Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation {{nasdaq|MSFT}} is the world's biggest software company, with over sixty thousand employees and a physical presence in over sixty countries as of 2005. It was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, and is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA. Microsoft develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for various computing devices. Its most popular products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and Microsoft Office families of products, each of which has achieved near ubiquity in the desktop computer market.

Business culture

• The software developer

Microsoft has often been described as having a developer-centric business culture. A great deal of time and money is spent each year on recruiting young university-trained software developers who meet very exacting criteria, and on keeping them in the company. For example, while many software companies often place an entry-level software developer in a cubicle desk within a large office space filled with other cubicles, Microsoft assigns a private or semiprivate closed office to every developer or pair of developers. In addition, key decision makers at every level are either developers or former developers.

Related Topics:
Cubicle desk - Office - Decision makers

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In a sense, the software developers at Microsoft are considered the "stars" of the company in the same way that the sales staff at IBM are considered the "stars" of their company. This culture is reflected in their hiring process—the "Microsoft Interview" is notorious for off-the-wall questions such as "Why is a manhole cover round?" and is a process often mimicked in other organizations. Note that, although they were once ubiquitous, recently fewer interviewers have been using this type of question.

Related Topics:
Sales - IBM - Microsoft Interview

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• "Comfortable with Ambiguity"

In an ever changing world, Microsoft expects its employees to be comfortable with ambiguity. They may not, for example, know with any degree of certainty when a product will ship, what it will be called or what features will be included. The business culture expects agile thinkers to rapidly adjust to dramatic changes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• "Eating our own dog food"

Within Microsoft the expression "eating our own dog food" is used to describe the policy of using the latest Microsoft products inside the company. Only prerelease and beta versions of products are considered dog food. This is usually shortened to just "dog food" and used as noun, verb, and adjective.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Long-term wariness

Microsoft fosters a general attitude of long-term strategic wariness in its managers, who are expected to be ready for any challenge from the competition or the market. In this frame of mind, being the largest software company in the world is not seen as a form of safety or a guarantee of future success. For instance, future competitors could rise from other industries, or computer hardware companies could try to become less dependent on Microsoft, or consumers could decide not to upgrade their software as often. Microsoft requires its managers to maintain vigilance and sustain a dynamic expansion in new markets.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~