Microsoft is a multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and which mission is

to empower every person and organization to achieve more through the use of innovative information
technology.

Microsoft is committed to initiatives throughout the world that seek to create positive social change and
sustained economic development to expand opportunities through greater access to technology.

Priorities as a partner of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data

Microsoft, involved since the very start of the Data Revolution, is committed to using technology to
better collect, analyze, share, and act on data across the United Nations and Governments.

We will focus at a country level supporting new data strategies to help drive successful Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) reporting. In addition, we are committed to working with statistical
organizations to create a stronger, trusted data platforms to enable collaboration and better access to
the vast amounts of data already collected

What is Microsoft doing for sustainability?

Microsoft has been carbon neutral across the world since 2012 and commits to being carbon negative by
2030. Our goal is to promote sustainable development and low-carbon business practices globally
through our sustainable business practices and cloud-enabled technologies.

http://www.businessfor2030.org/microsoft

4.1) BY 2030, ENSURE THAT ALL GIRLS AND BOYS COMPLETE FREE, EQUITABLE AND QUALITY PRIMARY
AND SECONDARY EDUCATION LEADING TO RELEVANT AND EFFECTIVE LEARNING OUTCOMES

Achieving inclusive and equitable quality education for all is critical to creating sustainable and growing
societies that enable opportunities for everyone to achieve more. In today’s world, that cannot happen
without access to ICTs – specifically ubiquitous, robust, and affordable access to the Internet and all of
the information that connectivity makes available. Students without this access are at a real
disadvantage without the ability to benefit from the most up-to-date content and experiences that are
available through the Internet. As part of its affordable access initiative, Microsoft works with partners
around the world to deploy cost-effective connectivity solutions for schools and communities to address
this problem. Through these projects 104 k-12 schools and 9 universities on 5 continents have been
connected to the Internet, covering a population of over 400,000 people. The first of these projects,
connecting Gakawa Secondary School in Nanyuki, Kenya, launched in 2013 – connecting its students to
the wider world for the first time. According to the school principle, since the program launched
“students’ academic performance has shot up and their grades improved greatly in National Exams
(KCSE) unlike the past.” This problem is not only in developing countries. In Virginia, USA, schools are
connected, but many students have no connectivity at home to help with homework. The Virginia
project is focused on extending the coverage from the schools into the surrounding community.

08 Decent Work and Economic Growth.jpg

8.5) BY 2030, ACHIEVE FULL AND PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT AND DECENT WORK FOR ALL WOMEN
AND MEN, INCLUDING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AND PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, AND EQUAL PAY FOR
WORK OF EQUAL VALUE

Thanks to Microsoft’s many partners around the world, the company has made important progress
towards closing the skills and employability gap, but it is just getting started. In FY19, through more than
123 partnerships with nonprofits and NGOs across 42 countries, the enterprise reached 15 million young
people with quality digital skills experiences and computer science education, helping to ensure we
prepare them to pursue today’s jobs and tomorrow’s opportunities. Microsoft’s grantees have trained
more than 180,000 teachers to teach computer science, equipping them with the skills and resources to
reach millions of students with high-quality, inclusive CS education. Over 50% of the individuals served
through Microsoft partner-funded programs are female, and more than 80% are from underserved
communities. In strengthening the ability of nonprofit organizations and schools to offer computer
science education and AI skills, Microsoft generates excitement and demand for computer science
education, as well as helping more students and workers adapt to the digital economy and changing
workplace.

Microsoft Apprenticeship Program in the UK

Goals

Microsoft launched its apprenticeship program in 2010 with three main objectives: help more people
access digital careers, enable employers to widen their talent pool, and by extension, address critical
shortages of digital specialists. More than ten years later, and with over 25,000 apprenticeship starts
delivered by Microsoft Learning Partners, the program has been established as a mature and proven
model. It is delivering a valuable talent acquisition option for employers and an attractive career
strategy for new entrants.

Implementation
While Microsoft leads on program design and content creation, training is carried out by learning
partners who hold a direct relationship with apprentices and employers. Learning partners also assist
employers with apprentice recruitment and engage prospective employers to join the program.

Microsoft ensures the program content is relevant and attractive to employers and apprentices, while its
reputation also amplifies learning partners’ local reach.

Benefits

Based on research commissioned by Microsoft UK and conducted by Edelman Intelligence in May 2018,
the benefits of the apprenticeship include:

To Employers

Employers reported a £36,840 uplift as a direct result of taking on apprentices.

Improved workforce diversity in terms of age and background.

To Apprentices

Apprenticeships brings tangible financial returns with apprentices estimating that they earn

£5,200 more in their annual salary as a result of choosing an apprenticeship.

Providing apprentices with strong knowledge base and opportunity to jump start their careers

Discover more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/athome/digitalskills/

8.6) BY 2020, SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCE THE PROPORTION OF YOUTH NOT IN EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION
OR TRAINING

Thanks to Microsoft’s many partners around the world, the company has made important progress
towards closing the skills and employability gap, but it is just getting started. In FY19, through more than
123 partnerships with nonprofits and NGOs across 42 countries, the enterprise reached 15 million young
people with quality digital skills experiences and computer science education, helping to ensure we
prepare them to pursue today’s jobs and tomorrow’s opportunities. Microsoft’s grantees have trained
more than 180,000 teachers to teach computer science, equipping them with the skills and resources to
reach millions of students with high-quality, inclusive CS education. Over 50% of the individuals served
through Microsoft partner-funded programs are female, and more than 80% are from underserved
communities. In strengthening the ability of nonprofit organizations and schools to offer computer
science education and AI skills, Microsoft generates excitement and demand for computer science
education, as well as helping more students and workers adapt to the digital economy and changing
workplace.

There is a growing skills gap that is impacting both employees and employers.

AI is displacing some jobs, creating new ones, and changing others. Not only does this impact
employability prospects for individuals, it has a systemic effect on the ability of companies and
industries to find workers with the digital skills they need. To address this, we must change both the way
people are educated and trained, and the way companies hire and support employees throughout their
careers. By 2030, up to 800 million people will need to learn new skills for their jobs due to automation,
54% of all employees will require significant reskilling in the next two years and 2/3 of students will work
in jobs that don’t exist yet. To meet this challenge, Microsoft is investing its resources and its voice to
equip people unreached or displaced by technology with the computing and AI skills needed to gain
employment in the digital economy.

Microsoft Apprenticeship Program in the UK

Goals

Microsoft launched its apprenticeship program in 2010 with three main objectives: help more people
access digital careers, enable employers to widen their talent pool, and by extension, address critical
shortages of digital specialists. More than ten years later, and with over 25,000 apprenticeship starts
delivered by Microsoft Learning Partners, the program has been established as a mature and proven
model. It is delivering a valuable talent acquisition option for employers and an attractive career
strategy for new entrants.

Implementation

While Microsoft leads on program design and content creation, training is carried out by learning
partners who hold a direct relationship with apprentices and employers. Learning partners also assist
employers with apprentice recruitment and engage prospective employers to join the program.

Microsoft ensures the program content is relevant and attractive to employers and apprentices, while its
reputation also amplifies learning partners’ local reach.

Benefits

Based on research commissioned by Microsoft UK and conducted by Edelman Intelligence in May 2018,
the benefits of the apprenticeship include:

To Employers

Employers reported a £36,840 uplift as a direct result of taking on apprentices.

Improved workforce diversity in terms of age and background.

To Apprentices

Apprenticeships brings tangible financial returns with apprentices estimating that they earn
£5,200 more in their annual salary as a result of choosing an apprenticeship.

Providing apprentices with strong knowledge base and opportunity to jump start their careers

Discover more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/athome/digitalskills/

8.8) PROTECT LABOUR RIGHTS AND PROMOTE SAFE AND SECURE WORKING ENVIRONMENTS FOR ALL
WORKERS, INCLUDING MIGRANT WORKERS, IN PARTICULAR WOMEN MIGRANTS, AND THOSE IN
PRECARIOUS EMPLOYMENT

Microsoft developed and sponsored an e-learning tool in collaboration with End Human Trafficking Now
and UN.GIFT. The online training program is created for business leaders, managers and employees to
help them understand what human trafficking is, identify where it poses a risk to their business, and
point to actions they can take to address this risk. As such, the collaboration proactively supports the
rule of law by advancing international standards.

16 Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions.jpg

16.A) STRENGTHEN RELEVANT NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, INCLUDING THROUGH INTERNATIONAL

COOPERATION, FOR BUILDING CAPACITIES AT ALL LEVELS, IN PARTICULAR IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES,
FOR PREVENTING VIOLENCE AND COMBATING TERRORISM AND CRIME

Microsoft developed a tool – PhotoDNA – which creates something like a fingerprint of an image which
can be compared with the signatures of other images to find copies. The National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children (NCMEC) and online service providers such as Microsoft and Facebook currently use
PhotoDNA to help find, report and eliminate some of the worst known images of child pornography
online. The Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit has partnered to make Microsoft PhotoDNA image matching
technology available to law enforcement at no cost to help enhance their child sex abuse investigations,
particularly through its integration into the Child Exploitation Tracking System (CETS), a collaborative
global law enforcement program which helps law enforcement agencies follow hundreds of suspects at
a time and eliminate duplication, making it more efficient for the agencies to follow up on leads, collect
evidence and build cases against suspected child pornographers. CETS is currently used by agencies in
Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.
16.B) PROMOTE AND ENFORCE NON-DISCRIMINATORY LAWS AND POLICIES FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT AND PROTECT FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS

Microsoft has publicly advocated for marriage equality in places in which it has facilities and employees.
It has joined various major local and global companies to publicly support the passage of legislation
recognizing marriage for same-sex couples, including in its home country in North America and globally.
Such efforts included publicizing the business case for supporting marriage equality on its blog, writing
letters of support and submitting a ‘friends of the court’ brief to the Supreme Court of the country to
strike down state bans on same-sex marriage. The company’s actions are based on the conviction that
discrimination of any kind is a business issue affecting morale and productivity and the company’s access
to talent.

https://ivypanda.com/essays/microsofts-sustainable-development/

Microsoft’s Sustainable Development Report

Exclusively available on IvyPanda

Updated: Aug 2nd, 2021

Executive summary

The business world is drastically evolving. In an attempt to address the global environmental and social
challenges, big companies through their actions and influence are adopting new policies, products and
approaches and are also demanding their dealers and their clients to change too due to both the market
demands answers that assist a company of any size function in a sustainable manner and build
sustainable brands.

We will write a custom Report on Microsoft’s Sustainable Development specifically for you

for only $16.05 $11/page

809 certified writers online

This case looks at Microsoft Corporation, a technology firm that aims to develop software for
sustainability required to make it possible for companies to move the needle on this vital concern.

Introduction

The society perception towards the environment is changing as people acknowledge that their everyday
activities have a direct impact on the environment. Thus, the environment ought to be preserved and
that there is as a correlation between environment, society and the economy.

Businesses due to their practices and public pressure have to acknowledge that they play a great role
towards the positive and negative impact on the environment.

Hence, organizations such as Microsoft are aspiring to have sustainable development practices in their
operations. Its aspirations of sustainable development can be seen in its global operations as Microsoft
business activities cross over its boundaries due to its global market, distributors and supply chains
(Hopwood et al., 2005).

Due to the need to grow sustainable businesses, companies and governments have come up with legal
policies and frameworks aimed at ensuring that the business community understands and implement
the principles of sustainable development into their organizations. Some even have incorporated
sustainable development into their mission statements (Devinney, 2009).

Prior to sustainable development principles, companies used to value their strength by their financial
position; thus the more profitable a company was, the stronger it was. Nevertheless, as time went by,
the negative practices used by companies in their operations started affecting the environment.

Get your 100% original paper on any topic done

in as little as 3 hours

Due to this, change was needed in the production cycles and as a result organizations started adopting
green business practices but haven’t yet fully incorporated sustainable development practices.
Organizations realized that using financial indictors as a measure of success was a short term analysis as
long term effects would significantly affect the productivity of their companies.
Smith and Rees (1998) explain that “this meant expanding the company’s focus from merely creating
shareholder value to include all stakeholders — meaning the people who work in our companies, the
people who live in the communities where our products are manufactured, the customers who use our
products and the workers in the factories that create them”.

Sustainable development is not only a motivating strategy for big corporations but a core element in the
organizations future corporate efficiency. This paper will thus seek to critically analyze how Microsoft
will hope to achieve the three aspects of sustainable development as employed by Microsoft namely;
environment, society and the economy.

Review and Evaluate (Microsoft) policies and practices

Sustainable development takes into consideration three issues, that is, environment, society and the
economy. According to Presas (2001, 205), “Sustainable development is development that meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Microsoft “aspires to be more than just a good company, it aspires to be a great company.” It
acknowledges that it has to adopt sustainable development if it is to achieve this. Microsoft strives to
incorporate the principles of sustainable development in its day to day operations towards its long term
objectives.

This, in turn, Microsoft hopes will have a win-win situation among all its stakeholders in issues
concerning the environment, the society and the economy.

As a result, Microsoft management aspires to take the three core issues seriously in its development
agenda these as Ayong Le Kama (2001, 1915) notes that “three elements of sustainable development
constitute a corporate evaluation model measured by the so-called ‘triple bottom line’, covering a
company’s impact on people, planet and profit, respectively”.

We will write a custom Report on Microsoft’s Sustainable Development specifically for you!

Get your first paper with 15% OFF

Nevertheless, Microsoft acknowledges that there are issues in implementing the system; for instance,
how would the company know if their practices are sustainable and to what extent?

With time, there has been significant development in sustainable development systems with the
development of Global Reporting Initiatives (Florida, 2011). These guidelines operate as a framework
that has key performance indicators in areas such as the economy, society and social sustainability.

According to Microsoft’s Environmental manager, the company hopes to attain its sustainable
development by pegging itself on three core pillars, information technology, innovation and energy
efficiency. As a result the company continues to celebrate earth day and stressing on the need of
observing issues related to climate change. It further notes that IT products result in at least 3 percent of
carbon emissions.

Due to this fact, the company is keen on new innovations that will cut back on its carbon emission and
reduce its energy emission. “For instance, Microsoft’s own use of Unified Communications virtual
meeting and telework software is already reducing employee travel by approximately 1 million air miles
a year, and reducing our carbon footprint by 17,000 metric tons annually” (Pearce et al, 1989).

Thus Microsoft’s aspires to attain efficient, sustainable development by adopting strategies that focus
around environmental sustainability. These will entail the company coming up with new and innovative
technologies which can be adopted in the global arena.

In addition, the company is in the course of adopting other performance indicators that ensure effective
and efficient green business practices in its operations, for instance, the ISO 14000. From late 2013, the
company has put a system that will require its supplier and distributor chain to provide data on their
compliance to environmental issues that are provided by the companies’ guidelines.

These guidelines act as a benchmark through which all other stakeholders have to adhere to. Florida,
(2011) notes, “ the new reporting mechanism complements and strengthens Microsoft’s existing
auditing and assurance programs, which include third-party monitoring of its contract hardware
manufacturers.”
Therefore in the coming months, the company plans to start a sensitization program through which key
stakeholders will be informed on its key policies on sustainable development. This will aim at
encouraging transparency in its sustainable development program.

Not sure if you can write a paper on Microsoft’s Sustainable Development by yourself? We can help you

for only $16.05 $11/page

As indicated above, Microsoft takes sustainable activities seriously and is in the process of adopting all
its practices into the system. Despite the fact that there are numerous hindrances in achieving their
current and future objectives, Microsoft will have one of the best sustainable practices compared to
other companies in the field.

This is due to its sustainable development policy and framework that will serve as a benchmark in its aim
of achieving a sustainable development agenda. In addition, its policies encompass both a qualitative
and quantitative approach, thus making it a very comprehensive framework. Microsoft also
acknowledges that achieving a fully sustainable development practice into the company is an issue that
will take a lot of time.

As a result, its performance indicators are scheduled to introduce the practice on a timeline basis, taking
into consideration the bottlenecks it might face from different stakeholders. This forms one of the best
practices as the company appreciates the fact that adopting sustainable development in all three core
areas is quite a challenge but has formulated a timeline of achieving them in the long run.

Also Microsoft hopes to adopted proactive sustainable approaches where it will be applied not only in
their production plants but also on its supply lines. This has been done in consideration that Microsoft’s
sustainable strategies extend beyond it cooperates boundaries and if it is to achieve their sustainable
development agenda.

In order to achieve this, it has had to come up with policies and internal control systems (ICS) as its
suppliers and distributors come from outside Microsoft home region and are thus spread across the
globe. As a result of this, a lot of environmental and social problems are spread across the globe using
these supply and distribution lines (Manning et al., 2011).
As noted above, sustainable development practices are activities that companies aspire to attain but
haven’t achieved yet. Microsoft is one company whereby it hopes to operate in a sustainable business
environment; it hasn’t been able to do so.

Though their policies and guidelines that guide it in its activities to ensure that their activities operate in
a green environment, they are still far from achieving a sustainable development practice. This is due to
the fact adopting sustainable development practices are quite a hard task though it has its advantages in
the long run.

Sustainable development will require the company and other organizations to make an overhaul to its
traditional practices. This will require a lot of time, capital and human resource, a fact that companies
don’t appreciate. In addition, there will be a significant change in the operating systems and a decline in
profit margins a fact that the management and shareholders don’t appreciate.

As a result, Microsoft and other companies lack a strong and immediate structure that calls for a fast
adoption of sustainable development. Due to the above facts, sustainable development continues to
remain as a future goal and not something already in use.

Limitations

Organizations have realized that achieving sustainable development practices into their manual and
activities is quite a hard issue as several issues need to be taken into account.

For example, some stakeholders in the supply and distribution chain weren’t keen in observing
Microsoft’s sustainable development agenda as they saw it as an intrusion on their profit margins. In
addition, there were legal issues as the supply and distribution chains fell in different legal jurisdictions
hence lack of a harmonious approach to the issue.

There were also internal barriers whereby, the Microsoft management wasn’t in consensus about the
right approach the company should take in this issue. Also, different stakeholders in Microsoft had
different interests as they had to put the desires of shareholders (profits) into consideration since buy
adopting sustainable development practices would mean cutting on profits in the first stages of
implementation.
Methodology

Based on the research topic, the researcher used secondary sources of information as the main form of
information for the research. The researcher used his discretion which enabled him to go through very
large volumes of relevant data secondary sources and subsequently select the most appropriate data
from published sources which came from books and official websites.

The data were collected from official websites and industry sources in order to add credibility and
reliability to the research findings, additionally qualitative data was used to analyze the results and
support discussions.

The Secondary data collection method that was used included Microsoft’s official website. Since the aim
of the research was to investigate the sustainability performance of Microsoft with regards to its
management of corporate strategies, it thus aimed the company’s website and journals.

The secondary data collection was an effective method of collecting information since it saves time and
could offer more accurate and unbiased information.

Through journals, it was also easy to make a follow up when looking for finer details of any interesting
piece of information by comparing peer-reviewed journals. Therefore due to the large amount of
information collected by secondary data collection methods, they enabled a conclusive determination of
the sustainability performance of Microsoft.

The choice of quantitative data collection as the methodology to be used is backed by the fact that
quantitative research has the capacity of providing detailed information regarding the company’s
sustainable development practices in its operations hence the methodology fitted well with the aim of
the research.

Comparison of the data with other peer-reviewed when collecting information could only be achieved
by using quantitative methods.

Data analysis is a crucial part towards completion of a study. In this research, data analysis involved
carefully looking at the results from the journals and other websites. From the data provided by the
articles, the researcher tried to identify how Microsoft manages corporate responsibility. In the analysis,
the practicality of the research outcomes in solving the real problems in the field was also evaluated.

It is common for research undertakings to present challenges and this research is no exception. The first
challenge was that some of the journals may have been too old and provided information that was not
reliable. This may have been as a result of continuous change in operations or bias of some authors.

Another challenge was the financial cost of the research. Although the initial budget had been factored,
additional cost sprung up while the research was in progress and this proved to be a limitation.

The research was generally time-consuming and this proved to be a limitation since a lot of time was put
in the collection of data as well as in the analysis of the collected data.

Findings

Microsoft has committed itself towards providing software solutions and business practices that are
sustainable and can thus assist the business world and the society achieve their sustainability maturity
model. This has been done with a view to enable the market and other stakeholders have the capacity
to analyze each of their decisions from an environmental as well as economical and social point of view.

Moldan et al. (2011 p.11) state that “to begin on that path, we have created the Environmental
Sustainability Dashboard for Microsoft Dynamics® AX 2009 as a first foray in utilizing software to address
the environmental sustainability challenge our customers face”.

These new systems are aimed at providing new solutions about an organization trends in matters of
utilization, related costs and the environmental consequences arising out of it. Thus Microsoft develops
its systems with the sole intention of creating awareness and solutions to enhance sustainable
development.

As a result, organizations can now get crucial information or data on a daily occurrence, thereby
incorporating the system as part of normal day activity. Consequently, the data gathered can be
analyzed by professionals who can give a critical review about the success or failures of the company in
attaining sustainable development.
It thus analyses the cost associated with their activities in relation to energy consumption. Once the
analysis is made, an organization can take the necessary measures for cost reduction that also translates
to environmental benefits.

Findings

Discussion

Environmental sustainability

In some cases environmental sustainability is implemented as a business strategy by green businesses

and Microsoft is an example of such an organization. Since there are chief factors that have a potential
influence on the environment, it is therefore necessary for the company to look into its sustainability
performance.

It is therefore evident that the introduction of environmental sustainability measures in Microsoft

Corporation; the company experiences a reduction in costs, a consequential increase in production and
it acquires a good reputation. The aspect of reduction in costs arises from the fact that environmental
sustainability saves resources since it greatly reduces waste matter.

Due to the implication of environmental sustainability, Microsoft has acquired a positive reputation as
well as good public relations; a key factor that enhances the growth and success of the company. This
results to the profitability of Microsoft Corporation (Ans & Rob, 2010).

Social sustainability

Microsoft has greatly invested time and resources in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) under its
social sustainability business strategy. CSR is basically defined as the obligatory responsibility a company
is expected to carry out for the society in form of enhancing both development and growth of the
society.

It is vital for the Microsoft to indulge in Corporate Social Responsibility since it forms a platform for vital
decision-making tools apparently which center on social impacts. The social sustainability of the
corporation focuses on four fundamental. They include: charity, safety, health care, and lastly
employment equity.
The corporation has achieved great heights in terms of carrying out Corporate Social Responsibility
factors (Endress et al., 2005).

Economic sustainability

Microsoft has achieved sustainable development hence a reduction in its costs of production. For
example, the corporation implemented the use of highly capable manufacturing facilities as well as the
use of materials that have been recycled. This aspect has led to the corporation experiencing an
increment in its profits (Dyllick & Hockerts, 2002).

Since governments and local communities in many parts of the world are knowledgeable on sustainable
development of Microsoft, the corporation has resulted to keenly focusing on sustainable development
of their stakeholders. In event, the company realizes economic benefits.

Economic sustainability

Conclusion

Sustainable development of business organizations has become a crucial point in the successful running
of businesses. This has been as a result of the recent negative changes associated with environmental
pollution.

As a result, organizations have taken a lead role in ensuring that their practices are sustainable and don’t
pollute the environment; hence, the concept of “green businesses”. Green businesses embrace the
theory of the interrelation between the environment, society and economy. Microsoft, like other
organizations, has sought to balance these three concepts.

By achieving a balance of the three concepts, organizations will have achieved sustainable development
in their activities. In addition, the government and the global population that forms the market have put
pressure on organizations to be environment conscience; a fact that Microsoft has taken seriously. Thus,
Microsoft has ensured that its sustainable activities go beyond its borders to its supplier and distribution
chains.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) are interconnected with green businesses and therefore form part
of Microsoft’s mission and other companies that operate as “green businesses”.

As a result, organizations ought to ensure that they maintain a “green image” in order to ensure that it
maintains its market and is in line with government policies concerning environmental issues. In
addition, the consumer attitude has critically changed whereby they will use principles of sustainability
in choosing where to buy or not to.

As a result, sustainable development strategies have become a crucial operating principle of Microsoft
and other organizations that operate as “green businesses”.

Recommendations

Due to the business and environment changes, Microsoft management has been forced to change its
perception towards the environment and acknowledge the importance it plays. As a result, the
management ought to be in the fore front in ensuring that its practices and activities are compliant to
sustainable development objectives.

It is on this point that Microsoft should take upon itself to implement sustainable development
strategies in the development of its systems. Apart from that, the company should acknowledge the fact
that its business transcends across its borders since it has a global market, distributors and supplier.
Thus, it has to ensure that all stakeholders adhere to the principles of sustainable development.

In addition, the company should commit itself towards the development of software’s that embraces
sustainability and can assist companies maneuver around this core and sensitive issue in the activities. In
addition, the systems should assist its supplier and distribution chains to gather crucial data that they
can use in assessing their performance in this issue.

The system can also be used as a reference point where organizations can take action in cases where its
activities aren’t in line with sustainable development. More importantly, the systems should offer the
cheapest and quick performance analyses systems which are very practical to green companies.