Cross-Cultural Perspectives
Microsoft Corporation, ranked number 120 out of the largest global corporations by Fortune 500 in 2011, is one of the world’s largest corporations (Fortune Global 500, 2011). Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company rapidly developed over the years and reached 89,000 employees, $62 billion in revenues, and offices across the globe by 2011 (Fortune Global 500, 2011). From their initial headquarters in Albuquerque New Mexico, Microsoft steadily increased their offices from across the United States to more than 100 countries (Microsoft Corporation, 2014). The expansion into different countries is a challenge to the Microsoft Corporation as it means meeting new cultures, lifestyles, languages, and people. Research must be conducted and followed by a working strategy to integrate these new cultures and ethics into Microsoft’s. Microsoft’s homepage presents a summarized version of their culture. “As a company, and as individuals, we value integrity, honesty, openness, personal excellence, constructive self-criticism, continual self-improvement, and mutual respect” (Microsoft Corporation, 2014). Microsoft also presents their official responsibilities, which is part of their ethical obligations. “We hold ourselves accountable to our customers, shareholders, partners, and employees by honoring our commitments, providing results, and striving for the highest quality” (Microsoft Corporation, 2014).
When endeavoring into new countries and cultures, it is important for new employees to understand and accept Microsoft’s culture and ethics. Microsoft products are used worldwide. When Microsoft decided to open an office in Lebanon, the majority of the computers ran on Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office was the most popular word processing, spreadsheet programs (Microsoft Corporation, 2014). However, the problem was that there were plenty of pirated versions distributed in a country where buying pirated software for $5 from the...
