PROBLEM FACED BY MICROSOFT :

The case is related to the famous IT company Microsoft . it examines that the management of Microsoft faced a lot of problem because the employees had charged gender discrimination cases against the management of the company . the case explores the treatment meted out to female employees in the companys initial years and the measures the management took to improve the environment of the organization . Instances of gender/racial discrimination and sexual harassment were common in Microsoft since the 1980s. The company was even said to be the 'most disdainful place for women to work' during the 1980s. In its initial years, Microsoft had only a few hundred employees, most of them male. The only women employed in Microsoft were those who edited technical manuals. The work culture in the company was by and large undisciplined. All the manners, attributes and traits that were not acceptable in conventional society were highly prevalent in the company. Microsoft was a company where issues such as interpersonal skills and personal hygiene had no importance and the presence of women was barely tolerated . SOLUTION: In 2001, Microsoft claimed that it was committed to diversity and did not tolerate discrimination of any type in its employment practices. The company announced that it had made considerable progress in increasing the number of minorities working at Microsoft and had demonstrated its commitment to diversity and equality by promoting women and minorities. According to company sources, as of October 2000, minorities accounted for 16.5% of total managerial positions in Microsoft and 22% of the domestic workforce of the organization .

Case 2 Problems faced by Ford : The problems being faced by Ford were many and mainly in their organizational management and operations and important challenge was to stop the company from bleeding as it had done excessively in the year ending 2006. The picture of operations was expected to just get more dismal in the year 2007 with more losses than were faced in the year 2006. As far as the organizational management was concerned, the people had developed a lethargic and lazy attitude and a bureaucratic style of working.

SOLUTIONS : Alan Mulally was appointed by Bill Ford as the CEO and president. According to Mulally, Ford's problems were quite deep seated and it needed a more practical than emotional approach. Bill Ford believed that Mulally was someone who could give the company what it needed by taking drastic steps and shake the company's foundation and its people as was much required . , Mulally realized that the company's success depended on the understanding that these people had about the business and its operations So, he had to shake and stir these people up and out of this attitude while keeping them in the loop . 2007 was supposed to be the toughest year yet faced by Ford. It

was predicted by Brian Johnson, an auto analyst with Lehman Brothers that Ford's greatest and most severe share of market loss would happen in this year. Mulally's capability to turn the situation around and get Ford back on track was received by mixed opinions. It was not sure if he could bring the company back on paths of profits by year 2009 and bring the much needed turn about.. To do so, cost cutting moves were put on and this helped to generate a slightly higher revenue. All the efforts put together, the company posted a much smaller loss in the first quarter of 2007 as compared to that in the first quarter of 2006.The loss went down from US $ 1.4 billion to US $ 282 million. And the indifferent and lazy attitude of the employees was reduced by giving them negative and positive reinforcement by the management to pull them up and make them perform better .