Microsoft is a multinational technology corporation founded on April 4th, 1975, by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Bill Gates was a high school student. When he and his longtime friend Paul Allen met for the first time, they came up with the idea of creating software that would help people to do the process of writing and calculations easier and at a faster rate. The most important thing was that it was affordable for basically everyone. The idea of this software was made after Bill worked at a place where they measured traffic flow patterns, and after some time working there, he told Paul about the process that this company was doing. Paul went public with their new project called Traf of Data. This was the same process that the company Paul worked for was doing, just that, in this case, the process was measuring traffic patterns at an accelerated rate. By this time, they were only 17 and 19, respectively, so they realized that together they were able to accomplish big things, and this project would let them have the economic freedom that they always dreamed about having.
In 1975, when Microsoft was finally founded with the initial name of Micro-Soft, Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard, and Paul Allen left his current job so that both of them could work full time at Micro-Soft and put their maximum effort to make it the most well-known and successful software company in the industry. They began the project in the library of the University of Washington, where Paul Allen’s father used to work as a librarian. They used one computer “to create an easy to read data charts on hourly traffic flows” (Mejia, 2018). Without all the experience they got from this year’s working in the library, they would not have been able to understand all those microprocessors, and Microsoft most likely would have never been created.
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The list of Microsoft products is extremely large, so there will be a list of the most popular Microsoft products they have sold throughout the existence of the company. The main and the most used one of all time is Windows. Everyone has at least used Windows software once in their lives; even though there are many people that say that Apple Software’s going to make the Windows software disappear, Windows sold 400 million copies of its last version. The second one is Office which has been helping people to perform better at their jobs. It has made life easier and less time-consuming for everyone. The last but not least important product that they have sold is the Xbox; there have been several versions of this product, and every time a new version comes out, it is extreme attraction to gamers.
The industry that this multinational belongs to is computer software, internet video games, and many more; this helps us to realize how creative and big this company is. We can see how much work each one of the employees who work for Microsoft has put in during these years to develop new products and make the company better.
The industry they belong to is technology; their market is doing extremely well, even though they are not doing as great as they used to before Apple became their biggest competitor. Throughout the years, they have been facing new competitors because, in today’s world, everyone wants to create or invent something new. Their four biggest competitors at the moment are Apple, IBM, Oracle, and Google. Apple has been increasing its revenues super rapidly even after its founder Steve Jobs died.
This company’s market can be classified as one of the top 5 earnings for the past ten years, as its CEO and founder was the richest man in the world until Jeff Bezos took his place two years ago. Bill Gates, the founder of the company, has always put more importance on the well-being of the company’s employees than anything else, and I think that this is one of the most important things whenever you are the manager of a company. The reason why I say this is because Bill Gates has been in charge of a foundation called Bill and Melinda Gates. He has been donating millions and millions of dollars since its opening year in 2000; Bill Gates announced in 2014 his retirement as chairman of Microsoft to focus only on the foundation (Bibliography.com editors, 2019), which has been for years his biggest project and where he has put all his effort and extra time that Microsoft has left him. All this charity, he does shows the whole world what kind of person Bill Gates is, a kind and generous person who is always willing to help.
Moving more into this investigation of the history of this magnificent company, the next topic that will be covered is going to be the culture and the organizational artifacts of the company. The characteristics of the organizational culture are: “Accountability, Quality and Innovation, Responsiveness to Customers, Growth Mindset, Diversity, and Inclusion” (Lombardo, 2017). This culture or artifacts are there only to ensure the rewards and the well-being of his employees.
The relationship between Bill Gates and his employees was exceptional; the connection with them was so big that “he used to memorize the working license plates of each one of his employees so that he could keep track of them whenever they arrived at the workplace and whenever they left” (Brandon, 2016), the only reason why he did this was that he wanted to know who was actually a hundred percent committed to the company and to the development of the company.
One of the most important things is how the chain of command is conformed; their organizational structure has a long list of people that take part in it. Their new CEO is Satya Nadella, now that Bill Gates decided to step down as the CEO and chairman of Microsoft, and unluckily Paul Allen, the cofounder, passed away last year ago, so they had to find someone else to be in charge of that position. And they trusted Nadella; so after several analyses that they did to several prospects that they had for the CEO position, he ended up being the best one. Now the chief of the Business Functions and the chief of the Engineering Group report to him all the results and all the ideas they have for the upcoming projects (Dudovskiy, 2019). This is going to help the company to be more open to all the future changes that it might think about doing; something else this is going to do is it will eliminate the bureaucracy of the company (Dudovskiy, 2019). This has worked for the past four years, in the ones Nadella has been in charge of, the biggest and most important internet and software developer in the world.
Talking more about the way their leader is, he has always had a growth mindset which has been allowing him to further the number of products they sell every year; he has been trying to implement new philosophies and the employee’s attitudes toward the work that they should have every day. This has not been an easy task for him because sometimes, even when changes are needed having to change so many people’s minds fast is complicated, so this is one of his main goals at the moment because once he reaches it, he said that the profit of the company would be affected in a very positive way.
The efficiency of the company talks by itself; they have been doing great for the past twenty years; even after Apple and all their competitors joined the market, they were still strong because of the effort that Bill Gates and Paul Allen always had for the product improvement, and the creation of new technologies.
Not everything was perfect for them; they had to face some ethical problems when they were just starting the company; they had a problem with Apple in 1984; the problem was that Apple developed a product that Microsoft used the idea of the operating system, and then used in order to create a new product, Apple did not find out about it any time soon after that happened and that is why they were lucky that Apple did not present any legal charges for using it (Ricky, 2015)
Microsoft’s mission statement is strongly aligned with its vision statement and is the optimization of the strategy and decision-making addressing its biggest competitors (Gregory, 2018). Their corporate mission statement is focused on the “Empowerment of every single person on the planet to achieve more” (Gregory, 2018). The most important component of their mission statement explains everything that Microsoft products can do.
Their code of ethics is something that cannot be left behind; Satya Nadella wrote a letter to all his employees, talking about the importance of maintaining their culture and their code of conduct at all times, no matter what the situation was (Nadella, 2019). One important thing that he said was that making good choices and ethical decisions will help the team to build better relationships with one another.
They do not offer an actual course or training for the people who want to make their ethical decisions better and to have better relationships with their colleagues, but they do know some of the best ethics trainers, and they give them letters of recommendation to go to these places.
They do have a corporate social responsibility, and it is focused on “serving global needs of communities and fulfilling our responsibilities to the public” (Dudovskiy, 2017). They are proactive in their CSR initiatives; some of the most known projects they have are the Lagos Solar in Nigeria which uses batteries that are charged by solar panels, and the YouthSpark initiative, which consists of giving the opportunity to 300 million young people of getting an education, employment and they encourage entrepreneurship.
To conclude this essay, I would like to make a reflection on what I got from studying this company in-depth; first of all, what I think was the most important thing that I learned from this project was that no matter how big your goal is and no matter if you have the resources or not you can always achieve it, by perseverating and never giving up. Something else that I got from this is how easy it is to manage people whenever you figure out the best way to do so.
References
- Brandon, John. “How Bill Gates Kept His Microsoft Employees Committed.” Inc.com, Inc., February 1st, 2016, www.inc.com/john-brandon/heres-why-bill-gates-used-to-memorize-employee-license-plates.html.
- Dudovskiy, John. “Microsoft Organizational Structure: Divisional Structure with Focus on Innovation.” Research-Methodology, January 31st, 2019, research-methodology.net/microsoft-organizational-structure-divisional-structure-with-focus-on-innovation/.
- Editors, Biography.com. “Bill Gates.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, January 17th, 2019, www.biography.com/people/bill-gates-9307520.
- Editors, Redmondmag.com. “13 Most Important Microsoft Product Lines.” Redmondmag, January 3rd, 2012, redmondmag.com/articles/2012/01/01/13-most-important-microsoft-product-lines.aspx.
- Ethics and Compliance, Microsoft. “Achieve More.” Software Asset Management – Microsoft SAM, 2019, www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/compliance/sbc/default.aspx.
- Mejia, Zameena. “Microsoft Exists Because Paul Allen and Bill Gates Launched This High School Business First.” CNBC, CNBC, October 16th, 2018, www.cnbc.com/2018/10/16/microsoft-exists-because-paul-allen-and-bill-gates-launched-this-high-school-business.html.
Spanking And Child Development During The First Five Years Of Life
Research Problem
The major research problem that has been identified in the research is spanking. Sparking is a common practice among parents of young children in the United States. The authors further illustrate that approximately a third of American families report cases of spanking for children as young as 10 to 18 months of age. The authors have been able to justify the research problem by stating that spanking is an effective means of behavioral control that does not result in unintended developmental consequences or lasting damage to children. The purpose of the article was to examine associations of spanking with child behavior problems and cognitive skills over the first five years of children’s lives.
The qualitative approach to the research question is justified by the researchers. The research problem is spanking and child development during the first five years of life. In the article, there is a theoretical basis that involves several authors who have tried to respond to the research problem in various dimensions. In modern industrial societies, parents bear primary responsibility for the socialization of children, and parents play a crucial role in influencing child health, development, and wellbeing and setting the stage for children to become well-functioning members of society. We can state there is a relation between the theory and the research question of spanking and child development during the first five years of life.
Measurement
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The primary variables in the study include spanking, behavior problems, and cognitive skills. Spanking is measured by the mother’s report of her own spanking, including “never in the past month,” “once or twice,” “a few times this past month,” “a few times a week,” or “every day or nearly every day.” Child behavior problems were assessed by a subset of items from the externalizing and internalizing behavior problems subscales of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Child cognitive skills at ages 3 and 5 were assessed using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R).
We can conclude that the independent and dependent variables used in this study were able to appropriately match the research question about spanking and child development during the first five years of life. Spanking is a common practice that continues to manifest in the United States. However, debate still rages on whether it is the best form of discipline strategy or whether it is harmful to children. While the research was not particular, it is worth stating that it was able to use the conceptual framework based on ideas of various authors with the aim of resolving the issue of spanking in relation to child development during the first five years of life.
The measures used in the study were solely based on the mother’s report of her own spanking for a mother who did not have a co-resident partner or spouse. The measure is reliable as it originates from the focus of the study, where spanking has a bearing. It is the parents who play a great role in spanking, and the use of a mother can therefore be termed as effective for the research study. In the article, we highlighted that the authors employed a child behavior checklist (CBCL), which is a common measure that is used in such a study and which has turned out to be more effective and reliable (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000). Through CBCL, the authors were able to examine behavior that is reported by the primary caregiver of the child. The question, however, that is missing is the role of the father has not come out clearly. In most cases, they are also involved in spanking and to a higher degree.
Research Design
The authors used a longitudinal birth cohort study of 4,898 children that were born between 1998 and 2000 in 20 United States cities, which was drawn from Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing (Non-experimental design). I feel that the design taken by the authors was not appropriate to address the research question. This is because, as observed by the authors, it resulted in a larger number of low-income children and Black or Hispanic children than would be the case in a nationally representative sample. The article was, therefore, not able to have a national outlook based on the research design that it employed in the study. The design remains consistent with the introduction and defense of the study because it illustrates how FFCW children are at a higher risk of both punitive parenting practices and adverse child outcomes. The design is able to examine spanking as a common practice among parents of young children, and this has been elaborated on in the introduction of the article.
There are threats to the internal validity of the outcome based on the article. There are various factors like fatigue, stress, and tiredness that might also affect the outcome of the study. Also, the data includes a substantial overrepresentation of single-parent and low-income families; the results will be most applicable to these family types and may not generalize to more advantaged families. The data rely on maternal reports for both parental spanking and child behavior problems. It is also important to note the impact of pre-testing, which might most likely impact the sensitivity and responsiveness to the study. As observed, the study focused on FFCW, an indication that it will be affected by the inclusion and exclusion criteria, meaning that a true picture will not be achieved. A better design for this study is using a national representative dataset with both parents reporting their sparking behavior. The cost for this study is low since it has no side effects on children, and the benefit of this study is that it can provide new evidence regarding links between spanking during early childhood and later adverse developmental outcomes for children.
Sampling
The target population is children under or equal to the age of five. The population from which the sample was taken is debatable since it does not represent all the appropriate people that would have given the research a national outlook. The sampling technique this research used was a random cluster sample. The research limited its sample analysis to 3,870 families that were able to complete at least one in-home interview either in person or through the phone. Multiple imputation techniques where data are missing at random were also employed in this research. It is worth noting that there were issues with external validity, and this arose from the fact that the effect of the sampling was based on specific selection criteria, and this is viewed to be an impact on the final outcome of the study. The simple random sampling could have given a more effective analysis. The author did sample in a manner consistent with the information in the introduction.
Data Collection
The authors were able to use an interview approach to collect data from the participants. Interviews are considered effective because they can limit any form of misunderstanding and mistakes. Also, it is easier to correct mistakes during the one on one session with the participants. The other advantage that we have witnessed from the article is that it has been able to enhance a certain relationship between the authors and the participants. As a result, there was mutual understanding which was beneficial to the research outcome. It is also important to note that through the interviews, the researchers were able to collect primary information that was from the source rather than relying on information from other sources which is at times fabricated.
The interviews have their shortcomings, and from the article, we can see that it was time-consuming. It takes a lot of time to prepare for the interview, take the interviews and later interpret the data. Also, there was a high possibility that there were biases because the process could be influenced by what the researcher wanted to achieve. The interview process can also turn out to be a costly affair because it is always expensive in terms of time and resources. A better way to collect the data would be to send out online surveys.
Data Analysis
The research utilized descriptive statistics, which from the table shows age 1, age 3, and age 5. In the sampling process, we see that spanking was least common at age 1, at which time 30% of children were reported to have been spanked, peaked at 56% at age 3, and decreased slightly to 51% at age 5 (Maguire-Jack et al., 2012). The analysis was appropriate because it was able to reveal considerable differences between the children who were spanked and those that were not spanked in terms of child emotionality. From a closer look at the data, we can conclude that there was no data that was misused; hence the research was reliable. It is worth concluding that based on the analysis above, the techniques were able to effectively match and address the research question.
Results
The results from the table in the article reveal the differences that exist in child behavior problems and child cognitive skills at ages 3 and 5. It concludes that children who were spanked at age 1 were highly likely to exhibit high levels of externalizing and internalizing behavior problems at ages 3 and 5. The raw data was able to reveal considerable differences existing between children who were and were not spanked in terms of child emotionality (at age 1) as well as a host of background characteristics (Maguire-Jack et al., 2012). The research also concluded that there was an association between spanking at age one and greater cognitive skills at age 5. The results answered the original questions for this study. Based on the study design, measures, data collection, and data analysis technique, I am confident the findings are accurate for children with a similar backgrounds.
Implications of the Findings
In conclusion, the authors found that the association between spanking at age one and greater externalizing behavior problems at age 5 operated fully through two indirect pathways: spanking at age three and behavior problems at age 3. That is, most children who were spanked at age 1 continued to be spanked as they aged, and spanking at age one was associated with greater externalizing behavior problems at age 3. Also, spanking at age one was indirectly linked to greater internalizing behavior problems at age 5 in that most children who were spanked at age 1 continued to be spanked as they aged. The authors did not over stat or understated anything, and these conclusions were appropriate.
The implications for this research is that the authors stated that the finding that spanking is associated with higher levels of future externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, net of earlier levels of behavior problems, suggests that parents’ use of spanking as a discipline strategy may adversely influence children’s behavioral development.
The results also suggest that the reciprocal and transactional nature of spanking and (particularly externalizing) behavior problems may potentially result in escalated problem behaviors rather than increased ongoing behavioral control on the part of the parent. The behavior problems results suggest that interventions that encourage parents who spank their children at young ages to discontinue this practice may help to diminish the likelihood that children will develop or continue to exhibit problem behaviors (Maguire-Jack, K et al. 2012).
The findings are significant to society and parents.
The authors suggest that parents should have alternative strategies for disciplining their children; practitioners may have the potential to better help parents control the problem behaviors that are likely to elicit spanking in the first place. It will be important for future studies to investigate how associations between spanking and child outcomes may vary by the context in which spanking occurs and, in particular, the extent to which spanking is normative or nonnormative in a given context, as such factors may mediate or moderate the associations revealed by the model.
