Assessment Task You are to critically evaluate the current management practices at Microsoft Corporation and  recommend changes based on your evaluation that company must implement to improve its success

MSc Management Management Essentials CW11 Summative Assessment Brief

1. General Assessment Guidance 

• Your summative assessment for this module is made up of this coursework submission which  accounts for 100% of the marks.  

• Please note late submissions will not be marked. 

• You are required to submit all elements of your assessment via Turnitin online access. Only  submissions made via the specified mode will be accepted and hard copies or any other digital  form of submissions (like via email or pen drive etc.) will not be accepted. 

• For coursework, the submission word limit is 5000 words. You must comply with the word count  guidelines. You may submit LESS than 5000 words but not more. Word Count guidelines can be  found on your programme home page and the coursework submission page. 

• Do not put your name or contact details anywhere on your submission. You should only put your student registration number (SRN) which will ensure your submission is recognised in the  marking process. 

• A total of 100 marks are available for this module assessment, and you are required to achieve  minimum 50% to pass this module. 

• You are required to use only Harvard Referencing System in your submission. Any content which  is already published by other author(s) and is not referenced will be considered as a case of  plagiarism. 

You can find further information on Harvard Referencing in the online library on the VLE. You can  use the following link to access this information: http://bpp.libguides.com/Home/StudySupport • BPP University has a strict policy regarding authenticity of assessments. In proven instances of  plagiarism or collusion, severe punishment will be imposed on offenders. You are advised to read  the rules and regulations regarding plagiarism and collusion in the GARs and MOPP which are  available on VLE in the Academic registry section. 

• You should include a completed copy of the Assignment Cover sheet. Any submission without this completed Assignment Cover sheet may be considered invalid and not marked. 

2. Assessment Brief

This module is assessed through one graded element worth 100%. You must achieve at least 50% to  pass the module. For this assignment you will produce a Business Consultancy Report based on  Microsoft, written in an academic style.  

By completing this assessment, you will achieve the following learning outcomes (LOs):   LO1 – Critically assess management practice within organisations. 

LO2 – Apply your understanding of management principles in relation to key business challenges. LO3 – Critically evaluate how management behaviours can promote organisational success. LO4 – Defend skills required to be an effective manager in a given business context. 

Assessment Scenario   

Acting as a Business Consultant you are required to produce a business report for the senior  management team at Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), by utilising the techniques and concepts you  have covered in the module.  

Microsoft 

It is difficult to find a business template to compare to the success and sheer domination of  Microsoft Corporation. Begun as a kind of small-time business by two college dropouts in New  Mexico in the late 1970s, the corporate reach of Microsoft, in part from its remarkably talented pool  of computer wonks and in part from its savvy positioning of itself in the burgeoning  computer software market, has emerged as a model for the new age of global corporate success,  controlling and directing a worldwide market for computer goods, software, and tech services that  revolutionized both business and homes. That reach was unprecedented. 

Microsoft Corporation occupies a particularly grand place within the popular culture of American  business mythos. It is at its most fundamental level an American-based international conglomerate  that since the mid-1970s has overseen the development, manufacture, and licensing of a wide  variety of cutting-edge goods and services related to computer programming. But it is so much more  than that. It is one of the most successful American business enterprises of the past century. From  modest beginnings to its current status, Microsoft is a giant within the computer software industry,  employing tens of thousands of people worldwide and generating annual revenue of approximately  $211 billion in fiscal year 2023. Its stock alone has created more than 12,000 millionaires. 

The company has survived court challenges to its supposed position as a monopoly while controlling  the majority of the market for computer operating systems and for office software—at a staggering,  indeed unprecedented level of international market control that reached 90 percent for years. It has  seen success in other areas, including video games, its internet search engine, and digital services.  

Although the 2010s saw Microsoft’s once near-total dominance diminish with the emergence of new  computer technologies such as smartphones and tablets, the company remains a global  phenomenon and the leading provider of desktop computer operating systems and office software.

Overview 

The history of Microsoft has become the stuff of American business legend—in 1975, two savvy  amateur computer programmers, Bill Gates, and Paul Allen, recognized the potential of developing a  universal programming language, dubbed BASIC, and together sold the idea to the manufacturers of  a computer programming system already in production, Altair 880. Allen coined the name Microsoft  by simply combining the terms microcomputer and software. But neither Gates nor Allen was content—they recognized the potential for personal computer (PC) systems and, relocating to  Washington state, began to develop in earnest computer software that would introduce the speed,  efficiency, and organization potential of computerized data systems to both businesses and individual  consumers. Over the next decade, Microsoft attracted some of the best and the brightest among a  new generation of computer software engineers and quickly established a market presence for  programs that were deemed cutting edge for introducing new tools for computer work that greatly  enhanced the attractiveness of computer software. 

In 1981, Microsoft firmly established its presence by negotiating a massive deal with IBM to produce  the first operating system, called DOS (or disk operating system), for business data compilation and  retrieval. It was a worldwide success, and two years later Microsoft introduced a similar computer  software application designed for home use. In 1985, Microsoft ventures took off with  the introduction of the first Microsoft Windows program that included word processing, cutting-edge  spreadsheet capabilities, and what was considered massive database storage capability. Shortly after  the introduction of Windows, Microsoft went public with its stock and nearly overnight became one  of the leading giants in American business. Programs such as Microsoft Excel, Word, and Powerpoint , parts of the Microsoft Office software suite, would come to dominate business  computing as well as home PC use. 

Over the next decade, Microsoft pioneered an increasingly sophisticated family of computer  programming systems for both businesses and personal computers. By the mid-1990s, Microsoft  Windows and its successive evolutions had become the most widely used operating systems in the  world. Despite intense and often acrimonious court challenges by rival computer software  corporation Apple that cited Microsoft as a monopoly and sought to break up the company in order  to break its market dominance, Microsoft persisted. Even after being sued by the United States , the  company used a variety of legal manoeuvring’s as well as a battery of high-priced legal counsellors to  survive a nearly four-year court challenge (court rulings found Microsoft abusive in its market  dominance but ultimately the company was not held to any significant dissolution proceedings) to  remain the dominant computer software corporation in the world. 

By the mid-1990s, visionary founder Bill Gates recognized the potential of the emerging reach of the  Internet, and subsequently Microsoft began developing its own program software that would  incorporate the convenience, the information, and the data reservoirs of the Internet. It is one of the  few missteps in Microsoft’s business success that, despite a succession of Microsoft Windows  programs that each vastly improved the efficiency and look of document preparation and data  storage, that it grasped the import of the Internet relatively late, but Microsoft quickly established its  presence by linking computer data processing to access to the Internet. It also expanded by taking  over other companies, as in 1997 when it acquired Hotmail, a free email provider.

Microsoft also eventually developed a reach into the lucrative market of video gaming, then  dominated by Nintendo and Sony, by developing the game console Xbox in 2001. Along with its  successor the Xbox 360, introduced in 2005, the console took the game market by storm, selling  more than 40 million units to outsell Sony’s perennial top seller PlayStation. 

Microsoft successfully expanded into other areas as well, such as with its search engine, Bing,  introduced in 2009 and its $8.5 billion acquisition of video chat company Skype in 2011. However, as  the computing world shifted to mobile technologies in the late 2000s and 2010s, Microsoft’s once  seemingly impregnable hold over the market began to waver. Again, late to the game in the  smartphone market and the tablet computer market (both dominated by rival Apple with  its iPhone and iPad, respectively), Microsoft introduced its own Windows Phone OS and Surface  tablets with less than dominant results. By 2014, by the company’s own estimate, it controlled only  14 percent of the total market for operating systems across all potential devices, though it retained  its 90 percent hold on the desktop PC market. 

In 2014 Steve Ballmer, who had replaced Gates as CEO in 2000, stepped down himself and was  succeeded by Indian American executive Satya Nadella, who had previously led Microsoft’s cloud and  enterprise group. He continued the company’s push into the burgeoning field of cloud computing,  mainly through its Azure cloud computing service. This culminated in 2019 in Microsoft beating out  Amazon to win a $10 billion cloud computing contract with the US Department of Defence, a project  known as the Joint Enterprise Defence Infrastructure (JEDI). However, the following year, the  company lost a bid for the US operations of the popular video-sharing app TikTok. At the same time,  reports indicated that its Teams communications app had acquired an even larger number of users, and its cloud computing business had grown as more workers shifted to remote work during the  coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In March 2020, Gates announced his departure from  Microsoft’s board of directors, citing a desire to spend more time focusing on philanthropy. 

In January 2022, Microsoft announced that it was in the process of acquiring video game publishing  giant Activision Blizzard, known for video game franchises such as Call of Duty, and World of  Warcraft, for an estimated $68.7 billion. The acquisition was completed in October 2023. The same  year, Microsoft announced an investment deal with developer OpenAI. The company explored  artificial intelligence (AI) in other ways as well, including with the 2023 release of Azure Quantum  Elements, which includes a language model tool based on GTP-4 called Copilot, and investments into  building AI centres around the world. 

In July 2024, Microsoft machines crashed after a faulty update by CloudStrike cybersecurity. Less  than two weeks later, a Microsoft outage was caused by a distributed denial of service cyberattack.  The outage affected Microsoft 365 products used by airlines, banks, and medical services, among  others, and lasted for almost ten hours. 

Impact

It is difficult to conceive of the reach of Microsoft Corporation. Bill Gates was himself worth over  $100 billion as of 2020 and has become one of the most admired philanthropists in the world  (named as one of Time magazine’s Persons of the Year in 2005). Hyperbole comes too easily— Microsoft basically invented the Computer Age, making accessible computer technology that was  seen in the 1970s as a novelty available only to the very wealthy or to businesses. Microsoft  redefined computer access and in turn created a mass market, a need, for technology that each year  made obsolete the cutting-edge innovations of the year before. It is tempting to see Microsoft as one  of a succession of American entrepreneurial success stories that, like the Ford Motor Company or US  Steel, emerged from modest and unheralded beginnings to unprecedented, even historic success,  and in turn to represent the very heart of the American Dream —how scrappy and daring  entrepreneurs can become market-dominant players. 

By largely maintaining its position as a cutting-edge developer of software fundamental to both  business and home computer usage, Microsoft has become arguably the most successful American  business enterprise of its era. Despite its challenges in the evolving world of twenty-first century  computing, Microsoft remains the world’s largest software maker and continues to be one of the  world’s top companies in terms of market capitalization. 

This case study can also be found here: 

Dewey, J. (2024) ‘Microsoft’, Salem Press Encyclopedia [Preprint]. Available at:  (Accessed: 15 October 2024). 

Note: To access the article, use your BPP library login credentials. 

It is recommended that you should carry out a substantial amount of independent and individual  research to strengthen your understanding of the business context and the preferred style of  management practice. 

Assessment Task

You are to critically evaluate the current management practices at Microsoft Corporation and  recommend changes based on your evaluation that company must implement to improve its success  in the technology sector. 

Task 1 – Management Practices (LO1)  

Conduct a comprehensive analysis of Microsoft’s management practices, describing its key aspect  and critically assess these management practices. 

Support your arguments with reference to appropriate academic literature, case study materials and  your independent research. 

Task 2 – Analysis of Business Challenges (LO2)  

Identify a significant business challenges faced by Microsoft. Apply relevant management principles  to analyse how Microsoft addressed these challenges. 

Support your arguments with reference to appropriate academic literature, case study materials and  your independent research. 

Task 3 – Impact of Management Behaviours on Organisational Performance (LO3)  

Critically evaluate the potential impact of Microsoft’s managers behaviour on the overall  organisation’s performance.   

Support your arguments with reference to appropriate academic literature, case study materials and  your independent research. 

Task 4 – Management competencies development (LO4) 

Critically assess different management competencies and defend why these skills are important for  current and future managers at Microsoft to improve its success in the technology industry.  

Support your arguments with reference to appropriate academic literature, case study materials and  your independent research. 

Assessment Guidelines:

Introduction 

• Define leadership and management and provide an overview of the purpose of your  report including an indication of the contents.

Task 1 – Management Practices 

• Identify Microsoft’s mission, values, and management practices. 

• Critically assess whether Microsoft’s mission, values and management practices are  all aligned.  

Task 2 – Analysis of Business Challenges 

• Identify and critically discuss 2 key challenges that Microsoft is encountering in the  current environment.  

• Conduct analysis of Microsoft’s current management competency of Creativity and  Innovation using relevant model/ framework. 

• Critically discuss effectiveness of Microsoft’s current management competency of  Creativity and Innovation to enable Microsoft’s management to resolve the challenges  identified. 

• Analyse the Microsoft’s management competency of Decision making using relevant  model/ framework. 

• Critically evaluate how effective management competency of Decision-making is to  mitigate the challenges identified. 

Task 3 – Impact of Management Behaviours on Organisational Performance • Analyse the emotional intelligence of Microsoft’s managers using relevant  model/framework.  

• Analyse the positive and negative effects of these behaviours on Microsoft’s  performance.  

• Give recommendations for cultivating or modifying these management behaviours  to enhance Microsoft’s success.  

Task 4 – Management competencies development 

• Select any 2 management competencies from the following and critically assess the selected  competencies using relevant models/ frameworks. 

• Managing Resilience 

• Managing Stakeholder Relationships  

• Managing Conflict and Negotiation  

• Managing Teams  

• Propose recommendations for developing and nurturing these skills among current and  future managers at Microsoft to improve its success in the technology Industry. 

Conclusion

Provide a conclusion that summarises your recommended changes that Microsoft must implement  to improve its success in the technology industry. 

Presentation and Referencing 

Your report structure should include the following sections:  

o Cover page (BPP University Administration Cover Sheet)  

o Table of Contents  

o List of Abbreviations (if appropriate)  

o Introduction 

o Task 1 

o Task 2   

o Task 3  

o Task 4 

o Conclusion  

o References  

o Appendix (if required)  

               Word count: 5000 words 

Word count – only applies to the main body (shown in bold); i.e., cover page, table of  contents, list of abbreviations, references, assessment self-evaluation and appendix are not part of the 5000-word count. 

If you have any further questions about this coursework assignment, please contact the module  leader or your tutor.

  Tip for Mapping the Assessment towards Module Topics and Module Learning Outcomes (LOs) 

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