Public Relations at Microsoft

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Case Details:

Case Code : MKTG194
Case Length : 12 Pages
Period : 1980-2008
Pub Date : 2008
Teaching Note :Not Available
Organization : --
Industry : Computers
Countries : USA

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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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Introduction Contd...

However, not all of Microsoft's PR campaigns were successful. For example, even though the PR efforts for the launch of Vista, Microsoft's new operating system software, were appreciated, the sales of the product failed to live up to expectations.

Explaining this, some analysts said that although PR efforts contribute to the success of a product, they could not be expected to make up for flaws in the product.

They said that a PR campaign could only provide the platform for a product launch; eventually, it would be the quality and features of the product that would decide its fate.

Microsoft - The Company

Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates (Gates) and his friend Paul Allen in April 1975 at Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

Microsoft was founded to develop a programming language, Altair BASIC, an improved version of BASIC,¹⁰ for the Altair 8800, the first commercial microcomputer or personal computer (PC)¹¹ from Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS).¹² The company gave MITS distribution rights for the language, but retained the ownership rights. In 1977, Microsoft started selling its version of FORTRAN¹³ for CP/M¹⁴ based computers. The next year, the company introduced its version of COBOL¹⁵ for PCs. By the end of the 1970s, the company had emerged as the leader in microcomputer programming languages. In 1980, IBM¹⁶ awarded a contract to Microsoft for providing an operating system for the PC that IBM planned to launch...

Excerpts >>

10] Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code (BASIC) was one of the first programming languages for computers.
11] A microcomputer or a personal computer is a computer designed for individual users. It was built on a smaller scale than mainframes, which were usually manufactured for organizational use.
12] Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) was founded in 1969. The company is best known for the Altair 8800. It also developed audio generators, amplifiers, power supplies, radio controls for RC vehicles, and electronic hobbyist test instruments. The company was sold to Pertec Computer in 1977. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org)
13] FORTRAN (Formula Translator) is a high-level computer programming language suitable for mathematical and scientific computations.
14] In 1974, Dr. Gary A. Kildall, while working for Intel Corporation, the world's largest semiconductor company, created CP/M as the first operating system for the new microprocessor.
15] COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language), a programming language, was used in business data processing.
16] IBM is a multinational computer technology and consulting corporation headquartered in New York, USA.