1. technology and computing
2. operating systems
3. windows

Why is Microsoft so Successful?
Rajan Mann L4L
Introduction
Microsoft Corporation is the third biggest company in the world, generating a turnover of
almost 70 billion dollars in 2011 – an amazing feat for what started as a small computer
company back in 1975. It produces quality systems and software that almost every device in
the world uses today. This essay aims to explain what Microsoft have done right and what
they do that makes them stand out from the masses of similar smaller computer companies.
Leadership
‘A chain is only as good as its weakest link.’ Thomas Reid, ‘Essays on
the Intellectual Powers of Man’. I believe that this is also true for a
team – it must function well, but if one of the team members fails to
contribute, there is no point carrying on without that vital part. A
team needs everybody to work hard to succeed, and I think that this
is something Bill Gates and Paul Allen (founders of Microsoft) were
extremely good at motivating their workers to do. Paul Allen later
quit, leaving Bill Gates to lead the company forwards. A leader has to manage employees
without seeming too pushy, so that employees will respect him/her. Bill Gates was very
good at doing so and was treated like a member of a team rather than a boss.
Organisation
Organisation of a company is a vital factor of a successful company, such as Microsoft. The
company is split into five sections (Windows & Windows Live Division, Server and Tools, Online
Services Division, Microsoft Business Division, and Entertainment and Devices Division), each with a
section leader and employees – a bit like separate companies, but all working together to
create one incredible result. I think that this is an ingenious idea as each member feels like
they are part of a close team, but part of the bigger picture as well. Microsoft is run by
Board Members, but instead of the usual situation in which the higher up members get the
better jobs, all Microsoft employees get a vote as to who becomes a Board Member. This
would make them feel included in the decisions of the company and not feel like they do
not get their say. I think that this is also a clever idea as it makes everybody feel included
and may encourage employees to work harder for the company.
Trust
In my opinion, a company is never going to get anywhere if the manager doesn’t trust
people to do their jobs. The owner of a company can’t do everything at once, and supervise
everything at the same time. When a manager does this, the employees will feel like they
aren’t good at their job and need to be watched all the time to do a decent job. An owner
has to trust that each individual can do his/her job well, and one of the only ways he can
show this is by letting them get on with their job. Bill Gates showed this when he retired in
January 2000 and let other people manage the company whilst he took a smaller role in the
business. This act of trust is one of the risks someone will take, and this time it paid off.
Easy to Use
Microsoft has done a brilliant job in making
all of its products easy to use. I think that this
is how Microsoft has got their products as
the dominant product on the market. For
example, when Microsoft introduced
Windows Internet Explorer (or IE), it was
immediately favoured by the public. This is
because they didn’t have to learn how to use
it but instead it was intuitive and clearly
labelled. Although there are some extra
features that people would need to find out specifically, these functions are not necessary in
the workings of Internet Explorer. I guarantee that if to work Internet Explorer you needed
to know a programming language, almost nobody would use it. Making successful products
is all about opening it to as wide a target market as possible. Another example is Microsoft
Office, a collection of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and a few other less useful tools.
These office tools are completely dominant in the market, with barely any other products
like it out there. Again, the reason for their success is the ability to open the application and
start doing whatever needs to be done.
Marketing
Of course, marketing is an essential part of a successful business. If Microsoft had advertised
on the side of one bus in a small village, it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as successful
as it is today. In the Microsoft logo, there
is a small line between the ‘O’ and the ‘S’.
This line is meant to represent speed and motion, although not many people consciously
notice it. This is subconsciously messaging to the consumers about the brand, before
they’ve even picked a product to buy. It is things like this that get customers. One of
Microsoft’s main marketing strategies is letting their customers speak for the product, and
so showing that the product is useful and other people actually use it. Using this method
also encourages people to buy a product if they don’t want to be left behind. If the
consumers see other people using a product, they will buy it to keep up-to-date. This is a
crafty method because it doesn’t even seem like the company is advertising their product.
The head of marketing at Microsoft is David Webster, an experienced and brilliant marketer.
Competition
Microsoft has to fight its competition to get customers, and to avoid all
consumers staying with one company. To do this, Microsoft has to be
different from its competitors and have a reason for customers to buy from
them. An important part of this strategy is gaining customers (see
marketing) and then not letting them go - without being too pushy.
Microsoft have done this by creating original products like Microsoft Office,
but also creating products that compete with other companies, such as Microsoft’s search
engine Bing competing with Google, a well-known search engine. Bing has put pressure on
Google to improve their product to keep on top. Microsoft says that projects in progress
such as Bing are to experiment on and improve their other products. Microsoft also created
So.cl (pronounced Social) to compete with the massive company Facebook. So.cl had almost
no chance against Facebook, but again was used to experiment with the different
possibilities that it had. In the end, it was turned into a file-sharing site for students and
Microsoft practically disowned the project. However, these products were not completely
useless. Microsoft had a good look into the makings of other companies and used this
experience to improve their already successful company.
Employee Retention
Microsoft need all the employees that they get to stay with them for as long as possible, and
have tried to do this through making life on the main Microsoft campus (in Redmond,
Washington, U.S.A.) as easy as possible. If employees find it difficult to work for Microsoft
and leave, the company is never going to get anywhere because there is nobody to do the
work. This makes employee retention an
important part of a successful company. To do
this, Microsoft has 2000 solar panels to
encourage employees that they are working for
an eco-friendly, efficient company. This also
saves money for the company, and so is a winwin situation. Another thing that Microsoft does
is have a shuttle for workers to go to and from
campus every day, again being environmentally
friendly and keeping employees happy. This also
encourages employees to work for Microsoft
because they save money on fuel that they would have spent getting to work and therefore
almost getting paid more. All of these things contribute to Microsoft being a successful
company.
Product and Market Introduction
If somebody is releasing a new
product, it typically follows this
lifecycle. I will now explain the cycle
to you. When the product is first
released, nobody really knows
about it and so sales are low as seen
in Introduction phase. As the
product is advertised more people
buy the product and tell their
friends about it, sales start to
escalate. In the Growth phase each person who buys the product is encouraging roughly
two other people to buy it. This leads on to the climax, or Maturity, when almost everybody
has the product but people are still buying it. It is usually at this point that companies think
about creating a new product while they still have money from the previous product to
develop it. Following this, the product starts to get old and everybody has already got it so
the sales start to decline rapidly, usually because another similar product has come out, but
is more modern. However, by the time the product has finished its decline, the product that
the company started developing at Maturity is released into the Introduction phase and the
whole cycle restarts. This is the lifecycle of a typical product.
If Microsoft stayed in one market, then only people in that market would buy the product.
To have a successful business, the product or products need to open to as big a target
market as possible to gain the most sales. Microsoft has done this by creating different
products for different markets and making each specific product unique in the market. For
example, Microsoft originally made OS’s (operating system) and when they released Xbox in
2001 the sales opened up to a whole
new market: young adults and gamers.
Combine this with Microsoft Office for
businesses; Windows for people with
computers (which is almost everyone)
and Microsoft have a product for almost
everybody in the world. The way
Microsoft has widened its customers
means that it deserves to be one of the
main technology companies in the world.
Microsoft also knows what products to
launch and how successful it will be. This links into Market Introduction in that when
Microsoft releases a new product they can predict who will buy it and what the main selling
points are (see advertising). A good example of this is the contacting service Skype.
Microsoft didn’t actually create this company, but when it came onto the market they
instantly bought it for $8.5 billion because they saw its potential and how to improve it. This
sight is what makes Microsoft ruthless and successful. Microsoft continues to improve Skype
and made $20 million in the first year of having Skype.
Product Design
One of the main reasons consumers buy a product is the design of
how it looks, or how it works. Microsoft has done a great job in
designing its products so that as soon as customers see the
product they know that they like the look of it, and increases the
chance of a sale. Studies show that humans decide what they
think of a person within fifteen seconds of meeting them and I
believe that this is also true for a product. If a consumer sees a
massive hunk of metal and wires coming out of the sides, they will
instantly think that the product is rubbish and won’t even work.
However, if they see a slim, flawless, smooth and well-designed
product a consumer would think that it may be useful or have potential. Even though
Microsoft is mainly based on how the product works (e.g. the programming and wiring) it
still puts thought into how the interface is designed. The principles are the same for what’s
inside the casing and what the consumer actually holds – it needs to be fast, consistent and
flawless. Microsoft already does this – in fact, I’m writing
this on Microsoft Windows software! – And the results
are outstanding. As you look through the product you
realise that it is efficient and does a lot of things that are
helpful without you even knowing. The user interface is
easy to use (as talked about earlier) and everything works
together to create and awesome product. All these
factors contribute to Microsoft having elegant - and
maybe even the best in the market - product design.
Bibliography
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft
Papatoto http://papatoto.com/article/811151295453/7_points_that_makes_microsoft_so_successful
!!!
Thomas Reid, ‘Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man’, 1786
Microsoft – www.microsoft.com
A conversation with Microsoft's marketing strategist - http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_320001293-56.html
Xbox - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox
Product Lifecycle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_lifecycle_(marketing)#Product_life_cycle_.28PLC.29
Why is Microsoft So
Successful?
Rajan Mann L4L
This essay is my own work and different to
anything covered in class.
Pupil’s signature:
A signature from a teacher of the relevant
subject is not needed as the subject is
business and the Lower 4th do not do business
in lessons.
Teacher Signature:
Mr Cooley, Classics
Word Count: 2110