INTRODUCTION

Microsoft Corporation (MS) is an American multinational technology company with

headquarters in Redmond, Washington. It develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and
sells computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services. Its
best known software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems,
the Microsoft Office suite, and the Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers. Its flagship
hardware products are theXbox video game consoles and the Microsoft Surface lineup
of touchscreen personal computers. As of 2016, it is theworld's largest software maker by
revenue, and one of the world's most valuable companies. The word "Microsoft" is
a portmanteau of "microcomputer" and "software". Microsoft is ranked No. 30 in the
2018 Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.

Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975, to develop and
sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800. It rose to dominate the personal
computer operating system market with MS-DOS in the mid-1980s, followed byMicrosoft
Windows. The company's 1986 initial public offering (IPO), and subsequent rise in its share
price, created three billionaires and an estimated 12,000 millionaires among Microsoft
employees. Since the 1990s, it has increasingly diversified from the operating system market
and has made a number of corporate acquisitions, their largest being the acquisition
of LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in December 2016, followed by their acquisition of Skype
Technologies for $8.5 billion in May 2011.

As of 2015, Microsoft is market-dominant in the IBM PC-compatible operating system

market and the office software suite market, although it has lost the majority of the overall
operating system market to Android. The company also produces a wide range of other
consumer and enterprise software for desktops and servers, including Internet
search(with Bing), the digital services market (through MSN), mixed reality (HoloLens),
cloud computing (Azure) and software development (Visual Studio).

Steve Ballmer replaced Gates as CEO in 2000, and later envisioned a "devices and services"
strategy. This began with the acquisition of Danger Inc. in 2008, entering the personal
computer production market for the first time in June 2012 with the launch of the Microsoft
Surface line of tablet computers; and later forming Microsoft Mobile through the acquisition
of Nokia's devices and services division. Since Satya Nadella took over as CEO in 2014, the
company has scaled back on hardware and has instead focused on cloud computing, a move
that helped the company's sharesreach its highest value since December 1999.

In 2018, Microsoft surpassed Apple as the most valuable publicly traded company in the
world after being dethroned by the tech giant in 2010.
 HISTORY

Childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen sought to make a business utilizing their shared
skills in computer programming. In 1972 they founded their first company, named Traf-O-
Data, which sold a rudimentary computer to track and analyze automobile traffic data. While
Gates enrolled at Harvard, Allen pursued a degree in computer science at Washington State
University, though he later dropped out of school to work at Honeywell. The January 1975
issue ofPopular Electronics featured Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems's
(MITS) Altair 8800 microcomputer, which inspired Allen to suggest that they could program
a BASIC interpreter for the device. After a call from Gates claiming to have a working
interpreter, MITS requested a demonstration. Since they didn't yet have one, Allen worked on
a simulator for the Altair while Gates developed the interpreter. Although they developed the
interpreter on a simulator and not the actual device, it worked flawlessly when they (in March
1975) demonstrated the interpreter to MITS in Albuquerque, New Mexico. MITS agreed to
distribute it, marketing it as Altair BASIC.:108, 112–114
Gates and Allen officially established
Microsoft on April 4, 1975, with Gates as the CEO. The original name of "Micro-Soft" (short
for microcomputer software) was suggested by Allen. In August 1977 the company formed
an agreement with ASCII Magazine in Japan, resulting in its first international office, "ASCII
Microsoft". Microsoft moved to a new home in Bellevue, Washington in January 1979.

Microsoft entered the operating system (OS) business in 1980 with its own version of Unix,
called Xenix. However, it was MS-DOS that solidified the company's dominance. After
negotiations with Digital Research failed, IBM awarded a contract to Microsoft in November
1980 to provide a version of the CP/M OS, which was set to be used in the upcoming IBM
Personal Computer (IBM PC). For this deal, Microsoft purchased a CP/M clone called 86-
DOS from Seattle Computer Products, which it branded as MS-DOS, though IBM rebranded
it to PC DOS. Following the release of the IBM PC in August 1981, Microsoft retained
ownership of MS-DOS. Since IBM had copyrighted the IBM PC BIOS, other companies had
to reverse engineer it in order for non-IBM hardware to run as IBM PC compatibles, but no
such restriction applied to the operating systems. Due to various factors, such as MS-DOS's
available software selection, Microsoft eventually became the leading PC operating systems
vendor.: The company expanded into new markets with the release of the Microsoft Mouse in
1983, as well as with a publishing division named Microsoft Press.: Paul Allen resigned from
Microsoft in 1983 after developing Hodgkin's disease. Allen claimed that Gates wanted to
dilute his share in the company when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease because he
didn't think he was working hard enough. After leaving Microsoft, Allen lost billions of
dollars on ill-conceived or mistimed technology investments. He later invested in low-tech
sectors, sports teams, and commercial real estate.

1985–1994: Windows and Office

Despite having begun jointly developing a new operating system, OS/2, with IBM in August
1985, Microsoft releasedMicrosoft Windows, a graphical extension for MS-DOS, on
November 20.:242–243, 246 Microsoft moved its headquarters to Redmond on February 26, 1986,
and on March 13 went public, with the resulting rise in stock making an estimated four
billionaires and 12,000 millionaires from Microsoft employees. Microsoft released its version
of OS/2 to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) on April 2, 1987. In 1990, due to the
partnership with IBM, the Federal Trade Commission set its eye on Microsoft for
possible collusion, marking the beginning of over a decade of legal clashes with the U.S.
government. :243–244 Meanwhile, the company was at work on a 32-bit OS, Microsoft
Windows NT, which was heavily based on their copy of the OS/2 code. It shipped on July 21,
1993, with a new modular kernel and the Win32 application programming interface(API),
making porting from 16-bit (MS-DOS-based) Windows easier. Once Microsoft informed
IBM of NT, the OS/2 partnership deteriorated.

In 1990, Microsoft introduced its office suite, Microsoft Office. The suite bundled
separate productivity applications, such asMicrosoft Word and Microsoft Excel.:301 On May
22, Microsoft launched Windows 3.0, featuring streamlined user interface graphics and
improved protected modecapability for the Intel 386 processor. Both Office and Windows
became dominant in their respective areas.

On July 27, 1994, the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division filed a Competitive
Impact Statement that said, in part: "Beginning in 1988, and continuing until July 15, 1994,
Microsoft induced many OEMs to execute anti-competitive "per processor" licenses. Under a
per processor license, an OEM pays Microsoft a royalty for each computer it sells containing
a particular microprocessor, whether the OEM sells the computer with a Microsoft operating
system or a non-Microsoft operating system. In effect, the royalty payment to Microsoft
when no Microsoft product is being used acts as a penalty, or tax, on the OEM's use of a
competing PC operating system. Since 1988, Microsoft's use of per processor licenses has
increased."
1995–2007: Foray into the Web, Windows 95, Windows XP, and Xbox

Following Bill Gates's internal "Internet Tidal Wave memo" on May 26, 1995, Microsoft
began to redefine its offerings and expand its product line into computer networking and
the World Wide Web. The company released Windows 95 on August 24, 1995, featuring pre-
emptive multitasking, a completely new user interface with a novel start button, and 32-bit
compatibility; similar to NT, it provided the Win32 API.:20 Windows 95 came bundled with
the online service MSN (which was at first intended to be a competitor to the Internet), and
(for OEMs) Internet Explorer, a web browser. Internet Explorer was not bundled with the
retail Windows 95 boxes because the boxes were printed before the team finished the web
browser, and instead was included in the Windows 95 Plus! pack. Branching out into new
markets in 1996, Microsoft and General Electric's NBC unit created a new 24/7 cable news
channel, MSNBC. Microsoft created Windows CE 1.0, a new OS designed for devices with
low memory and other constraints, such as personal digital assistants. In October 1997, the
Justice Department filed a motion in the Federal District Court, stating that Microsoft
violated an agreement signed in 1994 and asked the court to stop the bundling of Internet
Explorer with Windows.:

2007–2011: Microsoft Azure, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Microsoft Stores

Released in January 2007, the next version of Windows, Vista, focused on features, security
and a redesigned user interface dubbed Aero. Microsoft Office 2007, released at the same
time, featured a "Ribbon" user interface which was a significant departure from its
predecessors. Relatively strong sales of both products helped to produce a record profit in
2007. The European Union imposed another fine of €899 million ($1.4 billion) for
Microsoft's lack of compliance with the March 2004 judgment on February 27, 2008, saying
that the company charged rivals unreasonable prices for key information about
its workgroup and backoffice servers. Microsoft stated that it was in compliance and that
"these fines are about the past issues that have been resolved". 2007 also saw the creation of a
multi-core unit at Microsoft, following the steps of server companies such as Sun and IBM.

Gates retired from his role as Chief Software Architect on June 27, 2008, a decision
announced in June 2006, while retaining other positions related to the company in addition to
being an advisor for the company on key projects. Azure Services Platform, the company's
entry into the cloud computing market for Windows, launched on October 27, 2008. On
February 12, 2009, Microsoft announced its intent to open a chain of Microsoft-branded retail
stores, and on October 22, 2009, the first retail Microsoft Store opened in Scottsdale,
Arizona; the same day Windows 7 was officially released to the public. Windows 7's focus
was on refining Vista with ease of use features and performance enhancements, rather than a
large reworking of Windows.

2011–2014: Windows 8/8.1, Xbox One, Outlook.com, and Surface devices

Following the release of Windows Phone, Microsoft undertook a gradual rebranding of its
product range throughout 2011 and 2012, with the corporation's logos, products, services and
websites adopting the principles and concepts of the Metro design language. Microsoft
unveiled Windows 8, an operating system designed to power both personal computers
andtablet computers, in Taipei in June 2011. A developer preview was released on September
13, which was subsequently replaced by a consumer preview on February 29, 2012, and
released to the public in May. The Surface was unveiled on June 18, becoming the first
computer in the company's history to have its hardware made by Microsoft. On June 25,
Microsoft paid US$1.2 billion to buy the social network Yammer. On July 31, they launched
the Outlook.com webmail service to compete with Gmail. On September 4, 2012, Microsoft
released Windows Server 2012.

2014–present: Windows 10, Microsoft Edge and HoloLens

On February 4, 2014, Steve Ballmer stepped down as CEO of Microsoft and was succeeded
by Satya Nadella, who previously led Microsoft's Cloud and Enterprise division. On the same
day, John W. Thompson took on the role of chairman, in place of Bill Gates, who continued
to participate as a technology advisor. Thompson became the second chairman in Microsoft's
history. On April 25, 2014, Microsoft acquired Nokia Devices and Services for $7.2
billion. This new subsidiary was renamed Microsoft Mobile Oy. On September 15, 2014,
Microsoft acquired the video game development company Mojang, best known
for Minecraft, for $2.5 billion. On June 8, 2017, Microsoft acquired Hexadite, an Israeli
security firm, for $100 million.
 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The company is run by a board of directors made up of mostly company outsiders, as is

customary for publicly traded companies. Members of the board of directors as of January
2018 are Bill Gates, Satya Nadella, Reid Hoffman, Lee Johnson, Teri L. List-Stoll, Charles
Noski, Helmut Panke, Sandi Peterson, Penny Pritzker,Charles W. Scharf, Arne
Sorenson, John W. Stanton, John W. Thompson and Padmasree Warrior. Board members are
elected every year at the annual shareholders' meeting using a majority vote system. There
are five committees within the board which oversee more specific matters. These committees
include the Audit Committee, which handles accounting issues with the company including
auditing and reporting; the Compensation Committee, which approves compensation for the
CEO and other employees of the company; the Finance Committee, which handles financial
matters such as proposing mergers and acquisitions; the Governance and Nominating
Committee, which handles various corporate matters including nomination of the board; and
the Antitrust Compliance Committee, which attempts to prevent company practices from
violating antitrust laws.
 LOGO

Microsoft adopted the so-called "Pac-Man Logo", designed by Scott Baker, in 1987. Baker
stated "The new logo, in Helveticaitalic typeface, has a slash between the o and s to
emphasize the "soft" part of the name and convey motion and speed."Dave Norris ran an
internal joke campaign to save the old logo, which was green, in all uppercase, and featured a
fanciful letter O, nicknamed the blibbet, but it was discarded. Microsoft's logo with the
tagline "Your potential. Our passion." – below the main corporate name – is based on a
slogan Microsoft used in 2008. In 2002, the company started using the logo in the United
States and eventually started a television campaign with the slogan, changed from the
previous tagline of"Where do you want to go today?" During the private MGX (Microsoft
Global Exchange) conference in 2010, Microsoft unveiled the company's next tagline, "Be
What's Next." They also had a slogan/tagline "Making it all make sense."

On August 23, 2012, Microsoft unveiled a new corporate logo at the opening of its 23rd
Microsoft store in Boston, indicating the company's shift of focus from the classic style to the
tile-centric modern interface, which it uses/will use on the Windows Phone platform, Xbox
360, Windows 8 and the upcoming Office Suites. The new logo also includes four squares
with the colors of the then-current Windows logo which have been used to represent
Microsoft's four major products: Windows (blue), Office (red), Xbox (green) and Bing
(yellow). The logo resembles the opening of one of the commercials for Windows 95.
 MICROSOFT VISION, MISSION AND VALUE

Microsoft’s vision and mission statements are mainly aimed at the people and corporations
they benefit. The global computer giant aims to empower the planet with the latest in
computer technology. Its aim is to help people and corporations achieve their full potential
through the use of Microsoft products. It is the example of a customer oriented mission
statement. The statements do not detail on the products Microsoft makes but only how these
products benefit the society. It is a digital era and computers are virtually everywhere.
Microsoft has made better utilization of their potential possible for millions on this earth and
that is noted in its mission and vision statements. Apart from that, Microsoft believes in six
important values that help it make the planet a better place. Particularly, it is innovation that
drives Microsoft. However, not just innovation but innovation for empowerment of all is the
computer giant’s mission. You can note a strong alignment between Microsoft’s vision and
mission statement.

Mission of Microsoft:

The mission of Microsoft is to enable its customers to perform to their full potential. In
simple and straightforward words it notes its commitment to the customers and how it strives
to make technology accessible to all. In a way, it is working to simplify computer technology
and make it everyone’s thing. People of all ages and abilities must be able to access and use
technology to do better in their personal and professional lives. So, Microsoft has merged two
things. It has merged innovation with accessibility. Innovation is for all and Microsoft is
trying to prove just that. It makes products that are simplified and accessible. Microsoft’s
mission is an example of a customer oriented mission. It does sound a bit philosophical but
addresses the central concerns. There is no mention of the technologies it makes, just a vague
description of how they help people. However, factors like society and customer are well
dealt with. It does not address factors like competition or employees. Research has related
mission statement with company performance. Companies that are committed to their
mission generally do better than their competitors. Microsoft’s mission also highlights other
two important things – its global market and its industry leadership. Still, Microsoft’s mission
could be more specific and describe how its products have an edge. It talks of technology but
does not get specific about its uses and benefits.
Vision:

“Our vision is to create innovative technology that is accessible to everyone and that adapts
to each person’s needs. Accessible technology eliminates barriers for people with disabilities
and it enables individuals to take full advantage of their capabilities. (—Bill Gates, Chairman,
Microsoft Corporation)

Microsoft’s vision is aligned with its mission. Two important things that are a part of its
mission also figure importantly on its vision statement. It aims to create technology that is
innovative and accessible. So, innovation and accessibility are at the core of Microsoft that is
expressed in both its mission and vision statements. It builds technology that is relevant and
fits with people’s needs. The benefits of accessible and innovative technology are many. It
reduces hurdles and helps people make the most of their capabilities. Microsoft is known for
path breaking technology but it is also known for its Microsoft Office that is used across most
offices because of its low costs. Vision statements must be clear and must outline the
company’s vision of the future. Microsoft’s vision statement is succinct and includes its
strategy of technological empowerment clearly. It talks of the organization’s objectives and
values. Still, when it comes to stating a desired future position clearly, Microsoft’s vision
seems a vague replica of its mission statement.

Values:

Innovation: Innovation is a core focus area at Microsoft. It makes innovative and affordable
technology. The company is devoted to innovation for which it has invested in a large
research lab. More than 1000 researchers ware working inside its labs to produce innovative
technology.

Diversity and Inclusion: Anther key focus area at Microsoft is Diversity and inclusion. From
employees to the customers Microsoft is focused at maximizing the contribution of each
individual. It focuses on diversity and inclusion so that diverse thoughts reflect in its
ecosystem of innovation.

Corporate Social Responsibility: Microsoft strives to be a responsible partner to the society.

If society has placed its trust in Microsoft then Microsoft functions to sustain the trust. To
focus on it, the brand works in a manner that is inclusive transparent and respectful of human
rights.

Philanthropy: Microsoft is focused at empowerment. For that purpose it invests technology,

finances, employee power as well as company’s support in programs that are aimed at filling
the digital divide.

Environment: Another key area that Microsoft is focused upon. Environment is an important
concern for Microsoft. The company is leading the way in using technology to do sustainable
business as well as minimize its operations and products’ impact on the nature.

Trustworthy computing: It is not just computing that is Microsoft’s business but it is

trustworthy computing. Microsoft serves businesses and people best by providing computing
services that are secure, private and reliable computing experiences.
 MARKETING AND STRATEGY

Bill gates Microsoft has been an iconic brand of our era. There are 100’s of lessons which
business graduates can learn from Microsoft. However, here we present 8 marketing
strategy lessons from Microsoft.

1) Network Marketing

The first and most known strategy of Microsoft is Network marketing. This is because each
windows product is compatible with another windows products. Your office documents can
be opened on most computers because of the number of people using Microsoft. Thus it has
established the concept of Network marketing perfectly.

2) Regular product launches

Microsoft is present almost everywhere, be it the music market with its Zune, the computer
peripherals market, it is the market leader in operating systems, it has its own tablets, it has
revolutionized gaming with XBOX 360, it is now involved in Cloud computing and it
generally comes out and gives tough competition to the current players in the market. This
expansion helps build up the deep pockets of Microsoft.

3) Follower strategy
One problem in the strategy of Microsoft has been that it has had a follower strategy in the
past decade or more. It has rarely come out with an innovation. Check “Microsoft office”
from 2003 to 2010. You will see that except for graphics, they have been almost the same
products over and over again. In hardware too, there has hardly been an innovation in
Microsoft. Ipod launched in 2001 and Zune launched in 2006. Need we say more.

4) Learning and adapting

If you look at Windows, you will find that XP had the most security holes, Windows Vista
had several too, Windows 7 has quite less security problems and Windows 8 too is expected
to be even better in security. Thus Microsoft is learning fast and adapting to the environment.
Microsoft knows that nowadays people need security and it is providing the same to them.
5) Build a cash cow
Even though I am repeating this point, but this is important. Microsoft has a cash cow –
operating systems as its backup. And its whole empire is built on the basis of this cash cow.

6) Be customer focused
There are a lot of jokes about the customer service of Microsoft but if you really look at it,
then the reason why Microsoft is actually working is because help is available offline as well
as online. Your computer might crash for any reason, but generally you are able to specify the
reason for the crash and if you are a techie you will be able to rejuvenate it. Even a 10 year
old nowadays knows how to correct windows.

7) Ease of use
Make products which can be used by the youngest to the oldest in the easiest manner.
Like Nokia in mobile phones, Microsoft OS is known for its ease of access. The start button
has been revolutionary.

8) Build brand equity

Today Microsoft is amongst the top 10 companies in terms of its brand equity due to many
different consumer and business to business products that it has. Building such a high brand
equity has paid off for Microsoft with it becoming a highly trusted household name.
The above are some strategies of Microsoft which has helped in making Microsoft one of the
topmost brands in the world. Can you think of some other strategies which have helped
Microsoft grow? We would love to hear about it!
 CONCLUSION

It has adopted “Performance Culture Model” as best approach. Growth Pyramid Of

Microsoft. Microsoft had helped a lot of People in many ways by introducing Products
useful to mankind. I made this presentation Using Microsoft Power Point.
 REFERENCES

 https://www.cheshnotes.com/2016/12/microsoft-vision-mission-and-values/
 https://bizfluent.com/facts-6812450-introduction-microsoft-corporation.html