Current Issues in Business, Essay Example

Microsoft Company is one of the most widely known successful companies of the world. This American multinational corporation is based on its own management principles that provide the company with success over along period of time. Although it was established by the people of the Generation X (born in the period between 1965-1982), the current success of the company lies in the Generation Y (born in the period between1977-1994) that made Microsoft the most competitive organization in various industries: computer software and hardware, video games, IT consulting, retail stores, etc.. The aim of this essay is to prove that the current success of Microsoft Company results from the fruit of the hard work of the Generation Y.

Twenty four hours a day, Microsoft satisfies the needs of the Internet and computer users, game-lovers, and representatives of IT industry around the entire world by providing them with quality products and services delivery. Microsoft is believed to be a developer, manufacturer, and a supporter of a wide range of services and products (mostly related to computing). Moreover, it is the powerful world brand, and a “computer software giant” (Johnson et al., 2008, p. 589). Microsoft shows the bright example of the successful management that turned it into the well-organized, profitable company that meets the needs of the technological and informational society. This essay is mostly focused on this aspect of the company.

The management principles of Microsoft Company, based on perfectly-organized teamwork and effective leadership, were founded by the members of the company who are the representatives of the Generation Y, or the Millennials. According to Johnson, in 2008, there were seventy thousands employees in the company (Johnson et al., 2008, p. 589). The principal workforce of the company meets all the characteristics of this generation. First, they are ethnically and racially diverse. Second, they were grown up in the age of the technological revolution. Third, they feel empowered, and are optimistic about their future (Generation Y: the Millennials, 2006, p. 1). The main advantages of this generation contribute to the successful performance of the company in the world arena. Mostly, the members of the company are extremely adaptable, “technologically savvy”, able “to grasp new concepts”, “efficient multi-taskers”, and tolerant people (Generation Y: the Millennials, 2006, p. 4). Being the representatives of the Generation Y, the members of Microsoft Company value time: for this reason, they are always in a hurry. Moreover, they have a clear direction, and know what exactly they want. As one may see, the mentioned qualities of the Millennials create a good base for the realization of the management principles.

The qualified leadership of the company is based on the productive work of the male and female leaders (Bill Gates, Steve Balmer, Ray Ozzie, Dina Dublon, Maria Klawe, etc.). Through the activity of the company’s leaders, the company proclaims the idea that its management principles can not be realized without the collaboration of both female and male company members (Johnson et al., 2008). Men and women who work in Microsoft have mutual respect, shared values, and different perspectives that result in the successful performance of the company. Both men and women may have leading functions in the teams that work over the company’s projects. The presence of the diverse staff allows to reveal the individual peculiarities and talents of all male and female company members: this management principle allows the leaders of the company to direct each member to the product development (Johnson et al., 2008).

Besides, the management of Microsoft Company takes advantage of the gender difference. In the result of the gender business research, Gurian and Annis (2008) concluded that “the corporation that utilizes the differences between men and women is the corporation that discovers significant competitive advantage” (Gurian & Annis, 2008, p. 1). The informational age proved the evidence: women and men have equal but different intelligence. Undoubtedly, this concept lied in the principle of the gender-balanced leadership of the company, guided by understanding of gender qualities that should be directed to the effective results. The leadership of Microsoft maintains the gender balance in the company by means of the qualified management.

Teamwork is the other exceptionally essential concept for the company. According to Johnson, teamwork is a valuable element of the productive work of the company that is considered to be the main “supplier to most businesses and households” (Johnson, 2008, p. 498). As one may see, the advantages and qualities of the Generation Y and the company’s gender-balanced leadership contribute to the successful teamwork. Great achievement of Microsoft Company is rooted in the productive teamwork that involves people’s intellectual abilities, personal qualities, ideas, and energy in the decision-making and problem-solving processes. For this reason, the collaboration of diverse people in a team is significant for the company (Maxwell, 2001, p. 2).

However, according to Maxwell (2001), there are several laws of the successful teamwork. One of the laws says that “the goal is more important than the role” (Maxwell, 2001, p. 2). Each member is interested in the big picture of the project, although follows a different perspective. For example, if a team wants to improve the quality of Microsoft Windows operating system, one person should be responsible for technological aspect, other one – for design of the product, etc. One goal unifies any team, and allows to see the end result (a final product) from different perspectives. Microsoft Company is a master in building a winning team. The realization of the laws of teamwork, its hard work, company’s team approach, a successful team organization and other elements make the company to show evident progress for the last decades. For the last decades, the company demonstrated the products of its hard work: Windows 95, Windows XP, Microsoft Office 2007, Windows Vista, etc. Undoubtedly, these products resulted from the collaborative teamwork, interested in the company’s success and customers’ satisfaction.

Microsoft Company demonstrates the success in the technological and informational industry of the 21st century. The described key principles of its successful management (qualified and effective leadership, productive and winning teamwork) that turned the company into the huge multinational corporation result from the spirit of the Generation Y that marked a new era in the development of the human civilization. The present essay proves that the representatives of the Millennials, their business management principles and hard work contribute to the good performance of such competent and famous world company as Microsoft.

References

Generation Y: the Millennials. (2006). Cleveland, OH: NAS Insights.

Gurian,  M., & Annis, B. (2008). Leadership and the Sexes. In Soundview Executive Book Summaries, 30 (9).

Johnson, G., Scholes, K., & Whittington, R. (2008). Exploring Corporate Strategy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Maxwell, J. (2001). The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork. In Business Summaries. ISBN: 0785274346.