In 1996, Microsoft entered into what would become known as ‘the browser wars’ with Netscape. In late 1996, Netscape had 85% of the market share with its Navigator browser. Within two years, Microsoft had gained 55% of the browser market share (Spinello, 2003). Microsoft’s business practices, however, were considered by some both unethical and illegal. The United States filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Microsoft. While most of the original ruling against Microsoft was overturned, they were found “guilty of anti-competitive behavior during its parrying with Netscape over control of the browser market (Spinello, 2003).” In a San Francisco Chronicle article from September 2002, Microsoft’s general counsel Brad Smith described Microsoft as being viewed by many companies “as the sand-kicking bully, the 600 pound gorilla, the most hated and feared company in the computer industry (Richman, 2002)” Since then, Microsoft has been working hard to improve its tarnished reputation. Microsoft managers will need to consider ethics in each of the four functions of management to succeed. Ethical behavior needs to be evident in the planning of new goals. Managers will need to lead their employees to behave in an ethical manner, and they will need to continually control and monitor their projects to ensure that those ethical standards are still being met.
With a company the size of Microsoft, Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer cannot possibly do everything that needs to be done. With over 50,000 employees, the managers at Microsoft need to delegate in order to be as successful as possible. Microsoft’s website lists 129 executives for various aspects of the business ranging from Human Resources to Consumer Strategy and Partnerships. To be able to reach Microsoft’s goals, much of the work needs to be delegated to other individuals. To maintain their status as the global leader in computing, the company’s goals are filtered down from the top level of executives...