CSR: The 3Ps Strategy for Community Goodwill & Environmental Care - Essay Sample

Introduction

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a business strategy that involves the manifestation of a goodwill reputation through dealings and services that are charitably channeled toward the needs and requirements of people in host communities or the environment. One of the ways the CSR strategy has been employed in businesses is the adoption of the 3Ps strategy whereby services and products, as well as the associative initiatives, are equitably tailored toward the favor of the people, the planet, and the organizational profitability goals. Microsoft is one of the top-performers in matters of corporate social responsibility adoption. Notably, CSR strategies have been employed peculiarly to imply a wide range of perspectives regarding Microsoft's goodwill reputation.

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Stakeholders in the Microsoft CSR

The Microsoft corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative aims to address the needs and issues of a majority of the targeted beneficiaries. The essence of adopting an informed corporate social responsibility (CSR) is to coax a wide range of supportive stakeholders whose dedication implies success and a competitive advantage to top-performance dreamers such as Microsoft. For instance, buyers of the products are often lured in the account of their appreciation for Microsoft's recognition for the environment and the impaired society members. The CSR initiatives that are adopted in Microsoft strategy mainly revolve around the needs and requirements of the targeted stakeholders.

According to Saeidi, Sofian, Saeidi, Saeidi, and Saaeidi (2015), a goodwill reputation invites stakeholders like customers and investors on account of admirable association with good deeds. Some of the stakeholders for the Microsoft CSR programs include the impaired lot of society members, the people from host communities around the globe, researchers, learners, knowledge creators, and teachers, other businesses, and the environment at large including its component. Other external stakeholders include customers of the advanced products, the governments, and legislative organization that depends on the research findings to determine the laws that befit the trends and needs of the ruled.

Corporate Social Responsibility at Microsoft

Microsoft is an American multinational producer of technological devices and systems. Computers, smartphones, and office applications are some of the common products Microsoft advocates for in international markets. A bigger assortment of these devices and artificial intelligence-based systems is run efficiently on its Windows versions of operating systems such as the latest, and functionally advanced Windows 10 (Microsoft, 2019). The success of Microsoft in the cloud computing arena is attributed to significantly influential programs such as the corporate social responsibility plan. The founding Chief executive, Bill Gates, has a clear intention regarding Microsoft's prolificacy in contributing to development through learning and sustainable development. These goals have been echoed in the CSR strategies, hitherto.

The Microsoft CSR initiative was aimed to address the issue of disparity when it comes to accessibility and use of cloud computing and related services. The impaired were initially inconsiderably left out during the institution of artificial intelligence services and products such as computing (Microsoft, 2019). The company made a move to invest heavily in improved accessibility for the Windows 10 and Office 365 to accommodate low sight and blind users. Also, the Eye Control feature that is inbuilt in Windows 10 in beta for the people with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (Microsoft, 2017). Seeing AI is also used on iOS to narrate the world around the blind in a bid to care for their day-to-day needs (Microsoft, 2017).

Education and research remain important programs that guarantee empowerment of the people in various societies around the globe. This assumptive postulate is built on the premise that education and research are key areas to generation and transfer of knowledge, which can be applied to foster wise decisions (Shapiro & Stefkovich, 2016). Technically, when wisdom is applied in human societies, the prevalent issues could be addressed differently with a key focus on leveraging the co-existence of the vital aspects of life such as environmental sustainability and entrepreneurship for the good of human societies. To address the pending facilitation for learning, Microsoft Philanthropies donated approximately $1.2 billion in software, and services to nonprofits to help in skill nurturing and knowledge generation in the digital economies and the adoption of technology to ease human lives in 2017 (Microsoft, 2017). Also, the business donated about $1 billion in cloud technology to university researchers and nonprofits (Microsoft, 2017).

Deteriorations in the environmental value remain an issue that calls for sustainable development. Microsoft responds to this issue through the promotion of alternative energy sources such as wind by adopting clean energy in a majority of its data centers (Microsoft, 2017). Further, the AI for Earth initiative at Microsoft prioritizes channeling grants to environmental protection projects that are presented for the advantage of the ecosystem (Microsoft, 2019). Technically, Microsoft's corporate social responsibility initiatives are divided into three main categories as Principles, People, and Planet.

Appraisal of Microsoft's Corporate Social Responsibility

Microsoft is one of the top-performing businesses across the world. Its success springs from the use of innovation to pioneer the attempt to address the needs and requirements of the people. Further, the success of Microsoft lies in the effective communication of its CSR offerings. As a cloud computing-based business, data transfer has been easily carried out to reach out to a wide range of internet users through social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter as well as the Microsoft website. Owing to the institution of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, the Microsoft business has managed to top the technology market with intense rivalry from other top-performers such as Apple, Inc., Google, and Samsung. Products such as the Windows operating system and office application remain widely used globally, as a result of the influential CSR that lures potential buyers and facilitators of the business in many ways.

Recommendations and Conclusion

As a business, Microsoft has a duty to optimize its operations while adopting the corporate social responsibility strategy. In-depth analysis is key to projecting accurately regarding the impacts of the CSR strategy and the way it is adopted (Bajec & Tuljak-Suban, 2019). Microsoft is advised to adopt the use of big data analysis through procedures such as data envelopment analysis (DEA) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to accurately discern key decision making units (DMUs) that can be relied on to optimize the investment in the corporate social responsibility, especially in the future (Bajec & Tuljak-Suban, 2019). In a nutshell, Microsoft has so far made progress toward effective use of the CSR to make it in business via an unbeatable competitive advantage on the market.

References

Bajec, P., & Tuljak-Suban, D. (2019). An Integrated Analytic Hierarchy Process-Slack Based Measure-Data Envelopment Analysis Model for Evaluating the Efficiency of Logistics Service Providers Considering Undesirable Performance Criteria. Sustainability, 11(8), 2330. Retrieved from: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/8/2330/pdf

Microsoft. (2017). Microsoft 2017 Corporate Social Responsibility Report. [Online]. Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiqg7DHpu3jAhUHqxoKHTM3DiQQFjACegQIAxAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.microsoft.com%2Fdownload%2F0%2F0%2F6%2F00604579-134B-4D0E-97C3-D525DFB7890A%2FMicrosoft_2017_CSR_Annual_Report.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1WeBnIjJJi-PATJdCGRZE9 (Accessed: Aug. 6, 2019).

Microsoft. (2019). AI for Earth. [Online]. Retrieved from: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ai/ai-for-earth?activetab=pivot1%3aprimaryr6 (Accessed: Aug. 6, 2019).

Saeidi, S. P., Sofian, S., Saeidi, P., Saeidi, S. P., & Saaeidi, S. A. (2015). How does corporate social responsibility contribute to firm financial performance? The mediating role of competitive advantage, reputation, and customer satisfaction. Journal of business research, 68(2), 341-350. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Saudah_Sofian/publication/273588405_How_does_corporate_social_responsibility_contribute_to_firm_financial_performance_The_mediating_role_of_competitive_advantage_reputation_and_customer_satisfaction/links/59e30b52aca2724cbfe35d62/How-does-corporate-social-responsibility-contribute-to-firm-financial-performance-The-mediating-role-of-competitive-advantage-reputation-and-customer-satisfaction.pdf

Shapiro, J. P., & Stefkovich, J. A. (2016). Ethical leadership and decision making in education: Applying theoretical perspectives to complex dilemmas. Abingdon-On-Thames: Routledge. Retrieved from: https://content.taylorfrancis.com/books/download?dac=C2013-0-26233-9&isbn=9781317681113&format=googlePreviewPdf