Microsoft Corporation is a multinational company that designs and distributes computer software and other communication products across the world. The company is based in the United States and still continues to perform well at the international market. However, the company faces a lot of challenges in its interactions outside the United States. Cultural differences in terms of language and attitude towards the use of technology are among the cultural issues that affect Microsoft’s interactions outside the United States.
Cultural imperialism is a major cultural issue that multinational companies like Microsoft encounter. Multinational companies such as Microsoft Corporation are always concerned about their interactions in the international market. Microsoft has tried to improve its image at the international market despite the cultural issues that the company has continued to face. The cultural orientation of Americans is very different from most regions across the world. This paper will highlight the cultural, ethical and social responsibility issues that affect the Microsoft Corporation at the global stage.
Cultural imperialism is one of the major cultural issues that affect Microsoft’s interactions outside the United States. Microsoft has been controlling the software market across the world for a very long period of time and this has created some wrong perceptions among outside countries. Cultural imperialism is described as the tendency of a company to dominate the world system by imposing its structures, technologies and values. In the technological world, cultural imperialism is often categorized as electronic and communication imperialism. Indigenous socialization processes and domestic cultures are in most cases threatened by foreign communication and media products. Most Third World counties feel that multinational companies like Microsoft enter their market for economic exploitation. These may not be the intentions of Microsoft but they definitely affect the interaction of the company outside the United States.
The system of moral principles that a global company adopts affects its daily operations and interactions. A global organization like Microsoft has both ethical and social responsibility issues it has to deal with in the course of its operations. As a global organization, Microsoft has to deal with religious, cultural and legal issues that form part of its ethical and social responsibility. The company has to respond to the basic human needs at the global level. It is important to note every decision made by an organization has got both ethical and social implication to the society. The society can only be protected by ethics and not necessarily the law. Microsoft has to ensure that there is a balance between profit maximization and ethical responsibility. There have been complains that Microsoft is only interested in making profits without considering its ethical and social responsibilities.
Microsoft faces a lot of challenges in its effort to carry out its ethical and social responsibilities. To begin, ideological differences between the host government and Microsoft are a major issue when it comes to ethical and social responsibility. Lack of support from the society makes it difficult for Microsoft to continue with its social responsibility programs. The host country may have its own social problems that Microsoft has to deal with before it implements its ethical and social responsibility initiatives. The political and diplomatic relationship between the United States and the host country is another critical issue that affects Microsoft’s ethical and social responsibility initiatives. Corruption and worker remunerations are some of the ethical issues that global organizations like Microsoft need to address. Microsoft has to deal with other ethical issues like discrimination, fair prices, product safety, environmental protection and adherence to both local and international business laws for it to demonstrate ethical and social responsibility.
Microsoft has its ethical perspectives that are normally observed within and outside the company. To begin with, trust is an ethical perspective where employees are expected to remain loyal to the organization. All the departments trust each other to do the right thing without being compelled by the law. Customer and investor trust are key to the business success at Microsoft. The other ethical perspective of Microsoft is that fair treatment of employees leads to fair treatment of outsiders. Microsoft encourages openness and transparency as a way of gaining trust from both customers and investors. At Microsoft, every leader or employee is expected to take responsibility for their actions especially if they fail to observe the company’s ethical standards. Microsoft expects its employees to be self-critical in the course of their work for them to be able to conduct themselves in an ethical manner.
Environmental conservation is also seen as an ethical practice by Microsoft and the need to increase environmental awareness is always a priority for the company. At Microsoft, employee policies are not excessively stringent but the company ensures that the policies reflect the ethical perspectives of the company. According to Microsoft, employee diversity is a good indication of the company’s ethical responsibility. Occupational safety is another ethical perspective that Microsoft pays attention to. In its effort to demonstrate ethical responsibility, Microsoft provides the necessary financial data to the public for transparency purposes. Microsoft participates in charitable giving because it believes that a company without the desire to help the community does not meet the threshold of ethical responsibility. Microsoft tries its level best to avoid law suits because they taint the image of the company by portraying it as unethical.
The internal ethical perspectives of Microsoft are almost similar to cross-cultural ethical perspectives. Microsoft is a global organization and therefore its ethical perspectives should cut across all cultures. To begin with, Microsoft believes that human rights and freedoms should be respected in all the countries and regions it does its business. Almost all cultures across the world respect basic human rights and freedoms. Microsoft always tries to ensure that its business transactions with the host country do not affect the local economy in a negative way. According to Microsoft, it is not ethical to hurt the local economy of the host country because of the need to make maximum profits.
The need to conserve the environment is a cross-cultural ethical perspective that Microsoft has continues to maintain over the year. Environmental conservation is beneficial to all human beings regardless of their culture. Consumer protection is important across all cultures and is a very critical aspect of ethical responsibility. Microsoft ensures that the rights of a consumer are protected and at the same time ensure that they receive value for their money. Microsoft insists that a company that does not protect its consumers can not claim to be ethical. Microsoft’s employment practices across cultures demonstrate ethical responsibility by the company in ensuring that no single employee faces discrimination and harassment because of their cultural identity. Microsoft is among the few global companies across the world whose ethical perspectives cut across all cultures.