Socially Responsible Company: Microsoft. Management Research Paper

Socially Responsible Company: Microsoft
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Socially Responsible Company: Microsoft
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an integral part of companies operating in today’s business environment. Microsoft is a socially responsible company. As reported by Forbes, the multinational technology company was ranked second-best in CSR reputation by the Reputation Institute (RI) in 2017 (Strauss, 2017). This paper argues that Microsoft’s employee giving program, environmental sustainability, and training programs for the wider community show that the company is socially responsible.
One of the key components of the firm’s CSR is its employee giving program. When the employees of the company make donations, the company matches them as a way of supporting their passion for giving (Microsoft CSR, n.d.). It is deducible that such action not only motivates employees to give more but also increases their commitment to the company. As noted in the company’s website, its employees give money, skills, and time to numerous societal issues as they seek to make a difference in the world (Microsoft CSR, n.d.). The company together with its employees donated $163 million and volunteered 760,000 hours to numerous nonprofit organizations and schools around the world in 2018. It is important to note that the company matches volunteer time by its employees at the rate of $25 per hour (Microsoft CSR, n.d.). Its founder, Bill Gates also donates millions of dollars to charity through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Kirsch, 2017). Therefore, if donations are anything to go by, Microsoft is easily a socially responsible company.
Social responsibility in the company is also shown through environmental sustainability. It is important to note that climate change is a key challenge facing the world today. As noted in the company’s website, it focuses on areas that have the greatest impact on the environment including waste, water, energy, and carbon (Microsoft, n.d.). The company focuses on reducing its carbon emissions and as a result, it has been carbon neutral from 2012. The company not only buys renewable energy, but it has also invested in testing ways o...