Microsoft People Problems
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Case Details:
Case Code : HROB035
Case Length : 15 Pages
Period : 1994-2006
Pub Date : 2003
Teaching Note : Available
Organization : Microsoft Corp.
Industry : Information Technology and Related Services
Countries : USA
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Background Note
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Microsoft was founded in April 1975 as a partnership concern by William. H.
Gates (Gates) and Paul Allen (Allen). It was incorporated in July 1981. Gates
and Allen were school-mates who were first introduced to computers in their prep
school in Seattle, Washington. At that time, computers were still new, and were
heavy and cumbersome to use. The school did not have its own systems but entered
into agreements with private corporations to allow the students to work on their
computers for given periods of time.
Gates, Allen and a few other friends quickly took to the new technology and
spent most of their time learning more about computing.
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They soon learnt to hack systems and began tampering with valuable files
until the company involved found out and banned them from using the systems.
However, later, the company realized its vulnerability, and hired them to
study the systems and spot weaknesses in them to prevent hacking by others.
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However, this company went out of business, and
Gates and his friends (who were still in school then) looked for
other places to hone their computing skills. In 1969, Gates, Allen
and two other friends formed a group called the Lakeside Programmers
Group.
Information Sciences Inc., a local company, hired them to develop a
payroll system. During this stint, the group made a mark and soon
other organizations hired it on contract to fix the weaknesses in
their systems. Gates and his friends gained valuable programming
experience through these jobs. |
In 1973, Gates enrolled for a law course at Harvard
University. However, he spent most of his time in the university computer
center. All this time, he was in touch with his old group, especially Allen.
Allen moved to Boston to be closer to Gates.
Gates and Allen often talked about having their own business some day. A year
later, Allen saw a picture of the first microcomputer3
on the cover of a magazine and showed it to Gates.
They realized that the home personal computer (PC) market was going to grow
rapidly and software would be needed to run the systems. They contacted Micro
Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), a manufacturer of PCs, and offered
to develop a programming language to run a PC called Altair, manufactured by the
company.
The programming language was an improved version of BASIC.4
They allowed MITS to distribute the language, but retained the ownership rights
to sell it without restrictions. In 1975, Gates dropped out of Harvard and set
up Microsoft with Allen...
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