Organizational Behavior

Organizational Behavior Terminology and Concepts

Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft is most widely known for their Windows Operating System that they sell for use on personal computers. The business was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975 with the vision that computers would someday be an important piece of hardware in every home. Over the years, the company has grown substantially and now offers new kinds of products and services for businesses world-wide. As the company grew, the actual organizational structure has had to change several times so that managers could control every service and product, as well as many other business processes, throughout the company. In addition to the many organizational changes the company has seen throughout the years, the culture of the company’s people has also changed.

Microsoft workers and their shareholders experience culture every day, just as all of us do. One company representative, in Microsoft’s “@30 and Beyond” Flash presentation on the company website, stated that there were four factors that has contributed to Microsoft’s success, and predominantly their culture: passion, long-term approach, the expectation of great results, and the expectation of individual excellence (Microsoft Corporation, 2005).

Microsoft’s “passion” for technology and innovation is shared not just by Mr. “Big-Wig” Bill Gates himself, but also every worker and every shareholder. Though there are those workers who are just in it for the money or various other reasons, most Microsoft employees share the desires and goals of the company. There are two main reasons for this: the attractiveness of the company, and how Microsoft recruits new workers. The attractiveness of Microsoft comes from how successful the company can make you. Everyone can dream big, and at Microsoft вЂ" the bigger, the better. The company is always looking for new ideas and new innovations to sustain their growth and their vision, and that’s how Microsoft recruits. David Pritchard, a 20-year Microsoft veteran, stated that Microsoft hired “…people who were not just smart, but also inquisitive and passionate about what they do” (Microsoft Corporation PressPass, 2007). Microsoft looks for the most talented, the brightest, and the biggest dreamers they can find. They don’t just pick one place either; they travel to the universities and colleges known for putting out successful and talented individuals. Bill Gates himself visited five leading IT (Information Technology) and Engineering colleges In September of 2005 talking about how in the next few decades and beyond, computers and what they can provide will be even more integrated into people’s lives (Microsoft Corporation PressPass,2005). He went on to explain the impact that Computer Science has on today’s world, as well as how important it will be in the future. So as the company lives on, the “passion” for technology and innovation will be Microsoft’s wheels into the future.

Another factor contributing to Microsoft’s culture is the company’s long-term approach. The idea behind this is how Microsoft invests into their future. When the company has a new idea or new innovation, they take all the necessary time and put forth a great deal of effort into it because they know that it will pay off in the end. In the company’s 2005 Annual Report, Bill Gates, in a “Letter to our shareholders, customers, partners, and employees”, expresses how the company is doing and where it’s heading (Microsoft Annual Report, 2005). With new products on the horizon and the drive for innovation still in the minds of every Microsoft employee, Bill Gates ensures the company’s growth and continued success. So the direction of where the company wants to go may be clear, but can the company get there? That’s where the company’s next, long-term approach comes into play with the investments into new marketplaces. As a most recent example of this, the company developed the X-Box gaming console a few years back, and thus entered the multibillion dollar gaming industry. Lastly, Microsoft invests in their “people”; their employees. By socialization, the company is able to maintain high productivity, as well as create an atmosphere that encourages innovation for their employees.

The third factor that contributes to Microsoft’s culture is the company’s expectation of “great results”, which leads to a standard of high individual initiative. This means the company “expects” their employees to maintain high productivity and activity. “It’s not enough to be good enough at Microsoft”, as one Microsoft representative claims from the “@30 and Beyond” Flash presentation, “…no business can survive on just being good enough” (Microsoft Corporation, 2005).

A last factor contributing to Microsoft’s culture is their expectation of individual excellence. At Microsoft, it matters how an employee is doing on all levels of the company, worldwide. The company has to be able to sustain significant progress on every internal product development, and offer continued services to be able to maintain the company’s growth and customer-base. Much of this depends on their employees’ abilities to produce results at all levels of the company’s organizational structure.

Microsoft’s organizational structure has three main characteristics: vertical complexity, spatial complexity, and the company itself is complex offering a variety of products and services.

In Figure A, the chart shows the organizational structure of a hybrid. A hybrid structure is functional in one area and divisional in another, and for Microsoft, the company is functional at the top and divisional at the bottom. At the top of the chart, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer rule on high next to the Board of Directors. Below them are three major divisions to the company: Platform and Services, Business, and Entertainment and Devices. Each of these divisions have a President and Senior Vice President, and below them are even more divisions, and in those divisions there are yet more divisions (or businesses within businesses). Each division has a Vice President and below them are the subordinates. This shows just how vertically complex the company is, and how many people it takes to get a message to the top, or to Bill Gates himself.

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