Business Studies Report: Evaluating Microsoft's Sustainability Efforts

This report examines Microsoft's sustainability practices, focusing on their efforts to reduce environmental impact and promote sustainable business operations. The report begins with an introduction to Microsoft and its market position, followed by a literature review that explores the importance of sustainability in modern organizations, the benefits of adopting sustainable strategies, and the consequences of neglecting them. The core of the report analyzes specific sustainability practices employed by Microsoft, such as reducing carbon footprint through initiatives like cloud computing, promoting energy conservation through smart buildings and efficient lighting, and reducing business travel. The report highlights how these practices align with broader corporate social responsibility goals and contribute to long-term business success, including attracting employees, enhancing brand loyalty, and reducing operational costs. The report concludes by discussing the importance of these practices and the future of Microsoft's sustainability initiatives.

Running head: BUSINESS STUDIES
Business Studies
Name of the Student
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................2
Sustainability practices in Microsoft..........................................................................................6
Looking to the future..................................................................................................................8
Reference List............................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Microsoft Corporation is a company that deals with computer technology and is based
in the United States of America. The company is known to manufacture and license products
that are related to software for the computer devices. One of the most popular products of the
company is the operating system known as Microsoft Windows along with Microsoft Office.
The products have gained sufficient popularity in the market and is used mostly by all
customers who are dealing with computing devices. The company owns about 90 percent of
the share in the market with respect to the software that are used in the computers
(Microsoft.com, 2018)
The company was established in the year 1975 by Paul Allen and Bill Gates in a region
called Albuquerque. The products of the company include Windows Client and the other
server and tools known as MSN, which helps in transmitting information over the computers
by the people who are using it (Chatterjee et al. 2016). The BizTalk Server was developed by
the company so that the processes of business can become automatic and the process of
communication can be efficient in nature. The Systems Management Server is a tool that is
used to distribute software and can be controlled through remote as well. The Small Business
Server has been designed so that it can help in running the infrastructure of networks as well
for the medium and the small sized enterprises (Yang and Airgain Inc. 2013).
Literature Review
Sustainability needs to be adopted within the organization in the recent times due to
the rise of global warming and the level of pollution that is plaguing the environment on a
global scale. Most of the business are adopting sustainable techniques so that they can help in
reducing the environmental pollution, which may affect their level of operations as well. The
government of the countries are also trying to help the businesses take up the initiatives so

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that it can help the businesses become sustainable in nature, which would help in reducing the
negative impact of the company in the environment. The government has been adding extra
policies and procedures so that it can help in protecting the environment in a better manner
(McCormack, Paushkina nd Cyrek 2014).
The companies are also hiring better public relations expert so that they can address
the issues in the environment in a better manner. It will allow the expert to guide the
businesses to use the sustainable policies so that the purchase of the products can be done in a
proper manner. The use of the social media along with the internet will help the company in
spreading awareness about the environmental duties that they are carrying out in the external
and the internal environment so that the customers can have a better knowledge of it
(Klettner, Clarke and Boersma 2014).
The benefits that the businesses who adopt the sustainable strategies are that they will
help in attracting the employees towards the organization. Most of the employees in the
recent world do not want to be associated with the companies that do not follow sustainable
practices. This is due to the fact that it will result in creating a negative impact within the
society (Gamble and Thompson 2014). Additionally, working in a company that takes up
sustainable strategies help in providing motivation to them so that the level of productivity
can be increased within the organization as well. The employees will also be content with the
level of satisfaction that they will get from working in these organizations. It will also result
in increasing the sales of the company, as these companies would evaluate the sustainability
strategies that are taken up by the suppliers before purchasing raw materials from the. This
will allow the company to earn a goodwill in the market as well (Schaltegger, Hansen and
Ludeke-Freund 2016).

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The businesses will be in a better position to attract investors for potential investment
in to the company. This is due to the fact that the investors want to earn a better rate of return
after they have invested their money in the business. The investors will also be looking for
the sustainable companies who are creative and innovative which helps them in changing the
products and the services on a constant manner (Bansal and DesJardine 2014). It will also
result in reducing the cost of operation for the company, as the waste products will be
recycled and used within the production cycle. The use of efficient lighting system will result
in reducing the carbon footprint to a significant manner so that the effect of pollution can be
minimized. The business organizations that will be using sustainable strategies will also
result in encouraging creativity within the work place so that the employees can continue
their process of innovation on a constant manner. The employees will tend to be engaged in
to the business process so that it can help them to be creative on the organizational work floor
(Carroll and Buchholtz 2014).
The continuous process of innovation that will be done in the work place will result in
increasing the level of productivity in the organization as well. The employees will be
motivated to work within the organization, which will also result in increasing the level of
production in the system. The effort in reducing the cost of the products will; directly result
in streamlining the activities that will result in reducing the maintenance and the labour cost
as well. The organizations will also benefit in reducing the risks, as the innovation processes
will result in developing the products in a cost-effective manner (Bocken et al. 2014). The
companies will also be able to increase the loyalty of the brands in the market as well. The
use of the sustainable practices will result the products to be identified in the market by the
consumers due to the promotional strategies used by them. This will increase the recalling of
the brand among the customers and the company will be in a better position to increase its
level of profit in the market as well. If the company loses its reputation in the market, it will

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be difficult for the company to regain the trust in the market among the customers, as the
perception would be that they are not responsible towards the environment (Crane and
Matten 2016).
If the businesses do not adopt the sustainable strategies in their business processes, it
will fail to meet the expectations in the market. This is due to the fact that the symbolic value
of the company will not be able to grab the attention of the customers. They would not be
able to able to charge a price of the products in the market due to the bad reputation that it
had created in the area (Carroll and Buchholtz 2014). These companies would also be facing
shortage of employees, as most of the employees will not be able to work in a proper manner
within the company. It would lead to dissatisfaction among the employees, which would
eventually lead them to quit form the organization. The cost of production for the good and
the services will be high, as the innovative processes will not be applied in the organization.
The innovations will result in decreasing the cost of manufacturing the products, which
would lead to an increase in their level of profits. The failure of adopting these technologies
would result in losing out the opportunity to earn a better rate of return in the market (Galea
2017)
These companies will not be able to address to the problems that they face in a better
manner due to the lack of the sustainable strategies adopted in their systems. The evaluation
of the external and the internal factors cannot be done in a proper manner so that the
company can gain a competitive advantage in the market. It will be difficult for the
companies to manage the risks in a better manner, as the cost of mitigating it would be very
high in the market. Most of the potential investors would be looking for alternative options,
as they will not want to invest in these companies due to the loss of innovative techniques
within the work place (Bansal and DesJardine 2014). The cost of operating within the
companies will increase, as the waste materials will not be recycled in the work place. This

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would increase the investment of the company in the raw materials to a great extent, which
would result in hampering their level of profits in the market. Most of the brands that are
being produced by these companies will not be able to gain the loyalty of the customers due
to the wrong perception that the consumers will have regarding the companies. This would
affect the company, as the products will not be able to sell in a proper manner in the markets
(Dyllick and Muff 2016).
Sustainability practices in Microsoft
The company is known to adopt sustainable practices in their business environment,
which helps them in developing the strategies in an effective manner. The company has taken
effective measures in reducing the carbon footprint so that the environment can become
sustainable. The reduction of carbon compounds in the nature has been done by allowing the
employees to work from their home and including programs that will help in recycling the
products. This will result in reducing the carbon footprint to a great extent. The company also
looks for partner companies who are sustainable in their business practices so that it can help
in reducing the consumption of the resources. The employees of the company have taken up
innovative measures, which has helped in creating the products at a cost-effective manner
(Charles, Schimdeiny and Watts 2017).
The company needs to take up measures such as cloud computing for gaming system,
e-mails and other documents. The use of cloud computing has resulted in reducing the carbon
footprints to a great level and helped in increasing the level of efficiency among the data
centres as well. The applications can be shared in an efficient manner as well. The cost of
using the cloud computing is very less, as it has to be installed once and can be used over a
period of time. The company can use the smart buildings that will help in saving energy will
help the company in improving the business and reduce the impacts on the environment on an
overall manner (Neubauer and Lank 2016). These buildings will help in optimizing the

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performance of the operations and at the same time reduce he consumption of energy as well.
The buildings can be built in a smart manner with the help of cloud computing, analytics
based on real-time and automatic processes so that the utilities can be integrated within the
system. The costing for LED lights that helps in saving energy is very less and will not affect
the financial statements of the company to a great extent (Shaikh et al. 2014).
The company can also manage the consumption of energy in a better manner by
controlling the power of the laptops and the desktops that are being used in the business
system. This will significantly reduce the use of energy within the system. It will also result
in saving the energy to a great level so that it can be used at a later stage. The company can
also reduce the travelling by using the Microsoft Unified Communications, which will allow
the systems to be streamlined. It will help in increasing the commuting in business so that the
outcome of the business can be enhanced as well as reduce the cost. The use of this
communications system will also allow the company in being sustainable towards the
environment (Chu, Cui and Liu 2017).
The company takes the problem of the environment in a serious manner, which has
resulted in making proper commitments towards reducing the level of pollution within the
company. The company will not use the products or the substances that are harmful towards
the environment, as it may hamper the image of the company. The banned substances are
tested on a regular manner within the company so that it can result in formulating the policies
that are related to the environment and those substances are not followed within the business
system (Richter 2013). The company needs to develop sustainable packaging so that the
distribution system for the company can be developed in an effective manner. The packaging
of the software for the company is done from the paperboards that are sourced from the
forests that are managed in a sustainable manner and can be recycled in a proper manner. The
company has their own chain of suppliers who helps in providing the materials to the

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company at a cheaper rate. This helps the company in keeping its cost at a minimum so that
the operations can be maintained in an efficient manner. The data centres that were built by
the company at an early stage were changed in to in to new compounds and has installed the
energy saving techniques, which has resulted in saving the energy to a great extent. These
improvement centres were built at a higher cost, which has helped the company in being
sustainable in the activities that are being carried out by them (Naubauer and Lank 2016).
Looking to the future
The environment needs to be taken care of in a proper manner so that the future
generations are able to enjoy it as well. The use of minimum driving will reduce in reducing
the carbon compounds in the environment. The company needs to increase the work from
home facility for the employees so that they do not have to come to the office through a
means of transport. The company can also adopt the pool car facility where the employees
can be bought together within the office premises. This will result in significantly reducing
the carbon footprints, as the number of cars will reduce greatly. The company can install
LED lights in the entire office premises so that it can reduce the emission related to carbon
compounds. The desktops and the laptops that are being used within the office premises
should be in energy-saving mode so that it can result in reducing the consumption of energy
to a great extent. The company also reduces the use of water within the premises, which helps
in reducing the carbon compounds to a great extent. The recycling of the water and the waste
products within the organization has resulted in saving the environment to a greater extent. It
has also reduced the cost for the operations due to the recycling programs that has been taken
up by the organization, which has resulted in using the products all over again so that
maximum utility can be derived from the products. The company also minimizes its
packaging so that the distribution system for the company can be done in an efficient manner.
This has resulted in reducing the carbon footprints to a great extent for the company.

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Reference List
Bansal, P. and DesJardine, M.R., 2014. Business sustainability: It is about time. Strategic
Organization, 12(1), pp.70-78.
Bocken, N.M., Short, S.W., Rana, P. and Evans, S., 2014. A literature and practice review to
develop sustainable business model archetypes. Journal of cleaner production, 65, pp.42-56.
Boons, F. and Lüdeke-Freund, F., 2013. Business models for sustainable innovation: state-of-
the-art and steps towards a research agenda. Journal of Cleaner Production, 45, pp.9-19.
Carroll, A. and Buchholtz, A., 2014. Business and society: Ethics, sustainability, and
stakeholder management. Nelson Education.
Charles Jr, O.H., Schmidheiny, S. and Watts, P., 2017. Walking the talk: The business case
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Chatterjee, M., Porter, A.R., Mabry, W.B., Evans, J.P., Hanks, R.T. and Clark, R.C.,
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Chu, S., Cui, Y. and Liu, N., 2017. The path towards sustainable energy. Nature
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Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
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Galea, C. ed., 2017. Teaching business sustainability: From theory to practice. Routledge.

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Gamble, J. and Thompson, A.A., 2014. Essentials of strategic management. Irwin Mcgraw-
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McCormack, M., Paushkina, A. and Cyrek, T., Microsoft Corp, 2014. Display screen with
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Shaikh, P.H., Nor, N.B.M., Nallagownden, P., Elamvazuthi, I. and Ibrahim, T., 2014. A
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