Organizational Behavior at Microsoft: Structure, Goals & Contingencies
This paper applies core concepts of organizational behavior to the Microsoft Corporation, one of the world's leading technology firms. It begins with a brief overview of Microsoft's history and industry context before examining the company's organizational structure — tracing its evolution from a vertically integrated hierarchy to the Windows Server System Reference Architecture. The paper then explores Microsoft's stated mission and the specific corporate goals pursued over time, followed by an assessment of contingency planning practices. Finally, it analyzes the interrelationships among structure, goals, and contingencies, concluding with recommendations for improving employee treatment and customer responsiveness.
- Introduction: Defines organizational behavior and paper scope
- Microsoft Corporation and the Industry: Company history, financials, and competitive landscape
- Organizational Structure: Evolution to Windows Server System Reference Architecture
- Organizational Goals: Mission statement and specific corporate objectives
- Organizational Contingencies: Contingency planning examples and product failures
- Alignment of Structure, Goals, and Contingencies: How the three OB components interconnect at Microsoft
- Conclusions and Recommendations: Summary of findings and employee and customer recommendations
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What makes this paper effective
- It grounds abstract organizational behavior concepts in a well-known real-world company, making the analysis immediately accessible and concrete.
- The paper maintains a consistent analytical thread — each section (structure, goals, contingencies) feeds into a synthesizing section that explains how these elements interrelate.
- Direct quotations from Microsoft's own mission statement and annual report lend credibility and anchor claims in primary source material.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied conceptual analysis: it defines organizational behavior using a scholarly source, then systematically applies each sub-concept (structure, goals, contingency) to a specific organizational case. This move — define, then apply, then synthesize — is a standard and effective undergraduate analytical framework.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a conceptual introduction, moves into company and industry context, then devotes one section each to structure, goals, and contingencies. A dedicated synthesis section examines how the three elements align, and the paper closes with a conclusion that restates key findings and offers practical recommendations. This seven-part structure mirrors a classic case-study format appropriate for undergraduate business coursework.
Introduction
Today's organizations are characterized by a wide array of features, probably the most notable being the increasing force and intensity of competition. Due to globalization and market liberalization, the number of economic entities operating within any one market has grown exponentially. In order to efficiently face this competition, managers develop and implement numerous strategic courses of action. In this challenging context, more and more focus is being placed on organizational behavior. The concept is generically defined as "the study and application of knowledge about how people, individuals, and groups act in organizations. It does this by taking a systems approach. That is, it interprets people–organization relationships in terms of the whole person, whole group, whole organization, and whole social system. Its purpose is to build better relationships by achieving human objectives, organizational objectives, and social objectives" (The Skagit Watershed Council, 2008).
The aim of this paper is to apply the concept of organizational behavior and its adjacent features to a real-life organization — the Microsoft Corporation. In doing this, it is first necessary to present some basic characteristics of the firm and the industry in which it operates. The organizational structure, goals, and contingencies are then assessed, followed by an analysis of their fit within the organizational context. Finally, the paper concludes with a section of remarks and recommendations.
Microsoft Corporation and the Industry
Founded in 1975 and headquartered in Redmond, Washington, the Microsoft Corporation is the dominant leader of the IT industry. Among its most notable products are the Windows operating system, the Microsoft Office productivity suite, and various computer games. The company's origins are notable: passionate about computers — which were at that time too large and expensive for most schools to purchase — William Henry Gates III, Paul Allen, and several colleagues were contracted by a computer company to find and fix bugs in their systems. Throughout this period, they gathered sufficient knowledge to lay the foundation for what would become the leader of the IT industry. A few years later, as personal computers began expanding into homes, Gates dropped out of Harvard and, together with Allen, formed Microsoft.
"The company went through some rough first years, but eventually was able to license MS-DOS to IBM. The IBM PC took the public by storm, and its success signaled the success of Microsoft. Microsoft continued writing software for businesses as well as the consumer market. In 1986, the company went public, and Gates became a 31-year-old billionaire. The next year, the first version of Windows was introduced, and by 1993 a million copies per month were being sold" (PIE Software, 2001).
Despite the global financial crisis, Microsoft was continually able to sustain increasing revenues, as revealed by the financial highlights in its 2008 annual report:
Microsoft's main competitors are Google, IBM, and Oracle. The industry in which they operate is extremely dynamic, and consumer demand is closely tied to the state of the broader economy. Organizational success is directly linked to the ability to demonstrate technical expertise and develop effective marketing campaigns. Smaller entities survive by addressing niche markets or creating customized products, and they often form alliances with larger organizations to promote their offerings. For the period following 2008, estimates projected fluctuating growth, with a compound rate through 2013 reflecting a 1% decrease in 2008, a 5% decrease in 2009, a 5% decrease in 2010, then increases of 6% in 2011, 11% in 2012, and 8% in 2013 (Hoovers, 2009).
Organizational Structure
Historically, Microsoft has been organized as a vertically integrated organization, in which most decisions were made at the executive management level and executed top-down. In more recent years, however, internal changes have been introduced with the aim of achieving better support for organizational goals. The largest set of changes was introduced in 2001 and revolved primarily around the following:
Today's organizational structure at Microsoft is based on the Windows Server System Reference Architecture (WSSRA). Under this framework, the Microsoft Corporation is organized into the following formations:
"These scenarios are a mixture of physical and logical entities differentiated by geography, isolation or interdependence, and business needs in the context of typical organizational structures. The Centralized Data Center provides services for employees within corporate and regional facilities, which are logically separated into departments; it also provides extranet or Internet-based services. A typical branch network is usually extensive, uses services of the organization, and focuses on being a customer touch-point" (Cummings, 2005).
References
Clegg, S., Kornberger, M., & Pitsis, T. (2005). Managing and organizations: An introduction to theory and practice. SAGE. ISBN 9780761943891
Cummings, C. (2005). Windows Server System Reference Architecture and the roadmap for enterprise delivery. Microsoft Developer Network. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms954607.aspx
Greenberg, J. (2003). Organizational behavior: The state of the science (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 9780805840315
Hoovers. (2009). Microsoft Corporation.
Microsoft Corporation. (2009). Microsoft fine-tunes organizational structure to pursue software services for consumers and business users.
Microsoft Corporation. (2009). Microsoft Corporation 2008 annual report.
Microsoft Corporation. (2009). Microsoft website. http://www.microsoft.com
PIE Software. (2001). The history of Microsoft.
Roughly Drafted Magazine. (2006). The secret failures of Microsoft. http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Q4.06/2E6D9BB2-FE1B-4556-8389-67BD581FBCCC.html
The Skagit Watershed Council. (2008). Organizational behavior.
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