Organizational Behavior of Microsoft Corporation - Case Study Example

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR INTRODUCTION    Organizational behavior refers to the activities of the administration, staff members and employees of an organization while performing their professional duties and obligations within different departments of the organization at various positions and assignments. Every organization, whether big or small, local or national and multinational and global, maintains a unique corporate culture which distinguishes it from other firms, companies, corporations and organizations. This corporate culture and all the activities within its structure and functioning, related to the owners/board of directors, managers, staff members and employees, make the whole of the organizational behavior. "Organizational behavior" Knoster, Villa & Thousands submit, "is the study and application of knowledge about how people, individuals, and groups act in organizations. Further, it interprets people-organization relationships in terms of the whole person, whole group, whole organization, and whole social system."  (2000:95)    The foundation of an organization rests on the philosophy, values, vision and goals of the management. The organizational behavior supports the companies in devising a marketing strategic plan by setting specific goals and focusing on their resources, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. There are many concepts within the fold of organizational behavior, which are responsible for the success or failure of the organization. These concepts include motivation, decision making, change management and others. Examining the organizational behavior and analyzing strategic plans is sure to unfold new dimensions of success and accomplishments the company has opened for the contemporary world at large. The present study has been conducted within the framework of organizational behavior of world famous Microsoft Corporation. The study concentrates on three basic concepts of organizational behavior related to world great organization, which has made amazing achievements in the field of computer sciences and information technology. MICROSOFT CORPORATION    Microsoft Corporation is among the top international industries of world standing. The Corporation’s Chairman and Founder, William Bill Gates, is one of the greatest business entrepreneurs of the globe at large, who got tremendous achievements and chain of extraordinary successes even at such a young age. Owner of many enterprises, estates and business networks, as well as author of three books and many essays and lectures, Gates enjoyed the assets worth $56.0 billion approximately; and he has been estimated as the richest personality of the contemporary world for the last many years.  All these achievements are the outcome of his God-gifted characteristics, untiring efforts, high aims, deep imagination, unflinching commitment to his cause and his unwavering trust in teamwork and hard labor, which has won great name, fame and riches for him. His competence and distinction can be observed by looking into the achievements of his Corporation, which reveals his steadfastness, continuous hard work, superb acumen, gifted skills and rare intelligence. In order to study the paradigm, it is necessary to examine the culture of the organization. “The core of an organization’s culture”, Johnson and Scholes present, “is encapsulated in paradigms of the organization.”    Bill Gates laid the foundation stone of Microsoft Company in 1975 along with his childhood friend Paul Allen. The company has been working as the leader of Microsoft engineering services and has become the need of every commercial, educational, domestic and personal learning, record keeping and business promoting activities. “Guided by a belief that the computer would be a valuable tool on every office desktop and in every home, they began developing software for personal computers. Gates foresight and his vision for personal computing have been central to the success of Microsoft and the software industry.” (Quoted in www.Microsoft.com) MOTIVATIONAL STRATEGY OF MICROSOFT An individual has to work hard with determination and concentration to achieve his goals in life. Both determination and concentration look for motivational effects in order to continue performing all the tasks during financial activities. Hence, motivation plays pivotal role in man’s life, career as well as organizational behavior. Thus, it is the most important thing to find out what motivation is and how an individual attains it as well as how it works in individuals’ career and whether the standard of obtaining motivation is one and the same in all individuals or vary from person to person and from one corporate culture to the other. The term motivation has been defined by different theorists differently. “Motivation is”, Kreitner views, “the psychological process that gives behavior purpose and direction.” (1995). In other words, motivation is the main factor behind performing something purposeful towards some specific direction. “It is an inner drive”, Higgins states, “to satisfy an unsatisfied need.” (1994). Motivation is an urge that supports man during the course of fulfillment of some tasks individually and collectively. Motivational factors are extremely significant not only for the employees during their job in a corporate firm, so that they can be proved more and more productive for the organization and work place, but also it is important for the companies and organizations for the enhancement of their sales volume and creativity as well. It is the leadership of an organization that provides a staff-motivating atmosphere within an organizational structure; it is therefore the role of leadership revolutionizes the very scenario of an organization under its dynamic supervision. Looking into the motivational strategy of Microsoft Corporation, it is evident that the company offers multiple inspirational and motivational benefits to its employees, which also endorse the theories articulated by the scholars and psychologists. The company offers all its employees free of cost medical check up and treatment facilities by the team of competent physicians as soon as an individual joins it. It provides the employees with happiness and satisfaction and physiological benefits in words of Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory. Famous psychologist and the father of humanistic psychology, Abraham H. Maslow has elaborated five levels of motivation in his famous Need Hierarchy Theory in 1943. These levels include physiological, safety, social, ego and self- actualizing ones. Maslow opines that as the motivation takes start from the lowest level, so the lowest level needs and requirements of the employees must be fulfilled in priority to motivate and inspire them towards their work and to develop as well as strengthen their interest in the tasks they are to fulfill. There is a free and frank corporate culture in the company and no one is discouraged to communicate with the senior management or the member of different departments. Microsoft Corporation has also introduced a free corporate culture under the leadership of Bill Gates and Allen Paul, who had suggested for the common sitting arrangement for all the staff in order to mitigate the communication gap as well as fasten the decision making in respect of introducing new model, making marketing strategy and applying latest technology. All this gives the employees self-esteem and the feelings of being in one and the same thing and environment. Sitting and working along with the senior management fills their hearts with joy according to Kovach’s theory of motivation, which suggests least communication gap between high and low management. Microsoft Corporation provides the managers with the company vehicle and credit card facility, which is a token of reward against their performance and services for the Company. In addition, the company offers traveling allowance on business and even recreational trips. These steps resemble with Victor Vroom’s Expectancy Theory in which he has presented the concept of rewards as an important motivational factor. Additional benefits and incentives like company vehicle and credit card are sign of reward and an important motivational factor. Safety and quality incentives are also offered by the company to the employees just after six months of joining the Microsoft Corporation. In addition, the company gets its employees insured by reputed insurance companies. The company also supports its employees in respect of purchasing automobiles and other commodities of domestic and personal use. Furthermore, the Microsoft Corporation management helps the staff members on getting house building finance loans too. It also looks after the personal problems of the staff members and has established an atmosphere where everyone can share his personal concerns with other members and management, which help him till his restoration to normalcy. It is due of all these benefits and incentives that the employees and workers of the Microsoft Corporation work day and night utilizing all their energies and capabilities to earn more profit and fame of their organization. Teamwork under the shadow of wonderful motivation has made Microsoft Corporation an international organization of highest esteem. It is the fact beyond doubt that motivation always results in positive. Every company introduces its own norms, values, traditions and traits in the organizational set up, which are called the corporate culture of that company. Though leadership and top management dominate in this regard, yet staff, employees and workers of the organization also influence this culture while interacting with other members of staff. Both individual as well as collective behavior becomes the identity mark of a corporate firm. Looking into the history of all the great companies and firms, it is evident that their success is the outcome of long and continuous struggle, where so many fluctuations and crises come in their way to haunt and sabotage the journey towards progress and triumph. If an individual is devoted to his work, precise and polite in his behavior and committed to his goal, he gets achievements in his work-place. His commitment to the cause and hard efforts to achieve his destination is the source of permanent motivation for him. Being the member of such an organization where he obtains additional motivation is an extra advantage for him. Every one’s role and performance make up the motivation in the corporate firm, though big and multinational organizations encourage and appreciate their workers by motivation. It is the motivation that accelerates the profit as well as good name and fame of the organization from where he is earning his bread. Motivation is a source of inspiration for both ownership and the workers. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE OF MICROSOFT CORPORATION Organizations maintain some specific cultural traits which distinguishes them from other firms and corporations. Organizational culture is the central part of a company’s organizational behavior and is highly beneficial for the leadership. Since business activities are not limited to one specific area of the world and have attained the position of multinational competition between the companies; it is therefore the companies have also examined all aspects while making decisions regarding internal and external policies and organizational behavior. “Business has”, Ball & Wendell (1993:6) submit, “entered the era of the one-world market. Increasingly, companies are going overseas to attain sales and profits unavailable to them in their home markets.” The corporate culture of multinational companies and organizations rests on the foundation of internal and external factors. Microsoft Corporation introduced collective and group work rather than individual efforts especially in its business culture. It is therefore, the Corporation is recognized and celebrated for its developer-centric culture. The Corporation invests a huge amount of money specific in the budget to hire the services of the fresh Microsoft university graduates and appoint them against various posts. It not only provides the company with fresh talent and energetic environment, but also the company extracts innovative ideas and support in introducing something new and novel. In addition, it is also helpful for Microsoft Corporation to prevaricate the budding genius join rival organizations and companies. It is therefore the Corporation faces no rival of such a great level who can manage to challenge the Corporation for the future years to come. In addition, it is also in the corporate culture of the Corporation that the talented personnel from the local population be hired for the overseas offices and administrative structure of the Corporation. Moreover, the company always lays stress on the use of their own products at offices and administrative structures and they avoid the products of the competitors. The same strategy has been devised by the Coca Cola Beverage Industry and Honda Automobile Industry. Consuming the company’s own products exploits sense of accomplishment and achievement in the staff members and they feel pride while using their own products and their morale observes a significant boost. ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION OF MICROSOFT The communication system of an organization is very important in the world of today both in customer-focus and competitor-focus strategy. Bill Gates himself has declared communication, knowledge and information a reason, which distinct an enterprise from others. “The most meaningful way to differentiate your company from your competitor", Gates argues, “the best way to put distance between you and the crowd, is to do an outstanding job with information. How you gather, manage, and use information will determine whether you win or loose.” (1999:1) Business communication is an imperative part of organizational behaviour, which provides the fundamentals of communications and correspondence within an organizational structure. Management of Microsoft Corporation has devised a methodology according to which all the communication between the staff is made keeping in view the technical terminology and jargon introduced and applied by the Microsoft Company. Gates looks for speedy, urgent and quick flow of information regarding any changes taking place in the corporate environment. Gates declares rapid current of each and everything new in the market and expects the same from the staff. CONCLUSION To conclude it is evident that organizational behavior is a very significant as well as astonishing phenomenon that contains worthwhile implication in the life of both individuals and organizations. It increases ones skills and enhances his capabilities and talents. Organizational behavior provides formal and informal learning from the beginning to the end and leaves indelible imprints on individuals and organizations. The researches based on models and theories ratify the fact that organizations and companies can make far more progresses by conducting learning processes on regular basis. “The most efficient businesses, Gates states, “have an advantage over their competitors, companies have an incentive to embrace policies and technologies that make them productive.” (1995:135) Both formal and informal learning is the part of corporate culture, the Microsoft Corporation pays due heed and special attention to it. The high management and personnel of director and senior manager levels adapt themselves in such a way that the junior staff and employees can learn something new while interacting with them. The great industry like Microsoft Corporation which is the symbol of wonderful achievements and series of triumphs is always conscious in respect of both informal and formal training. It also conducts formal training sessions which has helped the industry in respect of making distinction with other companies as well as its unique cultural characteristics will serve as role model for the business community to imitate. REFERENCES Ball, Donald A. & McCulloch, Wendell H. International Business: Introduction and Essentials. Seventh Edition. IRWIN, INC. 1998 Gates, Bill. (1995). The Road Ahead. Viking Penguin Books USA. Gates, Bill. (1999). Business at the Speed of Thought. The Warner Book Company New York Higgins, J. M. (1994). The Management Challenge (2nd edition). New York: Macmillan. Herzberg, Frederick. (1959). Two Factors Theory (Quoted in http://www.12manage.com/methods_herzberg_two_factor_theory.html). Knoster, T. Villa, R. & Thousand, J. (2000) A Framework for Thinking about Systems Change. In R. Villa & J. Thousand (Editions), Restructuring for Caring and Effective Education: Piecing the Puzzle Together. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company. Pp 93-128 Kreitner, R. (1995). Management 6th edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Lindner, James R. (1998). Understanding Employee Motivation. Journal of Extension, Volume 36 No.3 Maslow, Abraham. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, July 1943. 370-396. University of Phoenix (Ed). (2002). Organizational behavior [University of Phoenix Custom Edition e-text]. New York: Wiley. Read More