MICROSOFT’S CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 5
Microsoft’sCorporate Social Responsibility
Overviewof the Company
MicrosoftCorporation, universally known as Microsoft, is an American globalcompany, with its headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The Companywas established by Paul Allen and Bill Gates back in 1975, April 4th(Dudovskiy, 2015). Microsoft develops, produces, licences and sellsall types of computer software, electronics, personal computers suchas laptops, mobile phones to name but a few. The company is famousfor its quality software products such as Microsoft Windows,operating systems, Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer thatdominate the global markets. Over the years, Microsoft has grown tobe one of the top performers in the technology industry. Currently,the company has established its operation centres in over 120 nationsincluding African countries such as Congo, Chad and Kenya. As of 31stDec 2015, Microsoft’s employee headcount stood at 112, 689worldwide with 62, 437 working in the USA alone.
Microsoft’ssocial responsibility strategies
Accordingto Smith (2013), Microsoft is among the top four companies with themost reputable CSR perceptions in the world. Microsoft is globallyknown for its efforts to give back to the community, ensure itsemployees’ welfare, and promote good corporate citizenship.According to Chan (2014), Microsoft releases its information aboutCSR activities through an annual report. The company’s socialresponsibility mission is to serve the needs of the global communityeither directly or indirectly and maintaining a safe environment forpeople to live in. For instance, in the year 2014, Microsoft spentover $ 1 billion on philanthropic activities to help the poor and theneedy. In addition, the Bill & Gates Foundation founded by BillGates, is involved in charitable activities such as supporting theneedy students and promoting health among disadvantaged communities.
Microsoftis a company that seems to focus on promoting the safety of theenvironment through pollution prevention and control (Chan, 2014).For instance, the company willingly releases its information onpollution through the Carbon Disclosure Project. For some years now,the company relies on renewable energy for most of its operations toavoid unsustainable exploitation of the natural sources of energy.Moreover, in the year 2012, Microsoft reduced its carbon emissions by30% having switched to clean green sources of energy. It is alsoimportant to point out that the company has set a calendar of CSRactivities whereby its thousands of employees are involved incharitable activities in their respective locations. Some of theactivities that the Microsoft employees are involved include, but notlimited to the following: helping the elderly and the sick, cleaningthe dirty environs, campaigns on healthy lifestyle and charitablewalks.
Accordingto Chan (2014), Microsoft is a good place to work. A survey carriedout in the year 2013 revealed that over 85% of the employees agreedthat Microsoft offers the best environment to work. Moreover,Microsoft is committed in promoting the welfare of its employees byoffering them good salaries and other benefits such as paid annualleaves, medical insurance among others. According to Smith, Microsofthas been successful in building a global perception of a caringcompany (2013). Under the influence of the major stakeholders,Microsoft is committed in educating and training its employees toremain updated and informed. Microsoft spends a lot of its moneyannually on employee training programs to ensure they are innovativeenough to keep the company at the top of its rivals in the highlycompetitive global market.
Thereare several forces behind Microsoft’s social responsibilityactivities. The United Nations has set various standards thatmultinational businesses such as Microsoft should adhere to regardingenvironment safety. Additionally, the United Nations ensures thatbusiness activities promote Human Rights. Microsoft stakeholders havealso influenced the co-operation to invest in employee welfare toattract and retain the best talents for continued good performance(Chan, 2014). Also, Microsoft’s employees especially businessadvisers and Human Resources personnel have influenced the company toembrace various philanthropic activities to enhance the corporateimage at the local, national and international levels.
Personalviews on Microsoft’s CSR
Ithink that Microsoft is doing a great job in terms of socialresponsibility and hence deserves all the credit. Microsoft has beensuccessful in building a good reputation through its CSR and genuineactions. Microsoft has attracted a pool of proficient and talentedworkers all over the world and retained then making it maintain goodperformance for several decades. Moreover, the company has realizedhuge profits through its philanthropic activities that have attractedmillions of customers all over the world. I believe that Microsoftsuccessfully utilizes CSR activities to restore its lostprofitability. For instance, the negative impacts that Microsoft hason the environment have been countered by the company’s efforts toreduce natural energy consumption and maintain a clean environment. It is also important to note that Microsoft’s CSR policy has helpedin enhancing customers’ loyalty to their various brands hencepromoting the growth of sales and revenue. However, Microsoft’s CSRactivities have come at a cost. The company spends billions ofdollars to finance its CSR activities. To conclude, I will point outthat the benefits of Microsoft’s social responsibility far outweighthe costs and hence the company should maintain and even strive toimprove it.
References
Chan,L. Y. (2014). CorporateSocial Responsibility of Multinational Corporations.Global Honors Theses Paper 18.
Dudovskiy,J. (2015). MicrosoftCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR).Retrieved from: http://research-methodology.net/microsoft-corporate-social-responsibility-csr/
SmithJ. (2015).TheCompanies with the Best CSR Reputations.Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/10/02/the-companies-with-the-best- csr-reputations-2/#29e3170a22bc