Introduction Microsoft is anAmerican technological multinational company founded by Bill Gates and PaulAllen on April 4, 1975 with its headquarters in Redmond Washington. Itdevelops, license, produce, supports and sells computer software, personalcomputer, electronics and services. Its best-known selling software productsare the Microsoft windows and its hardware products are the Xbox gamingconsoles and the Microsoft surface tablets. It is one of the largest softwaremaker and also the most valuable company. Both of them startedtheir business as a very small firm to sell applications they had created forcustomers.
Microsoft first released the Microsoft windows as agraphical MS-DOS on November 20, 1985 and released their first Microsoft officeon 1990. Operation management is an area of management which refersto the administration of business practices concerned with planning, designingand controlling the process of production in order to create the highest levelof efficiency. Performance objectives of Microsoft Performanceobjectives refers to the goals of operations performance. It consists of fiveobjectives: 1) Quality 2) Speed 3) Reliability 4) Flexibility & 5) Cost 1) Quality Quality controlsinvolve the business working towards improving and maintaining the quality ofgoods and services and can satisfy the customers for a long term Thequality for Microsoft products are no longer a significant issue as all oftheir programs works well as they keep improving the speed, productivity andperformance of their services and helps to troubleshoots any errors the usercome across and also provide good services in order to help and satisfy theircustomers2) SpeedSpeed is the difference between a customer’s request for agood/service and when it is actually received. This is often an important considerationwhen customers choose between competing products. This operationprocess is well designed by Microsoft that they provide faster services such asIT support and also provide their products readily available in stores. 3) ReliabilityDependability is an important performance objective for manybusinesses. It means being consistently good in quality or performance.
Customers expect retailers to open at the advertised hourand manufacturers to supply products on time.Microsoft keeps on innovating and developing their based productson speed, quality and reliability, Microsoft updates their product to keep themreliable so that the customers can trust the company and use the products for alonger period of time.4) FlexibilityFlexibility is the ability to change things like theproducts and services the business offers, the mix of products, the volume ofproducts manufactured and the speed at which they are delivered.There are variety of products developed by Microsoft whichcan be chosen by the consumers based on their preferences and also can bechange anytime for example they could easily change the windows operatingsystem of any versions based on their likes. 5) Cost Costsperformance objectives refer to the variation in unit cost due to changes inthe volume a manufacturer produces and the variety of products produced,according to the authors of “Operations Management.
” In most cases, thehigher the variety of products produced, the lower the volume produced and thehigher the unit cost, and vice versa. Equally important, the cost of eachproduct will vary, which affects the product prices, running costs and profits.Cost is one of the most important objectives for Microsoft.They try to sell their their products at a reasonable price to their customersinorder to compete against its competitors. Swot Analysis (Internal and external factors) Swot Analysis is a study or a strategicdesigning tool employed by the corporate so as to search out the interior andexternal weakness, strength, opportunities and threat of the corporate.Strength:Microsoft’s biggest strength area unit is the MicrosoftWindows software system that is being in more than 80% Personal Computers andits other Microsoft workplace suite programs. The company has additionally perpetually beat accountexpectations in terms of revenues and profit.
Microsoft encompasses a policy of internal promotion. Themanagers in Microsoft are operating within the company for a protracted timeand have a transparent understanding of company’s values and vision. Thesemanagers became no-hit within the company’s distinctive work atmosphere byvictimization the obtainable resources and facing several externaldifficulties, therefore they need proved the directors, leaders and specialistsin numerous elements within which Microsoft operates. Weakness: The Microsoft OS has dominated the marketin 80’s and therefore the 90’s, However, Microsoft has not been able to bring areplacement product within the market within the last decade that dominated themarket place.
the most weakness of Microsoft was that they failing within therise of internet as they need not anticipated the increase of internet as adevelopment worldwide. The Microsoft net human were slower to responds thatgave rise to different net browser like google chrome.Microsoft has additionally incomprehensible the wave in lineof good phones because the Late Steve Jobs and his Apple Company has utterlyblindsided Microsoft most that Microsoft has failing in arising compelling goodphone devices or OS.Opportunities: Even thoughthe company may have failed to read the emergence of internet and in the lineof mobile phones, they had the opportunity to introduce the cloud-computing paradigm. Also in thepast Microsoft relied on periodic upgrades of windows and office to generaterevenue, Microsoft found that only a few percentage were using windows 8/8.1operating system in their computers, so the company decided to reduce thatfragmentation by introducing the windows 10 also known as “One Windows”strategy which was offered as a free upgrade to most mainstream windows 7 andwindows 8 users in order to unify all the PCs, tablets, smartphones into one commonOperating system.
Microsoft also moved away from the periodic updates ofMicrosoft office to Office 365 which is subscription based.The company also has a huge cash in deposit which they canuse for the growth of the companyThreats: Microsoft threatis that it’s very own size which is an asset which is preventing them frombeing quick and nimble and seize market opportunities.Google is and was the biggest long-term threat to theMicrosoft as Google relies on advertising revenues as it constantly launchesalternatives which are free to Microsoft paid products. The chrome OS andgoogle docs has a steady growth in the market which forced Microsoft to reduceits prices.Microsoft face threats against the distribution of pirated windowsoperating system which are usually sold in parts of Asia.
PESTEL AnalysisPESTEL analysis is tool employed by marketers to analysisthe macro-environmental factors that affects an organisation. PESTEL stands forPolitical, Economic, Social, Technological and Legal.In the case of Microsoft, these external factors mirror theperformance of the pc hardware and software system market. Such factorsrepresent the problems relevant to the company’s business.
Through theinclusion of those problems determined through the PESTEL/PESTLE analysis,Microsoft will develop appropriate methods that make business fight andresilience.Political factors:political factors embrace government policy, politicalstability or instability, tax policy, labour law, environmental law etc.Microsoft will improve their sales and promoting investmentsto realize a gentle increase in revenues. On the opposite hand, the govt areaunit increasing their support for automation opportunities for Microsoft toextend the sale of technology through governmental shoppers.
This externalissue is important, considering large-scale purchases involving governmentalorganizations. the corporate also can like business deals in overseas markets.However, if trade agreements increase then it’s a threat against Microsoft. Inthese agreements, foreign companies will increase their fight in developedcountries just like the us.
supported this space of the PESTEL analysis ofMicrosoft Co. the political factors will offer major boost to the chance of thecorporateEconomic factors:Economic factors will have an effect on however a businesswill and additionally however profitable they will be. This issue includeseconomic process, interest rates, exchange rates, inflation, income of shoppersetc.
Microsoft should have the subsequent economic externalfactors in methods for the pc hardware and software system business:Economic factors:Economic factors will have an effect on however a businesswill and additionally however profitable they will be. This issue includeseconomic process, interest rates, exchange rates, inflation, income of shoppersetc.Microsoft should have the subsequent economic externalfactors in methods for the pc hardware and software system business: Economic stability of the bulk of developed countries Growing middle-class consumers income High growth of developing countries Microsoft will like the economic stability of the bulk ofdeveloped countries. for instance, there is also stable performance within themarket and therefore the company will cash in of it.
Microsoft have potentialboosts in sales revenues in speedy developing countries. this chance interpretsto steady growth in Microsoft’s international sales. Moreover, if the bourgeoisconsumers’ income will increase it will produce a lot of chance for thecorporate to earn higher revenue. This condition is thus as a result ofbourgeois customers area unit one in all the foremost important sources ofrevenues for Microsoft. Thus, the corporate will exploit growth opportunities inexternal environment.Social factors:Also referred to as socio-cultural factors, area unit theareas that involve the shared belief and attitudes of the population. Thesefactors embrace – increase, age distribution, health consciousness, careerattitudes then on. These factors area unit of explicit interest as they need anon the spot impact on however marketers perceive customers and what drivesthem.
In the technology market, the subsequent content externalfactors influence Microsoft: Stable attitudes concerning leisure (opportunity)Increasing cultural diversity (opportunity & threat)Stable demand for prime quality client service (opportunity)The stable attitudes concerning leisure gift opportunitiesfor Microsoft to develop merchandise which will satisfy customers’ leisurepreferences. for instance, the corporate will increase its investment ininnovating laptop diversion merchandise for this purpose. additionally, increasingcultural diversity could be a potential threat against Microsoft in terms ofproduct-customer twin within the remote or macro-environment. as an example,client satisfaction might decrease because the company’s merchandise satisfiessolely the largest cultural teams. withal, Microsoft has a chance to enhanceits merchandise and services to deal with this issue. On the opposite hand, thestable demand for prime quality client service creates opportunities for thecorporate to enhance its client support activities.
Technological factors:We all know that how quick the technological landscapechanges and affects the way we tend to market our merchandise. Technology keepsever-changing day by day and if the corporate doesn’t maintain with the newtechnology they will get left behind in innovation and development like findingnew ways in which of manufacturing merchandise and services, distributingmerchandise and services, human activity with target markets.Microsoft Corporation will improve its performance through aquick innovation of its mobile devices. this chance relies on the fasteradoption of and rising demand for mobile technology.
However, thistechnological external issue is additionally a threat that facilitatescompetition against Microsoft. a lot of technology companies might exploit suchchance to enter the market. On the opposite hand, the increasing volume ofon-line group actions provides opportunities for Microsoft to develop a lot ofmerchandise that support secure on-line transaction process. However, suchincreasing volume of on-line transactions threatens the corporate in terms of acorresponding increase of crime attacks, that is one in all the threats knownin Microsoft’s SWOT Analysis. Moreover, the corporate has a chance to growthrough merchandise that alter businesses to modify a lot of their processes. Environment factors: These factors have only come to forefront within the lastfifteen years roughly.
They need to become important due to the increasingscarceness of raw materials, doing business as associate moral and propertycompany, carbon footprint targets set by governments (this could be an idealwere one issue might be categories as political and environmental at constanttime). These area unit some of the problems marketers face at intervals thisissue. More consumers are demanding that the products they buy are sourcedethically, and if possible from a good source.Based on the increasing preference for inexperiencedmerchandise, Microsoft Corporation has the chance to boost its sustainability.
For instance, the corporate will develop a lot of environmentally friendlymerchandise, and increase the use of green energy in its business operations.In relation, Microsoft’s efforts to enhance its sustainability directlyaddresses the chance supported by the increasing focus of societies on businessproperty. Also, the increasing accessibility of useful materials is associateecological external issue that the corporate will use as basis for increasingthe employment of recycled materials in its constituent and software system productsand packagingLegal factors:Legal factors include health and safety, equalopportunities, consumer rights and laws, advertising standards, product safetyetc.
it’s clear that the businesses got to recognize whether or not it’s legalor not so as to trade with success. If associate organisation trades globallythis becomes a challenge to urge right as every country has their own set oflaw rules and rules.Increasing electronic waste disposal regulation created anopportunity for Microsoft Corporation to implement simpler usage and disposalprograms which will facilitate to the improve brand image.
However, this legalexternal issue also can be a threat that might impose further challenges ordifficulties for the corporate in addressing the environmental impact of itsbusiness. On the opposite hand, the rising patent laws facilitate Microsoft’sinternational growth by bit by bit reducing problems, like laptop softwaresystem piracy. the corporate additionally has a chance to boost its merchandiseto assist consumer organizations scale back their consumption of energy througha lot of energy-efficient computing technologies.