Final Strategic Plan

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VALUES AND STRATEGY 7

Values and Strategy: Microsoft Corporation

Taron D. Maddox

STR/581

April 29, 2020

German Ibarra

Values and Strategy: Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft is a multinational technology company that deals with developing, manufacturing, licensing, supporting, and selling computer software, personal computers, consumer electronics and many more related services. Its headquarters are located in Redmond, Washington. It was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen.

Major Components of Strategic Management Process

Strategic management can be defined as the process in which organization employs objective-oriented, large-scale approach by using the three major components which include environmental scanning, strategy formulation, and implementation, and strategy evaluation (David & David, 2016).

Environmental Scanning

Environmental scanning is basically looking out for both internal and external environmental factors that impact the company and the way it carries out its activities. Internal factors of the company are easier to find and sort unlike external environmental factors. Therefore companies need to come up with strategies that enable them scan their external environment. Microsoft Corporation operates in a very competitive industry therefore, it has to scan its external environment and maintain it safe for the nosiness to prosper. Microsoft Corporation uses the Political, Economic, Social, Technological (PEST) strategy to analyze its external environment (Warner, 2019). Microsoft focuses more on the technological factors that affects its business because it operates in the technology field. Therefore, the main strategy that Microsoft employs to keep stay at the top of its competitors is innovations. It keeps upgrading its products so that they fit the consumer needs and stay updated to attract more customers. Another strategy used to scan both internal and external environmental factors in carrying out a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis.

Strategy Formulation and Implementation

A lot of information is collected during environmental analysis. Strategic managers are therefore supposed to formulate strategies that will address the factors identified during the environmental analysis. The strategies are supposed to maximize and take advantage of the strengths and opportunities for the progress of the company and also minimize or eradicate the weaknesses and threats identified (Engert & Baumgartner, 2016). For Microsoft company, its strategies that it has put across to address the factors identified in environmental scanning include; maintain good relationship with its external stakeholders which include the customers, the government, and the media, maintain the demand of the customers by producing innovative products that are in line with the new technology, maintain ethical considerations as required by the government, and also contribute towards the economic growth and development in a positive way.

Strategic Evaluation

After the strategies have been formulated and implemented, the strategic managers should carry out an evaluation and find out how effective they are so that they can make changes where necessary. The managers see into it to ensure that the company is on the right track towards achieving its set goals. Microsoft Company has specific reporting periods where the leaders and managers meet to evaluate the progress of the company to ensure that everything is progressing on well by fixing any gaps that may arise.

Company's Mission Statement, Vision Statement, Motivation Strategy, Innovation Strategy, and People Strategy

Mission Statement

Microsoft’s mission statement acts as a drive towards its goals. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. The company strives to come up with local opportunity, growth, and impact in every country around the world (Foley et al., 2017).

Vision Statement

Microsoft’s vision statement is “to help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential.” Both the mission and the vision of Microsoft show that the business is all about empowering individuals and other businesses. The mission and vision statements of the company guide the decisions that managerial staff make concerning the activities of the company so that they can meet its objectives.

Motivation Strategy

The motivation strategy for Microsoft is fostering teamwork among the employees. This strategy creates a workplace that that is mindful of its employees and every employee is recognized for his or her hard work. This kind of working environment motivates employees to work extra hard.

Innovation Strategy

Microsoft has been able to dominate the industry because of its innovation strategy which does not only depend on creating value from research and developing its internal efforts but also finding out and addressing the demands of the changing market by introducing new products and also acquiring innovative start-ups.

People Strategy

Employees are the most important people in the organization and therefore, all their needs should be addressed so that they can deliver effectively. Microsoft Company’s people strategy involves engagement strategy, diversity strategy, performance management strategy, and talent acquisition strategy.

Role of Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility in Strategic Planning

When making decisions on strategic planning, it is very important to do so in considerations to the ethical practices of the society. Social responsibilities and ethics enable the business to implement its strategic plans with moral values, ethics, and principles of the society. The company has to have all its stake holders in mind as they make decisions so that the stakeholders can function effectively when the strategies are implemented. In cases where there are ethically complex at the workplace, the training that is offered at the work places gives the managers and employees the tools on how to approach such issues and create strategies that will prevent future similar issues.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) plays an important role in strategic management because the company understands that it has several duties to fulfil in the society. CSR enables companies make decisions that will influence the world positively. Through CSR, the company incorporates environmental and social factors in the corporation. CSR helps to attract top talent, controlling costs, improving the company’s brand, and maintaining a long term financial success (Dimitrova & Petrova, 2016).

Microsoft’s missions and vision align with my values of constructive self criticism, honesty, and integrity in that; for the company to achieve its mission and vision on empowerment, the employees must work with integrity and do self criticism to continue doing better and expand knowledge.

Conclusion

In conclusion, strategic management is very important for every company to achieve its goals. Businesses have to continuously check its moves and activities to ensure that they are moving in the right direction towards achieving their goals and making their missions a reality. Microsoft has dominated the industry which is very competitive because of its effective strategic management process.

References

David, F., & David, F. R. (2016). Strategic management: A competitive advantage approach, concepts and cases. Pearson–Prentice Hall.

Dimitrova, S., & Petrova, E. (2016). Mission and Vision of the Organization and Their Relations with Corporate Social Responsibility. Plovdiv/BULGARIA, 57.

Engert, S., & Baumgartner, R. J. (2016). Corporate sustainability strategy–bridging the gap between formulation and implementation. Journal of cleaner production, 113, 822-834.

Foley, C. F., Mayfield, E. S., & Boland, F. K. (2017). The Transformation of Microsoft.

Warner, J. P. (2019). Microsoft: A Strategic Audit.