Microsoft CorporationTechnology is an integral part of life in today's fast-paced and constant world. Numerous companies have worked to advance this technology, and Microsoft Corporation is one of the largest in the industry. Since its founding in 1975 (Isaacson 337), the company has become one of the most prominent leaders in the industry. With its success and prominence, however, the company has faced a number of problems, including a lack of product innovation, poor communication, inter-departmental rivalry, and power struggles. With its current work of restructuring and creating new leadership within the company, Microsoft is still a strong company that shows good management concepts. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Before becoming a giant in the tech industry, Microsoft started small and has grown significantly over the years. Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the two founders of Microsoft, attended high school and worked together on programming projects from an early age (Stevenson). After graduating in 1973, Gates went to attend Harvard University but left after he and Allen decided to start their own business inspired by the Altair 8800, "a cheap, easy-to-build home computer" (Stevenson ). Together they founded Micro-Soft, simply named to express that they wrote software for microcomputers (Isaacson 337), in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and acquired their programming skills for the Altair using their modified version of the BASIC programming language ( Stevenson). .Although they were unsuccessful in the first few years, Bill Gates and Paul Allen were finally able to succeed with their work for IBM. After moving from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Washington State, Microsoft was hired by IBM to code an operating system for their line of personal computers (Stevenson). Instead of working from scratch, Microsoft purchased an operating system called QDOS and modified it, renaming it MS-DOS (Stevenson). Sales were phenomenal, which led to the decision to take Microsoft public in 1986 (Stevenson). In 1987, Microsoft released its first version of the Windows operating system, which would soon become its best-known and most popular product (Stevenson). Over the next few years, Microsoft released several versions of Windows, created an office suite, helped shape the Internet into what it is today, and expanded into many other ventures, from software to hardware. With its many products and services, Microsoft has created a large and complex organizational structure to support its many offerings. Microsoft's 99,000 employees are divided into five departments based on a divisional structure system. These departments include the Windows, Servers and Tools Division, Online Services Division, Microsoft Business Division, and Entertainment and Devices Division (Facts). These departments branch into many subdepartments and groups, but ultimately they all report to the department's vice president. The vice president's report is addressed to the CEO, who is a member of the board of directors. This setup creates a very tall pyramid with centralized authority; the CEO and the board of directors make all the major decisions and the hierarchy of managers is quite broad. This expansive hierarchy creates a rather formal atmosphere with both written and cultural rules; while there are informal aspects within smaller segments of departments, most of Microsoft is just the opposite. Despite beingstill very strict with the rules, the current structure has been influenced by an ongoing restructuring at Microsoft, which is slowly changing the company's strategy. Microsoft's current CEO, Satya Nadella, has been pursuing a restructuring program called "Microsoft One" aimed at improving innovation and efficiency (Facts). Although based on previous CEO Steve Ballmer's strategy of "devices and services (Reisinger)" Nadella has gone further and focused on four core products and services he believes the company offers: operating systems, apps, cloud and devices (Mangalindan) . This focus on select categories will allow Microsoft to focus on its most important products and remain attentive to the ever-changing world of technology. Similar to other technology companies, Microsoft uses both reactor and analyzer responses to uncertainty; with some products, such as Windows, Microsoft is unlikely to change anything unless it is forced to sustain success, while other products are built from ideas that have been accumulated by analyzing the products and services of competitive companies. Satya Nadella, however, is working on another internal problem at Microsoft during the restructuring phase: culture. While successful, the culture that has grown within Microsoft over the years, developed primarily by founder Bill Gates and his successor CEO Steve Ballmer, has inhibited innovation within the company. Most of these problems and issues are core beliefs, hidden or overlooked issues, and deeply ingrained habits rather than visible or visible problems. For example, the “forced ranking” system used imposes a uniform evaluation of employees based on a rigorous review process (Mangalindan); this causes a lack of product development and innovation as employees are always worried about their upcoming evaluations. Furthermore, the concept of “licking the biscuit” or showing favoritism towards a certain product – such as Windows – and ignoring others (Rivlin), kills innovation and creates silos within the company due to communication problems between departments . This kills trust among employees, preventing teams from working successfully and creating synergies. These restraining forces have prevented Microsoft from overcoming the status quo with its driving forces: new products and simplified interfaces. Satya Nadella is bringing about a shift in both the culture and structure of Microsoft by taking a different leadership approach than previous CEO Steve Ballmer. Before Nadella became CEO in 2014 (Anders 67), Ballmer led the company with little room to grow beyond his vision. While departments at Microsoft were able to work without supervision, Ballmer always had the final say on all decisions (Rivlin) and usually commanded his will from above – a directive leadership style – using his position as CEO as a basis of power; in one case, Ballmer shut down an entire project – a specialized tablet code-named Courier – just because it overlapped with the goals of Windows, his favorite department (Rivlin). However, instead of simply managing employees like Ballmer, Nadella leads employees by aligning and motivating them, all strengthened by his openness to change. As a person, Nadella is a very humble man who uses his quiet nature to work with employees and get answers (Lashinsky). In Nadella's mind, he believes this kinder attitude – a supportive or delegating leadership style – will help generate more innovation within the company. The qualities that Nadella possesses are characteristics in line with the,.