Oracle Systems Corporation

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the Oracle Systems Corporation that was one of the most successful software companies in the world until 1990. The paper explains how the Oracle case study is a prime example of how a corporation can perform well on paper for a number of years only to suddenly shock shareholders, customers and investors. The paper explores the underlying causes of Oracle's loss in both revenues and market share. The paper concludes that unless Oracle invests more money into technology advancement and software engineering, consumers will remain disenchanted with what was once the industry giant. There must be a change of sales tactics, management strategies, and an improved product quality or its stock price may continue to decline.

From the Paper:

"Oracle Systems Corporation was founded by Lawrence J. Ellison in 1979 "to commercialize an innovative database management system," (p. 74). Throughout the 1980s, Oracle was the "fastest growing software company in the world" and clearly enjoyed a position at the top of the database management systems (DBMS) industry (p. 75). The company went public in March of 1986 with a stock issue price of $2.00 per share. By 1990, only four years later, Oracle's share price peaked at $28.375. Oracle's pre-1990 fiscal health was due to several factors, including an aggressive sales policy, diversification strategies, and international expansion and growth. Between the years 1980 to 1989, Oracle had "more than doubled its sales every year," (p. 75). However, in March of 1990, just when Oracle's stocks peaked in price, the company suddenly reported zero-growth and flat earnings revenue. The March 1990 announcement sent shock waves through the stock market and on September 25 of that year, Oracle announced its first ever quarterly loss. The previous year, Oracle had reported $11.7 million in earnings; in September of 1990, Ellison admitted a $36 million quarterly loss. Because the decline in share price revealed deeper conflicts within the corporation including management issues, Oracle was not financially healthy in September of 1990."

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