History, Vision & Financial Performance of Microsoft
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Microsoft began as just another small software company with a significant difference: it developed an operating system for personal computers that it was able to license to IBM. MS-DOS (for Microsoft Disk Operating System) began the de facto standard for all of the personal computer clones that followed the IBM microcomputer on to the market; as a result, Microsoft became a powerful force in the software industry. Using the revenue from its relationship with IBM, Microsoft expanded to application software, and slowly began building a software empire which encompasses both home and business software, and which is written for the IBM clones as well as for Apple machines. In the process, Microsoft has grown to one of the largest companies in the world, Bill Gates (its CEO) has become one of the wealthiest men in the world, and the small software company that once represented entrepreneurship and independence is increasingly associated with strong-arm marketing tactics and a bureaucratic mentality. This research examines the history of Microsoft, the company's mission, its recent financial performance, and the vision of the world that its CEO extols in his recent book, The Road Ahead. Bill Gates sees the road ahead as being defined by the information superhighway (hence the double meaning of the book's title). According to Gates, the information superhighway will make available large quantities of information inexpensively and in a form that
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ricans worked.
Initial Remote Environment - Political
The early 1980s were the start of the Reagan Era, which was characterized by a highly conservative White House balanced by a Democratic Congress. President Reagan called for an end to the Evil Empire (the former Soviet Union), and for the Berlin Wall to be torn down; both of these events occurred by the end of the decade. Americans were ready for a return to conservative values (the Moral Majority made its appearance during this time period), and entrepreneurs were lauded for their foresight and even (in some cases) their greed.
Initial Remote Environment - Technological
At the beginning of the 1980s, the technological environment was in a state of flux which is difficult to imagine today. Computers were of the mainframe and minicomputer variety with few microcomputers available; these existed primarily in the realm of hobbyists. When IBM entered the microcomputer market, however, it did so with all of the marketing strength that a company of its size could muster. It used the MS-DOS operating system and did not make it proprietary. This resulted in numerous "clones," which were manufactured by companies with much more favorable cost structures than IBM, and which u
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Strengths Weaknesses, Date Price, Economic Microsoft, Gates Allen, Financial Analysis, Blair Esquibel, Allen Gates, Conclusion Microsoft, Environment Social, Annual Report, operating system, road ahead, initial remote environment, initial remote, software market, remote environment, personal computer, windows 95, information superhighway, wall street, software industry, 1996 annual report, personal computer market, assume dominant role, recent stock performance,
Approximate Word count = 3414
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page)
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