Entrepreneurship Management Assignment

GROUP – 12

Abhishek Shetty – 02 (Division – A)

Rahul Zunjarrao – 25 (Division – A)

Selwin George – 32 (Division – A)

Sudhir Devadiga – 35 (Division – A)

Shrutha Shetty – 77 (Division – B)

Nethra Patil – 101 (Division – B)

DATE – 29/04/2021

Faculty name – Dr. Shaheda Sheikh

1. Topic Name – MICROSOFT
Introduction
Why was Microsoft started (birth of Microsoft)?
Microsoft is born
On April 4, 1975, at a time when most Americans used typewriters, childhood friends Bill
Gates and Paul Allen found Microsoft, a company that makes computer software. Originally
based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Microsoft relocated to Washington State in 1979 and
eventually grew into a major multinational technology corporation.
Gates and Allen started Microsoft—originally called Micro-Soft, for microprocessors and
software—in order to produce software for the Altair 8800, an early personal computer.
Allen quit his job as a programmer in Boston and Gates left Harvard University, where he
was a student, to focus on their new company, which was based in Albuquerque because
the city was home to electronics firm MITS, maker of the Altair 8800. By the end of 1978,
Microsoft’s sales topped more than $1 million and in 1979 the business moved its
headquarters to Bellevue, Washington, a suburb of Seattle, where Gates and Allen grew up.
The company went on to license its MS-DOS operating system to IBM for its first personal
computer, which debuted in 1981. Afterward, other computer companies started licensing
MS-DOS, which had no graphical interface and required users to type in commands in order
to open a program. In 1983, Allen departed Microsoft after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s
lymphoma; he was successfully treated for the disease and went on to pursue a variety of
other business ventures.
In 1985, Microsoft released a new operating system, Windows, with a graphical user
interface that included drop-down menus, scroll bars and other features. The following year,
the company moved its headquarters to Redmond, Washington, and went public at $21 a
share, raising $61 million. By the late 1980s, Microsoft had become the world’s biggest
personal-computer software company, based on sales. In 1995, amidst skyrocketing
purchases of personal computers for home and office use, Windows 95 made its debut. It
included such innovations as the Start menu (TV commercials for Windows 95 featured the
Rolling Stones singing “Start Me Up”) and 7 million copies of the new product were sold in
the first five weeks. During the second half of the 1990s, Internet usage took off, and
Microsoft introduced its web browser, Internet Explorer, in 1995.

2.Objectives to study the topic –

 To know about the business ideas of Microsoft.

 To recognise about the various products and services of the company

 To understand the various CSR activities done by the company

3. Business ideas of Microsoft:
1.     Move Fast and Keep Innovating -
To stay competitive in a saturated start-up world, you should move at a faster speed and
focus on continuous innovation. Microsoft believes that ‘The most important speed issue is
often not technical but cultural. It’s convincing everyone that the company’s survival
depends on moving as fast as possible.’

2.     Think Ahead of the Times

In order to stay one step ahead of the competition, you need to predict the future and
prepare for it in advance. Due to this, Microsoft was always one-step ahead of the
competition. 

3.     Persistence and Perseverance -

 The ability to persist and persevere. Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft who founded the
software company with Bill Gates, writes about his persistence and perseverance in an
article, “Bill craved closure and he would hammer away until he got there.” Bill Gates
himself said, “There is nothing that was overnight.” The initial versions of the Windows
operating system (Windows 1.0, Windows 2.0) were not that successful but his persistence
made Windows, the most popular operating system in the world.

4.     Take Risks
  Bill gates conviction and risk-taking propensity made Microsoft such a hit even when no
one knew much about computer software. “If you want to win big, you sometimes have to
take big risks.” The words of Bill Gates are a great source of inspiration for entrepreneurs
who are willing to take risks to achieve better rewards.

5.     Focus on Unhappy Customers

 Bill gates considers dissatisfied customers a huge asset since they can impart lessons you
hitherto didn’t know. He said, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of
learning”. If you want to be successful in business, you should listen and value what your
disappointed customers are saying. Take action and improve in the light of their feedback.
Various products, services, tools and apps launched by the company

 Bing — A search engine by Microsoft.

 Microsoft 365 — Microsoft 365 combines collaboration tools, the Office suite of
Microsoft Office 365 productivity apps, security & cloud services.

 Microsoft Defender Antivirus — Formerly known as Windows Defender,

Microsoft Defender Antivirus still delivers the comprehensive, ongoing, and
real-time protection you expect against software threats like viruses,
malware, and spyware across email, apps, the cloud, and the web.
 Microsoft Edge — The newest browser from Microsoft designed for faster,
safer browsing on Windows 10.

 Microsoft Office — A set of interrelated desktop applications, servers and services,

collectively referred to as an office suite, for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X
operating systems.
 Microsoft Excel — View, edit, or create spreadsheets from anywhere.
Microsoft PowerPoint — Explore how PowerPoint can help you tell a
powerful story in your presentations and easily share your slides on the web.
 Microsoft Word — Explore Word for an easier screen-reading experience,
new ways to work together on documents, and tools that help you polish
your documents like a pro.
Devices
 Microsoft Lumia — A smartphone by Microsoft.

 Microsoft Surface — A Windows tablet that can replace your laptop.

 Microsoft Surface Book — A powerful laptop to handle your biggest productivity

demands; combining speed, graphics, performance & versatility to be a laptop,
tablet and portable studio.

 Microsoft Surface Duo — The new Surface Duo is a dual-screen mobile device that is
thin and lightweight to fit in your pocket; 2 screens connected by a revolutionary
360° hinge with the best of Microsoft 365 and Android apps for productivity on the
go.

 Microsoft Surface Earbuds — With Surface Earbuds, get ultra-comfortable design

with silicone ear tips, full touch and voice controls, access to innovative Microsoft
365 experiences, immersive sound, and all-day battery

 Microsoft Surface Go — Surface Go 2 is the smallest and lightest Surface 2-in-1

laptop yet. At only 1.2 lbs. (544 grams) & a 10.5” touchscreen, Surface Go 2 features
a built-in adjustable kickstand for tablet-to-laptop versatility, anywhere.

 Microsoft Surface Headphones — Now your music and calls sound spectacular on
Surface Headphones 2 – music is even paused when you take them off. With
intuitive controls, active noise cancellation, comfort and style; now available in Black.

 Microsoft Surface Hub — An all-in-one digital interactive whiteboard, meetings

platform, and collaborative computing device that brings the power of Windows 10
to team collaboration.
Applications

 Cortana — Cortana is your personal assistant — helping you get things done by
letting your PC and phone work together.

 Microsoft Translator — Microsoft Translator enables you to quickly translate text or

speech, have two-way conversations, and even download languages to use offline
when you travel abroad.

 Word Flow Keyboard — Word Flow is a blazing fast keyboard that comes with search
(GIFs, restaurants, and more), free customizable themes, swipe, and Arc mode for
comfortable one-handed typing.

 Microsoft Authenticator — One app to quickly and securely verify your identity
online for all of your accounts.

 Microsoft Remote Desktop — With the Microsoft Remote Desktop app, you can
connect to remote PC and your work resources from almost anywhere.

 Microsoft Pix Camera — A smart camera app that helps you take better photos with
your phone without any extra effort.
Contributions to society-

Microsoft – corporate social responsibility 

1.Protecting public health
A healthy economy depends on a healthy society. Through Microsoft’s AI (artificial
intelligence) for Health program, the company is investing $40 million to empoTheyr those
tackling global health challenges, and an additional $20 million to advance COVID-19
research. “As They age, our ability to live independently, safely and confidently in our home
diminishes,” says David Rhew, global chief medical officer and vice president of healthcare
at Microsoft. This change can occur gradually, over several years, due to progressive decline
of physical and cognitive capabilities. Or it can be sudden and dramatic, such as after a
stroke, heart attack or major fall. Either way, ageing in a safe and familiar location continues
to be one of the most important goals for those affected and their caregivers. Rhew believes
that technology can enable this.   

2.Building skills for employability

Microsoft is working to help create a future in which every job seeker impacted by COVID-19
is helped in one or the other. An employee who needs help to strengthen their career, and a
student preparing for the workplace, should have access to the skills, technology, and
opportunity to succeed. To help address this need, Microsoft is launching a global skills
initiative aimed at bringing more digital skills to 25 million people worldwide by the end of
the year. This initiative will bring together every part of the company, combining existing
and new resources from LinkedIn, GitHub, and Microsoft. The company is also pledging that
they will make stronger data and analytics available to governments around the world so
they can better assess local economic needs. Finally, they will use their voice to advocate for
public policy innovations that they believe will advance the skilling opportunities people will
need in the changed economy.

According to Microsoft calculations, global unemployment in 2020 may reach a quarter of a

billion people. It is a staggering number. The pandemic respects no border. In the United
States alone, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the country may witness a 12.3-
point increase (from 3.5% to 15.8%) in the unemployment rate, equating to more than 21
million newly out-of-work people.

3.Closing the broadband gap

COVID-19 has driven many essential activities online. Yet millions of Americans lack
broadband access and 49% of people globally don’t have internet access. Microsoft’s
Airband Initiative is on track to extend affordable broadband access to millions of people by
July 2022.
 Microsoft study finds 157.3 million people don’t use the internet at broadband
speeds
 Report shows 5.5 million more people have broadband than last year
 Microsoft data finds nearly twice the number of people without access than the FCC
reports
Each year, as part of its initiative to bring broadband internet access to rural areas,
Microsoft releases a report on the state of the internet in America. This year’s findings are
encouraging, but still show that a large percentage of the country still isn’t getting
broadband speeds — defined by the FCC as 25 Mbps download speeds and 3 Mbps upload
speeds.
In 2017, Microsoft partnered with NeXT link for the Microsoft Airband Initiative to bring
broadband access to underserved rural communities. Their goal is to bring broadband
access to three million people by July 4, 2022. Nearly halfway through their project, they’re
currently on target to meet this goal.
4. Access to digital skills for Black communities

Microsoft is increasing access to the skills needed to thrive in the digital economy. They’ll
strengthen support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, expand computer science
in schools, and Black-led non-profits working to provide skills to the Black community.
Around the world, 2020 has emerged as one of the most challenging years in many of our
lifetimes. In six months, the world has endured multiple challenges, including a pandemic
that has spurred a global economic crisis. As societies reopen, it’s apparent that the
economy in July will not be what it was in January. Increasingly, one of the key steps needed
to foster a safe and successful economic recovery is expanded access to the digital skills
needed to fill new jobs. And one of the keys to a genuinely inclusive recovery are programs
to provide easier access to digital skills for people hardest hit by job losses, including those
with their incomes, women, and underrepresented minorities.
Findings from the study -

Some of the findings derived from this report are, Microsoft believes that to stay in
the competitive world you should move at a faster speed than your competitors and
focus on continuous innovations. If you want to win big, you have to take big risks as
an organisation. If the company wants to be successful then they have to focus on
their unhappy customers too because it is through them that the company can learn
where they are lacking with their products. 

It was also observed that Microsoft has released various products in various
segments. One of their most popular products is Microsoft Edge. It keeps your online
accounts secure. It gives you more control over your data and more transparency
into which trackers are being blocked while you browse the web with tracking
prevention. There are 25 other new exciting innovations that Microsoft has put
together. Microsoft enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud
and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every
organization on the planet to achieve more. 

The findings suggest that being a socially responsible company can bolster a
company’s image and build its brand. Formal corporate social responsibility
programs can boost employee morale and lead to greater productivity in the
workplace. Microsoft is working with non-profits to ensure every person has the
skills, knowledge and opportunity they need to succeed in the digital economy.
Microsoft’s study finds that 157.3 million people don’t use the internet at broadband
speeds. The new fund would target rural areas across the country where residents
currently lack access to adequate broadband and would deploy high speed
broadband to millions of rural Americans in an efficient and effective manner.

References –
1. Business ideas – www.news.microsoft.com/announcement/microsoft-is-
born/
2. Contributions to society – www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-
responsibility