Lines of business that Microsoft Company engages in
Microsoft Corporation is a Multinational Corporation with headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The company deals with various electronics, such as consumer electronics, computer software and personal computers. Some of the commonly known products include Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office, operating systems, Microsoft Windows, and many more. Microsoft Corporation ranks as the third best company in the capitalization market. It improves environment by providing technology innovations with a goal of being a leading environmentally friendly company in the world (Heilman 245).
Ways in which Microsoft Corporation engages in environmentally friendly pursuit in connection with its business lines
Microsoft Corporation has been looking beyond growth and profit-making as the only key areas in the company operation; environmentally friendly activities have been part of the main goals of the firm. The company ensures that the environmental policy is strictly followed in all its operations to ensure that the environment remains safe for all (Heilman 247). Besides the quality of the products, the company ensures that they are safe and sustainable. The Corporation aims at protecting, conserving, and sustaining natural resources. It also protects its customers and the whole community against any health hazard from where it operates.
The company has gone ahead to work as environmental stewardship by incorporating environmental principles in its business relationships with its customers, suppliers, and the public. The customers are aware of the efforts the company is doing towards environmental conservation and their feedback is always welcomed. Waste management is another way through which Microsoft Corporation ensures that it remains an environmentally friendly business, it tries to dispose of its wastes safely and responsibly.
Consistency in engaging in environmentally friendly activities by the company
The company has been consistent in its engagement with environmentally friendly activities. Whenever it is feasible to recycle, reuse, and conserve any natural resource, the company does not hesitate to do so. Consistency in promoting environmentally friendly activities is ensured by creating environmental stewardship as part of the business (Mills 77). Through this, the company inculcates environmental conservation culture in its employees, suppliers, and consumers, which ensures the need to have environmentally friendly activities. The company has seen the need to have a better environment and it has to inform its customers about the issue and ask for their feedback. Through this, the company works hard to maintain the standard at all times as the customers will always remind them of any negligence.
Cost of engaging in the environmentally friendly activities and profit the company has foregone by such endeavors
Environmentally friendly activities cost the company resources such as human, money, and time. Participation in recycling programs and providing a safe way of disposing of the waste is very expensive as more time is taken to train and design new technology that helps in managing wastes. Technology keeps on changing; this forces the company to keep on changing their activities, which is very expensive. The global change has been a major concern to Microsoft Corporation as it is committed to reducing the carbon footprint of its operations (Oesterman 99). It has to measure, transparently report and reduce the carbon footprint. Ignoring all these activities of creating a friendly environment would translate to relatively larger profit for the company in the short run.
Will environmentally friendly activities have a positive payoff in the end?
The long-term benefit of creating a friendly environment is much higher than the cost involved. After successfully completing the waste management program, the company will save a lot as there will be a reduced number of wastes. The company also enjoys public relations as the public looks at it as the company that is concerned about people’s lives. These activities improve the pride of employees, which transforms to higher productivity in the company, hence increasing revenue.
Environmentally friendly activities also help the corporation to establish higher prices than competitors do, which results in improving their competitive advantage. Customers always have loyalty towards the company that practices environmentally friendly activities, which is a very important thing for the success of a company. The benefits Microsoft Corporation gets and will continue getting by promoting a friendly environment are much larger than the forgone benefits.
Is the company doing enough to preserve the environment without interfering with its long-term survival?
It is true that the company is incurring a lot of costs in practicing environmentally friendly activities and, without proper examination; the company may end up in losses in the future. However, Microsoft Corporation is doing a great job in balancing the future of the company as it also works hard to provide a friendly environment for all. The company is using mechanisms that are market-based which are very stable and can be predicted within a long period, especially in the use of low-carbon that is sustainable and technologies that are carbon-free (Reimer 267). The activities are intended to reduce the spending by the business in the end and, therefore, will not interfere with its future survival.
Works Cited
Heilman, John D. Guide to Greener Electronics. New Delhi: Sharma, 2013. Web.
Mills, Elinor S. Microsoft, And Google: Who Is Greener? New York: Plume, 2012. Print.
Oesterman, Larry T. “Microsoft on Vista Landfill Effect.” Environmental Issues Important to Us All 27 (2012): 99-110. Print.
Reimer, Jeremy M. “Corporate Citizenship.” Microsoft Environmental Principle 25 (2010): 245-13. Web.