A Scope Of Microsoft Essay -- essays research papers

There are many factors that must be considered when â€Å"scoping† out a company for a potential merger or acquisition. I being the CEO of a major competitive software manufacturing company look for many things. Things such as strategic planning, financial performance, technological advances and marketing opportunities are just some of the factors that must be looked at when considering another company for acquisition. In this case, Microsoft Corporation is our target. I will be examining the above-mentioned factors before making my decision on whether or not an acquisition will be feasible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Microsoft Corporation was founded in 1975 by William H. Gates III. The company, which was inspired by Gates, had a vision of computers powered by software developed by the company being a way of life. The goal was to integrate computers into people’s everyday lives. The company started out in Gates’ garage with primitive technology and unlimited aspiration. Today the company has grown to be the world’s number one software developer and manufacturer. The company offers a very diverse line of products ranging from home user applications to high tech business software. Microsoft develops and manufactures a full line of games, web publishing, and most importantly, it’s number one piece of software, Windows 2000 and ever-popular Office 2000. The world basically runs on Microsoft software. The software is shipped with 70% of the world’s computers giving Microsoft a total of over 19 billion dollars in revenues for 1999. Microsoft has re cently emerged in the world of Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) to become a competitor of the well-known America Online. The Microsoft Network (MSN) as it is known offers users the same advantages of the leading ISP’s while incorporating its own technology to make the online experience more user friendly and technologically advanced than the others. MSN allows users to interface their online work with their regular operating software to allow for easier web publishing, more advanced multimedia presentations, and quicker processing time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There have been many issues concerning Microsoft’s strategies. Many say that the company is only in the market to take over and monopolize. As a matter of fact, the United States Government is currently in a civil anti-trust case against the company. Evid... ... and manufacturer that will occupy every sector of the software industry. Our manufacturing plants can be consolidated and re-structured to cut costs, wile adapting to manufacture the new software line that my company would introduce. Our management team can be re-structured as well so that strategic planning and decision-making will better implement our new ideas and technological advances. Finally, our market share will be greatly increased because of the ability to be exposed to countries that we are not currently involved in. I feel that a combination of our companies would be probably the most beneficial event that could occur in my company. Microsoft has proven itself to be the number one software company in the world; together we would be unstoppable. One problem with this joint venture would be the matter with the pending Anti-Trust case, which would probably be further fueled by this joint venture. Whatever the outcome of the case, which by the way seems to be nearing a settlement, I feel that the newly formed company will be the best thing that has happened in software since 1975. **All factual and financial information was taken from Microsoft’s 1999 Financial Report.