Entrepreneurship Dissertation

Amgen is 30-year old biotechnology firm headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California, with locations all over the world. The name is short for Applied Molecular Genetics, a name now recognized as the most successful biotech firm ever created. It was formed in 1980 buy a group of scientists and venture capitalists, including Marvin Caruthers ("Denver Business Journal") and Dr. Joseph Rubinfeld, ("Trading Markets") using a total $19 million gathered from private investments ("Funding Universe"). The man behind this marvel of a company is George Rathmann. Rathmann was the first CEO appointed by the 4 original founders of Amgen. Today he is considered by many to be the Bill Gates of the biotechnology industry (Pfeiffer).

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Over the years, Amgen has advanced its sciences through strategic partnerships and acquisitions. The financial strength and availability of resources of this pioneering company have allowed for subsidiary firms to bring their ideas to life. Amgen has made it a priority to become a community ambassador for the communities in which they thrive. The Amgen Scholars, the Teach for America Amgen Fellows Program, and the Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence are just a few of the education initiatives supported by the pharmaceutical giant. In 1991, the Amgen Foundation was formed. The Amgen foundation is a philanthropic initiative designed to help various causes such as the promotion of science education and the improvement of quality of care of patients (“amgen.com”).

Microsoft has become a household name that, despite his current lack of involvement in the company’s dealings, is synonymous with the name of its founding father, Bill Gates. Bill Gates is best known for establishing Microsoft’s Windows operating system for the PC, its integrated Office workflow system, and most recently, its videogame platform called the XBOX. During the year it was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company employed just 3 people, including its founders. A year later, Bill Gates, still enrolled as a student in Harvard University, became one of the first programmers to publicly address the issue of software piracy. The product that the partnership of Gates and Allen focused on during this time was Microsoft BASIC designed for the Altair 8800 personal computer

    

Throughout a period that lasted the next 7 years, Microsoft’s annual revenues had exponentially increased, from $16 thousand in 1975 to over $1.1 billion in 1982. In 1989, three years after its initial public offering, Microsoft launched its earliest version of Office. As of 2004, Microsoft employed over 57 thousand people ("History of Computing Project"). The firm’s revenues the first quarter of 2011 are estimated to reach $15.8 billion (Rosoff).

One can notice a few differences when he or she analyses the way that these two companies were founded. While Bill Gates and Paul Allen formed an informal partnership as students with little financial backing, George Rathmann was appointed CEO after years of experience at 3M. Rathmann also had the support of the company’s founders, which included scientists and venture capitalists.

Although both companies achieved incredible feats until this day, the early structure of Microsoft indicates a more entrepreneurial spirit. This is also evident in the firms’ corporate identity today.

It is true that both companies have shown characteristics of entrepreneurship throughout their history.

However, the growth of Amgen has been largely attributed to acquisitions and mergers. The firm’s growth strategy has seen the firm capitalize on entrepreneurs’ ideas and creativity in a way that almost disallows independent growth. In order to secure the future growth of the company, Amgen has ensured that it has control over major projects that could bring future success. In an excerpt of an article dated September 2007, Allison Bruce reports the downsizing and restructuring of Amgen as an opportunity that can boost the number of local startups (Bruce).

Although Microsoft has participated in a lot of buyouts in the past as well, it has helped a lot of small startups expand their business. While Amgen focuses its social initiatives on education, Microsoft does not neglect the importance of promoting entrepreneurship. The company provides dozens of products, such as Project, Dynamics CRM, and Windows Small Business Server, all of which are designed to improve business efficiency for all types of businesses around the world. These tools can be found on the integrated resource provided by Microsoft, called the Microsoft Business for Small & Midsize Companies.

    

Microsoft’s corporate values preach entrepreneurship. For example, the Software Entrepreneurship for Students program is a university-level program that focuses on developing technology students’ entrepreneurial skills (“Partner Solution MarketPlace”).

    

The concept of intrapreneurship, which refers to acting like an entrepreneur within the confines of a larger company, is one that suits Microsoft to a tee. The hugely popular XBOX is a prime example of how intrapreneurship takes place at Microsoft. Robbie Bach and J Allard are in charge of team XBOX. Although they had performed under the guidance of Mr. Gates, they mostly benefitted from the flexible infrastructure of the firm, along with the capital and human resources made available to them via the firm (Shukla). It is evident that Microsoft is a company that encourages initiative and not just education. It is possible that this corporate strategy would not work as well for Amgen but it is not necessarily considered a negative or a fault. Given the broad scope of a company like Microsoft, it is easier, and makes more economical sense to assume such a strategy.

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