Microsoft Surpasses Apple as World's Most Valuable Company

With a market cap of $851 billion at the end of trading on Friday, Microsoft took back the crown, regaining a position it held eight years ago.

Image via Microsoft

Microsoft is reaping the benefits of CEO Satya Nadella’s strategy to focus on its core profitable businesses, building out its existing strengths in enterprise and cloud computing via Azure, its platform that has accelerated in growth in the last three years. Azure is now second to Amazon Web Services in terms of market share.

At the same time, the tech giant accepted and cut its losses in the smartphone industry, ditching the Nokia mobile phone business that it had acquired under Steve Ballmer’s leadership in 2015. Nadella ended the business, letting go of 7,800 employees and a $7.6 billion charge three years ago and refocused Microsoft’s strategy around its best-selling services and products.

Apple also is facing challenges with the possibility of an American trade war with China that could lead to additional taxes and fees added to iPhones if President Trump’s threat to add a 10 percent tariff follows through.

Three Questions to Ask to Create a Business of Value

As we work with our clients on any endeavor, large or small, we always aim to help our clients grow. Growth goals vary by company.  For some, the goal is to grow their existing customer base and audience. For others, it is to hone in on the most effective part of their current offering and amplify it, while removing distractions and other aspects that are less useful or relevant.

Sometimes it also involves drilling down to remember why that company exists in the first place so that the people involved can do satisfying work that they excel at and to keep their companies growing for the future. This applies to everyone within the company and thus offers a better fit between employees and work; greater job and employee satisfaction; higher productivity; and higher returns. It also helps in removing unnecessary expenditures and identifying areas that are not the best utilization of resources, whether it is time, capital, human labor or a combination of all of the above.

This approach builds upon the clear strategy and advice offered by Jim Collins in the book, Good To Great. In this book, Jim lays out 3 essentials to help build a business of true value. These 3 essentials are:

- what you can do
- what you love to do
- what customers pay you well to do.

Building a business of value lies at the intersection of these three areas.  We've taken this further and adapted it for our clients. Learn more about Our Approach.

In addition to this, we also have three questions or organizing principles that we think can help in creating and updating a business.

1. Where do you think the world is moving?

2. What are problems that you can solve?

3. What are some ideas you have that can be designed for a better future?

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