Microsoft Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Microsoft Corporation - Essay Example Strong Brand Image: Microsoft is a well known brand the world over. Anybody having anything to do with the field of IT, computers or technology finds the italicised brand name easily distinguishable and identifiable. Microsoft was firmly placed at third position after Google and GE in the ranking of brands being finalised by MillwardBrown for the year 2008. In fact, while many of the reputed brands have slipped down their positions, Microsft has firmly held on to its position for couple of years. With a brand value of $ million 70,887, the company saw a rise of 29% in its brand value as compared to 2007. Well Organised R&D set-up: Microsoft is known to be continuously on the lookout for an upgrade or latest product or service with focus on the innovation and customer convenience. Microsoft was one of the first software companies to make provisions for R&D activities way back in 1991 itself. With R&D labs at six places around the world, the company has more than 800 researchers studying more than 55 areas of research. Wide range of Product portfolio: If we talk of an operating system, Windows is the first name that crops up. In fact Windows itself became a brand identity for operating software. Now with valuable upgrades like Vista, the OS range is quite wide. Besides the OS, a number of other products like Office tools, development tools, multimedia software, client-server tools etc. provide a remarkable strength to the company. Strategic tie-ups with a number of reputed companies: Microsoft has been working in close co-ordination with a number of companies. For example computer manufacturers like Dell, HP; multimedia and audio-visual products like Sony, Phillips etc. are the strategic partners of Microsoft. Consistent operating performance: Microsoft has seen healthy operating figures consistently for many years. The results announced for the fiscal quarter ended Sept 30 2008 has shown revenues worth $15.06 billion with a 9% increase over the corresponding period last year2. The average returns of the company over the last five year period ending June 2007 indicate consistency in performance. The average return on assets, return on investments and return on equity figures during the last five years were 14.3%, 18.5% and 20.2% respectively, higher than the industry averages of 11.7%, 16.5% and 19% for the same period (Datamonitor, 2007). Weaknesses Uneven Geographic Concentration: Though Microsoft has operations in many countries around the world, but a cursory look at its financial statements indicate that company's revenues from the US contributed to 62% of the total revenues of the company in 2007 leaving just 38% for the rest of the world (Datamonitor, 2007). In fact, the revenue figures are not indicative of the existing usage of Microsoft software because of a large number of pirated versions doing the rounds in many countries around the world. But Microsoft has not been able to do much to tackle this menance. Decreasing share of search market: Microsoft's search engine MSN search is being replaced by Google all around the world at a rapid pace. Microsoft, having been a leader in software products has not been able to come out with a matching answer to Google indicates sorry state of affairs for the company. Opportunities Increasing emphasis on emerging markets: Microsoft has been strengthening its operations in countries like China and India, the major untapped, yet highly promising markets. With America under recessionary trends, company will do a world of favour to itself if it is able to set off some of the losses by being better focused towards such markets. Launch of Newer Products: The Windows Vista launched in 2007 has come out with many improved features over the

Comparative Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Comparative Religion - Essay Example There have been in the religious discourse, plenty of theories and theoretical paradigms pertaining to the need, purpose and the importance of religion in the lives of the people who follow them. Some of these theories are worth noting. For instance, James Frazer (pp. 232-246), an anthropologist of evolutionary school of thought, places religion in a nonlinear hierarchical evolutionary ladder in which, the first step is magic followed by religion and subsequently by science. He argues that the earlier people were not aware of the ‘real’ reasons behind the natural processes and so, came up with explanations that now sound fantastical and unlikely. These explanations form the realm of magic and soothe the human anxiety when the mind could not find any other explanation. However, man soon realized that magic could not work in all situations and there has to be a definite propitiation of the higher power in the way things pan out in the universe and thus religion was born. A ccording to Frazer (pp. 256-278), it came out of a need to reconcile the ideal with the real i.e. the happenings of the real world were not explained completely by the human intervention alone and thus the need for a divine explanation was born. A related theory of Sigmund Freud, the famous psychologist, presents religion as a response to the need of putting the responsibility of one’s action off to a higher invisible power, usually male which represents the innate need of man to be able to depend on a strong male figure. Although highly infamous and usually discredited, this theory does lay sufficient groundwork in answering the question of why people need religion in their lives and why, more importantly, it provides them the comfort that it is reported to provide. However, the most intriguing and interesting feature of the religious discourse is its diversity. The religions across the world are diverse in all respects. Some base their belief system on the existence of one God, while others believe in a series of gods and goddesses; still others seem to reject the idea of God altogether. These religions are monotheism, polytheism and atheism respectively (n.d., 56). This is the most primary way of classifying religion. There are other ways too. Some religions stem from myths whereas others from revealed books. Some religions revolve around a charismatic leader or an inspirational figure, whose guidelines form the foundation of the ethical conduct of the religion. The comparative analysis of the religions is one of the most popular streams in religious discourses in present-day academia. Scholars take great interest in juxtaposing religions to each other, comparing different common units to each other. The scope of this paper limits itself to such a comparison between two world religions namely, Islam and Hinduism. The paper tries to compare and contrast Islam and Hinduism in several respects and approach some platform of commonalities and differences between the two. Comparison of Religious History The Islam and Hinduism have diverse religious histories. Whereas Islam has a unified, straightforward origin, Hinduism’s history through time is still very much in debate. Islam, as a religion, started in 600 A.D (Lantiqua, 98). Prophet Muhammad, the last messenger of God, according to Quran, the Holy Book of Islam, initiated the religion when he received the first revelation from God via his angel, Gabriel. Islam spread as a movement and approached the doors of Meccans, other Arabs and emperors of neighboring countries by the followers and close friends