Case studies are an essential learning
strategy in business classes as they provide an opportunity for you to
critically analyze events that have taken place in real-life businesses. This
develops your critical thinking and research skills as you research the
competition and industry in which your business resides in order to formulate a
recommendation for the challenges faced by the company.
For this unit, review the “Marketing
Excellence: Microsoft” case study on pp. 94–95 of your textbook. This
assignment will be comprised of two parts; one part will ask you to respond to
questions, and the other will require you to complete a case analysis.
Part 1
Evaluate this case and respond to each of the
following questions using both theory and practical managerial thinking.
Evaluate Microsoft’s product and marketing evolution
over the years. What has the company done well, and where did it falter?
Evaluate Microsoft’s recent expansion into areas such
as search engines and smartphones. Do you think these are good areas of
growth for Microsoft? Why, or why not?
Review the potential ethical implications of
Microsoft’s situation. How might they revise their strategies to align
with good ethical practices?
Your Part 1 response must be at least two
pages in length. Follow APA Style when creating citations and references for
this assignment. Note that you will submit Part 1 and Part 2 in one document.
Part 2
Complete a case analysis of Microsoft. This
requires that you conduct research on Microsoft beyond the case study material
in the textbook. In the case analysis, you will look at the situational analysis,
problem, and alternatives, and you will provide a recommendation. Refer to the
instructions below as you construct your analysis.
Situational Analysis
Discuss the external environment through the
compilation of a PEST (political, economic, sociocultural, and
technology) analysis.
Discuss the internal and external environment through
the compilation of a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and
threats) analysis.
Problem
Identify at least one organizational problem that
Microsoft is currently having or one that you project it will have in the
future. Base this on your research and critical thinking.
Alternatives
Compile three or four potential marketing-related
solutions to the problem above. Remember that these are potential
alternatives; you will not select all of the alternatives to solve the
problem.
Recommendation (Marketing Strategy)
Select one or two of the alternatives above to solve
the problem that you identified in this case analysis.
Discuss your rationale for choosing these and not the
others. Include supporting research that will increase the depth of your
analysis.
In order to successfully complete Part 2 of
this case study, you need to review the video and task learning guides (TLGs)
below. The following resources will provide you with the skills to research
industries/competitors.
Company and Industry Research video (transcript for Company and Industry Research video)
References:
Kotler, P., &
Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing management [VitalSource Bookshelf version] (15th ed.).
Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780133856606
