Case Analysis
Case: Microsoft
Situation analysis (Identify critical information, demonstrate understanding of the
situation, including all stakeholders, 4 points):
Culture at Microsoft:
•Microsoft’s culture originated from its startup phase in the early 1980’s with Gates,
Allen, and 4 programmers, which was dominated by innovation and hard work.
Long hours were normal with programmers sleeping on the office floor, fueled by
cases of Coke.
•Young people were respected: “it was about the only company where you could get
your own office at that stage in your career (right out of college)”.
•Bill Gates believed that everyone needs an office with a door that offered privacy
and place to “sit and think”
•Office complex referred to “campus” rather than “corporate park” – probably as a
reference to the atmosphere and high proportion of young people
•Original motto was work until you drop with 14-hour days and working weekends
the norm – although employees were passionate about the work they were doing
•To maintain a small company vibe, MSFT was divided into many small teams of
30-200 people. This independence was successful, yet inefficient with teams not
sharing information or ideas. Gates was the glue that coordinated the teams
together, often through “Bill Meetings”
•Despite constant pressure to perform employees felt like “we were literally
changing the world. It was an invigorating feeling” and that managers “created a
culture where everyone felt that their excellence was material to the bottom line”
Recruiting Talent:
•MSFT evolved from a few people at startup to over 30,000, making it difficult for
Gates and Allen (now Ballmer) to interview every new potential hire
•A team of 35 managed the formal recruiting process at over 100 college campuses,
but all employees were encouraged to act as recruiters and return to their own
college campuses to connect with new grads
•Hiring continued to be on “smarts”, targeting the top 5% and Type-A personalities.
“Is the person you’re interviewing smarter than half our group? They need to be:
we want to raise the median”
•Recruiting expanded internationally
•Recruiting expanded to include experienced employees, not just college grads to
fill the growing positions available and combat normal attrition. These experienced
recruits were communicated with continually and persistently to stay top of mind.
“One day he will be ticked off with his current organization for whatever reason.
That day, he will call us.”
•“Strike teams” were established to recruit opportunistically and recruiters were
monitored also based on the number of contacts they maintained, success in
