Microsoft Corporation Case Study

Strategic Management and Strategic Competition

Introduction

The Microsoft Corporation is a publicly traded company. It was founded in 1975 and prides itself as a leader in software and product solutions for individuals and businesses. Their mission and vision is to be a go-to source for everyone globally, and to be able to consistently produce platforms and products superior to the competition. Their comprehensive line-up makes them a very competitive business in the market, and one that can partner with a multitude of sources. They feature a broad array of products and services including Windows, Office, Windows Phone, box, Skype, MSN, Bing and Surface (Microsoft, 2015). Technology changes have been promoted by the company, and they have

They have also used these same changes to impact their consumers and the market position as well. The Industrial organization and resource-based models are further applied to produce above average returns. Finally, the company mission and vision statement properly reflects how Microsoft plans to continue to lead the industry and promote global connectivity. Each category of stakeholder also impacts the company 's success. How Microsoft serves its internal and external stakeholders is with the delivery of cutting edge products and the production of above-average returns. Microsoft will continue to be a major competitor and industry leader through its strategic management and

A good corporation will use its resources and strengths to achieve above-average returns. Above-average returns are "returns in excess of what an investor expects to earn from other investments with a similar amount of risk) (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, p. 5). A firm is strategically competitive when they have a value-creating strategy. By maximizing production and output, the company has strategically placed itself in position to see significant profit. In order to be strategically competitive in producing above-average returns, a strategy first has to be formulated, and implemented. Referring to Figure 1.1 in the text (p. 5), there are several ways to approach strategy formulation. This includes at the business and corporate-levels, through competitive rivalry and competitive dynamics, acquisition and restructuring, international strategy and cooperative strategy. Leadership would then be in charge of communicating the necessary objectives to the team in order to assign roles and