Microsoft Corps vs. Apple Inc, Research Paper Example

Facts and Information from Original Proposal

This paper aims to compare organizational changes of two rivaled technology companies. Both companies were founded in the mid 1970s with Microsoft being founded in 1975 and Apple in 1976. Both companies have undergone constant changes for them to remain alive (Corlett, 2013). Technological advancement is one of the main areas of change. Both are engaged in partnerships with other leading companies and even acquisitions. Microsoft has collaborated with Skype Technologies to offer conferencing and video call services to clients through several of their devices while Apple has countered this by developing a similar product known as FaceTime enabling its clientele to use VoIP (Andrade & Mitchell et al., 2014). Both companies have undergone change of leadership recently. Satya Nadella replaced Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer while Tim Cook replaced Apple’s CEO Steven Jobs.

Review of the Changes in Each Company

At Microsoft, there has had to be change in the organizational structure where the eight product divisions would be dissolved paving way for four new ones (Corlett, 2013). These will be arranged around broader themes in terms of function as outlined by the outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer. The products will cut across functions in a matrix-like way, expanding the new CEO’s role as well as his team of leaders in all products making him the main coordination point. This is aimed at getting the thousands of employees collaborating closely in order to avoid duplication, resulting in building of their products to work together in harmony. Microsoft Corporation continues to develop in their vast partnering ecosystem with recent acquisition of Skype Technologies for $8.5 billion. The corporation has also in the recent past acquired Nokia’s Services and Device business, license and use of Nokia’s mapping services, as well as Nokia’s patents for 5.44 billion Euros in September 2013 (Andrade & Mitchell et al., 2014). These changes in acquisitions are geared towards customer satisfaction through product enhancement as well as generation of new revenues for Microsoft. The other impact of the changes is on the corporation’s share and profit in mobile devices.

Apple has the advantage of already having the functional system of organization in place. Apple has had a fair share of innovations to turn their fortunes around and become serious competitors in the market. They have developed the iMac whose design brought a revolution to the PC world. This change was aimed at attracting new users to get interested in computers as well as increase Apple’s quarterly earnings in the process (Corlett, 2013). Their focus has been on acquiring smaller businesses as opposed to Microsoft. This philosophy is based on the easy integration of such small companies into existing company projects. In line with this, they acquired FingerWorks in April 2005 that was a key player in the expertise and multi-touch technology of the iPad and iPhone software.

Comparing and Contrasting the 3 Images

The change in leadership in both companies came at nearly around the same time with Apple leading in changes due to unprecedented failure in Steven Jobs’ health (Lin & Huang et al., 2012). The change at Apple did not come as a surprise because Tim Cook was in the offing for the position and was somewhat favorite for the job after Jobs. The change was smooth transitioning into a slightly different kind of leadership (more democratic than Steve Jobs’). The impact of change for Apple has been positive with the corporation making steps towards more financial gain in the past three years. A change at the top also came at a time when innovations were being rolled out making it more appealing to the market/consumers. The motivation at Apple has stemmed from this change, which is non-monetary. The new CEO has driven the culture of employees’ genuine belief in making products for the sake of affecting the lives of people.

At Microsoft, the change was unprecedented with the new CEO facing the challenge of acquaintance with all the divisions in the corporation (Zott & Amit, 2013). This means that there is quite a long way to go in terms of the corporation’s adaptation to and embrace of new changes, which have come along with new leadership. The most profound of these changes is that of integrating the many divisions into a more centralized organizational system. These changes have been long overdue and they conform to the trend in big technological companies with Apple successfully having such a system. The changes are yet to be fully implemented, but projections of the consolidation of major operating systems at Microsoft allude to ultimate success.

Best Combination of Images

The combination of images that I feel would have best facilitated the described change is that of coach, interpreter, and nurturer. The changes in organizational structure especially starting with the CEO involve a wide range of stakeholders including employees, management, customers, suppliers, as well as stakeholders. This top-bottom approach would require several agents or images to facilitate. The combination I feel would be best starts with a coaching of the incoming leaders to adapt well into their new roles. The interpreter image conveys the difference between the two leadership regimes to all the stakeholders and the nurturer ensures that the change is effective and sustainable.

Image Resembled by Change Leader

The leader of the change at Microsoft best resembled the image of a navigator. The reason for this is the coming of change at a time when Microsoft is evolving in itself in terms of structure. This is a completely new concept through which, the incoming CEO, Satya Nadella has to pilot and ensure that proper channels are engaged for success. The image resembled by the change leader at Apple is that of a Caretaker. The new CEO, Tim Cook has transitioned into a well-established organizational structure with running systems already in place. He needs to fit the bill by taking care of all the progress made by Steve Jobs and making sure that the strategic goals are continually met.

References

Andrade, G., Mitchell, M. & Stafford, E. (2014). New evidence and perspectives on mergers: The Case of Microsoft and Nokia. Journal of Economic Perspectives, pp. 103–120.

Corlett, G. (2013). Time to Change. Journal Business, 31 (2), pp. 135–175.

Lin, S., Huang, J., Chang, J. & Kao, F. (2012). How to start continuously improving innovation in organizational knowledge: A case study on Apple, Inc. Journal of Financial Economics, 30 (3), pp. 2290–2309.

Zott, C. & Amit, R. (2013). Business model innovation: Creating value in times of change. Universia Business Review, 23 pp. 108–121.