A Managerial Analysis of Red Hat, Inc.

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the managerial model of Red Hat, Inc., the world's largest and most successful distributor of the open-source Linux operating system. The paper discusses issues such as the structure of Red Hat's management team (particularly its focus on global sales and marketing), the grass-roots approach adopted by Red Hat, a SWOT analysis of Red Hat's strengths and weaknesses, and the role of R&D in Red Hat's success. Red Hat's business model and its attempt to make a profit off of a free product is also examined.

From the Paper:

"With all of today's rapid advancements in technology, especially in computer-related products, one thing seems to remain constant. Ask any home or small-business computer user which operating system (OS) powers their PCs, and the answer is almost sure to be some version of Microsoft Windows. In fact, most PC users probably do not even know there is any alternative. Red Hat, Inc., of Raleigh, NC, is aiming to change all that. Red Hat is currently the largest distributor of the increasingly popular Linux operating system, a more user-friendly clone of the Unix platform, originally developed by programmer Linus Torvalds. Linux is based on the open-source software model, meaning that the code behind the software is available freely to the public and to programmers for constant alteration and rapid improvement. This model stands in stark contrast to the highly secret, proprietary monopoly created by Microsoft. Obviously, if Red Hat hopes to steal the market away from Microsoft and to make Linux a popular household name, its managers must develop a competitive strategy that will be effective enough to create nothing short of a revolution in the battle for the best operating system."

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