Leadership the Bill Gates Way


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Case Details:

Case Code : LDEN014
Case Length : 14 Pages
Period : 1968-2003
Pub Date : 2003
Teaching Note :Not Available
Organization : Microsoft
Industry : Software
Countries : USA

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Please note:

This case study was compiled from published sources, and is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion. It is not intended to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. Nor is it a primary information source.

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Excerpts

The Early Years

Gates and Allen set up their own software company in April 1975, when Gates dropped out of Harvard and founded Microsoft. In 1977, Microsoft sold $500,000 worth of software. By this time, the BASIC program was being used in many computers.

Gates and Allen were assisted by a staff of six, which included four programmers. In late 1977, Gates released a version of FORTRAN language for microcomputers. In 1978, Gates and Allen introduced a version of COBOL. Around this time, Microsoft emerged as the market leader in microcomputer languages with sales exceeding $1 million. In 1979, Microsoft developed a new version of BASIC...

Focus on Product Development

Gates played an important role in product development activities at Microsoft. Much of his development efforts were directed towards product simplification. Gates believed that user-friendly computers and easily accessible software could attract many new customers. He tried to view the entire product portfolio of Microsoft in the light of future prospects and likely competitor moves. Accordingly, he made strategic decisions regarding product development. During the early years of Microsoft, all product development activities were done at one site. People worked in small teams so that whatever interdependencies existed could be handled by the concerned individuals immediately...

Hiring the Best Talent

Gates paid special attention to recruit and retain the best talent in the software industry. He believed that the recruitment of talented software engineers was one of the most critical elements in the software industry. Gates looked for a bundle of attributes in recruits. These included the capacity to grasp new knowledge quickly, the ability to ask probing questions, and deep familiarity with programming structures. Though a great number of potential recruits applied for jobs at Microsoft, Gates assumed that the best talent would never apply directly. Consequently, Microsoft's HR managers had to hunt for the best talent and offer them a job...

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