidence from different or similar authors b. Argument 2. Just like (a) above, proper and well-structured evidence with references. Additional evidence from different or similar authors c. Argument 3. Use of supporting evidence Any extra argument to cement the arguments provided above Conclusion Affirm the contrasting view of this argument. Draw a summary of the major points made in the argument. - This is done to emphasize the arguments Make final remarks to assert your resolution on your position. Read More