Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
A motivating
factor at Microsoft
corporation
Page | 1
1.Introduction:
Motivation is the word derived from the word motive which means needs, desires, wants or drives
within the individuals. It is the process of stimulating people to actions to accomplish the goals. In the
work goal context the psychological factors stimulating the peoples behaviour can be - desire for
money,rewards,success,jobsatisfaction,team work etc.
Managing reward is largely about managing expectations what employees expect from their
employers in return for their contribution and what employers expect from their employees in return
for their pay and the opportunity to work and develop their skills. Expectorations are built into the
employment relationship, the starting point of which, from the rewards point of view, is an
undertaking by an employee to provide effort and skill to the employer, in return for which the
employer provides the employee with a salary or a wage.
The purpose of managing the system of rewards within the organisation is to attract and retain
the human resources the organisation needs to achieve its objectives. To retain the services of
employees and maintain a high level of performance, it is necessary to increase their motivation and
commitment. In effect the organisation is aiming to bring about an alignment of organizational and
individual objectives when the spotlight is on reward management.
Page | 2
Motivation is the word derived from the word motive which means needs, desires, wants or drives
within the individuals. It is the process of stimulating people to actions to accomplish the goals. In the
work goal context the psychological factors stimulating the peoples behaviour can be
rewards
success
recognition
job-satisfaction
One of the most important functions of management is to create willingness amongst the employees to
perform in the best of their abilities. Therefore the role of a leader is to arouse interest in performance
of employees in their jobs. The process of motivation consists of three stages:
Therefore, we can say that motivation is a psychological phenomenon which means needs and wants
of the individuals have to be tackled by framing an incentive plan.
Page | 3
A manager can use motivation to inspire not only his subordinates, but to motivate himself also. For
self-motivation, he has to take following steps
He should set a goal for himself and should not close sight of it.
Page | 4
He should make his job a different one with a view to improving objectives for his position
and increasing his productivity.
He should develop an area of expertise by building on his strengths and developing his
weaknesses into strengths.
He should give himself the feedback and reward himself by celebrating his accomplishment.
Positive motivation is also known as Carrot Approach and includes use of additional pays, incentives,
praise possibility of becoming a permanent employee etc. Negative motivation is also called Stick
Approach and implies punishment, such as reprimands, threat of demotion, threat of termination, etc.
Influences operating within an individual, for example, his needs, tensions, motives, values,
goals etc.
Influences operating within the organisation for example, its structure, technology, physical
facilities, various processes, the nature of job, advancement avenues etc.
Page | 5
Forces operating in the external environment, for example, society is culture, norms, values,
customs, government policy regarding the business of the enterprise etc.
Motivation refers to the drive and effort to satisfy a want or goal. Satisfaction refers to the
contentment experienced when a want is fulfilled. In other words, motivation implies a drive toward
an outcome and satisfaction is the outcome already experienced.
Page | 6
3. Achievement of goals:
Motivation causes goal directed behaviour. It helps people to move in a desired direction and earn
rewards. In organisations where managers try to understand the needs of employees and institute
appropriate incentive systems, accomplishment of goals in fairly easy. If people are not properly
motivated, no useful purpose can be served be planning, organising and staffing functions.
5. Stability in workforce:
Page | 7
Page | 8
5. Theories of Motivation:
1. Locke's Goal Setting Theory
Goal setting is a powerful way of motivating people, and of motivating yourself. The value of goal
setting is so well recognized that entire management systems, like Management by Objectives, have
goal setting basics incorporated within them. In fact, goal setting theory is generally accepted as
among the most valid and useful motivation theories in industrial and organizational psychology,
human resource management, and organizational behaviour.Dr Edwin Locke's pioneering research on
goal setting and motivation in the late 1960s. In his 1968 article "Toward a Theory of Task Motivation
and Incentives," he stated that employees were motivated by clear goals and appropriate feedback.
Locke went on to say that working toward a goal provided a major source of motivation to actually
reach the goal which, in turn, improved performance. This information does not seem revolutionary
to us some 40 years later. This shows the impact his theory has had on professional and personal
performance. In this article, we look at what Locke had to say about goal setting, and how we can
apply his theory to our own performance goals.Locke's research showed that there was a relationship
between how difficult and specific a goal was and people's performance of a task. He found that
specific and difficult goals led to better task performance than vague or easy goals. Telling someone
to "Try hard" or "Do your best" is less effective than "Try to get more than 80% correct" or
"Concentrate on beating your best time." Likewise, having a goal that's too easy is not a motivating
force. Hard goals are more motivating than easy goals, because it's much more of an accomplishment
to achieve something that you have to work for. A few years after Locke published his article, another
researcher, Dr Gary Latham, studied the effect of goal setting in the workplace. His results supported
exactly what Locke had found, and the inseparable link between goal setting and workplace
performance was formed. In 1990, Locke and Latham published their seminal work, "A Theory of
Page | 9
Clarity.
Challenge.
Commitment.
Feedback.
Task complexity.
Page | 10
Self efficacy- the persons belief about their ability to successfully perform a particular
behavior. The individual will assess whether they have the required skills or knowledge
desired to achieve their goals.
Goal difficulty- when goals are set too high or performance expectations that are made too
difficult. This will most likely lead to low expectancy. This occurs when the individual
believes that their desired results are unattainable.
Perceived control - Individuals must believe that they have some degree of control over the
expected outcome. When individuals perceive that the outcome is beyond their ability to
influence, expectancy, and thus motivation, is low.
When deciding among behavioral options, individuals select the option with the greatest amount of
motivational force (MF). Expectancy and instrumentality are attitudes (cognitions), whereas valence
is rooted in an individuals value system.
Examples of valued outcomes in the workplace include, pay increases and bonuses, promotions, time
off, new assignments, recognition, etc. If management can effectively determine what their employee
values, this will allow the manager to motivate employees in order to get the highest result and
effectiveness out of the workplace.
Page | 12
Intrinsic rewards are the positive feelings that the individual experiences from
completing the task e.g. satisfaction, sense of achievement.
Extrinsic rewards are rewards emanating from outside the individual such as bonus,
commission and pay increases.
Porter and Lawlers model suggested that an individuals view regarding the attractiveness
and fairness of the rewards will affect motivation.
Porter and Lawler said that motivation is also affected by
Page | 13
Actual performance in a job is primarily determined by the effort spent. But it is also affected by the
persons ability to do the job and also by individuals perception of what the required task is. So
performance is the responsible factor that leads to intrinsic as well as extrinsic rewards. These
rewards, along with the equity of individual leads to satisfaction. Hence, satisfaction of the individual
depends upon the fairness of the reward.
Adams' Equity Theory calls for a fair balance to be struck between an employee's inputs (hard work,
skill level, tolerance, enthusiasm, and so on) and an employee's outputs (salary, benefits,
intangibles such as recognition,and so on).
Page | 14
Adams' Equity Theory is named for John Stacey Adams, a workplace and behavioral psychologist,
who developed his job motivation theory in 1963. Much like many of the more prevalent theories of
motivation (such as Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory ), Adams'
Equity Theory acknowledges that subtle and variable factors affect an employee's assessment and
perception of their relationship with their work and their employer.
The theory is built-on the belief that employees become de-motivated, both in relation to their job and
their employer, if they feel as though their inputs are greater than the outputs. Employees can be
expected to respond to this is different ways, including de-motivation (generally to the extent the
employee perceives the disparity between the inputs and the outputs exist), reduced effort, becoming
disgruntled, or, in more extreme cases, perhaps even disruptive.
How to Apply the Adams' Equity Theory
It is important to also consider the Adams' Equity Theory factors when striving to improve an
employee's job satisfaction, motivation level, etc., and what can be done to promote higher levels of
each.
To do this, consider the balance or imbalance that currently exists between your employee's inputs and
outputs, as follows:
Inputs typically include:
Effort.
Loyalty.
Hard work.
Commitment.
Skill.
Ability.
Adaptability.
Flexibility.
Tolerance.
Determination.
Enthusiasm.
Page | 15
Trust in superiors.
Support of colleagues.
Personal sacrifice.
Recognition.
Reputation.
Responsibility.
Sense of achievement.
Praise.
Stimulus.
Sense of advancement/growth.
Job security.
While obviously many of these points can't be quantified and perfectly compared, the theory argues
that managers should seek to find a fair balance between the inputs that an employee gives, and the
outputs received.
And according to the theory, employees should be content where they perceive these to be in balance.
Page | 16
Need theory, also known as Three Needs Theory, proposed by psychologist David McClelland, is a
motivational model that attempts to explain how the needsfor achievement, power, and affiliation
affect the actions of people from a managerial context. This model was developed in the 1960s soon
after Maslow's hierarchy of needs in the 1940s. McClelland stated that we all have these three types of
motivation regardless of age, sex, race, or culture. The type of motivation that each individual is
driven by life experiences and the opinions of their culture. This need theory is often taught in classes
concerning management or organizational behaviour.
People who are achievement-motivated typically prefer to master a task or situation. They prefer
working on tasks of moderate difficulty, prefer work in which the results are based on their effort
rather than on anything else, and prefer to receive feedback on their work. Achievement based
individuals tend to avoid both high risk and low risk situations. Low risk situations are seen as too
easy to be valid and the high risk situations are seen as based more upon the luck of the situation
rather than the achievements that individual made.This personality type is motivated by
accomplishment in the workplace and an employment hierarchy with promotional positions
This motivational need stems from a person's desire to influence, teach, or encourage others. People in
this category enjoy work and place a high value ondiscipline. The downside to this motivational type
is that group goals can become zero-sum in nature, that is, for one person to win, another must lose.
However, this can be positively applied to help accomplish group goals and to help others in the group
feel competent about their work. A person motivated by this need enjoys status recognition, winning
arguments, competition, and influencing others . With this motivational type comes a need for personal
prestige, and a constant need for a better personal status.
Effect on management
McClelland's research showed that 86% of the population are dominant in one, two, or all three of
these three types of motivation. His subsequent research, published in the 1977 Harvard Business
Review article "Power is the Great Motivator", found that those in top management positions had a
high need for power and a low need for affiliation. His research also found that people with a high
need for achievement will do best when given projects where they can succeed through their own
efforts. Although individuals with a strong need for achievement can be successful lower-level
managers, they are usually weeded out before reaching top management positions. He also found that
people with a high need for affiliation may not be good top managers but are generally happier, and
can be highly successful in non-leadership roles such as the foreign service.
Page | 18
Page | 19
Page | 20
7. Types of rewards:
It is generally recognized that people may receive two major categories of
rewards from work. One is intrinsic rewards, which are rewards that are internal to workers and which
they give themselves. Intrinsic rewards include self-esteem, a sense of accomplishment, and a feeling
of growth or development of special skills and talents. Many of these rewards are desired from the
work itself. Intrinsic rewards are related to the workers perception of the job and, hence, are affected
by job design, intrinsic rewards may be called as non-financial/non-monetary rewards.
A second category is extrinsic rewards, which are external to workers and are given by the
organisation or some one else. Extrinsic rewards include direct and indirect compensation. Direct
incentives are those rewards which are directly involved with the money as wages and salaries, bonus,
commission, individual and group incentives, profit sharing and stock options. Indirect incentives are
those rewards which are related to employees benefits or perquisites. It consists of protection
programmes, paid time off, health insurance plans, child care benefits and employee discounts
(Henderson, 1994). Extrinsic rewards may be called as monetary or financial rewards.Being an
extrinsic reward, compensation is more easily controlled by managers than are intrinsic rewards.
Intrinsic rewards satisfy hierarchical needs of higher level such as social, esteem and self actualization
needs, and are real motivators or satisfiers where as extrinsic rewards satisfy lower level needs
(Maslow 1951)
Page | 21
In order to achieve the business goals and the desired work culture, organisations provide
employees a range fixed and variable compensation, which include fixed cash, short term incentives
and long term incentives, recognition programmes and the work environments. Guaranteed pay to the
employees is essentially a fixed cost to the business, while pay that is variable and depends on the
individual and group performance is essentially related to the business results. This movement in the
mix of pay signifies a shift from viewing employee as a cog in the cost weel to viewing the employees
as a group of people who have come together to achieve some common goals.
Page | 22
Microsoft
Corporation is
an
American multinational
corporation headquartered
in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer
software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software
products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, Microsoft Office office suite,
and Internet Explorer web browser. Its flagship hardware products are Xbox game console and
the Microsoft Surface series of tablets. It is the world's largest software maker measured by
revenues. It is also one of the world's most valuable companies.
Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975 to develop and
sell BASIC interpreters for Altair 8800. It rose to dominate the personal computer operating
system market with MS-DOS in the mid-1980s, followed by the Microsoft Windows. The company's
1986 initial public offering, and subsequent rise in its share price, created an estimated three
billionaires and 12,000 millionaires from Microsoft employees. Since the 1990s, it has increasingly
diversified from the operating system market and has made a number of corporate acquisitions. In
May 2011, Microsoft acquired Skype Technologies for $8.5 billion in its largest acquisition to date.
As of 2013, Microsoft is market dominant in both the IBM PC-compatible operating system
and office software suite markets (the latter with Microsoft Office). The company also produces a
wide range of other software for desktops and servers, and is active in areas including internet
Page | 23
History
Paul Allen and Bill Gates (r.) on October 19, 1981, in a sea of PCs after signing a pivotal contract.
IBM called Microsoft in July 1980 inquiring about programming languages for its upcoming PC
line; after failed negotiations with another company, IBM gave Microsoft a contract to develop the OS
for the new line of PCs.
Paul Allen and Bill Gates, childhood friends with a passion in computer programming, were seeking
to make a successful business utilizing their shared skills. In 1972 they founded their first company
named Traf-O-Data, which offered a rudimentary computer that tracked and analyzed automobile
traffic data. Allen went on to pursue a degree in computer science at the University of Washington,
later dropping out of school to work at Honeywell. Gates began studies at Harvard. The January 1975
issue of Popular Electronics featured Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems's (MITS) Altair
8800 microcomputer. Allen noticed that they could program a BASIC interpreter for the device; after
a call from Gates claiming to have a working interpreter, MITS requested a demonstration. Since they
didn't actually have one, Allen worked on a simulator for the Altair while Gates developed the
interpreter. Although they developed the interpreter on a simulator and not the actual device, the
interpreter worked flawlessly when they demonstrated the interpreter to MITS in Albuquerque, New
Mexico in March 1975; MITS agreed to distribute it, marketing it as Altair BASIC. They officially
established Microsoft on April 4, 1975, with Gates as the CEO. Allen came up with the original name
of "Micro-Soft," the combination of the words microcomputer and software, as recounted in a 1995
Page | 24
solidified
the
company's
dominance.
After
negotiations
with Digital
Research failed, IBM awarded a contract to Microsoft in November 1980 to provide a version of
the CP/M OS, which was set to be used in the upcoming IBM Personal Computer (IBM PC). For this
deal, Microsoft purchased a CP/M clone called 86-DOS from Seattle Computer Products, branding it
as MS-DOS, which IBM rebranded to PC DOS. Following the release of the IBM PC in August 1981,
Microsoft retained ownership of MS-DOS. Since IBM copyrighted the IBM PC BIOS, other
companies had to reverse engineer it in order for non-IBM hardware to run as IBM PC compatibles,
but no such restriction applied to the operating systems. Due to various factors, such as MS-DOS's
available software selection, Microsoft eventually became the leading PC operating systems vendor.
The company expanded into new markets with the release of the Microsoft Mouse in 1983, as well as
a publishing division named Microsoft Press. Paul Allen resigned from Microsoft in February after
developing Hodgkin's disease.
programming
interface (API),
making porting from 16-bit (MS-DOS-based) Windows easier. Once Microsoft informed IBM of NT,
the OS/2 partnership deteriorated.
In 1990, Microsoft introduced its office suite, Microsoft Office. The software bundled separate office
productivity applications, such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. On May 22 Microsoft
launched Windows
3.0 with
streamlined user
interface graphics
and
improved protected
mode capability for the Intel 386 processor. Both Office and Windows became dominant in their
Page | 25
it settled with the U.S. Department of Justice in 2004. On October 25, 2001, Microsoft
released Windows XP, unifying the mainstream and NT lines under the NT codebase. [34] The company
released the Xbox later that year, entering the game console market dominated by Sony and Nintendo.
[35]
In March 2004 the European Union brought antitrust legal action against the company, citing it
abused its dominance with the Windows OS, resulting in a judgment of 497 million ($613 million)
and to produce new versions of Windows XP without Windows Media Player, Windows XP Home
Edition N and Windows XP Professional N.
200610: Windows Vista, mobile, and Windows 7
CEO Steve Ballmer at the MIX event in 2008. In an interview about his management style in 2005, he
mentioned that his first priority was to get the people he delegatesto in order. Ballmer also emphasized
the need to continue pursuing new technologies even if initial attempts fail, citing the original
attempts with Windows as an example.
Released in January 2007, the next version of Windows, Windows Vista, focused on features, security,
and a redesigned user interface dubbed Aero. Microsoft Office 2007, released at the same time,
featured a "Ribbon" user interface which was a significant departure from its predecessors. Relatively
strong sales of both titles helped to produce a record profit in 2007. The European Union imposed
another fine of 899 million ($1.4 billion) for Microsoft's lack of compliance with the March 2004
judgment on February 27, 2008, saying that the company charged rivals unreasonable prices for key
information about
its workgroup and back office servers. Microsoft stated that it was in compliance and that "these fines
are about the past issues that have been resolved". 2007 also saw the creation of a multi-core unit at
Microsoft, as they followed in the steps of server companies such as Sun and IBM.
Bill Gates retired from his role as Chief Software Architect on June 27, 2008, while retaining other
positions related to the company in addition to being an advisor for the company on key
projects. Azure Services Platform, the company's entry into the cloud computing market for Windows,
launched on October 27, 2008. On February 12, 2009, Microsoft announced its intent to open a chain
of Microsoft-branded retail stores, and on October 22, 2009, the first retail Microsoft Store opened
in Scottsdale, Arizona; the same day the first store opened, Windows 7was officially released to the
public. Windows 7's focus was on refining Vista with ease of use features and performance
enhancements, rather than a large reworking of Windows.
As the smart phone industry boomed beginning in 2007, Microsoft struggled to keep up with its
rivals Apple and Google in providing a modern smart phone operating system. As a result, in 2010,
Page | 27
Businesses
Windows Division, Server and Tools, Online Services Division
The company's Client division produces the flagship Windows OS line such as Windows 8; it also
produces the Windows Live family of products and services. Server and Tools produces the server
versions of Windows, such as Windows Server 2008 R2 as well as a set of development tools
called Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft Silver light, a web application framework, and System
Center Configuration Manager, a collection of tools providing remote-control abilities, patch
management, software distribution and a hardware/software inventory. Other server products
include: Microsoft SQL Server, a relational database management system, Microsoft Exchange
Server, for certain business-oriented e-mail and scheduling features, Small Business Server, for
messaging and other small business-oriented features; and Microsoft BizTalk Server, for business
process management.
Microsoft provides IT consulting ("Microsoft Consulting Services") and produces a set of certification
programs handled by the Server and Tools division designed to recognize individuals who have a
minimal set of proficiencies in a specific role; this includes developers ("Microsoft Certified Solution
Developer"), system/network analysts ("Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer"), trainers ("Microsoft
Certified Trainers") and administrators ("Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator" and "Microsoft
Certified Database Administrator"). Microsoft Press, which publishes books, is also managed by the
division. The Online Services Business division handles the online service MSN and the search
engineBing. As of December 2009, the company also possesses an 18% ownership of the cable
news channel MSNBC without any editorial control; however, the division develops the channel's
website, msnbc.com, in a joint venture with the channel's co-owner, NBC Universal.
The Commons, located on the campus of the company's headquarters in Redmond
The Microsoft Business Division produces Microsoft Office including Microsoft Office 2010, the
company's
line
of
office
software.
The
software
product
includes Word (a
word
frequently
used
Page | 29
Entertainment
and
Devices
Division
produces
the Windows
CE OS
for embedded
systems and Windows Phone for smart phones. Microsoft initially entered the mobile market through
Windows CE for handheld devices, eventually developing into the Windows Mobile OS and now,
Windows Phone. Windows CE is designed for devices where the OS may not directly be visible to the
end user, in particular, appliances and cars. The division also produces computer games, via its inhouse game publisher Microsoft Studios, that run on Windows PCs and other systems including titles
such as Age of Empires, Halo and the Microsoft Flight Simulator series, and houses the Macintosh
Business Unit which produces Mac OS software including Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac.
Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division designs, markets, and manufactures consumer
electronics including the Xbox 360 game console, the handheld Zune media player, and the televisionbased Internet
appliance MSN
TV.
Microsoft
also
markets personal
computer
Culture
Technical reference for developers and articles for various Microsoft magazines such as Microsoft
Systems Journal (MSJ) are available through the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN). MSDN also
offers subscriptions for companies and individuals, and the more expensive subscriptions usually offer
access to pre-release beta versions of Microsoft software. In April 2004 Microsoft launched a
community site for developers and users, titled Channel9, that provides a wiki and an Internet
forum. Another community site that provides daily video casts and other services, On10.net, launched
on March 3, 2006. Free technical support is traditionally provided through online Usenet newsgroups,
and CompuServe in the past, monitored by Microsoft employees; there can be several newsgroups for
a single product. Helpful people can be elected by peers or Microsoft employees for Microsoft Most
Valuable Professional (MVP) status, which entitles them to a sort of special social status and
possibilities for awards and other benefits.
Page | 30
Criticism
Main article: Criticism of Microsoft
Bad Vista and Defective by Design groups protest against Windows Vista
Criticism of Microsoft has followed the company's existence because of various aspects of its
products and business practices. Ease of use, stability, and security of the company's software are
Page | 31
Corporate affairs
The company is run by a board of directors made up of mostly company outsiders, as is customary for
publicly traded companies. Members of the board of directors as of February 2014 are: John W.
Thompson, Steve
Ballmer, Dina
Dublon, Bill
Gates, Maria
Klawe, Stephen
Luczo, David
Marquardt, Mason Morfit, Satya Nadella, Charles Noski, and Helmut Panke. Board members are
elected every year at the annual shareholders' meeting using a majority vote system. There are five
committees within the board which oversee more specific matters. These committees include the
Audit Committee, which handles accounting issues with the company including auditing and
reporting; the Compensation Committee, which approves compensation for the CEO and other
employees of the company; the Finance Committee, which handles financial matters such as
proposing mergers and acquisitions; the Governance and Nominating Committee, which handles
various corporate matters including nomination of the board; and the Antitrust Compliance
Committee, which attempts to prevent company practices from violating antitrust laws.
Page | 32
Five year history graph of NASDAQ: MSFT stock on July 17, 2013
When Microsoft went public and launched its initial public offering (IPO) in 1986, the
opening stock price was $21; after the trading day, the price closed at $27.75. As of July 2010, with
the company's nine stock splits, any IPO shares would be multiplied by 288; if one was to buy the IPO
today given the splits and other factors, it would cost about 9 cents. The stock price peaked in 1999 at
around $119 ($60.928 adjusting for splits). The company began to offer a dividend on January 16,
2003, starting at eight cents per share for the fiscal year followed by a dividend of sixteen cents per
share the subsequent year, switching from yearly to quarterly dividends in 2005 with eight cents a
share per quarter and a special one-time payout of three dollars per share for the second quarter of the
fiscal year.[98][99] Though the company had subsequent increases in dividend payouts, the price of
Microsoft's stock remained steady for years.
One of Microsoft's business tactics, described by an executive as "embrace, extend and extinguish,"
initially embraces a competing standard or product, then extends it to produce their own version
which is then incompatible with the standard, which in time extinguishes competition that does not or
cannot use Microsoft's new version.[101]Various companies and governments sue Microsoft over this
set of tactics, resulting in billions of dollars in rulings against the company. Microsoft claims that the
original strategy is not anti-competitive, but rather an exercise of its discretion to implement features
it believes customers want.
Financial
Standard and Poor's and Moody's have both given a AAA rating to Microsoft, whose assets were
valued at $41 billion as compared to only $8.5 billion in unsecured debt. Consequently, in February
2011 Microsoft released a corporate bond amounting to $2.25 billion with relatively low borrowing
rates compared to government bonds.
For the first time in 20 years Apple Inc. surpassed Microsoft in Q1 2011 quarterly profits and
revenues due to a slowdown in PC sales and continuing huge losses in Microsoft's Online Services
Page | 33
MICROSOFT IN INDIA
Microsoft India Private Limited headquartered in Hyderabad, India is a subsidiary of US software
giant Microsoft Corporation. The company first entered the Indian market in 1990 and has since
worked closely with the Indian government, the IT industry, academia and the local developer
community to usher in some of the early successes in the IT market. Microsoft currently has offices in
the 13 cities.
Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkat
a, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Pune. Increasingly, the company has become a key IT partner of the
Indian government and industry, supporting and fueling the growth of the local IT industry through its
partner enablement programs. Since its entry into India, Microsoft has focused on three key
objectives:
To become a key IT partner of the Indian government and the local IT industry
To support and fuel growth of the local IT industry through its partner enablement programs
Page | 36
To use the Microsoft Unlimited Potential program to enhance education, jobs and
opportunities and foster innovation through relevant, affordable access to computing.
Microsoft in India employs about 5,000 people and has six business units representing the complete
Microsoft product portfolio.
Page | 37
McClelland also theorizes that people have a need for affiliation. This need is found in people
that flourish in social groups. These individuals enjoy group activities, especially if these
activities can help the common good of people. (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2008) Microsoft has
realized that in order to help with employee satisfaction, they need to help employees feel
proud of themselves. By establishing organizations that help with charities and provide
volunteers for community programs, employees are given opportunities for group projects. Not
only do these group help meet the need for affiliation, they help satisfy intrinsic motivators
such
as
community
service.
Another form of fulfilling the needs of the employees, Microsoft sets very clear goals and
mission. Having a clear line of sight minimizes confusion. Confusion can and usually does lead
Page | 39
For anyone that has the need and desires to grow the resume, MICROSOFT is probably a
perfect match. MICROSOFT is another company that invests a lot of resources into retaining
its employees by offering programs for professional development. Unlike Microsoft which has
a diverse motivational system, MICROSOFT has virtually placed all its eggs in one basket. Is
that a negative? Not in this case; MICROSOFT markets this idea to potential employees. Most
people that go to work for MICROSOFT do so under the assumption that there is room and
support for them to climb the corporate ladder. MICROSOFT voices that it is a company
designed to help employees reach their career objectives and goals.
MICROSOFT has a multifaceted approach to helping its employees better themselves. There
professional development programs include; MATREX, emerging sales professionals program,
and an intensive leadership development programs (LDP). MATRIX is a program that helps
entry level employees transition into a managerial role. The emerging sales program is an entry
level program that takes individuals with no experience and trains them to be sales
professional. The LDP is a program established to recruit individuals recently graduating from
college or obtaining MBAs. This program is two years long, when finish the individual will
have a career in higher management levels. aggressive approach towards those that have a need
for career growth may satisfy McClellands theories. However, what about those that just want
a static job and are not looking to climb the corporate ladder. It is this group of individuals that
makes me question if MICROSOFTis really trying to accommodate all their employees or just
the ones with a corporate drive. How long could an employee stay motivated if preference is
always given to those that are pursuing a development program? Victor Vroom theorizes that
some peoples motivation is a product from combinations of expected outcomes. (Kreitner &
Kinicki, 2008) This theory basically states that if an individual thinks their extra efforts will go
Page | 40
unequal?
Psychologist J Stacy Adams states that his equity theory is a model of motivation that explains
how people strive for fairness and justice in social exchanges or in give-and-take relationships.
(Kreitner & Kinicki, 2008) Adams explains further that this theory has two main parts; inputs
and outputs. If an employee doesnt feel that his inputs are equal to the outputs, they may
develop a why bother attitude. This unequal treatment may be reinforced if those that are
scheduled for a program start to slack in their efforts yet still get treated better than those who
are not enrolled in such a program. MICROSOFT has invested a lot of time and resources into
providing for those that have a need for self accomplishment. However, for those that are not
looking for advancement, may become unmotivated and move on.
All the companies discuss seem to have some program in place to enhance motivation. It seems
that most companies lean towards helping those that are career hungry and have needs towards
furthering their advancement. They do well in techniques such as Job Enlargement. Job
Enlargement is helping the individual to advance within the corporation. (Kreitner & Kinicki,
2008) Two techniques that are not mentioned by all three companies are Job Rotation, and Job
Enrichment. Job rotation is the process of allowing employees to rotate functions within the
company to help combat boredom. Job Enrichment is when an employer allows the employee
to modify their job. This technique generally allows an individual to gain more responsibilities,
which in turn helps with advancement. Granted all three have programs the employees can
enter into, however this could be intimidating and a drastic step. What can the employee do if
they want to eases into advancement? What happens if once entered into a program the
employee
realizes
that
the
change
is
not
what
they
really
wanted?
In conclusion, corporations today are taking proactive steps to increase motivation. Companies
will need to understand that each employee has different needs and motivators, while educating
the managers on dynamic motivational techniques. I have learned that no matter how many
programs are established, a corporation is only as accommodating and motivating as its
managers.
Page | 41
It offers comprehensive and flexible healthcare for its employees and their qualified dependants. It
also provides dental and eye care coverage, onsite medical checks, health club membership
reimbursement etc.
Page | 42
Investing:
provides an employee stock purchase program where they could purchase discounted shares of
Microsoft stock.
Giving together:
One more remarkable approach is that they match the amount that employees contribute to
community affairs like charities and educational institutions up to 50, 000 INR per employee/ year
and contribute to causes. It is another way where Microsoft makes a significant difference.
It always believes in constant learning so the staff can possess very current KSA`s. It offers over 2000
internal training programs which may either online, virtually, or via class room training. It invests a
lot of amount on employee training and development.
According to Griffin and Moorhead (2009) common types of rewards to attract and retain qualified
employees include base pay, perquisites and awards, performance appraisal, indirect compensation,
bonuses etc. Microsoft offers the employees more than all the above types of rewards so this can be
considered as one of the basis for its success or survival.
Page | 43
It believes in rewards according to the level of performance because it offers wide variety of benefits
to the top performers. These top performers is mainly measured based on their innovation at
Microsoft as the whole organisation runs on the concepts based on technology innovation methods. It
also focuses on the employee working tenure as it offers pay rises depending on the number of years
they worked for the company.
This could be understood clearly by the below table obtained from Indian resourcing consultancy
called naukri hub
Experience
Median Salary/ Annum
1 year or less
Rs 700,000
1 to 4 years
Rs 840,000
5 to 9 years
Rs 1,005,815
10 to 19 years
Rs 1,508,368
More than 20 years
Page | 44
It follows a pay and reward system that is partly dependent upon the educational competencies and
Qualification as it offers varied wage levels depending on the aboce criteria.
Salary Range by level of academic qualification:
Academic Qualification
Salary Range
Bachelors Degree
Rs 370,000 to Rs 2,164,207
Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.)
Rs 1,002,500 to Rs 1,581,000
Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech)
Rs 166,107 to Rs 2,483,233
MBA (Master of Business Administration)
Rs 610,419 to Rs 1,965,270
(naukrihub.com, 2012)
Page | 45
It relies on its employees skills and it gives different salary packages to individuals based on their
skills and area of competence. It is sometimes interrelated with competency based pay and therefore
cannot be much differentiated. Different level personnel are paid different pay packages like many
other organisations. For instance based on their designations this can be considered:
Group Rewards:
As it is an IT firm it consists of several departments and group projects. So the awards are frequently
given to the eligible teams, However there will be a group leader or a department head who indirectly
receives extra credit among the team.
For instance in the 2nd half of the year I was working on a project on one of the top hotel chains of
India and we as a team were given a deadline of 3 weeks. All the individuals in the team were
assigned a specific job and everyone worked hard and somehow managed to complete our respective
tasks in 2 weeks and presented the final presentation in less than the time allotted to us. At the end of
the year our group was awarded best group performer award. This rises the motivation levels of all the
members of the group but the team leader who contribution was less compared to the team members
was awarded the best performer award. This can sometimes have a negative effect on the rest of the
group members.
As the employees of the company every staff member has the right to know his/ her contribution to
the growth/ performance of the company. Microsoft has a fair and transparent approach in its
performance evaluation and there by ensure fair appraisal is established. It provides an online portal
showing detailed information about each individuals performance over certain period of time. In this
portal, it gives a clear picture of how many projects were undertaken by each employee, how many of
them completed on time and how many before deadlines, data about financial gain through various
projects, punctuality of employees, what areas needed to be improved by the personnel, feedbacks,
what type of rewards are available etc. So when employees know what is expected from them by the
company there is better chance for them to compete and work hard to gain the rewards and atleast
improve their performance to next levels.
Profit sharing:
Page | 46
This is more of rewarded to most of the full time employees at my work place where they are
deposited with some lump sum payment depending on various aspects like their experience at the
company etc. More or less, this type of rewarding also plays a vital role in acquiring and retaining
people.
Reward system play a vital role in Human resource department of any company and it is the same in
Microsoft as well. Analysts opined that Microsoft is largely successful due to its effective employee
retention strategies. After the global recession crisis there was an increased responsibility on the
shoulders of HR personnel. HR management has to be extremely strong and efficient to retain the top
employees by providing better compensation and benefit packages.
According to Joe Wilcox (2000) one of the companys representatives, Microsoft is constantly
exploring ways to ensure the compensation levels are competitive and make sure that the staff are not
only recognised for their work but are appropriately rewarded. According to Ian, General Manager at
windows presentation foundation, Microsoft, Its been new roles, new titles, new challenges every
year or so. I stopped putting my title on my business cards years ago as it was getting out-of-date so
frequently
Microsoft has been providing stock options at discount to employees since 1986, when it was listed
on the stock exchange. (Barnali Chakraborty, 2010)
Rewards like reimbursement of tuition fee for its employees to gain access to work related courses is
one of the unique approaches brought up by Microsoft and is equally benefits the strategic HR
management as it boosts the staffs interest to learn more and perform more which is ultimately
beneficial to the overall company performance.
Better the rewards management, better will be the employees motivation levels to perform more and
thus Strategic HR is ensured and thereby the organisations overall strategy.
Page | 47
Page | 48
Strengths
1. Brand loyalty
2. Highly paid rewards and
benefits
3. Easy to use software
4. Strong distribution
channels
5. Highly motivated
environment
6. Acquisition of Skype
Opportunities
1. Cloud based services
2. Mobile advertising
3. Mobile device industry
4. Growth through
acquisitions
Weaknesses
1. Poor acquisitions and
investments
2. Dependence on hardware
manufacturers
3. Criticism over security flaws
4. Mature PC markets
5. Slow to innovate
Threats
1. Intense competition in software
products
2. Changing consumer needs and
habits
3. Open source projects
4. Potential lawsuits
Page | 49
14.Conclusion
Organizations must match the reward systems with the motivational needs of employees and hence,
the package that they offer to potential and existing employees must be a mix of financial and nonfinancial rewards. As economists would point out, the role of incentives in motivating employees is
indeed high and hence the right kind of incentives must be rolled out. It is not simply enough if
companies keep raising the salaries or giving higher bonuses. It is also not enough if companies flatter
their employees and publicize their achievements. The key aspect is the match between the rewards
that are offered to the employee and his or her inner needs.
organizations must evolve reward systems that motivate each individual according to his or
her level of self-development and need for either monetary benefit or fulfillment imperative.
In this context, it is important to note that many multinational companies have a financial
component that motivates employees and a non-financial component like honoring the
employees, publicizing their achievements, and making senior management talk to these
employees for their contributions.
Microsoft has been providing stock options at discount to employees since 1986, when it was listed
on the stock exchange Better the rewards management, better will be the employees motivation levels
to perform more and thus Strategic HR is ensured and thereby the organisations overall strategy.
Therefore Microsoft Corporation received several awards and recognitions.
Page | 50
15.Weblography
Microsoft Corporation (2008), Microsoft careers, The Inside Track, Retrieved 04 April, 2008
from http://www.members.microsoft.com/carerrs/mslife/insidetrack.mspx
Maslow, A.H. (1951) Motivation and personality, New York; Harper and row publichers,
Inc.
www.microsoft.com
www.managementparadise.in
Page | 51