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Business & Marketing
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Case Study
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Microsoft Case Study. Business & Marketing Case Study

Case Study Instructions:

Instructions
Microsoft Case Study
Case studies are an essential learning strategy in business classes as they provide an opportunity for you to critically analyze events that have taken place in real-life businesses. This develops your critical thinking and research skills as you research the competition and industry in which your business resides in order to formulate a recommendation for the challenges faced by the company.
For this unit, review the “Marketing Excellence: Microsoft” case study on pp. 94–95 of your textbook. This assignment will be comprised of two parts; one part will ask you to respond to questions, and the other will require you to complete a case analysis.
Part 1
Evaluate this case and respond to each of the following questions using both theory and practical managerial thinking.
Evaluate Microsoft’s product and marketing evolution over the years. What has the company done well, and where did it falter?
Evaluate Microsoft’s recent expansion into areas such as search engines and smartphones. Do you think these are good areas of growth for Microsoft? Why, or why not?
Review the potential ethical implications of Microsoft’s situation. How might they revise their strategies to align with good ethical practices?
Your Part 1 response must be at least two pages in length. Follow APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment. Note that you will submit Part 1 and Part 2 in one document.
Part 2
Complete a case analysis of Microsoft. This requires that you conduct research on Microsoft beyond the case study material in the textbook. In the case analysis, you will look at the situational analysis, problem, and alternatives, and you will provide a recommendation. Refer to the instructions below as you construct your analysis.
Situational Analysis
Discuss the external environment through the compilation of a PEST (political, economic, sociocultural, and technology) analysis.
Discuss the internal and external environment through the compilation of a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis.
Problem
Identify at least one organizational problem that Microsoft is currently having or one that you project it will have in the future. Base this on your research and critical thinking.
Alternatives
Compile three or four potential marketing-related solutions to the problem above. Remember that these are potential alternatives; you will not select all of the alternatives to solve the problem.
Recommendation (Marketing Strategy)
Select one or two of the alternatives above to solve the problem that you identified in this case analysis.
Discuss your rationale for choosing these and not the others. Include supporting research that will increase the depth of your analysis.
In order to successfully complete Part 2 of this case study, you need to review the video and task learning guides (TLGs) below. The following resources will provide you with the skills to research industries/competitors.
Company and Industry Research video (transcript for Company and Industry Research video)
How to Find Company Information in the Business Source Ultimate Database TLG
How to Search for Articles With a Company Focus TLG
Part 2 must be at least Three pages in length. Follow APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment. Support Part 2 with at least three sources outside of the textbook. As aforementioned, keep in mind that Part 1 and Part 2 will be submitted in one document.
Resources
The following resource(s) may help you with this assignment.
Citation Guide
CSU Online Library Research Guide
Submit Writing Center Request

Case Study Sample Content Preview:

Marketing Excellence – Microsoft
Author's Name
The Institutional Affiliation
Course Number and Name
Instructor Name
Assignment Due Date
Marketing Excellence: Microsoft
Part 1 – Evaluating the Case
Evaluation of Microsoft's Evaluation in Terms of Marketing and Products
Product evolution stems from the growth of the industries with technological advancements that can reflect the variations in the consumer's demands (Spinello, 2003). In general, the performance of the products is based on technological advancement, as the old products that are now obsolete and are replaced by the new products.
Microsoft has been a leading force, mainly due to its specialization in the operating system (OS) market, and is likely to continue to be the leader in the market. According to the case, the company performed well. The company in the early 1980s launched its DOS operating system for IBM computers, and also went public and launched the Windows 3.0 in 1986. In 1998, Microsoft created its new slogan, which helped in promoting the brands. In the mid-1990s, the company launched its Internet Explorer in order to compete with Netscape. The launching of the Internet Explorer helps Microsoft wins in the category of "browser wars" CITATION Stu20 \l 1033 (Microsoft Case Study, 2020). Microsoft faced some falter time; one took place in the mid-1990s, when the company faced anti-trust and lawsuit charges because of its marketing tactics. During the next years, the company did not launch any new marketing or operating system when its customers needed it the most. On the contrary, MAC detained every opportunity in order to make the marketing campaign more successful that can attract more customers.
Evaluation of Microsoft's Recent Expansion
Nowadays, with technological development and the popular Smartphone, the decision to expand into the search engines and the Smartphone should be efficient. The consumers were very impressed with the new technological improvement of the Windows 8, 8 Phone, and the Surface Tablet with a detachable keyboard CITATION Stu20 \l 1033 (Microsoft Case Study, 2020). These are the right areas of Microsoft's growth as the change not only connects with the development of the Smartphone but also keeps the communication with its consumers in view, which in-fact is the right way to ensure survival in the marketplace.
Potential Ethical Implication
Microsoft's anti-trust case grumbles more like a roller-coaster ride. The market was telling the latest turn of Microsoft not to break into two pieces after snatching the perceived victory (Kang, 2013). The actions carried out by Microsoft were not inimitable that mainly include tying agreements, some exclusive dealings that have come under inspection, and monopolies. However, Microsoft's case has become exceptional due to the magnitude of the company, the length of the dispute, and the future's implications (Stevenson, 2010). In order to protect the superiority in the market, the company had involved itself in a series of unethical practices such as; being disproportionately opportunistic during the browser wars, copying the operating system of Apple Company, and launching it in the name of Windows. The company also forced the suppliers to limit th...
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