Contemporary Organization Evaluation. Research Paper

Contemporary Organization Evaluation
Name
Institution
Due Date
Contemporary Organization Evaluation
Describe the organization and the change to which it is responding
The company under study is Microsoft. Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975. Since its inception, the company has helped the world transition into a phase of technological advancement that was once unimaginable. With its famous Windows Operating System and its Office products, Microsoft managed to remain profitable and one of the largest organizations by market capitalization for a long time. However, with the inception of companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook, Microsoft soon yielded its position as a leader in the tech world. In 2014, however, the company underwent a change after a new CEO, Satya Nadella, was unveiled.
Before Satya’s appointment, the Windows operating system was the company’s foundation for the success former CEOs Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer had. However, with his introduction, Satya sought to move away from his predecessors. He wanted to shift the company’s focus from heavy dependency on the operating system to an approach that is mobile-first and cloud-first. Such a change was always going to be difficult considering the company had always been propelled by the operating system. Writing its second act as noted by Troyani (2019) was proving to be difficult. Additionally, Microsoft also had a toxic environment that made it impossible for the company to thrive. Leaders were not working together but against each other. Carlson (2012) notes that “Microsoft has a reputation for being a place where products are “siloed” off into “fiefdoms” run by bosses that compete with each other for resources and reputation.” So, the environment was also toxic and this made it impossible to develop plans to move the company forward. Also, the company did not work well with others in the industry and had been involved in legal battles with many of its competitors. However, Satya sought to change all the above. The change that Satya introduced was a complete reorganization of the organization. This reorganization touched on every aspect of the company including a shift of focus from the operating system to cloud computing. The change is still ongoing but thus far, Microsoft has experienced tremendous growth while overcoming some challenges along the way.
Discuss the degree to which the change has been disruptive and how the organization has responded to the dynamics created by this change.
Any change, whether big or small disrupts the normal flow of events. At Microsoft, the biggest disruption has been the layoffs that have taken place as well as some of the decisions to integrate previously independent parts of the company. Satya was deliberate with the decisions he made. First, he tried to go along with the Nokia deal but this never worked. What this meant was that Microsoft took “a $7.6 billion writedown on the Nokia deal in July 2015, with a plan for a more focused phone portfolio” (Novet, 2018). What followed was another “writedown and more staff cuts” in 2016 (Novet, 2018). So, people were laid off, and this obviously causes disruptions. Aside from the above, through a letter to staff members, Satya announced that the previously independent SMSG Company was to be integrated into Microsoft. SMSG previously led by Kevin Turner was integrated and a team of 5 leaders were appointed to lead its different components.
Microsoft has responded well to the dynamics created by the change because thus far, the company has moved on from its previous focus on the operating system. For Microsoft, this change created an opportunity for the company to work with other companies, open its doors to developer communities, and to diversify its revenue streams.
Evaluate the strategies the organization used in its change plan and determine the level of success the organization experienced with the strategies
Led by Satya, Microsoft made use of several strategies that have helped the company retrace its steps in the tech world. One of the strategies the company used was collaborating with other tech companies. Initially, Microsoft had a rocky relationship with companies like Salesforce, Apple and Google. However, with Satya at the helm, the company has mended relationships and found ways to have Microsoft products and services on devices made by other tech companies. Novet (2018) writes that Microsoft is currently a friendlier partner to other tech companies. In a bid to boost the company’s Azure cloud, Office apps, and the Cortana voice assistant, Satya has been announcing partnerships that have so far proved profitable.
Aside from the above, Microsoft has also opened its doors to the open-source development community. Under its former CEOs, Microsoft had remained secluded from this community and this allowed Google and Facebook the perfect opportunity to thrive. However, currently, Microsoft is proving to be just as good an ally to this community as these other companies. Currently, Novet (2018) notes that some of Microsoft’s software is even operating on Linux. In 2018, Microsoft acquired GitHub for $7.5 billion and this helped endear the company to the open-source community as well. Satya laid out a new mission for the company that sought to reinvent productivity and offer people opportunities to achieve more. Acquisition of a company like GitHub serves just this purpose.
Determine the effect the change had on stakeholders, and to what degree stakeholders have resisted. Assess how well stakeholder resistance was addressed...