Succession Planning Affects Microsoft’s Marketing Strategy

INTRODUCTION

Since it foundation back in 1975, Microsoft Corporation had been the dominating producer of computer software, laptops and consumer electronics among other related products in the global market (Microsoft, 2014).  The company has been best known for software products such as Microsoft windows, wed browsers, operating systems and Microsoft Office Suite just to name a few. This success can be cited from different values exhibited by the company. These values include adherence to their originality since the foundation date, successful organizational culture, and monopolistic market that the company enjoyed in the 20^th century (Microsoft, 2014). Precisely, when the company was on the development stage, it faced less competition which strengthened their competitive advantage before competition got stiffer. Additionally, Microsoft was able to expand their product line liberally back in 1980s without making market considerations.  By the turn of a digital era, Microsoft ventured in broader markets and engaged in different alliances such as Trusted Computing Platform Alliance that incorporated other computer software and hardware manufacturers (Microsoft, 2014). Generally, one can assert that since the company was founded in a monopolistic market, it enjoyed the benefits of the market up to the fall of 20^th century and the start of the digital era.

However, citing from the recent status of Microsoft Corporation, it is exhibited that the company’s marketing strategy is affected by different external and internal factors. Some of the external factors include rapid encroachment of the technology and stiff competition in computer software and hardware global market. On the other hand, some of the internal factors include outdated organizational culture and ineffective succession planning. Therefore, the focal point of controversy in this research is based on the assessment of how poor succession planning has affected marketing strategies of Microsoft Corporation and their general operation. The controversy regarding Microsoft’s succession plan started in 2014 after the annunciation of Steve Ballmer’s step down as the CEO of the company (Microsoft, 2015). Precisely, 2014 was the year for Ballmer’s retirement but it was unfortunate that the company had no plans on the next successor for CEO position (Microsoft, 2015). Ironically, the company had announced in a two weeks time that it was going to acquire the handset and other services that were being offered by Nokia mobile company. It was anticipated that the company would acquire approximately 1.96% of the Nokia’s products and services for an equivalent amount of $7.2 billion which was the second largest acquisition for the company since 2011 (Microsoft, 2014). These anticipations were cut short by the fact that though the company announced the retirement of their CEO, they did not announce the successor which jeopardized the strategies proposed by the retiring CEO. This delayed the effective date for several months as it resulted to confusion among the senior executives and paralysis of the employees with regard to approval of the decisions made. Citing from typical succession cases, most CEOs take roles after several months of annunciation and yet come with their own strategies. This affects both the current strategies and culture together with the general operation of the organization. Thus, in Microsoft’s case, different executive members in the management had to shift positions which created further confusion in the organizational structure (Microsoft, 2014). Generally, poor succession plan after the retirement of Ballmer resulted to the anemic stock price and severe pressure from activist investors such as ValueAct Capital Management. As a result, this research focuses on the effect of succession planning on marketing strategies that are adopted by an organization.

AIM

Management problem:

• The costs and benefits of the management’s participation in the implementation of an effective succession planning in an organization
• The responsibilities of the management team in ensuring effectiveness of the succession plan
• Considerations to be made while selecting the next successors of the leadership positions in an organization

Marketing research problem:

 To assess the effects of ineffective succession planning to the marketing strategies implemented by an organization.

OBJECTIVES

To propose an effective way of implementing a successful succession planning to Microsoft Corporation

Identifying considerations that ought to be made prior to implementing the succession plan

To explore the role of the management in implementation of an effective succession planning

To spot the chronology of the effects imposed by poor succession planning to the marketing strategies through correlating them with the organizational culture as the intermediate factor

To use qualitative research method to:

• Provide evidence-based support on the research problem
• Acquire valid information regarding the topic from both professionals and reliable academic sources
• To provide additional strategies for succession planning from real life experiences
• To develop a reliable and valid succession planning proposal for Microsoft Corporation
• To offer a literature review for the research problem using real life experiences and reliable internet sources  
• Assess the procedural patterns for implementation of an effective succession planning.

RESEARCH STRATEGY

Research approaches adhered to by this study include exploratory and descriptive research which are used to explicate the details of the qualitative research method.

Exploratory Approach

This research approach was used to assess the progress of organizations that have successful succession planning and how this has contributed to the overall success of the organization. Secondly, the approach was used to obtain an insight on the real life experience of different executives who have taken part in succession planning implementation in their organizations. Thirdly, exploratory approach was used in the selection of survey and interview partakers who qualify for providing reliable information regarding the research problem. Precisely, the research involved both the secondary and primary research methods where surveys and interviews were taken as primary research methods and data from internet sources was used as the secondary research.

Descriptive Approach

This approach was employed in the analysis of the literature review regarding succession planning and its successful implementation. Additionally, the approach was employed in obtaining insight for the respondents of the surveys and interviews through the questionnaires. Descriptive research was also used in comparing the data obtained from the respondents of the survey and interviews with that obtained from other sources.

SAMPLING PLANS

Qualitative Approach

Citing from the nature of the research topic, it is factual that succession planning relies more on qualitative research more than quantitative research (Holmes & Kallabat, 2015). This is based on the grounds that though surveys are typically tabulated and computed in terms of percentages and such, succession planning does not need much of the statistical figures. As a matter of fact, succession research relies basically on soft skills and traits rather than perceptible and precise abilities. Thus, the number of the respondents was not regarded as a determinant variable in the purpose and objectives of the research. Consequently, qualitative research was used in both secondary and primary research methods which incorporated collecting data from the internet sources and through survey and interviews.

Secondary Research

The information on the literature review of the research problem was collected from internet sources that are approved to be credible and valid. A list of sources was compiled and analyzed in order to approve them as qualified as reliable sources. Precisely, data was to be collected from peer-reviewed sources, journal and scholarly articles. Additionally, data was also collected from text books that relate to the research topic. After collecting all the sources, relevant data was collected and amassed to form a valid and reliable literature review on the research topic.

Primary Research

This stage of the research incorporated surveys and interviews of different executives from organizations that exhibit and adhere to effective succession planning. Therefore, primary research started with conducting a survey to managers and other executive members in order to determine the potential respondents of the interviews. The number of survey respondents was projected to be 50 – 45 participants. These participants were informed through email and telephone calls to notify them on their recruitment to partake in the survey. The survey incorporated distribution of questionnaires to the selected executive members from different organizations. After filling in the questionnaires, the participants were to submit at a certain specified date that questionnaires were to be collected. The project team members were obliged to go through the questionnaires and analyze them in order to select 20 – 15 participants that qualified to partake in the interviews. Considerations that were made in selection of these interview participants included experience in the organization served and credibility of the information obtained from the participant’s description of the professional experience with regard to succession planning. After selecting the interview participants, they were notified through telephone calls and informed on the date for the interview. The interview was projected to take not more than 30 minutes for each participant.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

Questionnaire

Questionnaires were distributed to the participants of the survey after being selected randomly. These survey questionnaires featured direct and open-ended questions that gave the respondent a chance to highlight their personal experiences while implementing succession plans for their organizations. Questionnaires helped in obtaining bulky information on the topic from a large number of respondents within the shortest time possible.

Pilot test

For the surveys, the pilot test plan includes creating an informed consent to the selected partakers in order to prevent risks such as uninformed withdrawal. Therefore, at the prologue of the questionnaire, it was notified that participants had a right to withdraw at any level reached provided that the answered questions will be submitted during the collection of questionnaires. Additionally, they were informed that anonymity was seriously observed in this study and there was not that personal details would leak or be used for the purpose of other studies except this research. On the other hand, a guidance schedule was distributed to all project team members to make sure that they adhere to the track of the study.  

Direct Interviews

Interviews involved face-to-face dialogues with the selected participants from the survey. This research instrument was used to reinforce the information obtained from secondary research and survey where the participant could give his or her personal opinion on succession planning.

Pilot test

For the interviews, the participants would be informed on their recruitment precisely through phone calls and inform them on the importance of their participation in the research. Confidentiality would also be guaranteed by informing them that personal details would not be used even to the follow participants. Additionally, a new guidance schedule will be provided to the project team members in order to guarantee successful progress of the research.  

PROPOSED DATA ANALYSIS

Qualitative Data Analysis

Since this research relies basically on qualitative data, the process of data analysis will be followed qualitatively as the selected variables will mark the basis of the analysis. Some of the variables that will be considered while analyzing the collected data include the position held by the participants, years of experience, age, the organization served and gender. Thus, the information will be arranged with regard to these variables and the correlation will be identified. On the other hand, data collected from internet sources will be compiled together in order to support the hypothesis of the research.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

In conducting this research, there are several ethical concerns that were considered. The first ethical concern was in creating informed consent to the participants of the survey and interview. It was informed that prior to participation in this research, the participant had a right to withdraw at any level reached provided that he or she submits the questions answered. Additionally, it was notified that anonymity and confidentiality would be adhered to and no leakage of personal details will occur at any cost.

On matters concerning reliability and validity of the data collected, the project team made sure that information was obtained from credible sources such as peer-reviewed sources, journal articles and text books published from 2010 up to date. Furthermore, information obtained from surveys and interviews was thoroughly analyzed to make sure that it supports the purpose and hypothesis of the research. Lastly, the project team made sure that it adhered to the projected track of the research by following the planned schedule as the guide for the progress of the project.

A BRIEF COST AND TIME-SCALE BREAKDOWN

Cost Scale Breakdown

The following was the projected cost scale breakdown for the overall progress of the project.

Secondary data collection       $100

Surveys                                        $250

Interviews                           $150

Total                                   $500

Time Scale Breakdown

The general project was anticipated to take the duration of not more than six months where much time allocated for survey and interviews followed by the secondary research and data analysis taking the smallest duration.

RESEARCH LIMITATIONS

It is noteworthy that there are perceptible limitations that are associated with conducting this research on succession planning. Basically, these limitations revolved around the participants, time and the resources used for gathering information. Therefore, the following are the potential limitations associated with this research;

High probability of obtaining biased information  

Regardless of the fact that respondents are guaranteed confidentiality and anonymity, it appears that most of them are not convinced enough to give their personal experiences that correlate with their personal details. Some of the respondents could not give precise information concerning the organization served and how they have succeeded in implementing an effective succession plan. It was observed that most of them adhered to the positive side on effects of succession planning to organizational marketing strategies.

Unpredicted time consumption         

It appeared that surveys and interviews are time consuming particularly citing from time taken with each participant. It takes different durations for different participants to answer the questions asked in the questionnaires and interviews thereby making it time consuming. Additionally, since the respondents of the study were executive members, the time schedules they proposed for the survey and interviews appeared to diverge from the time scale schedule of the project.

Prone to unexpected expenses

It appeared that there were additional expenses that the project incurred some arriving from protection of certain risks such as late data collection. As a result some of the sites that hosted credible information demanded us to create accounts that would enable easy access to the required information. Additionally, as the data was collected it was realized that there was additional information that demanded further charges. Lastly, the projected resources appeared to be insufficient as the project demanded additional funds for interviews and surveys.

Insufficient information      

This research problem demanded for precise and sufficient information and valid examples that would help collect enough data. Therefore, a significant number of the sources that were obtained contained insufficient information which obliged the team members to correlate the information with the research problem. After the information was supported by the real life experiences obtained from the survey and interview, the team was able to make a valid and reliable conclusion.

REFLECTIVE STATEMENT

Citing from the information obtained from this research, I acquired much knowledge regarding marketing strategies and how organizational culture can greatly affect their effectiveness. Referencing from different lectures, it became my concern to scrutinize some of the factors that affect the marketing strategies of an organization. Therefore, looking for the real world marketing problem, I came across the problem that hindered the acquisition of Nokia products and services by Microsoft Corporation. This marked my great concern to assess the effect of succession planning on marketing strategies by an organization. I had to conduct a deep research on the marketing strategies that Microsoft Corporation was anticipating to adopt and how they collided with their succession plan. Taking this concept into account, it appeared that most of the organizations that depend on succession planning are highly affected particularly on making new marketing strategies. The seriousness of the topic was hidden in the notion that Microsoft has been successful in their implementations since the foundation date and faced minimal constraints. However, in 2014 it appeared that their outdated succession planning was severe up to a level of holding back their marketing strategies for a whole fiscal year.

For the qualitative research, I was guided by the assertions of Berger (2000) who inferred that interviews and surveys play a vital role in helping researchers obtain valid and reliable data that cannot be obtained through other sources. As Berger (2000) delineates it, qualitative research helps in obtaining information from real life perspective which is the most valid and reliable source of information supported by the fact that it gives first hand information. As a result, I selected interviews and survey since they give a room for thorough analysis of the respondents through the information obtained from them. Starting with the survey, it helped in selecting the most potential respondents who will give valid and reliable insights on the research topic. Starting with 50 – 45 participants and compressing them to 20 – 15 participants guaranteed absolute competence by the selected respondents.

However, it was unfortunate that the research did not give me the chance to employ quantitative research skills as the major concern of the problem was less dependent on the statistical figures.  However, it was factual that the large percentage of the executives in organizations that depend on succession planning admitted that in implementation of marketing strategies, the management ought to consider the succession planning as it is the basic determinant of the organizational culture that enhances marketing strategies.

Therefore, in conclusion I can assert that the research was double-edged and helped me assess the implementation of marketing strategies and how it can be affected by an organizational structure problem. I had to scrutinize marketing strategies that are affected by organizational structure and examples of recognized organizations that have set an example for this research problem. As a result, I was obliged to use secondary and primary research in order to get deeper in the roots of the topic. Searching from the internet helped me scrutinize broader and obtain information that could not be obtained from survey and interview.          

References

'Lessons learned from Microsoft's lack of CEO succession plan' 2014, Insidecounsel, 24, 263, p. 10, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost.

Berger, A. (2000) : “Media and communication research methods: an introduction to qualitative and quantitative approaches”, Thousand Oaks, California : Sage Publications. pp.161

Holmes, R, & Kallabat, M 2015, 'THE IMPORTANCE OF SUCCESSION PLANNING FOR CLOSELY HELD BUSINESS OWNERS', Illinois Banker, pp. 14-15, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 20 April 2016.

DAHLKE, A. (2012). Business succession planning for dummies. Hoboken, NJ, John Wiley & Sons.

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