Finally, offer guidance for Microsoft regarding what potential strategies the company could use in order to regain its position as the leader of technological innovation in the software industry.
At the moment, Microsoft is using the strategy of being adaptive, instead of being the first to market. They choose to wait and see whether an innovation is being successfully introduced by another company, because this strategy has the advantage of lower development costs, lower risk, and a better sense of what the consumers want. However, since they invest an enormous amount in Research & Development they should be able to foresee what the market wants. Hence they could apply the ‘first mover’ strategy.
Because of this, most people do not see Microsoft as an innovative company.” It is a common knowledge that Microsoft's recent success is built around its dominant operating system Windows.” So Microsoft actually is an innovating company, however not in the eyes of people. This can be explained by the fact that Microsoft is innovating in already existing markets, rather than in new, unexploited risky markets. For example, Apple created a new market by introducing the iPhone, whereas Microsoft reacts to the market created by Apple. This does not mean that Microsoft is not innovative, it only says that they use a different strategy than Apple.
RADICAL INNOVATION
The strategy that consumers see as being innovative, is the first mover strategy. Therefore it might be a good idea for Microsoft to apply the first mover strategy more often than they do right now. Though it is more risky, this will be beneficial for the image of Microsoft. This could be a potential strategy for the company to regain its position as the leader of technological innovation in the software industry.
There are more risks involved for Microsoft to apply the first mover strategy than only product