Excelsior College Mathematics for Everyday Life Problem Questions

The problem you must solve is:

Consider a common disorder, which we will call Z, that affects 20% of adults (18 years and over) in the U.S. Fortunately, there is a genetic screening test for the gene that causes disorder Z. The test is 98% accurate; that is, 98% of the people who take the test get the correct result (and 2% of people tested get the wrong result).

In Johnsonville, the adult population is 120,000 and all the residents get tested for the gene linked to disorder Z.

6. Compare your results with the problem you solved in the discussion activity (M8D1). Be

careful not to just re-state the results from each…Specifically, focus on the percent of

people who get a positive result that actually have the disease. Remember that both

genetic tests were 98% accurate. Why were the percentages so different? Do you think

the rarity of the disease affects testing results? Why or why not? Be sure to explain

your reasoning mathematically.

Running head: MICROSOFT CORPORATION
Microsoft Corporation
Chantell Macias
Excelsior College
February 07, 2021
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MICROSOFT CORPORATION
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Microsoft Corporation
Section I
Microsoft Corporation’s History
Cowling (2016) confirms that Microsoft corporation, the leading developer of personal
computer software applications and systems, was founded in 1975 by Paul Allen and Bill Gates.
These two friends changed BASIC, a well-known mainframe computer programming language,
to utilize early Personal Computers. After a short period, Allen and Gates founded Microsoft,
deriving its name from software and microcomputer. After several years, the two refined BASIC,
thereby developing other programming languages. Moreover, in 1980, the International Business
Machines Corporation requested Microsoft to produce a significant operating system or software
for the IBM PC, the first personal computer. The corporation bought an operating system from a
different company, refurbished it, and re-labeled it as Microsoft Disk Operating System, which
got released in 1981. The company progressed further, and in 1995, it released Windows 95,
which matched in ease-of-use Apple Computer’s Mac OS effectively. The corporation also
served as the leading in productivity software such as spreadsheet programs, WordPerfect,
outdistancing longtime rivals Lotus, and word processing. Furthermore, Microsoft corporation
holds a mission statement to empower every organization and every person on the planet to make
greater achievements. The mission statement depicts that the company promotes organizations
and people’s empowerment. More so, such empowerment gets achieved through the utility of the
computing products of the company.
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Section II
Major Strengths and Weaknesses of Microsoft
Microsoft corporation holds a major strength of brand loyalty. Microsoft has emerged as
the leading software provider and Operating System over the years, resulting in more than ninety
percent market shares for PC OS. Most people prefer to use the Microsoft corporation because of
its easy-to-use Operating System. For this reason, several other brands can compete with the
corporation. Moreover, the corporation has easy-to-use software with quality products. The easyto-use software can be considered a distinctive competence for the organization because it has
Microsoft excel and PowerPoint that provides full-featured word processing programs for Mac
operating systems and windows.
Microsoft corporation receives several negative criticisms about its security flaws.
Moreover, cybercriminals can easily access their products and send dangerous virus attacks. In
comparison to other operating systems, Microsoft has the least protection against such attacks.
The company can minimize this weakness by using the latest security patches, training the
Microsoft team regularly, and encrypting their data. Moreover, Microsoft has a slow pace of
innovation even though it possesses a great opportunity to become productive for its innovative
products. To minimize this weakness, Microsoft company should increase its investment ideas
and dedicate its resources to innovation.
Financial Ratios
Profitability ratios evaluate the amount of gross profit generated for sales. The Microsoft
company has a financial ratio with revenue of one hundred and thirty-four, two hundred and
forty-nine million dollars, therefore not struggling financially. On the other hand, liquidity ratios
evaluate the company’s ability to pay short-term obligations through current assets
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(Accountingverse, 2021). Microsoft is financially stable and paves the way for financial
opportunities because it has a liquidity ratio of 2.6X. Also, the management efficiency ratios
measure the extending credit’s efficiency. Leverage ratios measure a company’s assets ratio
financed by debt, while valuation and growth ratios show the earning rates per share of common
stock. All these ratios reflect Microsoft corporation’s strengths, and the organization does not
struggle financially but has financial opportunities.
Section III
Microsoft corporation has opportunities such as computer hardware product innovation as
well as business diversification. The company innovates hardware products to heighten the
revenues from hardware sales. Also, Microsoft has an opportunity to grow due to diversification
rapidly. For instance, the company can diversify through mergers or new business development.
Through this way, Microsoft can take advantage of business growth avenues. Several other
companies such as Allstate and State Farm offer business diversification and partake in hardware
innovation. Moreover, such companies can take advantage of their innovative techniques to
create extraordinary products, thereby gaining a competitive advantage over other companies.
Microsoft experiences threats such as strong competitive rivalry and cybercrime. For
instance, cyber-attacks can compromise Microsoft’s customers and its organizational processes.
The level of competitiveness that the company experiences creates market forces threatening its
growth as one of the largest firms in the current marketplace (Abbas, 2020). For instance, the
diversification of other companies offering computer hardware products and operating systems
and the heightening freeware popularity mitigates and reduces the company’s business.
Companies such as true caller and Postbank also experience cybercrime and competitive rivalry.
Managers can mitigate the cybercrime threats by introducing new strict cybersecurity
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restrictions. Also, the companies can use new innovative ideas to create unique products that
would reduce competition in the market.
Section IV
Opportunities
Microsoft corporation has beneficial opportunities such as stronger security against
cyber-criminal activities, computer hardware products’ innovation, and business diversification.
These opportunities make the Microsoft company stand out amongst its competitors by drawing
more customers. The new and unique features introduced by the company allow it to receive and
mentor new customers. Moreover, these opportunities inspire similar companies to imitate the
company’s techniques. Microsoft corporation’s perception is positive because the company’s
opportunities make it stand out among several related companies. Microsoft has recently
introduced Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, giving consumers several options as well as
causing a steep fall in the number of people still using Microsoft browsers and Microsoft
explorers. The opportunity is ongoing as the company aspires to make upgraded browsers
available to Mac users.
Threats
Abbas (2020) states that Microsoft corporation experiences massive competition from
Oracle, IBM, SAP, Google, and Apple. Even though the company can mitigate the competition,
factors beyond its control could put the business in a risky place. Such factors include intense
cybercrime activities that alter the company’s systems. Moreover, there are no challenges created
by unfavorable trends that may deteriorate the company’s profits and revenues. However,
companies that imitate similar products may threaten their marketing efforts. Due to the creation
of innovations, Microsoft has made significant changes in its supplier prices. However, the
MICROSOFT CORPORATION
company has experienced numerous consumer behavior shifts, especially when cybercriminals
keep on hacking into the Microsoft system, thereby reducing its sales. Generally, the company
can capitalize on its opportunities by innovating new products that other companies cannot
imitate. Also, Microsoft can neutralize its threats by ensuring strict cybersecurity regulations in
the company.
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References
Accountingverse. (2021). Financial Ratio Analysis. Accounting Verse. Retrieved from
https://www.accountingverse.com/managerial-accounting/fs-analysis/financialratios.html
Abbas, Z. (2020). Competitive Analysis of Microsoft in Market Settings. Competitive Analysis of
Microsoft in Market Settings, 1(1), 1-19
Cowling, J. (2016, February 8). A Brief History of Microsoft – The World’s Biggest Software
Company. Dsp Explorer. Retrieved from https://content.dsp.co.uk/a-brief-history-ofmicrosoft-the-worlds-biggest-software-company
Residents who are likely to have the disease = 3% of 100,000
Answer 1 = 3,000
People with disease who test positive (based on 98% test accuracy) = 0.98 x 3,000
Answer 2 = 2,940
People with disease who test negative= difference between the two previous numbers = 3,000 –
2,940 = 60
People likely to not have the disease = 97% of 100,000= 97,000
People with no disease who test negative (based on 98% test accuracy) = 0.98 x 97,000 =95,060
People with no disease who test positive = difference between the two previous numbers =
97,000 – 95,060
Answer 3 = 1,940
Answer 4:
People who get positive test result = People with disease who test positive + People with no
disease who test positive = Answer 2 + Answer 3 = 2,940 + 1,940 = 4,880
% of people who test positive and have the disease = 2,940 / 4,880 = 60.2%
Answer 5:
The test is not very accurate since it only gives about 60% accuracy, which means there are
about 39.8% false positives (people who do not have the disease and yet test positive).
However, if this test is relatively inexpensive, it may be a good first test for someone who tested
positive to go for furthermore accurate tests to validate that it’s not a false positive. False
negative result is 60 out of 3,000 or about 2%, which is comparatively not that high but if people
want to be really cautious and if there are more accurate tests out there, people may not want to
rely on this test and go for the other option.