MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF BUSINESS SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION AND MARKETING

SCIENCES

MODULE : GLOBAL BRAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

(MSBM737)

LEVEL : 1.2

LECTURER : DR CHOKERA

GROUP ASSIGNMENT

ONWELL MADZIWABENDE : R223717B

FORTUNATE MABONGA : R104189V

Group 2

a) With reference to a global brand (Microsoft) examine the steps in Identity building
(name, symbol, and slogan)
b) Formulate strategies towards Value creation for the global brand
c) Develop Brand positioning strategies for the Global brand
d) Evaluate the Structures and Processes for Global Brand Building
e) Examine how organizational structures influence Global Brand management

a) With reference to a global brand (Microsoft) examine the steps in Identity building
(name, symbol, and slogan)

Building a brand identity is a multi-disciplinary strategic effort, and every element needs to
support the overall message and business goals. It can include a company's name, logo, and
design; its style and the tone of its copy; the look and composition of its products; and, of course,
its social media presence. (Evan Tarver 2022). Brand identity is the visible elements of a brand,
such as color, design, and logo, that identify and distinguish the brand in consumers' minds.
Brand identity is distinct from brand image.

Brand identity in many ways is the visual (symbol or illustration) aspect of a brand. Building
brand identity must have a strong visual image to link the brand. A brand identity is compiled of
various branding elements. When you put them together, the identity in many ways is the mascot
of your brand. It is how a company expresses and describes itself from the images on its
marketing materials, the colors that represent the brand, and how a company markets itself on
social media. A strong brand identity strengthens a company's popularity and presence in a
competitive market. Brand identity matters because without it, customers are not able to
recognize a brand easily. A strong brand may help sell a company to consumers. A good brand
has a clear focus, strong visuals, is familiar with its target audience and is easily recognizable in
a sea of similar brands.

Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer

software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the
Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washington, United States. Its best-known
software products are the Windows line of operating systems, the Microsoft Office suite, and the
Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers. Its flagship hardware products are the Xbox video
game consoles and the Microsoft Surface lineup of touchscreen personal computers. It was the
world's largest software maker by revenue as of 2019. It is one of the Big Five American
information technology companies, alongside Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, and Meta.

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 by Windows.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft

The Microsoft logo

The Microsoft logo is considered to be one of the most famous logos in the world that has been
printed and advertised on millions of software packages, PCs, laptops, and websites. The logo
has been incredibly well received by its users the world over. It is in fact one of the strongest
identity that Microsoft is recognized with.

While the Windows system set the Microsoft Company off to reach its great financial heights
more than anyone could ever imagine, its operating system is the most recognized globally. It is
an identity that has become an international face successfully.

The Microsoft Brand

A new logo was launched on August 23, 2012. The Microsoft team brainstormed, and the bright,
colorful, and eye-catching logo resulted from collective employee creativity. As a direct quote
from Microsoft states:

“The brand should evolve to visually accentuate this new beginning, as the company prepares for
the launch of its new products. The logo takes its inspiration from our product design principles
while drawing upon the heritage of our brand value, fonts, and colors.”

There were two primary elements included in the logo, the symbol and the logotype. The
logotype uses a Segoe font in a grey tone while keeping the F and T merged. The emblem logo
design was created from four bright colors, including red, green, yellow, and blue, in a square
window shape, intending to show the company’s diverse portfolio of products.

After that, Microsoft launched Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, new Xbox Services, and a new
version of MS Office in 2012 as well. Moreover, the most interesting aspect of the symbol was
that the famous four-box icon not just represented a color-coded suite of Office applications. For
example, the blue for Word, green for Excel, red for PowerPoint, and yellow for Outlook helped
to launch the continuing success of Microsoft’s Windows.

It was the first time Microsoft used the Segoe UI typeface. The font used not only pre-existing
design materials and marketing utilities, but it was also placed on the software packages of the
operating systems on mobiles, desktops, and laptops.
How the Microsoft logo has worked for the company

Today, Microsoft’s net worth is upwards of $70 billion, and although they have not been the
perfect firm, they have had exceptional success across the world for many decades now. Also, it
has led to the success of Bill Gates, giving him the honor of becoming the world’s richest man.

Today the Microsoft logo is a paragon of greatness across the world of technology. It stands for
vital innovation in technology that has brought the computer to every ordinary person by the
easy to use and user-friendly Windows operating system. Several Windows versions have
continued to grow and succeed, and many new attributes, icons, and apps have been added over
the years. The updates, and additions were purely based on what users want in their operating
systems, showing how much customer reviews and customer loyalty mean Microsoft.

As out modern-day technology changes and grows from the past 40 years. The iconic Microsoft
logo stands as a symbol of trust and quality in the company. Their operating systems have
opened opportunities all over the world with their accessibility and ease of use.
https://blog.logomyway.com/microsoft-logo/

The steps in Identity building

How customers view a specific company, organization or product can affect purchasing trends
and customer loyalty. With a solid branding identity developed through implementing consistent
marketing and messaging, the company may inspire new sales and customer loyalty.
Understanding the various steps and strategies you can use to develop a brand's identity can help
you determine which technique might benefit your team most significantly.

i. Conduct research

Begin by analyzing the market and identifying strengths, opportunities, and weaknesses.
Understand who you are as a company and your point of difference. Pinpoint elements that make
you unique from other brands. On every opportunity for Microsoft to build its identity, it is
important that it had to start by conducting research on what was lacking in the computer
software world and what opportunities were waiting for them in the market. Identifying possible
competition, their strength and weaknesses and the size of the market share.

ii. Determine business goals

Form your mission statement based on your brand's capabilities and the reason behind your
brand. Indicate which elements distinguish the company that you work for and why there is a
need for your products or services. If you work for an organization with a defined mission, think
about what advertising goals can best support both the company's and your client's needs. It is
important for Microsoft to determine and know its line of business, which is technology in
computer software.

iii. Identify customers

Conduct surveys, focus groups and interviews to identify a consumer group. Understanding
customer needs and expectations can help shape brand identity to best build customer loyalty.
This may involve conducting audience segmentation and discovering multiple subgroups within
your overall audience. You might categorize these subgroups based on various factors, including
a customer's age range, geographic location, or shopping habits. During the 1980s, Microsoft’s
major consumer group was organizations and corporations, as they lived in the advent of mostly
desktops. Computer technology had started advancing and today the target customer cuts across
the board from college students, organistaions, families as well as teenagers through applications
on the mobile phones.

iv. Determine personality and message

Create or redefine the brand's personality by considering if your brand focuses on fun or solving
a consumer's problems. The brand's voice is an identity that remains consistent throughout the
branding process and gets clearly communicated through methodical choices in brand identity.
All brand elements, from name to color choices and typography, align to create a coherent
identity. If Microsoft was a person, then would best be described as innovative and friendly. Its
software (windows) makes tasks much easier to complete, demonstrated by how both
organizations and individuals have managed to abandon the old methods of data controls in favor
of the modern Microsoft windows software.

v. Make a logo

Make or redesign your logo. A logo is a visual trademark or symbol identifying the brand.
Similar to a sports team mascot, the logo visually represents the brand and the ideals it embodies.
To remain appealing and culturally relevant to the newly emerging computer industry, Microsoft
put effort into a brand-new logo that was bolder than before. Microsoft launched Xenix in 1980,
which was an updated version of the UNIX operating system, so the logo design took on a heavy
metal type look.

There are diagonal lines on letters M, R, and F, the sharp edges, exaggerated stems. Any
onlooker would agree that the company looked more like a heavy metal music label than a
software provider. Despite this, many people favored the new logo of the logo, but the design
only lasted for two years. After that, Microsoft went back to classic typography.

vi. Consider other visual elements

Think about how the other visual elements involved in your logo, packaging, advertising or
website can embody your brand. This might include considering the following visual aspects:

Color: Unique and specific brand colors instantly increase product visibility. For example, the
color choice of heather gray may communicate serenity, while a more robust, more vivid hue of
green can portray confidence. With Microsoft the famous four-box icon has a meaning on every
color, for example, the blue for Word, green for Excel, red for PowerPoint, and yellow for
Outlook helped to launch the continuing success of Microsoft’s Windows.

Shape: The visual appearance of shape identifies some brands as well. For example, a soft
drink's unique square-shaped bottle or a game controller's linear forms can immediately identify
the brand.

Graphics: Distinct patterns can also help build a memory structure around a specific brand,
making identification instantaneous.

Text: The size and style of your font can communicate a brand's personality. A wispy font, for
instance, might convey a sense of relaxation, while Times New Roman may portray tradition and
stability.

vii. Create your slogan

Compose or refine the brand's slogan. This is simply a brand's position stated memorably.
Ideally, a slogan is brief and memorable so that it's easy for customers to recall. Many brands, for
example, use slogans with alliteration or rhymes.

The Microsoft Logo Slogan

In 1994, the slogan “Where do you want to go today?” was added to the company’s logo
repertoire. A historic moment came when on August 24, 1995, Windows 95 was launched. Not
only that, but the Xbox360 games console launched in 2001, and 2006 saw the slogan changed to
“Your potential, Our passion.”

In 2007, the short-lived but solid steppingstone operating platform, Windows Vista, was
launched, and three years later, in 2010, the Windows Phone OS started to replace Windows
Mobile. Then in 2011, Microsoft decided it was time for another change in slogan; ‘Be What’s
Next’ was used with the same logo design as before. With this change in place, The Metro
design language rebranded all products, logos, websites, and services after its completion.

viii. Decide on your tone

Figure your brand's style or tone. Specific word choice, or diction, is the vocabulary used in
connection to the brand and helps to shape the brand's tone and attitude. The type of language
used to communicate to consumers can dictate the type of customer the brand attracts.

The tone of your brand typically connects to its personality. For example, a brand focused on fun
might use a more casual tone, while a brand that provides medical devices may prefer to
cultivate empathy.
 ix. Think about your audience's other senses

Consider how you can awaken your consumers' other senses through your branding when
relevant. Also referred to as sensory branding, this type of marketing might appeal to all five of a
prospective customer's senses.

Here's a brief description of how you might incorporate the other three senses into your
branding:

 Sound: A brand's unique set of auditory notes, tones or sounds can help to raise brand
awareness. Often, a musical jingle might bring the brand name to a customer's mind,
leading to a stronger brand identity.
 Taste: A brand's flavor or flavor combinations can play a crucial role. For example, a
restaurant might offer a secret sauce in a specific dish, while a particular brand of soft
drink might offer 27 flavors that are uniquely their own.
 Touch: For companies that sell products, consider how that product physically feels. You
might think about, for example, if the product or packaging feels heavy, smooth or rough
to the touch and how that contributes to the branding.
 Scent: Companies that sell products with smells, like food or beauty products, might
consider refining specific scents that customers can associate with that brand.

Brand identity can further be developed through:

 Continuously monitor your brand

Continuously keep track of data related to your branding. Keeping track of different aspects of
your brand performance can help you determine how well these diverse elements positively
influence factors like public awareness and customer loyalty. It can also help you determine
ways you might optimize various aspects of your branding.

 Connect your customers to your story

Give your customers a reason to care about the company you work for by sharing stories related
to the brand. For example, you might publicly share your brand's founding story or a story about
devising the brand's new mission. Telling stories about your brand may increase a customer's
empathy toward the company, boosting brand loyalty.

 Research your competitors

Research your primary competitors to determine what distinguishes your brand from theirs. This
might involve researching the competitors' mission statements, values, advertising initiatives and
the features of their products or services. Developing a deeper understanding of your competitors
can help you gain insight into the unique elements of your brand's product or service offerings,
mission, and personality.

 Allow the business to evolve

Make sure that your branding strategies have enough flexibility that they can change over time.
Although it's important to create a specific and memorable brand identity, it can also be helpful
to give the branding room to evolve. This tactic can help the brand adapt to various changes in
the market or consumer opinion.
 b) Formulate strategies towards Value creation for the global brand

Microsoft strategies have made an incredible impression of new technology on people and
company across the globe. In 1979, Bill Gates and Paul Allen from Seattle converted BASIC, a
popular mainframe computer programming language for personal computers. Shortly after, both
founded Microsoft, which is being derived from the words microcomputer and software. In 1977,
Microsoft opened its first international office in Japan and moved to Bellevue in Washington in
1979, incorporated under the name of Microsoft Inc.

According to (Alpha, 2020) for an effective Microsoft strategy, Microsoft marketing and
Microsoft target market strategy focus on the 7p’ s of the marketing, which are product, price,
place, promotion, process, people, and physical evidence. Moreover, Microsoft strategy on
Microsoft’s target market focuses on those segments that value advanced capabilities and
features of technological products and services.

Microsoft strategy related to Microsoft target market is considered a set of activities, including
the marketing efforts of the company. The goal of Microsoft strategy related to Microsoft target
market strategy is to segment the population in two distinct groups based on specific
characteristics. Moreover, after identifying different segments Microsoft strategy, it is to design
the multiple products and services based on their needs.

In addition to this, Microsoft strategy related to Microsoft target market strategy is to employ
differentiated and undifferentiated Microsoft target market strategy. The undifferentiated
Microsoft strategy is to target the entire population as the Windows Operating System is
homogeneous. However, in differentiated Microsoft strategy, the Microsoft target market and the
Microsoft marketing strategy changes. Microsoft strategy needs to be changed for developers
and mobile tools. Such Microsoft strategy is required to be employed by Microsoft because such
kinds of products face cutting-edge competition. Therefore, Microsoft target market strategy is
an indispensable part of the overall Microsoft marketing strategy.

Microsoft strategy related to the target market is considered as a set of activities, including the
marketing efforts of the company. The goal of Microsoft strategy related to the target market
strategy is to segment the population in two distinct groups based on specific characteristics.
Moreover, after identifying different segments, Microsoft strategy is to design the multiple
products and services based on their needs.

Microsoft strategy related to Microsoft marketing strategy integrates the following elements:

 Cloud-first mobile-first– Intelligent cloud is one of the most prominent sources of

Microsoft strategy and Microsoft’s competitive advantage, which focuses on the cloud
 segment of the business. The Mobile-first Microsoft strategy relates to the mobility of
experience and technology.
 Microsoft Strategy Growing through mergers and acquisitions: Another Microsoft
strategy that has led to the extensive growth of Microsoft market is merger and
acquisition. Microsoft strategy of merger and acquisition plays an important role in
Microsoft strategies related to business, which facilitates increasing the capabilities, value
offering, and the product range of the company. Some of the Microsoft strategies related
to merger and acquisition that have resulted in the growth of Microsoft markets are the
acquisition of Nokia corporation devices and services, Mojang synergies, LinkedIn, etc.

 Microsoft Strategy of Focusing on augmented and virtual reality: Another Microsoft

strategy to enhance its marketing activities is to place augmented and virtual reality as the
core of Microsoft strategy. Microsoft strategy in terms of Microsoft marketing is to
demonstrate how virtual reality can be used to help in balancing and improving the
shopping experience in education and automotive designs. Through such Microsoft
strategy, it has been able to gain more competitive advantage, just like being a leader in
the cloud segment, having a positive implication on a long term perspective.

 Microsoft Strategy on Promoting tech intensity: Microsoft strategy related to

Microsoft marketing strategy is to focus on tech intensity. Tech intensity is an
amalgamation of cultural mindset and business process. It focuses on the development
and propagation of digital capabilities that would help in creating end-to-end digital
feedbacks, better information flow, automated workforce, and intelligence service.

 Investing in the communication of marketing messages through integrated

marketing communication channels: Microsoft marketing strategy to Microsoft target
market is through a range of marketing communication channels like sales promotion,
events, advertising, public relations, experience, personal selling, and direct marketing in
an integrated way. Through different employee marketing communication channels, it
has led to reaching a greater number of Microsoft target market segments. Not only has it
broadened the reach, but it has also facilitated the creation of brand awareness about the
organization’s products and services.
  Focus on product element of the marketing: Microsoft’s marketing strategy focuses on
all the seven P’s of marketing. Moreover, along with focusing on all the 7 P’s of
marketing, Microsoft strategy is also focusing on the user convenience of the products
and services, which is a unique selling proposition associated with Microsoft.

 Targeting customers that value effectiveness and efficiency: Another Microsoft

marketing strategy related to Microsoft target market is focusing on specific groups
among the population that value efficiency and effectiveness of the technological
products and services. Focusing on such Microsoft target market helps in determining the
needs of the consumers and bringing innovation and technological changes. It aids the
company in retaining and enhancing its customer base.

Other Microsoft Strategy

Learning and adapting: The most successful Microsoft strategy is learning and adapting.
Microsoft continuously upgrades to new technologies adapting to the dynamic environment. It
continuously upgrades the technology and also improves and makes the products more friendly
and desirable.

Regular product launches: Another Microsoft marketing strategy is regularly creating and
launching its product like it has revolutionized gaming with Xbox360 and has also involved
cloud computing giving tough competition to the current players in the market.

Network marketing; It is the first and prominent Microsoft marketing strategy. It is because
each Window product is compatible with another Window product. Thus, network marketing has
been one of the unique selling propositions of Microsoft.

The customer focuses: Determining and focusing on Microsoft target market is the key strategy
for its successive growth. The customer-centric approach has been one of the major competitive
advantages that has led the company to reach new heights.

Building brand equity: Microsoft presently is among the top 10 companies in terms of brand
equity. It has high brand equity and has become a highly trusted household name due to different
consumer segments and business-to-business products.

Promotional mix: Microsoft’s biggest promotion expenses are on the advertising. It focuses on
effective communication strategies and tactics that facilitate in attracting target customers. It
offers discounts and other incentives to attract customers, like students and military personnel.
One can purchase the company’s product at discounted prices. On the other hand, Microsoft uses
direct marketing that directly deals with the organization like academic institutions. In personal
selling, the representatives of Microsoft present product and their features to potential buyers.
Moreover, donations and other related activities are executed through Microsoft philanthropies.

Pricing strategies: Microsoft adheres to suitable pricing approaches. It uses the following
pricing strategies:

Market-oriented pricing: It is the price of the products based on market factors like consumer
demand and competitive pricing.

Premium pricing strategy: It includes offering products for free and requiring payment for any
additional functionality or the features.

Buy only what you use pricing strategy: It is for cloud services, which involves fees based on the
usage instead of fees per device.
 c) Develop Brand positioning strategies for the Global brand

According to Kent (2013) brand positioning can be defined as the positioning strategy of the
brand with the goal to create a unique impression in the minds of customers and at the market
place. Brand positioning has to be desirable, specific, clear and distinctive in nature from the rest
of the competitors in the market.

Chuang (2011), stipulates that, Microsoft began to grow their brand over 20 years ago with Bill
Gate’s an underlying vision of “a computer on every desk and in every home”. This resulted in
Microsoft developing into a huge multinational company with personal computing at the
forefront of their business. Microsoft dominated this industry for many years which is reflected
in the high brand recognition of Microsoft products worldwide.

Microsoft uses the following types of positioning:

Multi-segment positioning

The company targets more than one customer segments at the same time with different product
and service packages. For example, Dynamics 365, software for building and supporting
customer relationships starts with USD 115/month Customer Engagement Plan for cost-
conscious customer segment. Unified Operations Plan starting from USD 190/month, on the
other hand is developed for a different customer segment that do not mind to pay extra for
additional set of functions and features within Dynamics 365.

Standby positioning

Standby positioning technique involves the development of products and services that can await
changes in the market to find demand in the future. When Microsoft announced its ‘cloud-first,
mobile-first’ business strategy in 2014, cloud data storage was a new segment. CEO Satya
Nadella saw a potential in cloud business, focused on the development of cloud services using
standby positioning technique. The demand for cloud consistently increased and in Q2, 2018
alone, Microsoft commercial cloud revenues reached USD 6.9 billion, a growth of 53%
compared to the previous period.

Value based Brand Positioning

Value-based positioning has two approaches and both are based very much dependent on the
quality of the product. They use a psychological approach which exploits the belief that the more
expensive something is, the better it is. This increases the value in the minds of the customer and
the product is positioned as expensive and useful and good.
From rebranding its products & services to logos; company underwent a turnaround recently to
reposition itself as a value based company mean to enrich the life of the individuals worldwide.
If we talk about the positioning of Microsoft, then its operating systems and several software are
simply top of the mind positioned in the market. Because of the brand value of Microsoft, any
product it launches gets a good positioning. But in some cases, it might not be the top of the
mind positioning. Example – Microsoft mobiles phones versus Samsung or Apple in the smart
phone market

Competitor based positioning

Since the competition has increased companies are taking this strategy to demonstrate the
superiority amongst all other available competitors in the market. One of the competitive
advantages which Microsoft has over its closest competitor Apple, is that its operating system is
installable on any PC or laptop and there is no hardware binding on the operating system – A key
problem in the distribution of Apple Smartphones. But this also means that there is huge loss due
to piracy.

Another most important competitive advantage that Microsoft has over its competitors is its
acquisition strategy. Microsoft have acquired some of the best companies in the world like
Hotmail, Skype, Nokia, Visio corporation, Navision and many other small and big companies.

Microsoft is in the business of large no. of products & services which gives it edge over other
companies in the world. It has offerings in Microsoft tablet to Xbox console games to software.

Problem and solution positioning

Many brands present themselves as a solution provider to the problems of the customers. The
ideology behind such positioning is to demonstrate that this particular brand can help you solve
your problems instantly and efficiently. Similarly it has other solid line of products like Skype,
Mobile phones, Xbox series, games, Browsers, Search engine, Microsoft office and Business
solutions. Being in meta-market industry is helping the company in using shared capabilities to
excel in its functional businesses. And that is where its competitive advantage lies.

Leader-based Positioning

To exhaust this route as a market leader you would require your brand to be the best and unique
in the market. Many companies start with this positioning but as competition increases, they fall
out and the strategy needs to be revamped. The whopping product line of Microsoft gives the
company its advantage. It is the world’s leading operating systems provide computers and it is
almost dominating that industry when we compare worldwide figures (of which last & latest one
in its series is Windows 10 which was given as a free upgrade for Windows 7 owners).

Price Positioning

As much as quality plays an important role in the product success price is an equally important
factor which determines the enormity of success of a particular brand. Microsoft has worked
upon TCO (Total cost of ownership) so as to make the software easily & economically available
to the customers.
d) Evaluate the Structures and Processes for Global Brand Building

Microsoft Corporation’s organizational structure enables the business to grow, especially

following the firm’s structural change implemented in 2015. A company’s corporate structure
refers to the anatomy and arrangement of the organization and its components. In Microsoft’s
case, the organizational structure stresses the importance of business output. As a dominant
player in the IBM PC-compatible operating system market, the company uses its structure to
maintain competitive advantage, in accordance to its strategies. The company’s long-term
success depends on the suitability of its corporate structure to market conditions and industry
forces (Muuls 2012).

Microsoft Corporation’s organizational structure reflects the needs of the computer hardware and
software business in response to market dynamics. A responsive organizational structure ensures
the company’s long-term success.

Features of Microsoft’s Corporate Structure

Microsoft Corporation has a product type divisional organizational structure. This structure
involves divisions that are based on certain computer hardware and software products, or
organizational outputs. The following characteristics are significant in Microsoft’s organizational
structure:

i) Product type divisions (most dominant structural feature)

ii) Global corporate groups

iii) Geographic segments

i) Product Type Divisions

Product type divisions are the primary characteristic of Microsoft’s organizational structure. In
this characteristic, the company uses product or output as the main criterion for grouping
personnel and related resources. For example, the organization has a self-contained division for
Intelligent Cloud products and separate divisions for other products. This structural feature
contributes to the company’s organizational capacity for product innovation. The following are
the product type divisions in Microsoft’s corporate structure:

1. Productivity and Business Processes

2. Intelligent Cloud

3. More Personal Computing

4. Corporate and Other

ii) Global Corporate Groups

Global corporate groups are a secondary characteristic that defines Microsoft’s organizational
structure. These groups are based on the functions essential in the computer technology business.
For example, the Human Resources group addresses the company’s workforce needs and related
concerns. This structural characteristic ensures that the organization functions as a whole. The
following are the global corporate groups in Microsoft’s organizational structure:

1. Office of the CEO

2. Worldwide Commercial Business

3. Marketing

4. Microsoft Global Sales, Marketing and Operations

5. Corporate Strategy and Operations

6. Microsoft Cloud and Enterprise Group

7. Human Resources

8. Finance

9. Business Development

10. Applications and Services Group

11. Windows and Devices Group

12. Technology and Research

13. Legal
iii) Geographic Segments

Microsoft Corporation’s corporate structure also involves geographic segments as the least
significant characteristic. These segments are used to group operations in the company’s
financial reports. The following are the geographic divisions in Microsoft’s organizational
structure:

1. United States

2. International
 e )Examine how organizational structures influence Global Brand management

The main implication of Microsoft Corporation’s organizational structure is the ability to focus
on product development. For example, the company uses its Intelligent Cloud division to offer
cutting-edge cloud computing services. A corresponding advantage of this corporate structure is
its contribution to the competitiveness of Microsoft’s products (Menguc 2010).

A disadvantage of the company’s organizational structure is its minimal consideration for

regional market differences. Regions have varying preferences with regard to Microsoft’s
computer hardware and software features, such as in the case of smartphones. Thus, a
recommendation is for the company to integrate regional market differences in its organizational
structural design.
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