Cross-functional teams hold the key in smooth integration of the different aspects of development. There is an urgent need to achieve better coordination between the different development groups involved in a particular project. Therefore, more focus will be placed on reengineering and reducing disjointed functioning within the project group. Microsoft's marketing approach has so far relied on an extensive pre-launch campaign. Over the years there have been several instances where the company has failed to deliver it products as agreed upon in their marketing manifestos. The WinFS technology, for example, was left off the Windows Vista (previously codenamed Longhorn) project completely, while it was the core of the longhorn project when it was initially planned. WinFS represented "the next-generation storage platform for Windows (that) manages data for organizing, searching and sharing." [Martin Lamonica, 2003] Without, this important component, the release of the windows Vista operating system would definitely lack the reception it would otherwise receive. Microsoft is still tentative about the inclusion of the WinFS in its server release slated for early 2007, which again shows the prevailing uncertainty in product development cycle. Hence the main task for a consultant would be to be less ambiguous in terms of the features incorporated in a product. That is to say that the feature pack of a product should be well thought out and not subject to modifications during the project cycle. Also, the project estimation process needs to be more realistic to avoid the multiple delays in releasing a completed...
Further, the extensive marketing propaganda which promise new features and the undue delay in development create a situation where these new features loose their surprise value. Disclosure of the yet to be developed features gives competitors a fair clue, which when coupled with the delays risks losing the profits that innovation offers. Hence it is clearly imperative for Microsoft to downplay its marketing stunts and concentrate more on product development cycle. This approach would not adversely impact the post launch sales figures for the product as proved by other rival companies such as Apple Computer Co, which surprised its customers with the successful launch of its new iMac computer. So, for a consultant the immediate focus should be on remedying the existing delays and making the development process more efficient. Perhaps Microsoft should learn that surprise could be a key to success and hold back its extensive pre-launch marketing drives which routinely turn out to be unfulfilled promises.
Baker (2006) reports that Google has worked hard to balance its entrance into the restrictive media market that is China with its own values. Baker defends this balance by reporting that "the company's contention that it believes it furthers its mission more by being present in China than it does by not is at least a rational response to a set of unpalatable choices." (Baker, 1) Other sources have
Contributions to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation set up by Gates and his wife top $20 billion." (Hillis, 1) As indicated though, Microsoft's performance in the area of sustainability is not a simple black-out-white outlook. Quite to the contrary, its political activity seems almost counterintuitive to the actions the company has taken to improve its own achievement of sustainability. Namely, Schwartz reports the software giant to have fallen short
Additionally, he argued that the best interest of the consumers, as promoted by Gate's organization, was in fact not the core element of new endeavors, as the company had argued, but that whenever a new product or service was being projected, this would be done in order to serve the financial interests of the organization rather than increase customer utility (Kegel, 2006). In order to better understand why the above mentioned
Microsoft The impact of Microsoft's Mission, Vision, and Primary Stakeholders on its Success The Mission and Vision statement of Microsoft express its strategic directions and priorities to its prime stakeholders. These two statements have a significant importance for the company's success as all its strategic moves and efforts are aligned according to what these statements entail. They show Microsoft's true concern for the key stakeholders as well as for the community in
Microsoft: The Beast Is Back Fortune Magazine: http://www.fortune.com/indexw.jhtml?channel=artcol.jhtml&doc_id=202708 Why is work fun again for Bill Gates? Work has become less stressful for Bill Gates. Once CEO of the almighty Microsoft, now Mr. Gates has since passed that post to friend Steve Ballmer. Bill Gates, for almost two years has been serving as chief software architect, a post in which he created and also has a seat on the board. Certainly, the anti-trust cases
Microsoft's Search Analysis & Evaluation General Environment The advanced show of the U.S. economy in the late 1990's has led a lot of experts to conjecture that a New Economy has materialized in which heavy investment in information technology (IT) has led to an period of continued economic growth. Even though the current economic slowdown has dampened some of the passion for the idea of a New Economy, a basic question remains of
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now