Publications

June 2018
Teaching Note

The Transformation of Microsoft

By: C. Fritz Foley and F. Katelynn Boland

Teaching Note for HBS No. 218-048. In early 2015, Amy Hood, CFO of Microsoft, and the rest of the senior leadership team faced a set of fundamental choices. The firm had opportunities to serve customers in ways that would be associated with higher growth but lower... View Details

Keywords: Growth; Corporate Finance; Valuation; Growth Management; Communication Strategy; Transformation; Information Technology Industry; Computer Industry; United States

October 2012
Case

Microsoft Office 2007 (Abridged)

By: Marco Iansiti and Bianca Buccitelli

A discussion of the history and processes behind the development of Microsoft's Office 12 software. View Details

Keywords: History; Applications and Software; Research and Development; Business Processes; Product Development

August 2000
Teaching Note

Microsoft Latin America TN

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Alberto Ballve

Teaching Note for (9-100-040). View Details

Keywords: Information Technology Industry; Latin America

October 1991 (Revised July 1993)
Case

Bill Gates and the Management of Microsoft

In July 1991, Microsoft has achieved record growth and profitability in the PC software industry. The case focuses on Microsoft's founder and CEO, Bill Gates, and his top management team, as they seek to retain the innovation and spirit of a small company in a rapidly... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth Management; Organizational Culture; Personal Development and Career; Information Technology Industry; United States

September 2001 (Revised March 2006)
Teaching Note

Microsoft Office 2000 TN

By: Alan D. MacCormack

Teaching Note for (9-600-023), (9-600-097), and (9-600-502). View Details

Keywords: Information Technology Industry; District of Columbia

September 2001 (Revised September 2003)
Case

Priceline.com v. Microsoft (B)

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology Industry

March 1997 (Revised April 2001)
Supplement

Microsoft in the People's Republic of China: 1998 Update

By: Tarun Khanna and Danielle J. Melito

Provides an update to Microsoft in the People's Republic of China--1993. View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Globalized Markets and Industries; Information Technology Industry; China

17 Jul 2000
What Do You Think?

Where Is the Microsoft Board?

Microsoft caused by (2) a defense personally led by Bill Gates and (3) by the failure of the company's board to provide counsel. In the case of a high-tech company where significant ownership rests in the hands of management (e.g... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

June 2023 (Revised November 2024)
Case

Collaboration Wars: Slack vs. Microsoft Teams 2023

By: David B. Yoffie, Kriti Gupta, Mehek Punatar, Poonam Sacheti and Poorvi Vijay

What's the future of corporate communications? Email? Corporate messaging? The battle for corporate messaging in 2023 was stacking up as a fight between Slack, which had been recently acquired by Salesforce, and Microsoft Teams. This case explores a classic judo... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Acquisition; Technology Industry; Communications Industry

May 2024 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Leading Culture Change at Microsoft Western Europe

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Cat Huang

In 2023, Cindy Rose, President of Microsoft Western Europe, faced a critical decision. Rose grappled with the potential impact of widespread layoffs on psychological safety and the cultural transformation she had championed since her arrival. When Rose had first joined... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Organizational Culture; Transformation; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Problems and Challenges; Motivation and Incentives; Groups and Teams; Business or Company Management; Technology Industry; Europe

January 2020 (Revised March 2020)
Teaching Note

Commercial Sales Transformation at Microsoft

By: Doug J. Chung

Teaching Note for HBS No. 519-054. View Details

November 1997
Case

Microsoft Goes Online: MSN 1996

By: David B. Yoffie

Explores Microsoft's decision to enter the online services industry in the light of its competition and the growing importance of the Internet. Significant issues include the cost and availability of content, telecomm/Internet access costs, competition with the World... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Growth and Development; Market Entry and Exit; Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Web; Information Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

November 1990 (Revised May 1994)
Case

Microsoft Corp.: Office Business Unit

By: Marco Iansiti

Describes the development of a new word processing software package, Word for Windows. The major focus is how the development process should be improved to reduce schedule slips and cost overruns. Some of the issues raised are: the use of schedules in managing... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Cost Management; Business or Company Management; Time Management; Product Development; Programs; Projects; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Information Technology Industry

January 2013
Supplement

Microsoft Server & Tools (B)

By: Marco Iansiti and Alain Serels

Supplement for case 613031. Update on progress of Microsoft's Server & Tools Business through July 2011. Satya Nadella and his team explore whether or not to support Linux on Windows Azure. View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Disruptive Innovation; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry

April 2001 (Revised June 2001)
Case

Competition Policy in the European Union and the Power of Microsoft

By: Julio J. Rotemberg and Michelle Kalka

Focuses on a decision by the European Competition Commissioner Mario Monti about U.S.-based Microsoft Corp. Sun has complained to the commission that Microsoft has installed components in its desktop operating system that only "talk" to Microsoft operating systems for... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Law; Emerging Markets; Information Technology; Policy; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry; European Union; United States

21 Jun 2022
HBS Case

Free Isn’t Always Better: How Slack Holds Its Own Against Microsoft Teams

When COVID-19 forced companies to send employees home two years ago, newly remote workers largely reconnected on two collaboration apps: Slack and Microsoft Teams. The pandemic propelled Slack beyond its core following in the technology... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Information Technology; Technology

February 1995 (Revised August 1995)
Case

Microsoft in the People's Republic of China, 1993

By: Tarun Khanna

Explores some of the economic and political tradeoffs that need to be negotiated by a firm seeking to influence industry structure. The setting is the nascent personal computer software industry in the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1993. Microsoft has to localize... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Product Marketing; Market Entry and Exit; Market Transactions; Industry Structures; Partners and Partnerships; Vertical Integration; Software; Information Technology Industry; China

August 2007 (Revised December 2007)
Case

Microsoft in China and India, 1993-2007

By: Tarun Khanna and Prithwiraj Choudhury

Relates to Microsoft's expansion in China and India in the period 1993-2007 and the strategic issues faced by multinationals in emerging markets. View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Multinational Firms and Management; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Emerging Markets; Information Technology Industry; China; India