Abstract

Microsoft, the world's largest software company''s culture is going through a major cultural shift. The old culture propagated by the founder Bill Gates, focused on being aggressive and competitive, in line with Microsoft's image as a start-up. Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's new CEO (Chief Executive Officer) realises that Microsoft's culture has to adjust to its status of industry leader. Ballmer has been empowering the lower level employees while abandoning the attitude of winning at any cost. He is asking employees to be open and respectful, less secretive, less mysterious and more communicative, towards people and organisations outside, to improve the company's image. The case discusses Steve Ballmer's initiatives to change Microsoft's image.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

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Keywords

Microsoft, Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's reorganisation, Microsoft's business segments, New culture at Microsoft, Microsoft's mission, Gates' trustworthy computing initiative, The Client segment, Server and Tools, The Information Worker, Microsoft Business Solutions, MSN, Microsoft Network, Mobile and Embedded services, Home and Entertainment