Microsoft

ABSTRACT The following report describes and analyzes Microsoft’s legal, social and economic environments. It talks about the project management software which assists the project management team to use application demonstrates critical path methods, project scheduling, PERT and GANTT diagrams. Microsoft Corporation Microsoft Corporation is a multinational cooperation (MNC) globally recognized that is specialized in developing, manufacturing, licensing and supporting a wide range of computing technology products and services. They are headquartered in Redmond, Washington. The founder of Microsoft Corporation is Bill Gates and the company was established in 1975. The legal issues to discuss in the case of Microsoft Corporation are analyzed below. A common complaint about Microsoft has come in its product Microsoft Windows where people who want to purchase a computer get a copy of Windows without being pre-installed. Another problem in the legal issue of Microsoft is that when you choose open source you do not get a Windows operating system. The business name “Microsoft” is not already being used by another organization. Business License is another important legal factor while establishing a business. Microsoft Corporation has a business license and tax registration. Zoning is another factor Microsoft Corporation has been trouble free. Zoning implies selecting the location for business to make sure it is properly zoned for the type of business that is planned to operate. Non-Disclosure Agreements has been a legal issue at times but Microsoft Corporation now takes care that it sets up financing for its business or entering into contracts with suppliers confidentiality through non-disclosure agreements as it strongly believes with the theory that the more confidential information the business plan contains, the more important these agreements will stand out to be. The contractual issues are another significant legal issue that Microsoft Corporation manages significantly. The contract between Microsoft and a customer are read and understood properly. Advertising of Microsoft is clear from the fact that almost everyone in the world is aware of the company Microsoft and desires to work there. The social issues of Microsoft had been under scrutiny a few years ago. Microsoft had a tough time to figure whether to support gay rights legislation in Washington. When Microsoft declared that, it would support the legislation, the employees up and down the corporate hierarchy explored profound. Moreover, it resulted in lost sales to people who disagree with Microsoft. Other than this, there are some positive aspects too. Bill Gates over the years has been a good philanthropist. Bill Gates realized the expectations of the people from the public and donated a huge amount of charity each year. During the year 2000, Bill Gates along with his wife combined three family foundations to form the charitable Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which today is the largest transparently operated charitable foundation all over the world to allow benefactors access how its money is being spent (Gates Foundation, n.d.). Many businesses today face many economic issues that can aid or hurt their bottom lines. The economic issues to be discussed in the case of Microsoft are Mergers, layoffs and Recession. Microsoft Corporation has been involved in various mergers. For instance, Microsoft Corporation is a proud partner of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) and deals and shares the same belief that the various sectors such as private, public and nonprofit sectors must collaborate to confront the world's most pressing issues and troubles. Microsoft had been affected by recession slightly but did not indulge in layoffs as it contains the top most quality employees of the world who come out with outstanding performance. Microsoft Corporation has developed Project Management Software designed to assist project managers in assigning resources to tasks, managing budgets, assigning resources to tasks and analyzing workloads as well as developing plans (Microsoft, 2010). The software creates critical path schedules for effective project management where schedules can be resource leveled. The software is also able to create critical chain and event chain methodology, third-party add-ons for effective project management where chains are visualized in a Gantt chart. Microsoft Project is Microsoft’s third Windows based application and it has dominated PC based project management software today. The Project Management Software creates budgets based on assignment work and resource rates and as resources are assigned to tasks and assignment work is estimated, the software program calculates the cost accordingly (Microsoft, 2010). The resource rates are used to determine the resource assignment costs which is seen to be summarized at the resource level. Microsoft Corporation’s project management team clearly outlines the project timelines once the scope of the project and its objective is clear. They do this by outlining the due dates of key milestones, including deadlines in the schedule. Also by identifying the required client, consulting resources, and making sure that there is enough time for the team to finish the required research and analysis to make solid recommendations while still allowing the client sufficient time to implement their recommendations. Microsoft Corporation develops a clear project scope by discussing initial hypotheses to test as soon as possible to gain an understanding of executive response at the initial stage in the project, outlining the tasks and deliverables to set client expectations. The sign of the client is very necessary in the document at the beginning of a project. Microsoft Corporation consistently reviews the original scope through scheduled milestone meetings during the course of the project. The Microsoft Project Management Software has an application installed which depicts the critical path analysis (CPA) which uses an arrow diagram comprising of a circle represents an event and an arrow which points to the next event. By identifying the critical paths, Microsoft Project Management Team ensures that the resources are allocated to best effect. A Contingency Plan is used in Microsoft Corporation once the Project Management team realizes that things are going awry and an immediate action needs to be taken. Once the deficiencies are found out, the team determines whether to hire extra labor, purchase extra equipment or use different technology. In this way, Microsoft determines its staffing needs and tools. The Microsoft Project Management Software also demonstrates the PERT diagram to the user i.e. Project Evaluation and Review Technique designed to analyze the tasks involved in completing a project such as time needed to complete each task or minimum time required to complete the total project. The PERT diagram used after the completion of Critical Path Method has various components such as Optimistic time (O), Pessimistic time (P), Most likely time (M) and Expected time (TE) as shown in the example below (Modesto & Tichapondwa, n.d.). [pic] The Gantt diagram depicts a project schedule and is in the form of a bar chart. The main advantage of Gantt chart is that they have a common technique for representing the phases and activities of a project work breakdown structure. Therefore, it is easy for the people to understand. Below is an example of a Gantt chart used depicting various activities in a project in a bar chart form. [pic] References Microsoft (2010). Microsoft Project 2010: Product Information. Retrieved May 28, 2011, from http://www.microsoft.com/project/en/us/product-information.aspx. Modesto, S. & Tichapondwa, S. (n.d.). Successful Project Management. Retrieved May 28, 2011, from http://www.col.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/SuccessProjMgt.pdf. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (n.d.). Foundation Fact Sheet. Retrieved May 28, 2011, from http://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/Pages/foundation-fact-sheet.aspx.