Case Name :      Microsoft South Africa: Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Authors :           Helena Barnard, Jonathan Marks

Source :             Ivey Publishing

Case ID :            W14621

Discipline :        General Management

Case Length :    10 pages

Solution Sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

A new managing director of Microsoft South Africa was appointed in 2007 at a low point in Microsoft South Africa’s dominance of the software industry. He set out to address the issues by focusing on four pillars: people (employees), partnerships, revenue and local relevance. The latter included regulatory compliance requirements regarding social transformation and meeting the stringent Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment codes. The managing director knew that targets had to be met in order to build the relationship with head office and that once this was in place, it would be easier to manage the requests that were to come related to local relevance.