Reputation counts
Microsoft and cuddly Catherine Fox asks Microsoft Australia's Paul Houghton why Australians like the giant software company.
boss.afr.com.au
By CATHERINE FOX
With images of Bill Gates' visit to Australia still fresh in the communal consciousness, the ranking of Microsoft as our number one corporate reputation clicks into place. But the Gates effect is only one factor in the company's high ranking which also reflects the strength of the brand and the pervasiveness of its products.
The company scored particularly well in a just-released study by researchers Harris Interactive for its workplace, financial performance and vision and leadership. According to the results, satisfaction with software was a common theme for many respondents.
But much as Australians love the software, Microsoft is not generally seen as very socially responsible, and it lacks the emotional appeal of Australian companies.
Many comments revolved around the quality of products and service.
"I have found Microsoft has always been there when I need them most," one respondent said.
That doesn't surprise Microsoft Australia's managing director, Paul Houghton.
"I think that what we stand for is building great software and a company that has always rewarded innovation and creativity," he said.
Early on in a career with Microsoft you were made aware of the importance of hiring really great people with drive and energy, he added.
"Our philosophy is to hire the best people we can for the jobs we have, put them into focused teams around specific assignments and give them an objective and let them go do it," Houghton said. "We have built our organisation by letting people take big assignments and give them a chance - it's a great way to learn but you take a risk."
Even the company's high-profile US legal case over monopoly of the market did little to dent the glossy image. According to Houghton that's because customers see Microsoft as an organisation that has made technology accessable at a fair price.
"People stand back and say 'hey, Microsoft has con tributed'... the litigation has not had a lasting effect."
Many respondents spoke of Gates when asked their impressions of Microsoft. For them, the CEO is the company.
"What Bill Gates represents is someone who was very focused on a product and opportunity in the marketplace, an opportunity to bring personal computing into the main stream and to build a company that is successful in its own right," Houghton said. "He represents someone who is visionary and a success story and that is something people clearly associate him with."
Less clear to Houghton was the company's lower score on emotional appeal.
"If I think about the emotional appeal of the company what would appeal to me is its leadership, product quality and it's held a clear leadership in the market. It [the lower score] could be that it's not a local company but a multinational. But Australians are very competitive and we are a very competitve company."
And he conceded that a social responsibility agenda has not been a priority for Microsoft Australia, although Gates has been actively donating to charities as a private citizen.
"It's not some thing that is as neat and well thought out as some of our business plans but it's an area we'll be doing more in."
JC, we have to stop meeting like this<g> Merry |
