An Analysis of Entrepreneurship of Bill Gates

The paper analyzes the entrepreneurship of Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft, in organizational as well as personal context. It covers his entrepreneurial activities and skills, and their implications on business, economy, and society. The paper also includes self-reflection on entrepreneurial skills and limitations.

CREATING AND LEADING THE ENTERPRISE
An Analysis of Entrepreneurship of Bill Gates
CREATING AND LEADING
An Analysis of Entrepreneusrhip of Bill Gates

Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................4
2.0 Research Undertaken.................................................................................................................5
2.1 Objective of Research............................................................................................................5
2.2 Type of Research...................................................................................................................6
3.0 Entrepreneurial Activities and Skills of the Entrepreneur.........................................................7
3.1 Insight into Entrepreneur.......................................................................................................7
3.2 Entrepreneurial Activities of the Entrepreneur......................................................................7
3.3 Entrepreneurial Skills of the Entrepreneur.............................................................................8
4.0 Self-Reflection on Entrepreneurial Skills..................................................................................9
4.1 Comparison of Entrepreneurial Skills at Personal Level.......................................................9
4.1.1 Risk-taking Skills............................................................................................................9
4.1.2 Leadership Skills.............................................................................................................9
4.1.3 Decision-making Skills.................................................................................................10
4.1.4 Problem-solving Skills..................................................................................................10
4.2 Self-Reflection on Entrepreneurship....................................................................................10
5.0 Effects of Enterprise................................................................................................................11
5.1 Implications of Entrepreneurial Activities and Skills..........................................................11
5.1.1 Business.........................................................................................................................11
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5.1.2 Economy........................................................................................................................11
5.1.3 Society...........................................................................................................................12
5.2 Limitations of Entrepreneur.................................................................................................12
6.0 Conclusion...............................................................................................................................14
References:....................................................................................................................................15
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1.0 Introduction
Entrepreneurship may be considered to be one of the most crucial aspects of business studies as
the same encompasses the lot of success-critical factors of the business and plays a pivotal role in
determining the success or failure of the business in the market in the long-run (Agarwal, 2018).
Entrepreneurship may be considered to be the process of managing the requisite resources and
efficiently utilising the same in order to conduct the business operations towards the achievement
of the pre-set corporate goal in most effective and sustainable manner (Malakoff, 2016). The
instant paper deals with the analysis of entrepreneurship of Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft, in
organisational as well as personal context.
At the outset of the study, the purpose of the research has been well presented. Since the
entrepreneurship is necessarily a quality that contributes not only in organisational or business
context but also in our personal lives as well, the purpose of the intended research so undertaken
has been expressed in the paper. Moreover, the method of data collection along with the type of
research undertaken has also been elaborated herein. The subsequent part of the paper focuses on
the leadership ability of Bill Gates and his contribution towards Microsoft. The latter part of the
study throws light on the personal reflection in order to establish how the researcher has been
influenced by the charismatic entrepreneurship ability of Bill Gates. Finally, the skills and
experiences of Bill Gates have been evaluated in the backdrop of the success or failure of the
company. The researcher wraps up the discussion by way of concluding note.
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2.0 Research Undertaken
2.1 Objective of Research
A business primarily runs on a successful entrepreneurship. An entrepreneur is the one who
utilises all the resources to mobilise them towards the organisational goal fulfilment in most
effective an efficient manner. Entrepreneurship may be considered to be an ideal mix of theory
and practice of human skills at behavioural as well as technical level (Malakoff, 2016). As a
result, it may be construed that the concept of the entrepreneur is all-pervasive that includes the
behavioural traits as well as business acumen and intelligence (Gilliard, 2018). In other words,
the concept is complex and yet extremely effective in business as well as personal context
(Sprowls, 1994). Therefore, the need arises for the analysis of entrepreneurship skills and
activities of the renowned entrepreneurs who have immensely contributed to the corporations
and businesses. To put it differently, the success story of well-known and celebrated
entrepreneurs must form the basis of research looking for establishing a guide for young and
budding entrepreneurs and especially for the students of business studies (Guidez, 2016). This
very intention gives rise to the significance of the said proposition and paves the way for
conducting the research.
In the instant case, Bill Gates has been chosen as he has been considered as one of the most
influencing entrepreneurs in the world and has been contributing towards his organisation,
Microsoft Corporation for long. Microsoft may be termed as world’s one of the leading
companies in the technology field and for this most of the credit surely goes to Bill Gates. All
this premises form the background of the paper.
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2.2 Type of Research
In making the aforesaid analysis, the secondary research has been undertaken. Since the direct
interview with Bill Gates may not be feasible in the given case, the emphasis has been placed on
the web publications, journals, press and other media coverage and also the corporate websites of
Microsoft. Besides, the company reports like an annual report, sustainability report and financial
data have also been referred for the purpose of the research.
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3.0 Entrepreneurial Activities and Skills of the Entrepreneur
3.1 Insight into Entrepreneur
Bill Gates is the principal founder of Microsoft Corporation. Under his chairmanship and
directorship, the firm became the world's largest PC manufacturing company. In the year 2014,
he stepped down from the post of CEO of the firm and appointed Satya Nadella in his place.
During his tenure, Microsoft rose to number one position worldwide in terms of revolution in
computer technology services and the primary credit for the same goes to him (Cook, 2017). His
brilliant leadership ability has contributed significantly towards the sustainable development of
Microsoft. Bill Gates has also been listed several times in the Forbes list of world’s wealthiest
people (Bedford, 2018). Though his leadership has been effective enough for the business, the
same has been criticised number of times as anti-competitive.
3.2 Entrepreneurial Activities of the Entrepreneur
Bill Gates has always believed in “Leading by Examples” and that is the reason he himself used
to write codes for every program for the company during his initial days with the firm
(University of Waterloo, 2018). Gates had significant achievement in terms of partnership with
IBM to develop the MS-DOS operating system. Gates considered not to transfer the copyright
and hence, most of the market players identified the system to be of Microsoft's, despite the
name of IBM appearing therein. Soon after the immense success of the deal, Gates became the
president of the company and also the Board Chairman. Afterwards, Gates launched first retail
version of Windows in the year 1985 which gradually became famous worldwide (Malakoff,
2016).
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An analysis of his entrepreneurial activities may reveal the fact that his primary responsibility
was only towards product strategy. However, Gates very quickly gained the insight into the
management operations in terms visionary approach towards new product development and his
inquisitive nature of analysing the root cause of every single problem (Hobson, 2010).
3.3 Entrepreneurial Skills of the Entrepreneur
Bill Gates has been passionate about computer and his dream was to make the computer reach in
every office desk which is no more a dream now but a reality. He has been a hard worker from
his initial days with Microsoft and able to rationalise his thinking to fit into a given situation. It
may be construed that his leadership trait was mostly revolving around task-orientation rather
than relationship-orientation (Cook, 2017). This is the reason Gates has been often criticised for
his not so sensible behaviour towards his subordinates or staffs. In doing so, Gates has been
alleged to have resorted unethical and immoral practices. There have been instances where other
market players have raised serious concerns against Bill Gates for his anti-competitive attitude
(Horton, 2014).
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4.0 Self-Reflection on Entrepreneurial Skills
4.1 Comparison of Entrepreneurial Skills at Personal Level
The reading and analysis of the entrepreneurship strategy and skill of Bill Gates, it may be
construed that he has been an exceptional leader with allegations floating around him. I
personally would like to be like him especially for the reasons as mentioned below:
4.1.1 Risk-taking Skills
Bill Gates joined Harvard University to finish his graduation but left midway and started the
business with his friend Paul Allen. Such action definitely requires guts and I personally would
love to take such kind of challenge in my life as well. I have learnt that if I have the zeal and
courage coupled with talent, I can risk my study and start the business son my own. It is needless
to mention that leaving study does not corroborate the fact to become successful I will have to
leave my study, but definitely motivates student of business like us to make something new and
initiate accordingly.
4.1.2 Leadership Skills
It is imperative to note that Bill Gates has been a phenomenal leader. Such leadership skill is
always influencing on the people who follow them. During my university days, I have also learnt
the pros and cons of different leadership styles and have found Bill Gates to be a task master. I
personally want to be like him with major emphasis on the relationship as well. I think Gates
used to lack relationship skill which I have and I would like to nourish it more and more so that
in future in my professional life, I will be more approachable to the larger audience.
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4.1.3 Decision-making Skills
The decision of retaining own copyright for MS-DOS in the case of IBM partnership has really
called for the calibre. There have been instances when I suffer from the lack of such decision
making skills. Indecisiveness is something which may play as an impediment for the
entrepreneurs in case they are unsure of any circumstances and have to take a decision. I would
like to nurture such skill within me taking reference from Gates’ personal as well as professional
life.
4.1.4 Problem-solving Skills
There have been interviews and web publications on Bill Gates which talks about his problem
solving skills. It has been observed that he has always been inquisitive about any codes and new
development with respect to product offering and attempted to intervene with his own idea and
thinking. I am also very much like him terms of curiosity towards the innovation.
4.2 Self-Reflection on Entrepreneurship
From the personal and professional life of Bill Gates, I have got the motivation of becoming an
entrepreneur. I have noted that post Microsoft period, he has been engaged with a number of
philanthropic activities which has gained my respect for him. However, since his anti-
competitive attitude has been questioned, I also do not subscribe to his such approach I feel that
every market player should get an equal opportunity to compete. To put it differently, I do not
want to bury the wounded. I would rather try to share the best practices and collaborate with the
vendors and stakeholders to get my business going and attempt to create an organisational
culture that primarily world motivate the staff to innovate and think out of the box.
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5.0 Effects of Enterprise
5.1 Implications of Entrepreneurial Activities and Skills
As mentioned previously, Bill Gates' entrepreneurial activities and skills have put the brand of
Microsoft in the top most position in the PC market across the globe. The implications may be
enumerated with more details herein.
5.1.1 Business
From a business perspective, Microsoft may be considered to be at its top form during his stay
with the company. Windows has surely been a revolution in the computer technology industry
(Horton, 2014). The effect that Bill Gates has brought in the overall operational aspects of the
company has truly been enriching in terms of innovation as well as development. Though there
have been allegations that Bill Gates has not done anything new, he has only developed the
existing offering of Microsoft; however, the fact that the personal computer has attained its
worldwide customer base with solid market brand value and reputation honestly establishes the
fact Bill Gates has driven the growth machine of the firm.
5.1.2 Economy
Microsoft has contributed significantly not only towards the domestic US economy but also
across the world in various countries. A report in the year 2010 suggests that the company
contributed almost $9.16 billion to the Washington State in the year 2008 for the purpose of
attempting to revive the economy. Besides, the company had almost 267,611 employees which
may be roughly calculated to be almost 8.4 per cent of the total employment in the given State
("Microsoft Has ‘Ripple’ Effect on Washington State Economy", 2018). The management has
the thrive that all the US citizens should get the best benefit of digital economy. In this context, it
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may be noted that Microsoft and LinkedIn both have partnered with the Markle Foundation in
order to prepare and develop a model called Skillful that involves the key players across the
labour market so that more number of American people can derive the benefit from the digital
economy (Rampton, 2018).
5.1.3 Society
The social work of Bill Gates has made him a stalwart in the global entrepreneurship framework
which priorities society and environment along with the profit motive. His philanthropic
activities have been significantly contributing towards the society as a whole. Bill Gates wrote
few books the proceeds of which have been donated towards the support of the use of technology
in education and skills development sector ("Bill Gates - Stories", 2018).
5.2 Limitations of the Entrepreneur
Based on the reading, I have gathered the information on Bill Gates’ leadership as well as
entrepreneurship skills and styles. Though Bill Gates may be undoubtedly considered to be
world’s one of the top most business leader in our recent times, I personally want to analyse
Microsoft’s subsequent CEO Satya Nadella. This is because of the reason that Satya Nadella’s
leadership style has been unquestionable in terms of his attempt to transform the business
process and thinking (Salem, 2018). His transformational leadership style has been a great
motivator not only for the subordinates, colleagues and staffs or other stakeholders of the
business but also for the student of busies studies like us. Organisational culture has an important
connotation in the entrepreneurship framework and the organisational performance is largely
driven by the business culture and value systems maintained and nourished by the leaders
(Hobson, 2010). I believe that Satya Nadella has been able to transform the post Bill Gates era in
the Microsoft from the task oriented approach to relationship based approach which is a
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remarkable achievement in its own. I will try to inculcate the transformation leadership traits
within me in my subsequent life so that my professional career becomes smooth in terms of
human dealings as well as a support for value-creating activities.
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6.0 Conclusion
Based on the discussion and analysis perfo4med in the preceding sections of the report, it may be
concluded that the leadership style plays an important role in successful entrepreneurship
ventures. Entrepreneurs conceptualise not only the mission and vision for the firm but also make
a conscious effort to achieve the corporate goal in most effective and time and resource efficient
manner. The report shows that Bill Gates has been phenomenally contributing to Microsoft's
sustainable growth (Christopher, 1995). There have been instances where his entrepreneurship
style and approach has been questioned time and again; however, the contribution and
achievement he has made for the firm has been significant in terms of disruptive innovation in
the computer technology market as well as his revolutionary measures in standing out in the
industry as being sole marketer of Windows which is a common place word in today’s computer
savvy world (Horton, 2014). It may be concluded that an efficiently chalked out leadership
strategy supported by the entrepreneurship skills will substantially add value towards the
attainment of corporate goals and objectives in long-term and create value for the society by way
of proceeding towards a sustainability framework.
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References:
Agarwal, A. (2018). Jobs or Gates: Differences in Leadership. Retrieved from
https://www.inc.com/aj-agrawal/jobs-or-gates-differences-in-leadership.html
Bedford, T. (2018). Who is Bill Gates? A guide to Microsoft's co-founder. Retrieved from
https://www.alphr.com/business/1009846/who-is-bill-gates
Bill Gates - Stories. (2018). Retrieved from https://news.microsoft.com/exec/bill-gates/
Christopher, R. (1995). US v Microsoft II department of justice and microsoft prevail on appeal;
US district court judge jackson approves consent decree. Computer Law & Security
Review, 11(6), 336-338. doi: 10.1016/s0267-3649(00)80083-7
Cook, T. (2017). Microsoft office specialist and microsoft technology associate certification: An
integrated curriculum for technical skills validation. Journal Of Advanced Research In
Social Sciences And Humanities, 2(5). doi: 10.26500/jarssh-02-2017-0501
Gilliard, M. (2018). Bill Gates Leadership Style - Leadership and Development. Retrieved from
https://leadership-and-development.com/bill-gates-leadership-style/
Guidez, J. (2016). TerraPower, le réacteur de Bill Gates. Revue Générale Nucléaire, (3), 50-53.
doi: 10.1051/rgn/20163050
Hobson, P. (2010). Bill Gates funds geoengineering. Physics Today. doi: 10.1063/pt.5.024045
Horton, R. (2014). Offline: The day Bill Gates crossed the road. The Lancet, 383(9935), 2110.
doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(14)61004-7
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Malakoff, D. (2016). What’s the face of U.S. innovation? Don’t think Bill Gates. Science. doi:
10.1126/science.aaf4146
Microsoft Has ‘Ripple’ Effect on Washington State Economy. (2018). Retrieved from
https://news.microsoft.com/2010/04/09/microsoft-has-ripple-effect-on-washington-state-
economy/
Rampton, J. (2018). How Bill Gates Became a Leadership Legend. Retrieved from
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/250607
Salem, A. (2018). Microsoft and the transformational leadership style of Satya Nadella!.
Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/microsoft-transformational-leadership-
style-satya-nadella-ahmed-salem
Sprowls, C. (1994). Hard drive: Bill Gates and the making of the Microsoft empire. The Journal
Of Strategic Information Systems, 3(2), 145-147. doi: 10.1016/0963-8687(94)90014-0
University of Waterloo. (2018). Bill Gates Speech Transcript - University of Waterloo. Retrieved
from https://web.archive.org/web/20080406130809/http://www.microsoft.com/
presspass/exec/billg/speeches/2005/10-13Waterloo.aspx
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