In preparation for your site visit to Microsoft Ireland, the short video reflects several of the points that Professor Darren Kelly made regarding the business environment in Ireland (and specifically Dublin) being a great setting for expansion into Ireland and Europe due to the combination of strong employee talent, favorable corporate taxes and the promise of a strong economy over time. Based on your quick review of the YouTube video on Microsoft in Ireland, identify one commercial opportunity and one commercial challenge they are addressing at Microsoft Ireland.
One commercial opportunity Microsoft Ireland is taking advantage of is the acquirement of talent from all around the world. In the video, there was an Operations Account Manager from Italy, an Anti-Virus Researcher from the Philippines, Senior Group Manager from America, and so on. By being such a recognizable, successful company, Microsoft Ireland can employ the best of the best, no matter the employee’s origin.
A challenge for Microsoft Ireland is running three businesses instead of one: Operation Center, European Development Centre, and the sales and marketing subsidiary. In addition to these three businesses, Ireland hosts one of Microsoft’s generation for data centers. That’s a lot of businesses in which communication can get confusing, and records get lost, and jobs overlap.
Finally, acting as members of consulting teams that might choose to write a group paper about the commercial opportunities and challenges connected to Microsoft targeting Ireland as a destination for commercial development, what specific questions do you have about the business model for Microsoft Ireland that relate to our course material (Triple Bottom Line and sustainability, market segmentation, maximization versus shared value, etc.)? Give us a specific question for tomorrow’s visit
How does Microsoft address environmental issues? Is there one huge branch of human resources/finance for all three businesses, or is it separate for each business? How often is there communication issues among the three businesses?