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Case Study, Microsoft's Downfall Essay

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Microsoft’s Lost Decade

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Microsoft’s Lost Decade

Final Case
Final Case

Table of Contents

Introduction 2

Part 1: Critique Unity of Purpose 3 Invest in Human Resources 5 Focus 6
Visibility Management 8
Fix Causes 9
Know Your Customers 10
Know Your Competition 12
Total Quality Management 13

Part 2: Recommendations 14

References/Links 19

Appendix 20

Introduction
Microsoft’s story serves as a prime example of the pitfalls of success. In this case we can analyze, critique, and make recommendations to avoid a similar disaster in the future. While they were …show more content…

Microsoft’s “law of large numbers” is failing. In order to fix the causes of their problems, we must follow the symptoms back to the root causes and make changes there. On the surface, it appears their issues are due to bad management style, poor organizational structure and a generally counter-productive culture that strained relationships between the “old guard” and the “new blood” of the company. To get a better look at the cause of these symptoms, I will follow the eight operations management principals.

Part 1: Critique
Unity of Purpose
Unity of purpose within an organization is definitely not something that a manager can ignore when running a business with goals. It is imperative to remember that to function as a goal oriented team, all parts of the various positions must be working together as one. This is where I will begin our observation of the Microsoft empire and the decade of struggle that diverted it from the success that it once enjoyed. When looking at how Microsoft was handled by Bill Gates, there are undoubtedly some moments that suggest that the unity of purpose was not clearly defined and never adequately addressed to the degree that it needed. We can start at the root of the problem to learn the origins of what Microsoft ultimately faced: namely discord and disharmony in the work place. Looking at the early success of the business, we notice that Microsoft created an innovative and personalized approach to the

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