Question

Research and compile the elements of a Strategic Management Plan for Miscrosoft.

Submit the finished plan utilizing the APA formats for citations and References.

Answer 1

Successful organizations place strategic initiatives in the core of management processes, provide a basis for prioritization plans and projects, promote the accomplishment of organizational goals and objectives, track progress regularly, make optimal utilization of resources through key priorities. A Strategic Management Plan (SMP) document is used to communicate the goals of the organization, to define targets, to concentrate attention, to organize resources, to strengthen operations, and to ensure that employees and other stakeholders work towards mutual objectives within the organization. The Plan will contribute to a wide variety of ongoing initiatives and processes that organizations will implement to organize and align resources and practices consistently with the Mission, Vision and Strategy. The goal is to turn management and operations of the company into a framework that offers strategic input to decision-making and enables the strategy to adapt and evolve in the face of changing demands and circumstances.

Microsofts SMP includes their Mission, Vision and Values Statement and other realted matters. The approach chosen led Microsoft in terms of software and hardware sales to become a more independent organisation. The recent drop in PC revenues impacted the bottom line of Microsoft. The key task for Microsoft to complete its push into the tablet PC market in this strategy. Microsoft's second mission is to move its consumer services to the tablet industry. Open network impacting and influencing Microsoft's own economic, social, competitive, political and cultural climate. The patterns in these respective fields are positive as well as negative.

"Creating seamless interactions that merge the software's magic with the power of Internet infrastructure in a world of apps." Values: Delivering reliable goods while appreciating honesty. Summary of Mission: "to help people and organizations worldwide make their total potential a reality."

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis takes a look of internal and external positives of the company and lays them out in an easy to analyze format. Despite of its simplicity SWOT analysis can bring a company's positioning into focus so that its management can start to improve problem areas and make the most of what it is best at.

Strengths

Following are the some of the strengths of Microsoft Corporation

· Brand loyalty- From many years, Microsoft has been the main OS and software supplier, which brought about more than 90% market share for PC OS. Almost all of us grew up utilizing its simple to use OS and are accustomed with it and will continue utilizing it. Couple of different brands are skilled to contend with Microsoft consequently. Indeed, even open source OS, which are totally free and appropriate to use for basic client, think that it’s difficult to pull in clients.

· Brand reputation- As per Interbrand, Microsoft is the 5th greatest brand in the world, which is valued at $ 57.8 billion. It is listed as 7th most reputable business in the world by Forbes. Brand reputation helps in gaining sales and the market share.

· Easy to use software. Many of the Microsoft products such as Windows OS, Office software etc. are easy to use and have great quality. Because of which Microsoft’s products are very popular.

· Strong distribution channels- Microsoft is collaborated with many major PC hardware companies such as Dell, Lenovo, Samsung, and Toshiba and top PC retailers to make sure computers would be sold with already pre-installed Windows software. To tighten the relationships with the companies, Microsoft also invested major share in companies such as Dell and Nokia.

· Robust financial performance- From 2008 to 2012 the revenue of Microsoft increased by 20%. It holds more than $63 billion of cash and cash equivalents which can be used in mergers, acquisitions and investments into R&D.

· Acquisition of Skype. With almost 300 million users, Skype is a noteworthy of Microsoft's online vicinity and have a considerable measure of potential in creating income from online advertising. (Crawford, n.d.)

Weaknesses

            Following are some of the drawbacks of Microsoft Corporation

· Poor acquisitions and investments- Only some of the acquisitions of Microsoft were succeeded and helped the company in gaining profits, new skills and competencies. The multimillion acquisitions of Microsoft such as Massive, LinkExchange, WebTV, and Danger were some of the examples which failed and very soon shut down or divested.

· Dependence on hardware manufacturers- One of the biggest drawback of Microsoft is, being a giant software corporation, it never produced its own hardware and always depends on PC hardware manufacturers to design the products that run Windows Operating System. If these companies find a cheap and popular alternative OS, they may simple choose the alternative dropping the Microsoft aside.

· Criticism over security flaws- There are many critiques against Windows OS saying that Microsoft OS is weak and cannot resist virus. Compared to its core competitor Mac OS, Windows OS is the least protected.

· Mature PC markets- very recently Microsoft has entered the mobile technology sector and many PC manufacturing companies had already proved themselves in the mobile markets. Microsoft with its OS and software is finding difficulty to gain its market share in this industry.

· Slow to innovate- Microsoft has immense R&D resources and incredible position to enter new markets with innovative product however continually neglected to do as such. It had a chance to be the first player in online advertising however missed the open door. Its passage to versatile OS was additionally past the point of no return, while Google and Apple caught the market share. (Brodkin, 2011)

Opportunity

            Following are some of the opportunities of Microsoft Corporation to gain competitive advantage

· Cloud based services- Microsoft has the opportunity to expand in cloud services and software since the demand for cloud-based services is increasing.

· Mobile advertising- Microsoft has the opportunity to gain its position in mobile markets with its mobile OS since Mobile advertising markets are expected to raise over the next few years.

· Mobile device industry- Smartphones and tablets markets are expected to grow progressively over the next few years and Microsoft can utilize this opportunity by releasing many of its own tablets and a new smart phones.

· Growth through acquisitions- Microsoft has piles of cash and cash equivalents left over. It can use this reserve of cash for acquiring new startups which brings the company new technology, competences, and skills to the business. (Microsoft: Extending Its Competitive Advantage Into The Cloud, 2014)

Threats

            Following are some of the threats to Microsoft Corporation which can alter its development.

· Intense competition in software products- Microsoft is in high pressure to release successful OS in PC and mobile markets since its competitors such as Google and Apple have already proved their positions in those markets.

· Changing consumer needs and habits- With new emerging technologies, the needs of customers had shifted from buying laptops and standalone PCs to buying smartphones and tablets where the Microsoft has only a little market share and it’s hard for Microsoft to establish itself in those markets.

· Open source projects- Many new open source projects had entered the market and few of them were successful, such as new Linux OS and Open Source Office. These sources are free and can become an alternative to expensive Microsoft’s products.

Potential lawsuits- Microsoft has as of now been sued many times and lost truly a couple of substantial scale lawsuits. Lawsuits are costly as they involve time and cash. What's more, as Microsoft keeps on working pretty much the same path, there is high likelihood for more expensive lawsuits to come. (Ogg, 2014)

Summary of SWOT Analysis

Strengths	Weaknesses
1. Brand loyalty	1. Poor acquisitions and investments
2. Brand reputation	2. Dependence on hardware manufacturers
3. Easy to use software	3. Criticism over security flaws
4. Strong distribution channels	4. Mature PC markets
5. Robust financial performance	5. Slow to innovate
6. Acquisition of Skype
Opportunities	Threats
1. Cloud based services	1. Intense competition in software products
2. Mobile advertising	2. Changing consumer needs and habits
3. Mobile device industry	3. Open source projects
4. Growth through acquisitions	4. Potential lawsuits

Strategic Outcomes

Using these strengths and opportunities Microsoft tried to overcome its weakness such as poor acquisitions and investments, dependence on hardware manufacturers, criticism over security flaws, mature PC markets, slow to innovate and threats such as intense competition in software products, changing consumer needs and habits, open source projects, potential lawsuit.

SWOT

            In order to strengthen market standing and competitiveness by acquiring or merging with companies, Microsoft’s strategy is continuing their long standing commitment and leadership in accessibility research, awareness and innovation. Following are the actions made by Microsoft to accomplish this strategy

· While jointly developing a new OS with IBM in 1984, OS/2, Microsoft released Microsoft Windows, a graphical extension for MS-DOS, on November 20.

· Microsoft announced the release of its version of OS/2 to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) on April 2, 1987.

· Microsoft introduced its office suite, Microsoft Office, in 1990. The software bundled separate office productivity applications, such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel

To gain sales and market share via lower prices, more performance features, more appealing design, better quality or customer service, and wider production, Microsoft strategy is making the computer easier to see, hear and use by building accessibility into Microsoft product. On May 22 1990, Microsoft launched Windows 3.0 with a streamlined user interface graphics and improved protected mode capability for the Intel 386 processor. On October 25, 2001 Microsoft released Windows XP. And after that version Microsoft change their Windows versions several times to ensure more performance, more appealing design and better quality full Operating System. And the latest version of Microsoft Windows is Windows 7 and the latest trial version is Windows 8.

Microsoft Office is a proprietary commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft on August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of Office contained Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint. Microsoft also positions Office as a development platform for line-of-business software under the Office Business Applications brand. The current versions are Office 2010 for Windows, released on June 15, 2010; and Office 2011 for Mac OS X, released October 26, 2010.

To respond to changing market conditions and other external factors, Microsoft Strategy is facilitating the next generation of accessible technology and moving the industry forward with ground breaking technologies. Microsoft achieved this by introducing us to Microsoft Office to do every type of official work like making CV, Resume, Report by Microsoft Word, Notes by Microsoft Note, Presentations by Microsoft PowerPoint, Accounting programs by Microsoft Excel and these applications are always upgraded by Microsoft Corporation and that is how the next generation are able to access their industry work by technology.

To strengthen competitiveness via strategic alliances and collaborative partnerships,

Microsoft strategy is building strong, collaborative relationships with a wide range of technology partners and organizations to raise awareness of the importance of accessibility in meeting the technology needs of people with dishabille. Microsoft entered the OS business in 1980 with its own version of UNIX, called Xenix. However, it was MS-DOS that solidified the company’s dominance. After negotiations with Digital Research failed, IBM awarded a contract to Microsoft in November 1980 to provide a version of the CP/M OS, which was set to be used in the upcoming IBM Personal Computer (IBM PC). In August 1981, Microsoft retained ownership of MS-DOS. Since IBM copyrighted the IBM PC BIOS and for the relationship with IBM Microsoft introduce the new versions of OS and people meet with the new technology for that partnership. (Strategy, n.d.)

Vision, Mission, Values

            Microsoft vision is to create innovative technology which will be accessible to everyone and adapts to everyone's needs. Microsoft considers accessibility as fundamental during product design, development, evaluation, and release. Microsoft has been the industry leader because of the constant research and innovation and the wide range of products and services it provides. Trend suggests that in house developed products have been Microsoft’s strength: Windows OS, Office Suite, Windows Server, etc. Microsoft had released many innovative products and made technology handy and user friendly to everyone. We cannot imagine personal computer without Microsoft operations systems. It achieved its vision strategy with innovative products like Windows OS, Microsoft Office, cloud systems, and windows mobile phones. (Vision, n.d.)

            Microsoft Mission is to enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential (Mission, n.d.). Microsoft released Microsoft Dynamics enterprise resource planning (ERP) software which helps business people to connect and manage their entire business, from financial and supply chain management and from manufacturing to operations. This helps to make smart decisions. (Enterprise resource planning, n.d.)

Customer Profile – Microsoft's main customers are Mac, smartphone, IBM, Lenovo, HP, Toshiba, Samsung, etc. Customer Profile One and a half billion Windows uses every day, over 1.7 million Windows Insiders are licensed. One user out of seven on earth, i.e. MS Office uses more than 1 billion. 9.2 million Office 365 registered. There are more than 6 million.net users and 2 million. Outlook had over 400 million active users (Numbers from Microsoft, n.d.). Most traffic from over 35 people on the Microsoft website. Indeed, over 22% of Microsoft tourists are over 55 years old and are the biggest competitor,

IT Vision and Mission

Vision

Diversity and inclusion are the integral parts of Microsoft’s Vision and business success. Microsoft believes that the association of different cultures, ideas and perspectives is an asset for organizational that results in greater creativity and innovation. In order to achieve this, Microsoft mainly focus on People, Culture and Customers (A Vision and Strategy for the Future, n.d.).

Mission

“Empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more” (About, n.d.).

References: (APA)

O'Shannassy, T. (2003). Modern strategic management: Balancing strategic thinking and strategic planning for internal and external stakeholders. Singapore Management Review, 25(1), 53-68.

Biafore, B. (2011). Successful Project Management: Applying Best Practices, Proven Methods, and Real-World Techniques with Microsoft Project. Pearson Education.

Cusumano, M. A. (2010). Staying power: Six enduring principles for managing strategy and innovation in an uncertain world (lessons from Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Google, Toyota and more). Oxford University Press.

Hannagan, T. (2001). Mastering strategic management. Macmillan International Higher Education.