Essay Sample on Maximizing Profits While Protecting Interests: Corporate Social Responsibility

Introduction

The assertion that the prime focal point for the establishment of most companies such as the Microsoft Corporation is the pursuit of profitability is relatively undeniable. However, in the quest for profitability, it is of gravitas prerequisite for corporations to safeguard and protect the interest of others. This is primarily the core focus of corporate and social responsibility. Essentially, corporate social responsibility denotes a self-regulating business model designed to assist a company in achieving social accountability not only to itself but the public as well as its stakeholders (Teck Hui, 2017). Therefore, by adhering to social responsibility, the Microsoft Corporation gains consciousness revolving around its impact on the surrounding societal aspects such as environmental, social, and economical.

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Problems Addressed by Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft is involved in addressing several major problems globally. For example, the company is engaged in supporting local communities. This is done through several programs such as the Microsoft 4Afrika Initiative that is designed to empower youths in Africa, developers, entrepreneurs, civil and business leaders. The company is also committed to labor and human rights protection. Consequently, at the start of the year 2016, the company has shown a formal commitment to respecting human rights as well as adherence to its Global Human Rights Statement (Harjoto, 2017). The other problem addressed by the company is employee health and safety. To address this, the company provides a pivotal assistive plan known as the Microsoft CARES employee assistance program (Van, Go, & Calter, 2014). The plan provides employees with their families with free accessibility to care services such as stress management, family or individual counseling as well as referral for elder and childcare.

Nonetheless, regarding stakeholders, Microsoft Corporation's internal stakeholders include the customers and the employees. On the other hand, external stakeholders to the company include the government, investors, and the community. Notably, the company's CRS initiatives reveal evidential effects on each of the stakeholders. To the customers, for instance, the impact of the CRS initiatives is improved satisfaction of their interests principally through innovation to ensure they are supplied with advanced hardware and software computer products. To the employees, the CRS initiative effects are competitive compensation, coupled with just employment and labor practices (Veldman, 2018). Also, the outcome includes constant enhancement of employment practices primarily to safeguard the rights of the employees.

The effects of the CRS initiatives to the community include corporate support for development, for example, through programs that include the provision of discounts to veterans, military personnel, students, and also giving assistance and donations through the company's philanthropies. Furthermore, environmental protection and livelihood programs are the other effects of the CRS to the community. To the investors, the results of the company's CRS initiatives are ensuring there is transparency to enable better decision making by the investors regarding the company (Teck, 2017). As for the government, the effects of the company's CRS initiatives revolve around the satisfaction of the government's interests. These interests include compliance with consumer security, product safety, and adherence to environmental regulation impacts.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the company is successfully communicating its mission to the stakeholders. This is chiefly evident based on the veracity that the company's CRS initiatives impact each stakeholder is characteristically and positively restructuring the company's relationship and interaction with each of its stakeholders. Thus, this is undeniably a solid accentuation of the company successfully communicating its mission to the stakeholders. However, to further improve its CRS program or presence, the company ought to invest in a large support community mainly to harness the sharing of knowledge. This is because, as a large global corporation, Microsoft lacks instant response to specific personal customer inquiries and complaints.

References

Harjoto, M. A. (2017). Corporate social responsibility and corporate fraud. Social Responsibility Journal, 13(4), 762-779. DOI:10.1108/srj-09-2016-0166

Teck Hui, L. (2017). Transformative Corporate Social Responsibility. Practicing Corporate Social Responsibility in Malaysia, 107-157. DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-62476-1_7

Van Rekom, J., Go, F. M., & Calter, D. M. (2014). Microsoft Corporate Social Responsibility Questionnaire. PsycTESTS Dataset. DOI:10.1037/t54415-000

Veldman, J. (2018). Responsibility and the Modern Corporation. The globalisation of Corporate Social Responsibility and its Impact on Corporate Governance, 77-92. DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-69128-2_4