Corporate Social Responsibility: A Case Study of Microsoft

This article discusses the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its implementation in Microsoft. It explores the different perspectives of CSR, including social obligations and stakeholder relations. The case study highlights Microsoft's approach towards CSR, empowering people, communication, and environmental protection. It also examines the challenges faced by the organization and the impact of CSR on the environment and society.

Running head: CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Review of literature regarding corporate social responsibility:.......................................................3
Derivation of concept on Corporate Social Responsibility:........................................................3
CSR driven by the social obligation............................................................................................3
CSR responsibilities driven by the stakeholder relation:.............................................................4
Moral Perspective Approach:......................................................................................................5
Implementation of the CSR driven by Strategy:..........................................................................5
Implementation of CSR driven by the leadership:......................................................................6
Pattern of performing the CSR by the companies:......................................................................6
Case Study: Microsoft- Delivering the quality software while maintaining the CSR practice.......7
Discussion and conclusion.............................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
Corporate Social Responsibility can be defined as the philanthropic act by the business
organizations in order to maintain the social and environmental sustainability. It can also be
defined as CSR or corporate citizenship. In order to maintain the corporate social responsibility
the organization has to maintain certain parameters. It has been seen that the main challenge for
the organizations is to expand and develop the business along with maintaining the practice of
corporate social responsibility.
In most of the cases, the business organizations and the individuals are following the
Friedman’s theory regarding corporate social responsibility. However, in today’s competitive
market, focusing only on the profit is not a suitable way (Al Jarah and Emeagwali 2017). Every
business organizations ahs to be concerned regarding the practice of the corporate social
responsibility or corporate citizenship as there are many win-win situations for the organizations
involved in this practice.
In this discussion the chosen organization to understand the structure of the corporate
social responsibility is Microsoft. The reason for choosing the Microsoft as the organization is
that it is regarded as one of the IT giants at present industry. Apart from that this organization
has gained its name for maintain sustainability and providing proper infrastructure for the
development. There are certain issues and challenges regarding the corporate social
responsibilities (Al Jarah and Emeagwali 2017). The main objective of this discussion is to
evaluate the way Microsoft has practices CSR and its impact on the environment and society
(Hirose, Lee and Matsumura 2017). Apart from that this discussion also involves the challenges
faced by this organization while implementation CSR. This evaluation would be helpful as the

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challenges faced by this IT giants can be similar to the problems and challenges faced by the
other organizations. The identifications and the mitigation technique can be helpful for the other
organizations.
Review of literature regarding corporate social responsibility:
Derivation of concept on Corporate Social Responsibility:
There are various theories regarding the corporate social responsibilities. In this context,
the theories invented by Friedman and Russell can be mentioned. In both theories the
involvement of the elements and the way of working in the CSR has been described in a different
way. According to the Friedman the main objective of CSR is to engage the available resources
in a proper way and increase the margin of the profit for a particular business. Apart from that it
also supports the elimination of the fraud while doing the business.
On the other hand, according to the Russell, every duty is involved with the right and it
owns some of the responsibilities. In this case, the business organizations have some right of
doing the business and those rights is involved with a duty which is known as corporate social
responsibility.
CSR driven by the social obligation:
CSR can be vied from the different perspectives. According to the Wang et al. (2016), the
corporate social responsibility has been seen as the act driven by the social obligations. In this
case, the study has mentioned the pyramid of the CSR which has four stages. The development
of the CSR can be developed through these four stages. These four stages are economic, legal,
ethical and philanthropic obligations. These four stages however are not mutually exclusive.

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There are some responsibilities involved in the implementation CSR (Lee and Hu 2018). One of
the main responsibilities is the economic responsibility. This defines that it is the responsibility
of the organizations to provide the services and the goods to the society and make profit by
selling them. Apart from that the legal responsibility defines the business practices of the
organizations need to follow the rules and the regulations. Philanthropic responsibility presents
that the actions taken by the organizations to sustainable development of the society and
environment are voluntary. Apart from that it is needed for the organizations to maintain ethics
while doing the business.
CSR responsibilities driven by the stakeholder relation:
CSR can be a medium or a platform for maintaining the relations between the different
stakeholders of the organizations. According to Alvarado-Herrera et al.(2017), CSR
responsibilities driven by the stakeholder relations consists of two main motives.
Instrumental Approach: In this approach the managers of the organization has to
consider the demand of the stakeholders as the stakeholders are responsible for supporting the
company by providing the resources. In some cases, the demand of the stakeholders may not be
related to the business. In this context, the users and the consumers of the society are the main
stakeholders of the business organizations. They can be considered as external stakeholders
(Verheyden and De Moor 2016). In this case, it is the duty of the organization to provide some of
the sustainable services to the society so that the people can be benefited from the services. In
this case, the initiatives of Microsoft can be taken into account. During the earthquake at Central
Mexico, over 200 people were killed and injure (Adhikari 2016). In that situation, Microsoft
granted $700,000 grant for helping and the reconstruction of the lives of the people (Steenkamp
2017). Apart from that Microsoft has also provided technical supports like providing free Skype

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calls and emergency services for the management of disaster and reconstruction of the
communication.
Moral Perspective Approach:
It can be said that every person joins to the organization in order to obtain some of the
benefits and the services. The interests of the employees are legitimate and the organizations
should take care of the interests of the employees (Hirose, Lee and Matsumura 2017). This will
help to improve the quality of their work and proper harmony can be maintained through this
system.
Along with the many organizations, Microsoft is also concerned about the interests of the
employees in the organization. In this organization the employees can give feedbacks regarding
different matters of the organizations. The feedbacks of the employees are counted. According to
the report released by Microsoft, it has been seen that over 90% of the employees are engaged in
the surveys regarding the internal modifications of the company, thus making the employees
involved in the decision making indirectly.
Implementation of the CSR driven by Strategy:
Some of the experts evaluate the corporate social responsibility from the strategic point
of view. According to Westermann-Behaylo, Rehbein and Fort (2015), the implementation of the
CSR is a part of the company to maintain goodwill and good relations between the internal and
external stakeholders. The organizations started to act ethically and socially aligned manner
when there is a need for the organization to accept the demand of the main stakeholders. In this
situation the implementation of CSR can be seen from the perspective of the main stakeholders.

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Implementation of CSR driven by the leadership:
Some of the articles merge the CSR with the leadership qualities. According to Suliman
et al. (2016), leadership can be based on the “corporate leadership” can be helpful for the
implementation of the corporate social responsibility. This can be defined by the art of involving
all the employees for the growth of the business and maintaining the sustainable relationship
between different stakeholders.
It has been identified by some of the experts that for most of the business organizations ,
profit is not the main thing to be concerned of. The organizations are also concerned about the
overall development of the surrounding situations and the environment (Hirose, Lee and
Matsumura 2017). In some of the cases, it can be seen that many organizations are
manufacturing the products and designing the services those have less negative impacts on the
environment. In this case, Microsoft is concerned about the increasing threat regarding e-garbage
(List and Momeni 2017). In this situation they are providing services those can be helpful for the
green technology. Apart from that the materials those are used for the system in this organization
have fewer impacts on the environment. Apart from that the Microsoft is also helping different
developing countries for development of economic and social and educational infrastructures.
Pattern of performing the CSR by the companies:
According to Albuquerque, Koskinen and Zhang (2018), different companies has
different approaches for performing the CSR. There is a certain different between the practicing
of the CSR between small and medium companies. Small companies are aimed to maximize the
profit through CSR based on the cost benefit analysis. On the other hand small companies are
more concerned about minimization of the risks and gaining more reputation in the industry
(Hirose, Lee and Matsumura 2017). It has been seen that in case of big names in the industry has

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not aimed to gain the reputation through the implementation of CSR, Those companies are
already well known in the industry (Hirose, Lee and Matsumura 2017). The competition and the
evaluation of the performance of those companies are bounded between some of the other big
names in the industry. In this case, it can be said that the competition of the Microsoft can be
compared with other IT giants like Google and IBM (Carroll 2015). It can be said that the
implementation of the CSR is important for the success of the business. This is applicable for
small, big and medium sized companies. Moreover, for small companies CSR also plays an
important role for the reorganization.
Case Study: Microsoft- Delivering the quality software while maintaining the CSR
practice.
The case study for the discussion of the different perspective of Corporate Social
Responsibility is regarding the Microsoft. This organization started the proper use of the
operating systems on the computers which is famously known as Windows (Campos and
Grangel 2018). However, with the growth of the business, the organization has focused on
making different kind of software services which also includes the applications of the emerging
technologies.
With providing the quality services to the consumers and receiving high profits along
with high turnover, the company is indulged in the facts regarding the surroundings(Johnstone-
Louis 2017). Today, Microsoft plays an important role in developing the sustainability of the
society and the environmental system (Hirose, Lee and Matsumura 2017). The organization is
not only concerned about the development of the surrounding situations, but also concerned
about the employees working in the organization.

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In this case, it can be said that corporate social responsibility at Microsoft is driven by
stakeholders and the social obligations. Corporate Social Responsibility of the Microsoft has
broader perspective of the responsibilities. The main objective of this organization is responding
to the changes and modifications that will incorporate with the social responsibilities and
including the sustainability of the environment (Rotter, Airike and Mark-Herbert 2014). This
also involves maintaining the security of the data stored in the company, cyber security, ethical
practice of the business and philanthropic practices in the organization. Microsoft assumes that
the CSR will be helpful in achieving the long terms business goals.
Initially, the fields involved in the CSR for Microsoft can be categorized into five main
categories. These five categories involve approach towards the CSR for the organization,
empowering the people, maintaining the communications between different stakeholders,
protecting the environment and resources.
The approach towards the CSR for Microsoft can be reflected through the governance of
CSR. In order to measure the current status of the CSR in the organization, Microsoft uses
“Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Guideline” (Stohl et al.2017). In this
context it can be said that this organization is endorsing United Nations global compacts and file
the communication on the progress that implements UNGC principals. Apart from that this
organization also maintains UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and UN
sustainable development goals (Yusoff and Adamu 2016). Maintaining all these principals has
made the practice of this business organization proper and ethical. Global Reporting initiatives
are used for the identification of the issues regarding the implementation of the corporate social
responsibilities in the Microsoft (Al Jarah and Emeagwali 2017). The top issues identified for the
Microsoft in this case are- accessibility, application of the technology for the better environment

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and society, maintaining the privacy of the data and the security, taking steps regarding the
changes in the climate and use of energy. Business practices maintaining laws and ethics, human
rights and human capital.
Empowering people involves promotion and making the people aware about the security
of data and privacy. In this case, Microsoft has taken initiatives regarding the promotion of the
online civility among the teens so in future they can use the internet maintaining proper ethics
and practices. Apart from that Microsoft has invented some of the services for the global goods.
In this context the implementation of Microsoft cloud can be used for the greater well (Hirose,
Lee and Matsumura 2017). Apart from that Microsoft is concerned about the protection of the
security and the privacy of the consumers and the stakeholders. In this context, the organization
is keen to provide the solutions and tools to the consumers those would be helpful for
maintaining the security and privacy of the users along with providing the required services
(Kabir and Thai 2017). Apart from that the organization is concerned about driving the
employees towards the innovation. In this case, the organization provides different training to the
employees so that they can apply their knowledge for the innovation of the new products. Apart
from that Microsoft is also encouraging the students and the research fellows to join their
workforce through their hiring programs.
Marinating the communication between the users and the organization in the Microsoft
can be done in different ways. The main pillars of the communication are empowering the
nonprofit organizations to do better acts, taking different humanitarian steps, engagement with
the public and the local policy. Microsoft gives support to the different nonprofit organizations
those are taking significant part in spreading the computer literacy. According to the report
published by the organization, Microsoft provides $1.4 billion software and the services to the

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nonprofit organizations worldwide (Amin-Chaudhry 2016). Apart from that the organization also
supports the technical support for the social impact.
The practice of the organization also involves in maintaining the sustainability of the
environment. The practices of this organization ensure the reduction of the 75% of carbon
emission in the environment (Lanis and Richardson 2018). One of the main objectives of this
organization is to innovate and deploy the environmental tools and artificial intelligence for
solving the environment related problems. The company has taken initiatives to reduce the
weight of the product package about 20% for the fiscal year 2018 (Ylönen and Laine 2015).
Apart from that the organization is concerned about the management of the waste and the
reduction of the wastage of energy. The company is encouraged to use renewable energy during
the development of the different products. In this case, Microsoft has purchased 1 gigawatt of
renewable energy. The organization has continued to carry out different energy renewable
projects in three continents.
The management of the resources in the Microsoft consists of reporting hub, Global
Reporting Initiative Index, UN SDG and different recognitions. The reporting hub is concerned
about the reporting of the content along with suppliant resources (Ditlev-Simonsen 2015). Global
Reporting index is concerned about the recording of the feedbacks from the wide range civil
society organization. While maintaining these practices Microsoft has gained some of the
recognitions like FTSE Russell, Vigeo-Eiris . These recognitions have indicated that the
practices led by the Microsoft are following the right path.

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Discussion and conclusion
CSR is infused with the policy of Microsoft. This organization is concerned about both
internal and external stakeholders of the organization and it is reflected through the practice of
CSR. Apart from that it has been seen that the advanced development of the practices regarding
CSR has improved overall product and service quality of Microsoft. It can be concluded from the
discussion that the proper practice of the CSR will help an organization from getting the
recognition, maintaining goodwill and enhancing the quality of the goods and services.
Using the current practice of CSR in the Microsoft, the organization can outline the
future practice of CSR. It has been from the literature review that the practice of CSR is driven
by the stakeholders and the organization itself. In order to improvise the current practice of CSR,
more serious involvement of the stakeholders from the different level is needed in future. In this
case, the issue regarding the software piracy can be mentioned. The users are the stakeholders of
Microsoft. It has been seen that most of the users are using the pirated version of the software
provided by Microsoft. This is not a sustainable practice and this eventually effects the revenue
of the company along with hampering the security of the users. Apart from that the IT giants
along with the Microsoft can promote the green technology which will reduce the e-waste and
will support the use of recycled components. Microsoft and other companies may promote
sustainability through the business practices along with different philanthropic works like
spreading awareness regarding affects of deforestation and importance of literacy.
In order to implement the future outline regarding CSR in a proper way, the involvement
of all the stakeholders is important. In this case, the famous companies like Microsoft have to
make the users understand about the policy of the company and importance of abiding the policy
of the company. Apart from that the organizations can take different initiatives like spreading

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awareness among the people on different social and environmental issues through the campaigns.
Apart from that, during the running of the business maintaining the ethics for doing the business
will empower the practice of CSR within the organization. This will also enhance the goodwill
and the brand value for the company. For the improvisation of the current CSR framework in
future, the new goals and objectives for CSR practice are needed to be decided by the
organization. Based on the resolution taken by the organization the planning is needed to be
done. Apart from that the organizations has to maintain the quality and the components of the
products to be checked on the basis of various parameters to ensure that the product is
environment friendly. It can be suggested to the organizations that proper practice of the CSR
and improvise this practice will help the organizations to run the business ethically and in a
sustainable way.

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