亨格瑞管理会计英文第15版练习答案01(11)

查尔斯亨格瑞 管理会计 英文版第15版 北京大学出版社 练习答案01

Microsoft is a company that most students will know and have some

understanding of what functions its managers perform. Nevertheless, this may not be an easy exercise for those who have little knowledge of how companies operate.

Research & development – Because software companies must continually come out with new products and upgrades to their current products, this is a critical function for

Microsoft. More than one-fourth of Microsoft’s operating expenses are devoted to R&D.

Product and process design – For Microsoft the design and R&D process overlap considerably. Product design is critical; process design is probably less critical. One essential part of design is beta testing – that is, field testing of new software. This quality-control step is essential to prevent customer dissatisfaction with new products.

Production – Microsoft produces disks and CD-ROMs and the manuals and packaging to go with them. However, software is increasingly delivered and updated over the Internet, which takes an initial process design and then few resources. Thus, production of physical items is becoming a less important focus for Microsoft.

Marketing – Microsoft spends more on sales and marketing than on any other operating expense. Increasing competition in software sales makes marketing essential to the

company’s future. This function includes advertising and direct marketing activities, but it also includes activities of the company’s sales force.

Distribution – This function is becoming simpler for Microsoft as it delivers more and more software over the Internet. As long as the company does not fall behind competitors in delivery methods, this is not likely to create a major competitive advantage or disadvantage for Microsoft.

Customer service – Customer service is important, but Microsoft tries to minimize costs in this area by good product design – making things work right for customers without deep computer expertise. Poor customer service can severely impact a company, so Microsoft must attend to it.

Support functions – Most of the time these are not a major focus. One major exception for Microsoft is legal support – the future of the company depended on some recent court decisions.