Activity Posting 6 - Innovation and Corporate Responsibility CC PDF

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Activity Posting 6 - Innovation and Corporate Responsibility CC...

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What CSR initiative(s) is the organization taking?

Microsoft Corporation utilizes a plethora of CSR initiatives, including the empowerment of its employees, support to the less privileged, investment into sustainable development, and protection of fundamental human rights. Microsoft believes that all of its employees must actively participate in delivering the corporation’s CSR initiatives. To this effort, the company seeks to create an atmosphere of cultural transformation, where social inclusiveness is a core priority. Also, Microsoft desires to improve the economic standing of less privileged individuals. The company specifically tailors its products to encompass the needs of people with disabilities. Other similar initiatives include subsidizing infrastructure for broadband internet in America, donating money to non-profit companies and organizations that seek to improve international education and professional training, and strengthening job seeker employability by offering digital learning grants (Microsoft, 2020).

Furthermore, Microsoft’s CSR pursues ecological sustainability. The company is a global leader in this regard (Pratap, 2019). By directly investing in renewable energy, funding electronics recycling facilities, and maintaining $1 billion Climate Innovation Fund, Microsoft is contributing to a more sustainable future. Due to Microsoft’s area of business expertise, the company uses artificial intelligence to simulate climate change initiatives, measuring their impact, and deriving more effective solutions (Microsoft, 2020). Lastly, Microsoft’s CSR strives to improve social equity and fundamental human rights. This is accomplished by advocating for American immigration reform, supporting communities facing natural and humanitarian disasters, utilizing a supply chain that if free of forced labor and promotes worker welfare, and defending of democratic institutions by combatting digital misinformation and securing international elections (Microsoft, 2020).

•What CSR strategy(ies) are being used?

Microsoft utilizes all three CSR strategies listed by Betker (2021), namely ethical CSR, altruistic CSR, and strategic CSR. Microsoft demonstrates ethical CSR by vetting its vendors and suppliers to ensure they practice diversified hiring, pay their employees a competitive wage, and refrain from using forced or child labor (Microsoft, 2020). The company directly funds and offers grants to thousands of non-profit organizations around the world, thus demonstrating altruistic CSR. These grants are provided on a humanitarian and philanthropic basis, with particular emphasis on developing nations in Asia and Africa (Pratap, 2019). Lastly, Microsoft’s social welfare initiatives pertaining to broadband internet infrastructure and artificial intelligence for climate change are examples of strategic CSR. Microsoft and its shareholders benefit from these initiatives since greater internet access enlarges the customer base and outreach. Likewise, tying artificial intelligence and climate change together allows Microsoft to form exclusive partnerships with governments and NGOs, improving the company’s reputation (Microsoft, 2020; Pratap, 2019).

•How do the CSR strategy (ies) align to the 4 dimensions of CSR?

Microsoft’s CSR strategies align with all four dimensions of CSR. The loans, financial grants, and assistance make up Microsoft’s discretionary responsibility CSR dimension. The corporation’s commitment to the ethical sourcing of its products as well equitable employment pertains to the ethical responsibility and legal responsibility dimensions. More specifically, the company finds it morally wrong to partner with suppliers who do not believe in the same socioeconomic values, subsequently formulating the company’s license to operate. Followingly, Microsoft considers public misinformation unacceptable, recognizing that in order to attain profits within confines of the law, the company should not propagate actors of misrepresentation and distortion. Lastly, the company’s push to improve broadband internet access directly relates to the economic responsibility CSR dimension, where the greater customer base increases the company’s profit.

•What are the benefits?

The benefits of Microsoft’s CSR are both real and measurable. In 2020, it achieved the following:

The company helped more than 1 million callers who called the company’s Disability Answer Desk.

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The company launched a healthcare threat and alert service in 29 countries.

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The company provided broadband internet access to 17.2 million people.

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The company provided digital education and skills training to 13 million learners.

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The company reduced the carbon footprint by 21 million tonnes of CO2 (Microsoft, 2020).

•What are the potential disadvantages or risks to these CSR initiatives

Microsoft faces two main risks with its CSR initiatives: financial impact and regulatory backlash. Due to the sheer size of the company’s CSR, the company can experience financial hardship, particularly during times of economic downturn. For example, Microsoft donated or discounted $1.9 billion in products and services. This represents roughly 5% of the company’s revenues, a figure that may undermine investor confidence (Ang, 2021). In addition, some of Microsoft’s CSR initiatives are politically controversial, specifically the advocacy for U.S. immigration reform. The company may face greater scrutiny and regulation if an unfriendly government disagrees with Microsoft’s position.

•What other CSR initiative(s) could the organization consider?

Being a global leader in CSR, Microsoft’s initiatives encompass a variety of both expected and unexpected avenues. Indeed, Microsoft is ranked 3rd among all companies for the strength and impact of its CSR initiatives (Ang, 2021). Ang (2021) notes that instead of expanding its CSR initiatives, Microsoft should develop more robust ways to measure and quantify the impact of all of its initiatives. A framework for measuring the success of CSR initiatives is critical for continual improvement in corporate philanthropy, allowing a company to pool more resources into the most impactful initiatives, increasing the influence of the company’s discretionary responsibilities (Pratap, 2019).

References

Ang, C. (2021, January 14). America’s most responsible companies in 2021. Visual Capitalist. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/americas-most-responsible-companies-2021/

Betker, R. (2021). Corporate responsibility and innovation [PowerPoint slides]. Moodle. https://moodle.nait.ca/mod/resource/view.php?id=8883730

Pratap, A. (2019, May 8). Microsoft CSR and sustainability. Notesmatic. https://notesmatic.com/2019/05/microsoft-csr-and-sustainability/

Microsoft. (2020). 2020 Microsoft corporate social responsibility report. Microsoft Corporation. https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE4JaGo...