University of Nairobi Microsoft Company Case Study Paper

Unit II Case Study

Course Textbook(s)

Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing management (15th ed.). Pearson.

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.

Unit II Case Study

Two parts in one document! 6 pages min and apa format citation

Course Textbook(s)

Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing management (15th ed.). Pearson.

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. 93–94 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.

Part1

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.

Part2

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.

The following resources will provide you with the skills to research industries/competitors.

Mergent Online: This database provides specific details and reports. For example, typing ‘Apple’ into the company search bar will provide details about the specific company, such as company location, contact information, industry affiliation, and basic financial market details. The tabs next to ‘Company Details’ will give further information.

IBISWorld: This database is another great resource for company and industry information. Typing in a company name or keyword related to the industry you would like to explore will bring up list of industry reports and information related to the search term. This database’s primary focus is on the industry at large rather than the individual company. The ‘similar industries’ section can be used to identify potential competitors or substitutes.

Business Source Ultimate: This is one of our bigger databases. This main screen can be used for industry research. You can search for an industry using the NAIC code in the NAIC/Industry Code search bar, or choosing ‘Industry Profile’ under publication type and typing a broad keyword into the main search box.

You can search for specific company information by clicking on the ‘Company Information’ tab at the top of the main screen. In the ‘Company Information’ tab, you can search for specific information by specifying Company Name or Ticker Symbol. If you need help choosing a public U.S company to research, you can check the box that says ‘Public’ under ‘U.S. Company Type’. This will provide a list of publicly-traded companies in the United States.

ABI/INFORM Collection: This database can be used to look for articles on specific companies, as well as company and industry information. If you type in a company name, you can change the drop down box that says ‘Anywhere’ to ‘Company/organization – ORG’. You can add any keywords you want in the lower boxes, and hit search.