Briefing Centers, Research Initiative Buff European Image

Buffeted in Europe by adverse court decisions and open-source gains, Microsoft is enhancing its image in the region by funding additional technology research and opening new briefing centers. The research initiatives will give Microsoft a higher profile in European efforts to encourage technological innovation and the briefing centers will give Microsoft a more human face and make high-level briefings more convenient for both customers and Microsoft executives. Specific efforts include an initiative that will fund basic research and provide scholarships and rewards for promising European researchers, and the opening of three new Executive Briefing Centers (EBCs) in Europe.

Mixed European Image

Microsoft’s success has earned the company both admiration and envy. Among Americans, who see it as one of the country’s brightest lights, admiration generally rules, but among Europeans, many of whom see it as a dominant, foreign company, the image is less positive. The company has fared less well in European courts than it did in the United States, and recently was forced to ship a version of Windows without some components, a concession that the U.S. Department of Justice was never able to win.