corporate social responsibility a case study of microsoft corporation

Corporate Social Responsibility: A Case Study of Microsoft Corporation

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Microsoft Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): a brief overview

The technology giant won a number of awards and achievements for its responsible behaviour. These include ranking #1 on Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s 100 Best Corporate Citizens 2018, ranking #1 for both, Environment and Social Score which measures corporate performance using more than 200 factors. Moreover, Microsoft’s behavior as a socially responsible company has earned number 2 spot on JUST Capital’s Top 10 Tech Companies.

Microsoft CSR Programs and Initiatives

Microsoft Supporting Local Communities

Microsoft employees donated USD158 million to non-profits serving its local communities and the world
The Lagos Solar project in Nigeria uses batteries that are charged by solar panels, along with intelligent inverters connected to Microsoft Azure Internet of Things technology
International software provider Temenos relies on Microsoft Cloud services to reach people across Myanmar who lack access to banking, giving them opportunities for more financial stability and access to microcredit and other financial services.
Microsoft’s 4Afrika Initiative provides a set of programs to empower African youth, entrepreneurs, developers and business and civic leaders
YouthSpark initiative aims to empower 300 million young people around the world with opportunities for education, employment, and entrepreneurship

Microsoft Educating and Empowering Workers

Microsoft collects employee feedbacks through multiple channels and acts on them. As part of this initiative nearly 85 percent of our more than 117,000 employees responded employee survey
92% of surveyed stated they feel proud to work at Microsoft and 87% of employees would recommend Microsoft as a great place to work
90% of Microsoft’s employees are eligible for various bonuses

Labour and Human Rights at Microsoft

Since 2016, Microsoft has had a formal commitment to respect human rights as a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact
The technology company adheres to its Global Human Rights Statement
Microsoft provides health and wellness programs for families, paid vacation, paid sick leave and paid time off for new parents

Employee Health and Safety at Microsoft

The Microsoft CARES employee assistance program, offers free access to services including personal and family counselling, stress management, and referrals for child/elder care.
The Microsoft Ergonomics Program offers the workforce ergonomic assessment and training programs and special furniture, equipment, and software for medical needs.
The company conducts Voice of the Supplier Surveys in an anonymous manner to monitor the adherence to health and safety and other important CSR-related principles.

Microsoft and Gender Equality and Minorities

The company is one of the first Fortune 500 companies in the world to offer domestic partner benefits for Microsoft LGBT employees
Since 2016 the company has nearly doubled the number of women corporate vice presidents – both overall and in technical roles
African American/Black and Hispanic/Latino representation among the workforce reached increased by 33% in 2017
Microsoft spent USD3 billion with minority, disabled, veteran, and woman owned businesses in FY18

Energy Consumption by Microsoft

44% of the electricity used by Microsoft data centres comes from wind, solar, and hydro power electricity
Air cooling techniques used at Microsoft data centres result in 20-30 percent lower energy consumption
Microsoft leveraged its corporate campus to help create an analytical software solution that prioritizes maintenance and repairs our 125 Puget Sound buildings based on energy and cost savings potential
All new data centres of Microsoft have an average 1.125 Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), which is one-third less than the industry average data centre PUE of 1.7.

Water Consumption by Microsoft

Air cooling techniques used at Microsoft data centres result in 90% lower water consumption
In India, the company captures rainwater for irrigation, and on its Hyderabad campus, it treats sewage for use in landscaping, resulting in zero sewer discharge.
Paris office also uses captured rainwater for irrigation and flushes fixtures.

Waste Reduction and Recycling by Microsoft

Microsoft Real Estate and Facilities teams around the world implement waste minimization programs, including office supply reuse, recycling, and in many cases, composting
Company’s Redmond, Washington dining facilities divert 99 percent of the waste from the landfill by recycling, using compostable tableware, and adapting our menu to minimize food waste.

Carbon Emissions by Microsoft

Since July 1, 2012, Microsoft’s global operations have been carbon neutral.
The company has purchased more than 14 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of green power and reduced company-wide emissions by more than 9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (mtCO2e).
Microsoft has supported the lives of more than 7 million people in emerging nations through carbon offset community projects.
Company’s carbon offset project portfolio represents more than 600,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions

Microsoft and Sustainable Sourcing

The company evaluates the operations of its suppliers against 23 different ethical, social, and environmental risks
Microsoft’s Device Supply Chain group (DSC) and indirect purchasing group oversee dedicated programs to ensure that its standards are met and to build partnerships with suppliers that advance social and environmental goals
Company’s Global Procurement Group created a formal responsible sourcing function in 2013 to consolidate and enhance its responsible sourcing activities with our indirect suppliers
More than 100,000 device and packaging components provided by suppliers have been evaluated for compliance by Microsoft

Microsoft’s other CSR Initiatives and Charitable Donations

The International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) has recognized Microsoft for having the ‘second largest number of certified privacy professionals (CIPP) of any company.
Microsoft employs more than 50 people whose primary role is investigating potential breaches of company policy, and an additional 120 people whose primary role is compliance
Microsoft has launched Office 365 for Nonprofits in 92 countries around the world, providing USD55 million worth of Office 365 subscriptions to nearly 11,500 nonprofits globally
Microsoft completed the Global Network Initiative (GNI) Phase III Assessment, conducted by an independent assessor, and the GNI Board determined that Microsoft is compliant with the GNI Principles on Freedom of Expression and Privacy
The company began the audit of its non-hardware suppliers against 23 different ethical, social, and environmental risks by country and by commodity category

Microsoft Corporation Report contains a full analysis of Microsoft corporate social responsibility including Microsoft CSR issues. The report illustrates the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, Value Chain analysis, Ansoff Matrix and McKinsey 7S Model on Microsoft. Moreover, the report contains analyses of Microsoft leadership, business strategy, organizational structure and organizational culture. The report also comprises discussions of Microsoft marketing strategy and its ecosystem.

Microsoft Corporate Social Responsibility Analysis

What exactly is corporate social responsibility? Why Microsoft has been ranking consistently at the top for CSR? We shall take a look at these questions to understand how Microsoft Corporate social responsibility is a great case in CSR.

The need for Corporate social responsibility

The world has improved a lot since the 19th century, primarily due to the industrial revolution. However, this growth came at the cost of the rapidly depleting environment. The second change that happened was that companies realized over a period of time that it was not just the shareholders who were important. Companies are increasingly becoming more responsible towards external stakeholders. Industries realized that their sole purpose was not to make money.

Here comes the CSR part. The corporate social responsibility of a firm is all about integrating external stakeholders like the environment and society into the business decision-making process. Therefore, the goal of corporate social responsibility is to reduce the negative impact of any company’s actions along with these directions. The ultimate goal of CSR is to create positive action for society as well as the environment. It should be noted that these benefits are not coming at the cost of the profit of the organization.

Initially, there were only manufacturing-related companies that took part in CSR activities. However, over a period of time, even software companies like Microsoft got into it. Let us find out why.

An overview of Microsoft’s approach towards CSR

Microsoft is one of the top companies in the world. Microsoft has taken a proactive approach to corporate social responsibility. One of the ways of knowing whether the firms are serious about CSR is through their annual reports. Annual reports are documents that are primarily targeted towards investors. A company may talk about its responsibilities towards society and its environment. This shows their attitude towards these issues. Microsoft releases its corporate sustainability report based on the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines.

Microsoft has defined some of the broader CSR goals as:

Empowering people
Strengthening the communities
Protecting our planet

In order to fulfill these broader goals, they have formulated a CSR team. This team is called the Microsoft Technology and Corporate Responsibility or the TCR team. Apart from the TSR team within Microsoft, they are also active through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Microsoft founder Bill Gates has donated a major part of his wealth for philanthropic purposes. This foundation looks at operationalizing some of these philanthropic goals.

“We are grounded in creating local economic opportunity in every community, helping to unlock the power of technology to address our customers’ most pressing challenges.” – Satya Nadella

Microsoft CSR case study

Now we shall look at some of the live examples of how they have executed the CSR . They have been working broadly on the aspects of empowering people. Additionally, they have also looked at ways in which Microsoft as a technology enabler, can help communities across the world. Thirdly, Microsoft is also committed to reduce the carbon footprints of its product in order to protect the environment.

It should be noted here that some of the actions are driven by philanthropic motives while some may be simply following an overall industrial trend. However, the attitude and effectiveness in these aspects are a testament to a company’s CSR activities.

Microsoft launched a solar project in Nigeria to help the local community. Through this project, they have established a center with solar panels to charge the batteries. They have also used Microsoft Azure, their cloud technology to optimize the inverters. This has resulted in a self-sustaining and environmentally friendly solution for the people.

Empowering people

Microsoft is using cloud technology to empower office workers. They have reported that their use of Microsoft software helps the team in building a more powerful workplace. Firstly, they have changed the format of the delivery of the Microsoft Office. Microsoft Office now also comes as a cloud subscription under the name of Office 365. Using this technology, they’re trying to make the workplace more sophisticated. They also attempt to make the applications more secure for the end-users.

Secondly, some of their software offerings are also free of cost. It is interesting to note that their best-selling office applications can be used for free. Office 365 comes with Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, and Excel. This free package could be quite helpful for people working in smaller teams who cannot afford expensive software. Microsoft also attempts to provide higher accessibility in its software. These features are quite helpful for people who are differentially abled.

Strengthening the communities

They have attempted to strengthen the community through the Microsoft Corporate social responsibility team. One of the ways in which they are trying to strengthen the community is through inclusive hiring. In closing, hiring is a process in which a company attempts to have equal opportunity for everyone. It can also mean affirmative actions to provide better opportunities for underprivileged classes.

Secondly, they also attempt to provide some of the toolkits for development. These toolkits could be helpful for startups. They are also used by non-government organizations.

Thirdly, Microsoft has organized skill development and educational courses. Some of the students find these courses particularly useful. Microsoft also collaborated with the Markle Foundation to train around 50,000 workers.

Protecting our planet

It is easier to visualize automotive as environmental pollutants. However. IT products and services can also have an environmental impact . Microsoft has said that it is working on three broader environmental areas.

Firstly, they’re trying to reduce the impact through lower carbon footprint and energy usage. Microsoft was one of the first companies to achieve 100% carbon neutrality in 2012. Furthermore, a lower carbon footprint means that using more eco-friendly materials in their products. A life cycle assessment of the materials helps in lowering carbon footprint.

Secondly, they attempt. To preserve the water and natural ecosystems. Microsoft has laid down certain rules to increase water efficiency. There is also scope to help the affected counties in overcoming the shortage of potable water. Microsoft is also working towards net-zero water certification for its establishment.

Thirdly, Microsoft attempts to reduce the impact of its operations on the environment. Microsoft has taken steps to increase the usage of renewable energy. They have achieved this through. Using solar energy for some of their energy needs. Additionally, they have also looked at ways to minimize waste. In their products, they have achieved this through smaller and lighter packaging. Microsoft has also partnered with other enterprises too. They have created an extensive recycling program for their products.

The way forward for Microsoft’s corporate social responsibility

Microsoft’s corporate social responsibility team has already laid out some of the goals for the future. Some of these goals are:

Using AI for ecological conservation. They use AI to analyze geo-spatial data faster and more precisely. This can help build models to conserve and environmentally sensitive areas.
One of the contributors to the environmental impact of a product is transportation. We can reduce this impact primarily by reducing the weight of the products. Microsoft plans to reduce the weight of its product by 20%. They have projected that this would reduce greenhouse emissions by around 29%.
A simple optimization of the CPU can lead to lower energy consumption. Microsoft plans to use this approach to help people get better battery life as well as reduce the energy consumption of their products.
Microsoft also plans to poise and mobilize people for natural disasters and humanitarian work. They said that they are collaborating with other organizations to help achieve these goals.

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Microsoft Stakeholders & Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy

Microsoft corporate social responsibility, stakeholder analysis, CSR, corporate citizenship, green computer business ethics, sustainability case study

Microsoft Corporation’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy is founded on a number of international concerns regarding the information technology, software, and online service business. Archie Carroll developed the corporate social responsibility model to highlight the mutual influence among stakeholders and businesses. In Microsoft’s case, stakeholders include persons and groups with significant interest in how the company performs and interest in the impact of its computing products. As a major player in the global market, the firm must maintain an evolving corporate responsibility strategy to ensure that corresponding programs satisfy stakeholders’ interests and enhance corporate and brand image, which is a strength identified in the SWOT analysis of Microsoft . Corporate citizenship and corporate social responsibility programs strengthen the IT company’s competitiveness.

Using a continuously improving corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, Microsoft Corporation addresses stakeholders’ interests that significantly impact the business. The company satisfies such interests through appropriate corporate citizenship programs based on international standards and guidelines. Microsoft’s mission statement and vision statement determine the design of these CSR programs for sustainability, green technology, and business ethics.

Microsoft’s Stakeholder Groups & CSR Initiatives

A variety of stakeholders and their interests impose a wide scope of issues on Microsoft Corporation. However, the company focuses on the most significant interests through its corporate social responsibility initiatives, which emphasize human rights, environmental sustainability, and business transparency. The following are the major stakeholder groups significant in Microsoft’s business, arranged according to the company’s prioritization in its CSR strategy:

Customers (highest priority)
Communities
Governments

Customers (Top-Priority Stakeholders) . Considering Microsoft’s business growth needs, customers are the top-priority stakeholder group in the company’s corporate social responsibility strategy. These stakeholders are mainly interested in reasonably priced effective products, along with high quality customer service. These interests significantly influence the company in terms of customer retention and related sales revenues. Microsoft’s corporate responsibility approach satisfies these interests through innovation to provide advanced computer hardware and software products to customers. In addition, feedback systems enable the company to address customers’ complaints and issues encountered in using the products. To further satisfy the interests of this stakeholder group, Microsoft offers discounts to some customers. For example, students and veterans can purchase the company’s computing products at discounted prices. These discounts are also implemented as a part of Microsoft’s marketing mix (4P) . Thus, Microsoft’s corporate social responsibility strategy effectively satisfies the concerns and interests of customers as the most significant stakeholder group.

Employees . Human rights are among the main thrusts in Microsoft’s corporate social responsibility programs. As such, employees are the second-priority stakeholder group in the company’s CSR approach. The interests of employees are competitive compensation, as well as fair labor and employment practices. These stakeholders are significant because of their direct effect on Microsoft Corporation’s organizational performance through human resource competence and productivity. To satisfy employees’ interests, the company’s corporate responsibility strategy involves highly competitive compensation along with continuous improvement in employment practices to protect workers’ rights. For example, Microsoft offers high salaries for qualified workers, in order to compete with technology firms, like Apple , Google (Alphabet) , and Amazon . Also, Microsoft maintains training and leadership development programs to address workers’ interests in the computer technology business. These CSR programs support human resource improvement while increasing morale and competence among employees. Based on these initiatives, Microsoft’s corporate social responsibility strategy satisfies the interests of employees as a major stakeholder group.

Communities . Communities are among the major stakeholder groups in Microsoft’s corporate responsibility strategy, considering that the company includes environmental sustainability as one of its CSR thrusts. Communities are interested in corporate support for development, such as through livelihood programs and environmental protection. These stakeholders are significant because they affect Microsoft’s corporate and brand image. For example, customers use community impact as a criterion in evaluating brands. In its corporate social responsibility strategy, Microsoft uses a number of programs, including discounts for students, military personnel and veterans, as well as donations and assistance through Microsoft grants and charity programs. Such discounts increase the accessibility of the company’s products for students, military personnel and veterans. On the other hand, Microsoft Philanthropies provides grants and donations for deserving nonprofit organizations with programs that support community development, such as education and youth support programs. Moreover, the emphasis on environmental sustainability in its corporate social responsibility strategy represents Microsoft’s commitment to minimize the environmental impact of its business. For example, the company maintains its carbon neutral status through the use of smart packaging and renewable energy, as well as renewable materials for its computer technology products. Thus, Microsoft’s corporate social responsibility strategy satisfies this stakeholder group’s interests and fulfills the company’s aims as a corporate citizen.

Investors . Microsoft identifies transparency as one of its main thrusts in its corporate social responsibility strategy. In this regard, investors are among the main stakeholder groups in the computer hardware and software business. Investors affect Microsoft through the availability of capital. The interests of these stakeholders are business growth and accurate financial reporting. Microsoft’s corporate responsibility efforts satisfy these interests through a variety of disclosures about the business, which benefit investors. For example, these CSR initiatives enable investors to make better decisions about the company. The firm’s business stability also addresses investors’ interest regarding business growth. These initiatives show that Microsoft’s corporate social responsibility strategy satisfies the interests of investors as a significant stakeholder group.

Governments . Microsoft’s corporate social responsibility approach considers governments as stakeholders in the business. This stakeholder group is significant because they directly influence the company’s limits in doing business. Governments are interested in Microsoft’s legal and regulatory compliance, as well as contributions to economic growth. The company satisfies these interests through stringent measures in the organization. For example, Microsoft’s corporate guidelines require human resource managers to comply with labor regulations. These guidelines also require compliance with regulations on environmental impact, product safety, and consumer security. These corporate social responsibility efforts indicate that Microsoft satisfies the interests of governments as stakeholders in the business.

Microsoft’s Corporate Social Responsibility Performance in Addressing Stakeholders’ Interests

As a global computer technology business, Microsoft Corporation has taken the necessary steps for a corporate social responsibility strategy that satisfies the interests of its major stakeholders. The company has high performance in addressing its stakeholders. Microsoft’s emphasis on human rights, environmental sustainability and transparency ensure that this corporate responsibility strategy remains relevant to current market conditions. However, an issue typical in large global organizations like Microsoft is the lack of immediate responses to individual customer complaints and inquiries. In this regard, a recommendation is that the company must invest in a larger support community to harness knowledge sharing that can enhance the corporate social responsibility strategy.

Homer, S. T., Yee, K. V., & Khor, K. S. (2023). Developing a measurement instrument for perceived corporate citizenship using multi-stakeholder, multi-industry and cross-country validations. Quality & Quantity, 57 (1), 277-300.
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Advance sustainability

Climate change requires swift, collective action and technological innovation. We are committed to meeting our own goals while enabling others to do the same.

Our commitments

We work to ensure that technology is inclusive, trusted, and increases sustainability. In 2020, we announced our sustainability commitments and detailed plans for working towards a more sustainable future.

Carbon negative

By 2030, we’ll be carbon negative, and by 2050, we’ll remove our historical emissions since our founding in 1975.

Water positive

By 2030, we’ll replenish more water than we consume across our direct operations.

By 2030, we’ll be zero waste across our direct waste footprint.

Protect and preserve ecosystems

We’ll protect more land than we use by 2025 and build a Planetary Computer.

2024 Environmental Sustainability Report

As the global realities of the climate crisis shift, our focus on our sustainability commitments remains steady. We’re sharing our latest progress and learnings in our annual environmental sustainability report.

Our progress

When we announced our climate commitments in January 2020, we also committed to transparency in sharing our learnings. We aspire to build a world better than the one we found.

Accelerating sustainability with AI

Organizations worldwide are working toward meeting their own sustainability objectives, but progress is slow. Our 5-point playbook outlines what is needed to ensure that AI delivers on its potential as an accelerator for sustainability solutions.

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Laying the foundation for buildings of tomorrow

Embodied carbon is responsible for 8% of global GHG, yet reducing or eliminating embodied carbon from concrete and steel is difficult. Microsoft is piloting new concrete mixes at our Quincy, WA datacenter, with a goal to lower embodied carbon in concrete by more than 50%.

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Navigating the challenges of water replenishment

Water replenishment will play an important role in protecting watersheds across the globe. In a new white paper, we’ve outlined learnings from our replenishment program, hoping that it will help others navigate the challenges of this nascent market.

“While the world will need to reach net zero, those of us who can afford to move faster and go further should do so.”

Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President

Our contributions

In addition to embedding science and sustainability into the way we do business, we also believe our greatest contributions to a sustainable future come from enabling our customers, partners, and suppliers on their own journeys.

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Planetary Computer

The Planetary Computer combines a multi-petabyte collection of global environmental data with user-friendly APIs, a flexible scientific environment that enables users to respond to global queries about that data, and applications that provide conservation stakeholders access to those answers.

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Supply chain integrity

Microsoft has relationships with hundreds of suppliers around the globe, and we work to ensure transparency and ethical standards across our supply chain. We collaborate with our suppliers to protect the fundamental rights of people at every step of the process—from responsible sourcing to production and distribution.

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Sustainability science and innovation

At Microsoft, we have a dedicated Sustainability Science and Innovation team whose mission is to ensure that our sustainability work is grounded in the best available science. This drives our work in sustainability, from our climate commitments to partnering with our customers and partners on co-designing new solutions.

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Microsoft Climate Research Initiative

Accelerating cutting-edge research in climate science and technology is a priority for this multidisciplinary community of researchers.

Microsoft sustainability programs

As part of our commitment to building a sustainable future, we partner with organizations to provide grants and funding that help drive innovation and impact in the areas of carbon removal, carbon reduction, and new climate technologies.

Carbon removal

We are dedicated to finding solutions that have the greatest potential for positive impact, are transparent, and use market intelligence as one of the first businesses to source carbon removal to meet our goal of eliminating carbon emissions by 2050.

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Carbon reduction

As we work to reduce the carbon intensity of our operations, we prioritize solutions that align with our sustainability goals.

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Water replenishment

Water replenishment is a key pillar of our 2030 water positive goal. We see replenishment as a way for our company to help restore and protect the water basins where we operate.

Climate Innovation Fund

We're pledging $1 billion in funding over four years to invest in cutting-edge climate technologies and hasten the implementation of already-existing climate solutions. Climate impact, underfunded markets, climate equality, and shared alignment are the four themes that guide our investments.

Sustainability products & solutions

Building a more sustainable future, harnessing the power of technology.

Your sustainability journey

Microsoft is using our experience to build solutions to accelerate your sustainability journey. No matter where you are, we can help you move forward.

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Through environmental, social, and governance (ESG) capabilities, the Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability enables you to accelerate development and transform your company.

Emissions Impact Dashboard

Make better data-driven decisions about your cloud usage by estimating your carbon emissions using Microsoft cloud services, such as Azure and Microsoft 365.

Latest news

Read recent news and perspectives on today's pressing societal and tech issues from Microsoft.

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Reviewing our progress and sharing our learnings

Since 2020, we’ve seen major changes both in the technology sector and in our understanding of what it will take to meet our collective climate goals. We remain resolute in our commitment to address our own climate impact, and to empower others with the technology needed to build a more sustainable future.

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Sustainable by design

Alongside the benefits of AI, we recognize the resource intensity and the need to address the environmental impact from every angle. We’re determined to tackle this challenge so the world can harness the full benefits of AI and we're sharing the three areas where we’re deeply invested and increasing our focus.

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The journey to water positive

We set an ambitious commitment in 2020 to be water positive and co-founded the Water Resilience Coalition (WRC), a CEO-led initiative to reduce water stress by 2050. We're building on this foundation with the WRC and signing an Open Call for Water Action to accelerate the collective impact businesses can have in building greater water resilience.

Xbox offers first carbon aware console

Xbox is now the first gaming console to offer carbon aware game downloads and updates. By being carbon aware, Xbox consoles are reducing their carbon footprints by optimizing updates and downloads to run at a time when each console can use the most renewable energy.

View more of our commitments

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Expand opportunity

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Protect fundamental rights

Pursuant to California Assembly Bill No. 1305 (the “law” or “1305”), which was signed into law October 7, 2023, Microsoft may be required to make certain disclosures regarding its involvement in the voluntary carbon offsets markets, use of voluntary carbon offsets, and/or certain claims or goals regarding greenhouse gas emissions reductions. While the law itself does not specify a deadline for initial disclosures, the bill’s author has indicated that his intent was that the deadline for companies’ first annual disclosure under the law should be considered to be January 1, 2025. Microsoft is in the process of determining the scope of our potential reporting obligations under this law. We take our sustainability commitments and disclosure obligations seriously, and should we determine that we have reporting obligations under 1305, we will promptly determine the scope of those obligations and comply with those obligations no later than January 1, 2025.

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