Running head: BILL GATES: A LEADER IN INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY
Bill Gates: A Leader in Innovative Technology
Richardo Coccia
Baker College
MGT 451R: Management Styles and Strategies
Tim Martin
July 8, 2008
Abstract
The Microsoft Corporation has been a giant in the software industry for over three
decades. The companys founders, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, put together an operating
system for the computer world that ultimately captured the attention of every one on earth.
However, it was Bills pure genius and leadership qualities that took software to a level that
was unmatched by anyone. Paul was the mastermind behind the hardware that needed Bills
software to operate effectively.
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Bill Gates: A Leader in Innovative Technology
Everyone in the world wants a computer that is compatible with worldwide technology.
Bill Gates is a gigantic leader in that innovative technology field. In spite of being a
Harvard drop out, Mr. Gates transformed the revolution of technology into an industry of
computer software that is unmatched in recent history.
Gates used the charismatic, transactional, and the transformational styles.
While utilizing his charismatic style, Bill Gates used ethics, morals, self-confidence,
enthusiasm, and a passion for creating an empire as well as inspiring his subordinates. As
noted in Dubrin (2007), leadership is defined as the ability to inspire confidence and
support among the people who are needed to achieve organizational goals. (p.2) Bill Gates
showed that ability in a way that has been, for the last three decades, unmatched by
anyone.
Not only is his mind genius in the creation of software, his leadership at Microsoft
Corporation has been the most dignified in recent history. Microsoft has been the world
leader for quite some time; however, in these past few years, Gates has opened the door for
other companies to make their own software while he has contemplated retirement.
Purpose of Study
This study is being conducted to find out how Bill Gates became a leader of one of the
most profitable companies in world history. Plain and simple, Bill Gates was and is a
genius, pure genius. His leadership in the technology field will be discussed here and it
will come to the conclusion that he was a truly great leader in the computing industry.
Limitations of Study
In todays society, everyone who owns a computer uses software developed by Microsoft.
However, there is some competition by other software companies. This study will be
limited to the leadership traits that Bill Gates developed, utilized his leadership abilities,
and launched the Microsoft Corporation into a world giant.
Definition of Terms
Terms that will be mentioned will be abbreviated throughout. Examples would be
MS-DOS, which means Microsoft Disk Operating System. The definition of BASIC
simply stands for Beginners All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. Personal Computer
will be abbreviated PC. TRW stands for Thompson, Ramo, Woolridge, which is
strategically focused on providing products and services with a high technology or
engineering content to the automotive and space & defense markets (Lowery, n.d.).
Review of Literature
Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955. He was born into a very successful and
historically rich family. His great-grandfather was a state legislator, his grandfather was a
vice-president of a national bank, and his father was a prominent lawyer (Mirick, 1996).
Bills parents recognized his academic intelligence in elementary school. They decided to
enroll him in a private school named Lakeside, known for its intense academic
environment. It was at this school that Bill was first introduced to computers. Lakeside
needed to find a way to purchase computer time; the school launched a fundraiser and
raised a few thousand dollars to buy computer time. The time for computing they had
purchased would have lasted into the next school year. However, Lakeside underestimated
the allure this machine would have on some of their students (Mirick, 1996).
Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and a few other Lakeside students would stay in the computer room
day and night. They formed what they called the Lakeside Programmers Group (LPG).
They would write programs, and read anything they could find on computing. They even
started skipping classes and did not turn in their homework or, turned it in late.
Unfortunately for Lakeside, they used up all of the computer time the school had raised the
money for (Mirick, 1996).
In 1968, Computer Center Corporation (CCC) opened a business in Seattle that offered
both, a computer and computing time at reasonable rates. However, their computers
seemed to keep catching bugs. These bugs would ultimately slow down the computers
speed and keep it from working properly. Lakeside and CCC reached a deal that would
allow Lakesides students to use that computer time (Wallace, 1993, p.27). Gates and his
friends did not take long to cause problems with this new computer. However, they caused
the system to crash several times and destroyed the computers security system. The
corporation then banned the students for several weeks. The CCC began to suffer
financially in the late 1960s, and the students (LPG) were then hired to find any bugs and
expose any weaknesses in the system. The CCC went out of business in 1970. The LPG
now had to find a way to get computer time (Wallace, 1993, p.30). In 1971, Gates and
Allen decided to start a company called Traf-O-Data. They built a small computer that was
used to measure traffic flow. This computer was a teletype machine that used a tape using
only binary numbers one and zero (Dickinson, 1997). This business provided an income of
$20,000. TRW started having problems with their operating system. This included the
system crashing and viruses. Gates and Allen were then offered jobs to fix the bugs on
