Use the company you chose in the template attached and continue to assume the role of a new manager. This week you’ll apply your work from the template to create Part 1 of an implementation plan for t

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Introduction

Microsoft is a Redmond, Washington-based global technology business that creates, produces, licenses, supports, and markets computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and services. The Microsoft Windows operating system, the Microsoft Office package, and the Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers are among the company's most well-known software offerings. The Xbox video gaming consoles and the Microsoft Surface tablet line are its two main hardware offerings (Hamurcu & Eren, 2020). Microsoft dominates the market for office software suites and operating systems for IBM PCs, though most of the need for functional systems has gone to Android.

The Key Strategic Objectives for Microsoft Company

1. Empower every person and every organization to achieve more: Microsoft’s goal is to empower all people and organizations to reach their most significant potential, regardless of their background or resources. This is gained through their products, services, and technology solutions. Microsoft provides innovative tools and resources, such as Office 365 and Microsoft Teams, to help people and organizations collaborate and work smarter.

2. Create more personal computing: Microsoft strives to create more accessible, personalized, and secure computing experiences. This goal is achieved through their Windows operating system and the suite of hardware products, such as the Surface and Xbox. Microsoft is also investing heavily in artificial intelligence and machine learning to create more personalized experiences that can anticipate user needs and respond to commands and questions.

3. Reinvent productivity and business processes: Microsoft’s goal is to create more efficient, effective, and secure ways for businesses to operate. This includes investing in cloud-based solutions, such as Azure, to help companies to reduce costs, streamline processes, and increase their agility.

4. Build the intelligent cloud platform: Microsoft’s innovative cloud platform is designed to help organizations leverage data and machine learning to drive innovation. This includes cloud-based solutions, such as Azure, to help businesses securely store, access, and analyze data from anywhere.

5. Transform data into insights: Microsoft’s goal is to enable businesses to turn their data into actionable insights. This is achieved through their suite of analytics and business intelligence solutions, such as Power BI and Azure. With these tools, businesses can quickly and easily analyze their data, identify patterns, and make informed decisions.

6. Build best-in-class platforms and productivity services for an intelligent edge: Microsoft is investing in creating the best-in-class platforms and productivity services for the intelligent edge. This includes solutions such as the Windows 10 operating system and the Office suite of applications designed to enable users to be more productive and secure.

7. Reinvent gaming: Microsoft is committed to creating the most immersive and engaging gaming experiences. This is achieved through their Xbox and Windows gaming platforms and cloud-based services such as Xbox Live and Xbox Game Pass.

8. Create new opportunities for the Windows ecosystem: Microsoft is committed to creating new opportunities for its Windows ecosystem, which includes hardware vendors and developers. This is achieved through their Windows operating system and the suite of hardware products, such as the Surface and Xbox.

9. Develop world-class artificial intelligence and research capabilities: Microsoft invests heavily in artificial intelligence and machine learning to create more powerful, personalized, and secure experiences. This includes investing in research capabilities, such as Microsoft Research, to develop new technologies and products.

10. Drive access to technology and digital skills for everyone: Microsoft is committed to driving access to technology and digital skills for everyone. This includes providing training, digital literacy courses, and education technology solutions to help people learn, grow, and succeed.

External Environmental influences are considered when developing the plan to achieve the Strategic Objectives.

Several external environmental influences must be considered when developing the plan to achieve Microsoft’s strategic objectives. These influences include economic conditions, political changes, technological advancements, and social trends.

Economic conditions, when developing a plan to achieve Microsoft’s strategic objectives. Microsoft views the economic conditions in the countries in which it operates, as well as the economic conditions of its customers (Mylostyvyi, & Chernenko, 2019). This will ensure that Microsoft’s products and services are priced appropriately and that the company can remain competitive.

Political changes may be considered when developing a plan to achieve Microsoft’s strategic objectives. Political differences can significantly impact the company’s operations and ability to do business in certain countries. Microsoft must consider changes in trade policies, tax laws, and other regulations that could affect the company’s ability to operate and generate revenue.

Social trends, such as the increasing demand for digital services, must be considered when creating products and services (Pineda, & Morales, 2019). Social trends can affect the demand for Microsoft’s products and services, which could impact the company’s ability to generate revenue.

Conclusion

When developing the plan to achieve Microsoft’s strategic objectives, the company must consider external environmental influences such as economic conditions, political changes, technological advancements, and social trends. This will ensure that Microsoft can remain competitive, generate revenue, and create products and services that meet the needs of its customers.

Introduction

The main role of a manager is to coordinate how tasks will be conducted in an organization, including delegating duties based on employees' skills and experience. Managers are also involved in decision-making processes which will enhance an organization's progress. As a new manager in a major corporation like Microsoft, strategic objectives are key to achieving the intended goals. Strategic objectives create an opportunity for the manager to determine which steps they should take to meet an organization's objectives (Steiss, 2019). They should also be achieved within a specific time frame. The following are key strategic objectives that will boost the company's performance.

Strategic objectives

Financial strategic objectives

Financial objectives involve setting an annual profit target the company aims to achieve. The current market will be segmented to determine the profits earned from each region. It is important to reduce the cost of production to increase the profit margin. However, reducing the cost of production shall not affect the quality of services received by customers. The current expenditure shall be re-evaluated to determine some of the gaps that should be closed.

Training strategic objective

The company shall focus on improving productivity by retraining employees and mentoring new employees on effective production processes. The main area which requires more training is market projection since it is future oriented. Employees shall be trained to determine the needs of the current market and effective ways of meeting such needs. To enhance efficiency and cost-saving production, employees shall also be trained on effective running activities requiring less capital and time.

Business operation’s strategic objective

Due to the current competitive market, there is a need to change some of the business's current operations. A large team will be allocated to e-commerce since it is the main trend of the current marketing processes. The company shall also diversify its operations by partnering with other companies in areas with a high population, such as India. This objective mainly aims to increase the current market to compete with other main companies.

Customer strategic objective

Customers are key shareholders of a company, especially when it comes to loyal customers. This objective aims to enhance customer experience each time they use the company's products and services. A more effective customer service team shall be set to serve clients from all regions worldwide. Another important strategy for meeting this goal is to ensure that products are updated in a continuous trend to make corrections for possible errors and to keep them competitive. The customers' reviews will always be noted for the organization to determine how it can incorporate them into its production process.

Measurable outcomes of strategic objectives

Increased profits

One of the objectives is financial objective. If the company lowers its current expenditure, it will attain a higher profit margin at the end of the year. Setting high financial targets also will lead to the company's financial growth. The coming annual profit margin shall be compared with the margin of the past two years. This will illustrate whether to objective was met. Increased strategic operations shall indicate financial profits since the company shall possess enough capital to invest in e-commerce and other development-oriented strategies.

Large customer base

The second objective aims to train employees to handle various responsibilities effectively. This shall be measured by customer satisfaction rate since employees will be equipped to ensure that customers access the best services. It will also be used to measure the customer base strategy determined by the kind of feedback clients will leave behind after being served.

Motivated employees

Leaders not only focus on ensuring that goals are met but also on enhancing intrinsic motivation among employees. 360-degree feedback shall be used to determine the level of satisfaction for all employees. It will also be used to measure the impact of training strategic objectives since employees will be equipped with skills which shall enable them to enhance their careers. Employee retention rate shall also be indicated to determine the level of motivation for every employee.

Impact of the five management functions on the objectives

1. Planning: This function involves determining what actions and resources shall be used to achieve the set objectives (Hales, 2019). It includes allocating financial resources towards achieving each objective and the amount of time which will be spent.

2. Organizing: This function involves allocating employees to handle various functions based on the level of their skills. If there are gaps, more skilled employees can be brought into the institution to achieve the set objectives.

3. Staffing involves organizing employees into various departments based on their skills (Liebowitz & Beckman, 2020). Training processes should also be used to address some of the gaps which will come up among the employees.

4. Controlling: This step involves monitoring the achievement of each objective closely. It can be subdivided into segments whereby each segment is evaluated after a certain duration. This will create room for changes where necessary, keeping the organization focused on its goal.

Conclusion

Setting strategic objectives will enable the company to achieve its mission and vision. However, the manager cannot achieve it alone since he will need other employees in the institution. There is a need for the manager to create a path which others should follow by setting objectives and engaging the whole team to meet the set objectives. Continuous evaluation of the progress of each goal will create room for improvement and changes where necessary.

Introduction

Despite being one of the world's main technology-oriented companies, Microsoft still faces competition from other corporations, such as Amazon and Apple. The company has retained a competitive advantage through strategic approaches to product modification and the provision of customer-friendly products. The company has also been able to run its operations in different parts of the world and offers various products to its customers. The corporation employs the following strategic approaches to compete with other major corporations (Ilag & Sabale, 2022).

Competitive advantages

Microsoft has built and maintained a strong brand for over 40 years. Over the years, it has continuously improved the quality of its software and hardware products, enhancing its performance in the market. It has also been able to create a reliable image regarding technological products. Through a strong brand, it has managed to retain a strong relationship with its clients.

The company has set up offices in several countries, which it controls, with a common headquarters in Redmond, Washington. It has also captured the Indian and Chinese markets, the largest in the world. Microsoft set up an effective global distribution channel, enhancing its sales force. By carrying out operations in all parts of the world, Microsoft understands its customers; therefore, it is positioned to improve its products to meet the needs of all customers.

Its leaders are innovation oriented. The leaders have also focused on making acquisitions, enabling it to sustain its profitability. An example is the acquisition of LinkedIn. Development-oriented leaders have also expanded the company's market size. Cloud Computing is a major technological development. Through its strategic leadership planning, Microsoft has created a stable cloud computing market that has enhanced its competition (Rojabi, 2020).

After acquiring Linked In, Microsoft has used it to connect with customers around the world. In 2018, the company invested $1.8 million in marketing, including traditional and digital marketing strategies. It also holds a strong website which it uses as the main marketing strategy. Its leaders, such as Bill Gates, have been involved in Philanthropic activities, which has been key to sustaining goodwill.

The company has invested a lot of resources in research and development. Continuous product innovation has played a major role in ensuring that clients have access to improved products and services. Other companies are also working on innovation, and Microsoft has been on the frontline to remain competitive in the ever-changing technological market.

How Microsoft can use overall cost leadership and differentiation

Overall cost leadership

The strategy involves reducing the production process cost to offer clients competitive prices. Microsoft can use the strategy to keep its products affordable compared to its competitors' products, such as iPhone. Due to the development of technology, a price war has become a common trend for several technological companies. Microsoft can use cost leadership to deal with competitors since its products remain affordable. Most of the competitors invest in their products to keep them competitive, which means they will be forced to sell them at high prices (Wirtz & Zeithaml, 2018).

Microsoft can retain a large market share due to cost leadership. Several customers are highly sensitive to increased product prices, especially in the current inflation period. Companies selling products at the lowest price often benefit and increase the number of customers willing to purchase the products since they are affordable. This strategy is mainly made effective due to the use of economics of scale, which enables the company to pay less wages, transportation costs, and taxes.

Differentiation

Differentiation strategy entails providing unique products to customers that are different from what all competitors provide (Holt, 2022). Microsoft can achieve this by analyzing the current market gaps to determine some of the most important improvements it is supposed to make. An example is connecting people using Linked In, which has made it easy for people to search for new opportunities from all parts of the world through the platform. This will ensure that Microsoft remains different from what competitors are offering, retaining its competitive advantage.

To differentiate itself from its competitors, it should focus on reducing its products' prices, ensuring that its products are unique, improving its current profit margin, developing ways of increasing its customer brand loyalty, and planning strategies for controlling any perceived substitutes. The main goal is to keep its products unique, so clients can always count on reliable and new products from Microsoft.

Gaining competitive advantage

Increasing the number of innovation-oriented workers

Microsoft is giving its workers a conducive working environment, which has led to increased effectiveness. However, it can create an advanced career development opportunity for talented workers, improving the type of innovations. It will also attract a skilled workforce from its competitors, increasing its competitive advantage.

Creating a platform for capturing clients' reviews on products

One of the main strategic objectives is to capture as much information from customers as possible to improve products. Microsoft made losses after its partnership with Nokia, which could be avoided by conducting a pilot study on a product before releasing it to the market. The strategy will also point to Microsoft software developers on possible areas that should be modified to increase efficiency.

Diversification of economies of score

Economies of scope focus on decreasing the cost of producing its units by increasing its variety of products (Duque-Grisales & Aguilera-Caracuel, 2021). Mergers and acquisitions enable Microsoft to acquire the right to produce a different product or service at a lower cost. The company will also employ the available resources to run operations. An example is a situation where Microsoft can merge or acquire PayPal to create payment opportunities for some LinkedIn services. This means that Microsoft will not be forced to pay PayPal since it will have created an alliance with it.

One of the advantages is that Microsoft will not face an entry barrier since it is partnering with or acquiring the rights of an already established company. Another advantage is that it will find an established market that the initial company had already captured. Will means that reduced resources will be spent in the process of diversifying its economics.

References

Duque-Grisales, E., & Aguilera-Caracuel, J. (2021). Environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores and financial performance of multilatinas: Moderating effects of geographic international diversification and financial slack. Journal of Business Ethics, 168(2), 315-334.

Holt, K. W. (2022). Differentiation Strategy: Winning Customers by Being Different. Taylor & Francis. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=tmFqEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT9&dq=Differentiation+of+business&ots=MW2fM4W5KV&sig=oPKU4PQsj7XrXqyG9Nn6O6MDw9E

Ilag, B. N., & Sabale, A. M. (2022). Microsoft teams overview. In Troubleshooting Microsoft Teams (pp. 17-74). Apress, Berkeley, CA. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4842-8622-7_2

Rojabi, A. R. (2020). Exploring EFL Students' Perception of Online Learning via Microsoft Teams: University Level in Indonesia. English Language Teaching Educational Journal, 3(2), 163-173.

Wirtz, J., & Zeithaml, V. (2018). Cost-effective service excellence. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 46(1), 59-80. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11747-017-0560-7

References:

Hales, C. P. (2019). What do managers do? A critical review of the evidence. Managerial Work, 263-290. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429398599-17/managers-critical-review-evidence-colin-hales

Liebowitz, J., & Beckman, T. (2020). Knowledge organizations: What every manager should know. CRC press.

Steiss, A. W. (2019). Strategic management for public and nonprofit organizations. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781482275865/strategic-management-public-nonprofit-organizations-alan-steiss

References

Hamurcu, M., & Eren, T. (2020). Strategic planning based on sustainability for urban transportation: An application to decision-making. Sustainability, 12(9), 3589.

Mylostyvyi, R., & Chernenko, O. (2019). Correlations between environmental factors and milk production of Holstein cows. Data, 4(3), 103.

Pineda, S., & Morales, J. M. (2019). Solving linear bilevel problems using big-Ms: not all that glitters is gold. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 34(3), 2469-2471.