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Essay / Internal and External Management Factors - 1364
Every year, Fortune magazine publishes a list of the 500 largest companies in the United States (Time Warner Co., 2008). Being ranked no. In 2008, Microsoft increased its revenue by 15.4% since 2006 due to its continued efforts to launch the latest technologies (Time Warner Co., 2008). To understand how Microsoft continues to dominate in terms of profits, sales and technology, the consumer must realize that internal and external factors influence Microsoft's performance and operation. At a deeper level, Microsoft's planning functions are influenced by consumer needs, which continue to influence Microsoft's products and services. The purpose of this article is to identify and explain the internal and external factors that impact the management planning functions within Microsoft Corporation. The internal desire to conquer all global markets in the software sector is a very ambitious challenge, but Microsoft has proven that it is possible with careful planning regarding rapid change. Externally, the information technology industry is evolving rapidly and Microsoft is leveraging many of its resources to keep up with these developments. Each region of the world constitutes a different market which must be responded to accordingly. In order to adapt to these specific markets, Microsoft is flexible and can quickly change its goals if the local market does not appear lucrative for the company's future. Judicious operational planning and monitoring ensures that such rapid changes are a benefit to the business. Microsoft's global development section has put a lot of effort into creating software that can be used in every country in the world, thereby creating an external factor within the planning function. They have standardized operating systems so that the whole world is on the same page. There are many reasons for Microsoft to expand its products globally, including: increased revenue and profit potential, lower support costs, increased customer satisfaction, and a leg up on the competition (Microsoft Corporation, 2008 ). Developing software that fits the world is a way to deliver products quickly and cost-effectively to international markets. Software must be able to support all languages to be effective in the global market, especially when it comes to data entry using a keyboard. Some of the difficult languages that have characters instead of letters (e.g. Japanese) are a challenge for even the best programmers. Technology can be seen as an internal and external factor within Microsoft's planning function..