Microsoft’s renewal : the effect a new CEO can have on strategic change and firm performance

Organizations are challenged by a dynamic, fast-changing environment in most of the industries, often driven by continuous technological innovations. Many companies, and their CEOs struggle in adapting to the new reality and its requirements. To face these challenges, companies have to transform, and need to implement strategic, organizational, and cultural change to stay competitive and profitable. Scholars have investigated not only the reasons for strategic change, but also the effect a CEO has on strategic change and firm performance, as well as the relevance of a CEO’s personality and management style in leading the change process. To demonstrate a real-life example of these theories, I selected the case about Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella. The case intends to demonstrate a strategic reorientation of a global market leader in the tech industry, coming along with a new CEO. Many different changes were implemented in just a short period of only four years, without the company facing a real crisis. The strategic renewal Nadella initiated can be considered as a role model for the need of strategic flexibility as CEO to successfully implement changes. The case clearly illustrates, that Nadella used dynamic managerial capabilities for the transformation of Microsoft, which can be considered as being successful so far. This shows, that he as new CEO had an effect on strategic change and firm performance under rapidly changing environmental conditions. Additionally, Nadella is an example of how his personality influences the way he leads this process of transformation.As empresas são desafiadas por um ambiente dinâmico e volátil na maior parte das indústrias, que é, por sua vez, impulsionado principalmente por contínuas inovações tecnológicas. Muitas empresas e os seus respetivos líderes lutam diariamente para se adaptarem a novas realidades. Para enfrentar esses desafios, as empresas precisam não só de se transformar, mas também implementar mudanças estratégicas, organizacionais e culturais para se manterem competitivas e lucrativas. Os investigadores procuraram não apenas as razões para a mudança estratégica, mas também o efeito que um CEO tem na mudança estratégica e no desempenho da empresa, bem como a relevância da personalidade e do estilo de liderança deste na condução do processo de mudança. Para demonstrar um exemplo real dessas teorias, selecionei o caso do CEO da Microsoft, Satya Nadella. O caso pretende demonstrar uma reorientação estratégica de um líder de mercado global na indústria tecnológica, com um novo CEO. Muitas mudanças foram implementadas em apenas quatro anos, sem que a empresa enfrentasse uma crise real. O caso de Nadella e da renovação estratégica que ele iniciou podem ser considerados como um modelo para a necessidade de flexibilidade estratégica para implementar mudanças com sucesso, não apenas como empresa, mas também como CEO. O caso ilustra claramente que Nadella foi dinâmico o suficiente para levar a cabo a transformação da Microsoft, que pode, até agora, ser considerada bem-sucedida. Este facto mostra que Nadella, como CEO, tem um efeito sobre a mudança estratégica e o desempenho da empresa num ambiente externo em constante mudança

Can Anybody Own the Internet? : Microsoft, Open-Source and the Debate About Intellectual Property

The Internet has become one of the most important mediums of communication and information in modem society. For many, the rapid adoption of these technologies into mainstream society has been combined with a reliance on commercial software, most notably the Microsoft Corporation\u27s Windows operating system. Question arise out of the commercial dominance in a realm that until recently was characterised by the collective sharing of information and ideas. Although there is a lack of established sociological literature in this field, established literature on ownership, global capital, political economy and social exclusion have been identified and drawn upon to fill this gap in research. The research process highlights both traditional theoretical concepts, mainly drawn from the work of Marx, and their implications in terms of the Internet, computers and other related topics

Motions 2005 volume 41 number 2

https://digital.sandiego.edu/motions/1119/thumbnail.jp

Digital inclusion - the vision, the challenges and the way forward

This paper considers the vision and aspiration of digital inclusion, and then examines the current reality. It looks beyond the rhetoric to provide an analysis of the status quo, a consideration of some facilitators and challenges to progress and some suggestions for moving forward with renewed energy and commitment. The far-reaching benefits of digital inclusion and the crucial role it plays in enabling full participation in our digital society are considered. At the heart of the vision of universal digital inclusion is the deceptively simple goal to ensure that everyone is able to access and experience the wide-ranging benefits and transformational opportunities and impacts it offers. The reality is a long way from the vision: inequality of access still exists despite many national campaigns and initiatives to reduce it. The benefits and beneficiaries of a digital society are not just the individual but all stakeholders in the wider society. Research evidence has shown that the critical success factors for successful digital participation are (i) appropriate design and (ii) readily available and on-going ICT (Information and Communication Technology) support in the community. Challenges and proven solutions are presented. The proposition of community hubs in local venues to provide user-centred ICT support and learning for older and disabled people is presented. While the challenges to achieve digital inclusion are very considerable, the knowledge of how to achieve it and the technologies which enable it already exist. Harnessing of political will is necessary to make digital inclusion a reality rather than a vision. With the cooperation and commitment of all stakeholders actualisation of the vision of a digitally inclusive society, while challenging, can be achieved and will yield opportunities and rewards that eclipse the cost of implementation

Motions 2005 volume 41 number 2

https://digital.sandiego.edu/motions/1119/thumbnail.jp

The advantages of implementing CSR strategies within technology firms

Climate change and global warming have been recognized as the foremost environmental problem of the twenty-first century. Nowadays, It is one of the most extensively discussed topics on earth. The topics of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are also massively discussed in this century and progress is made every day, however, there is still a lot to do. Simply defined, CSR means that companies need to be economically viable, have a positive impact on society, and respect and preserve the environment. As part of our study, we wanted to discuss CSR policies within major technological firms. The aim here is to show what current policies and future policies look like. We want to study what impact it has on their business and what benefits it creates (if any) when they decide to implement a CSR Strategy. We will also try to uncover what the future holds for these Big tech Giants in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility. We interviewed GAFAM Sustainability leaders, gathered sustainability reports. We also wanted to analyze their Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and sustainability strategies. We used the thematic approach to gather and analyze the data collected. The dissertation showed that the tech giants are concerned about CSR and most of these companies invested massively in the last few years, some sooner than others. It also shows that these giants are not the source of all our environmental issues. In terms of the environmental impact of data centers, they account for 1% of the world’s electricity consumption and 0.5% of CO2 emissions (GreenIT)

Customizing Experiences for Mobile Virtual Reality

A criação manual de conteúdo para um jogo é um processo demorado e trabalhoso que requer um conjunto de habilidades diversi cado (normalmente designers, artistas e programadores) e a gestão de diferentes recursos (hardware e software especializados). Dado que o orçamento, tempo e recursos são frequentemente muito limitados, os projetos poderiam bene ciar de uma solução que permitisse poupar e investir noutros aspectos do desenvolvimento. No contexto desta tese, abordamos este desa o sugerindo a criação de pacotes especí cos para a geração de conteúdo per sonalizável, focados em aplicações de Realidade Virtual (RV) móveis. Esta abordagem divide o problema numa solução com duas facetas: em primeiro lugar, a Geração Procedural de Conteúdo, alcançada através de métodos convencionais e pela utilização inovadora de Grandes Modelos de Lin guagem (normalmente conhecidos por Large Language Models). Em segundo lugar, a Co-Criação de Conteúdo, que enfatiza o desenvolvimento colaborativo de conteúdo. Adicionalmente, dado que este trabalho se foca na compatibilidade com RV móvel, as limitações de hardware associadas a capacetes de RV autónomos (standalone VR Headsets) e formas de as ultrapassar são também abordadas. O conteúdo será gerado utilizando métodos actuais em geração procedural e facilitando a co-criação de conteúdo pelo utilizador. A utilização de ambas estas abordagens resulta em ambi entes, objectivos e conteúdo geral mais re-jogáveis com muito menos desenho. Esta abordagem está actualmente a ser aplicada no desenvolvimento de duas aplicações de RV distintas. A primeira, AViR, destina-se a oferecer apoio psicológico a indivíduos após a perda de uma gravidez. A se gunda, EmotionalVRSystem, visa medir as variações nas respostas emocionais dos participantes induzidas por alterações no ambiente, utilizando tecnologia EEG para leituras precisas

How George Floyd’s Murder Shifted the Expectations for Public Relations Practitioners Amidst Crises

The murder of George Floyd, recorded via cell phone videos and shared on social media, sparked national and global outrage and led to protests against racial inequality and police brutality. The rise of social media gave communities newfound power and allowed people to voice their opinions in an open forum. For the first time in history, major American brands were forced to address how racial inequality continues to be deadly for communities of color. This paper studies how major American brands reacted to the murder of George Floyd on social media and with owned messaging to establish how this culturally-sensitive moment shifted the expectations for crisis communication professionals and set a new precedent for how major organizations conduct crisis management. Four case studies examine how American Express, Microsoft, Target, and Facebook approached crisis messaging when addressing George Floyd's murder. A textual and content analysis of each brand's immediate press releases following Floyd's murder and of the brand's social media (Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) messaging within the month following Floyd's death &mdash; between May 25 and June 25, 2020, revealed which factors each brand thought to be most crucial to implement in order to execute a successful crisis communication plan addressing Floyd's murder.&nbsp;</p