The impact of forward and backward integration on Microsoft's performance and sustainability in America (PDF)

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2023 in the subject Business economics - Market research, grade: A, , language: English, abstract: This research aims to investigate the impact of forward and backward integration on Microsoft's performance and sustainability in America. Vertical integration (VI) is a frequently used technique for resolving market imperfections and increasing firm performance. However, observational findings from previous research have yielded contradictory findings. Positive, negative, and nonsignificant covariation has been observed between VI and performance. A closer examination of the empirical findings shows that the relationship between VI and efficiency varies by industry and that various measures were used in the various studies.
This paper reviews the published research on the relationship between vertical integration on performance and sustainability. We account for the so-called "industry impact" by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of various vertical integration steps in a single company context-Microsoft. This is accomplished by the use of a specialized data set that contains detailed details about performance measurements and vertical integration across a panel of firms. According to our results, the VI-performance correlation differs across measures and firms. The applicability of various approaches is critically assessed, and the managerial implications are addressed.