Microsoft recently made massive changes to its organizational structure and as a result of these changes several managers in the company were awarded new responsibilities. Microsoft said that it has made these massive changes so it could unify its services and products. However, Microsoft is not the first multinational tech company that has adapted this ideology, as prior to this Apple also reorganised its corporate structure in a similar fashion. The iOS device maker made the big shuffle by arranging the engineering teams and executives around the services and functions instead of setting them around particular products. It was because of this successful strategy that today Apple is ranked at the top when it comes to leading tech companies in the entire globe.
Now Microsoft has made changes to bring its separate teams together from various departments to manage broader marketing, engineering and finance groups. Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, has explained this change in a lengthy email to his employees. Here is an excerpt from Ballmer’s email to employees:
“We are rallying behind a single strategy as one company — not a collection of divisional strategies. Although we will deliver multiple devices and services to execute and monetize the strategy, the single core strategy will drive us to set shared goals for everything we do. We will see our product line holistically, not as a set of islands. We will allocate resources and build devices and services that provide compelling, integrated experiences across the many screens in our lives, with maximum return to shareholders. All parts of the company will share and contribute to the success of core offerings, like Windows, Windows Phone, Xbox, Surface, Office 365 and our EA offer, Bing, Skype, Dynamics, Azure and our servers.
This means we will organize the company by function: Engineering (including supply chain and datacenters), Marketing, Business Development and Evangelism, Advanced Strategy and Research, Finance, HR, Legal, and COO (including field, support, commercial operations and IT). Each discipline will help drive our overall strategy. Each discipline will also be charged with improving our core capabilities in its area. We must improve in all aspects of the business.
From now on Microsoft will focus on four key engineering areas, not unlike Apple, including OS, Apps, Cloud, and Devices. Microsoft is hoping its new “One Microsoft” strategy will “improve the productivity of every engineer and to facilitate engineering collaboration and contribution across the company.” It’s also planning to bring its marketing teams together to have its message to customers better “reflect one company with integrated approaches.” The company will transition to the new engineering teams and “One Microsoft” approach by the end of the year after delivering its next round of Windows 8.1, Xbox One, Windows Phone products.”
Source: 9to5Mac