BSO2003-Sustainable Strategies of Microsoft Corporation

up the initiatives so that it can help the businesses become sustainable in nature, which would help in reducing the negative impact of the company in the environment. The government has been adding extra policies and procedures so that it can help in protecting the environment in a better manner (McCormack, Paushkina nd Cyrek 2014). 

The companies are also hiring better public relations expert so that they can address the issues in the environment in a better manner. It will allow the expert to guide the businesses to use the sustainable policies so that the purchase of the products can be done in a proper manner. The use of the social media along with the internet will help the company in spreading awareness about the environmental duties that they are carrying out in the external and the internal environment so that the customers can have a better knowledge of it (Klettner, Clarke and Boersma 2014).

The benefits that the businesses who adopt the sustainable strategies are that they will help in attracting the employees towards the organization. Most of the employees in the recent world do not want to be associated with the companies that do not follow sustainable practices. This is due to the fact that it will result in creating a negative impact within the society (Gamble and Thompson 2014).  Additionally, working in a company that takes up sustainable strategies help in providing motivation to them so that the level of productivity can be increased within the organization as well. The employees will also be content with the level of satisfaction that they will get from working in these organizations. It will also result in increasing the sales of the company, as these companies would evaluate the sustainability strategies that are taken up by the suppliers before purchasing raw materials from the. This will allow the company to earn a goodwill in the market as well (Schaltegger, Hansen and Ludeke-Freund 2016).

The businesses will be in a better position to attract investors for potential investment in to the company. This is due to the fact that the investors want to earn a better rate of return after they have invested their money in the business. The investors will also be looking for the sustainable companies who are creative and innovative which helps them in changing the products and the services on a constant manner (Bansal and DesJardine 2014). It will also result in reducing the cost of operation for the company, as the waste products will be recycled and used within the production cycle. The use of efficient lighting system will result in reducing the carbon footprint to a significant manner so that the effect of pollution can be minimized. The business organizations that will be using sustainable strategies will also result in encouraging creativity within the work place so that the employees can continue their process of innovation on a constant manner. The employees will tend to be engaged in to the business process so that it can help them to be creative on the organizational work floor (Carroll and Buchholtz 2014). 

The continuous process of innovation that will be done in the work place will result in increasing the level of productivity in the organization as well. The employees will be motivated to work within the organization, which will also result in increasing the level of production in the system. The effort in reducing the cost of the products will; directly result in streamlining the activities that will result in reducing the maintenance and the labour cost as well. The organizations will also benefit in reducing the risks, as the innovation processes will result in developing the products in a cost-effective manner (Bocken et al. 2014). The companies will also be able to increase the loyalty of the brands in the market as well. The use of the sustainable practices will result the products to be identified in the market by the consumers due to the promotional strategies used by them. This will increase the recalling of the brand among the customers and the company will be in a better position to increase its level of profit in the market as well. If the company loses its reputation in the market, it will be difficult for the company to regain the trust in the market among the customers, as the perception would be that they are not responsible towards the environment (Crane and Matten 2016).

If the businesses do not adopt the sustainable strategies in their business processes, it will fail to meet the expectations in the market. This is due to the fact that the symbolic value of the company will not be able to grab the attention of the customers. They would not be able to able to charge a price of the products in the market due to the bad reputation that it had created in the area (Carroll and Buchholtz 2014). These companies would also be facing shortage of employees, as most of the employees will not be able to work in a proper manner within the company. It would lead to dissatisfaction among the employees, which would eventually lead them to quit form the organization. The cost of production for the good and the services will be high, as the innovative processes will not be applied in the organization. The innovations will result in decreasing the cost of manufacturing the products, which would lead to an increase in their level of profits. The failure of adopting these technologies would result in losing out the opportunity to earn a better rate of return in the market (Galea 2017)

These companies will not be able to address to the problems that they face in a better manner due to the lack of the sustainable strategies adopted in their systems. The evaluation of the external and the internal factors cannot be done in a proper manner so that the company can gain a competitive advantage in the market. It will be difficult for the companies to manage the risks in a better manner, as the cost of mitigating it would be very high in the market. Most of the potential investors would be looking for alternative options, as they will not want to invest in these companies due to the loss of innovative techniques within the work place (Bansal and DesJardine 2014). The cost of operating within the companies will increase, as the waste materials will not be recycled in the work place. This would increase the investment of the company in the raw materials to a great extent, which would result in hampering their level of profits in the market. Most of the brands that are being produced by these companies will not be able to gain the loyalty of the customers due to the wrong perception that the consumers will have regarding the companies. This would affect the company, as the products will not be able to sell in a proper manner in the markets (Dyllick and Muff 2016). 

Sustainability practices in Microsoft

The company is known to adopt sustainable practices in their business environment, which helps them in developing the strategies in an effective manner. The company has taken effective measures in reducing the carbon footprint so that the environment can become sustainable. The reduction of carbon compounds in the nature has been done by allowing the employees to work from their home and including programs that will help in recycling the products. This will result in reducing the carbon footprint to a great extent. The company also looks for partner companies who are sustainable in their business practices so that it can help in reducing the consumption of the resources. The employees of the company have taken up innovative measures, which has helped in creating the products at a cost-effective manner (Charles, Schimdeiny and Watts 2017).

The company needs to take up measures such as cloud computing for gaming system, e-mails and other documents. The use of cloud computing has resulted in reducing the carbon footprints to a great level and helped in increasing the level of efficiency among the data centres as well. The applications can be shared in an efficient manner as well. The cost of using the cloud computing is very less, as it has to be installed once and can be used over a period of time. The company can use the smart buildings that will help in saving energy will help the company in improving the business and reduce the impacts on the environment on an overall manner (Neubauer and Lank 2016). These buildings will help in optimizing the performance of the operations and at the same time reduce he consumption of energy as well. The buildings can be built in a smart manner with the help of cloud computing, analytics based on real-time and automatic processes so that the utilities can be integrated within the system. The costing for LED lights that helps in saving energy is very less and will not affect the financial statements of the company to a great extent (Shaikh et al. 2014).

The company can also manage the consumption of energy in a better manner by controlling the power of the laptops and the desktops that are being used in the business system. This will significantly reduce the use of energy within the system. It will also result in saving the energy to a great level so that it can be used at a later stage. The company can also reduce the travelling by using the Microsoft Unified Communications, which will allow the systems to be streamlined. It will help in increasing the commuting in business so that the outcome of the business can be enhanced as well as reduce the cost. The use of this communications system will also allow the company in being sustainable towards the environment (Chu, Cui and Liu 2017).

The company takes the problem of the environment in a serious manner, which has resulted in making proper commitments towards reducing the level of pollution within the company. The company will not use the products or the substances that are harmful towards the environment, as it may hamper the image of the company. The banned substances are tested on a regular manner within the company so that it can result in formulating the policies that are related to the environment and those substances are not followed within the business system (Richter 2013). The company needs to develop sustainable packaging so that the distribution system for the company can be developed in an effective manner. The packaging of the software for the company is done from the paperboards that are sourced from the forests that are managed in a sustainable manner and can be recycled in a proper manner. The company has their own chain of suppliers who helps in providing the materials to the company at a cheaper rate. This helps the company in keeping its cost at a minimum so that the operations can be maintained in an efficient manner. The data centres that were built by the company at an early stage were changed in to in to new compounds and has installed the energy saving techniques, which has resulted in saving the energy to a great extent. These improvement centres were built at a higher cost, which has helped the company in being sustainable in the activities that are being carried out by them (Naubauer and Lank 2016). 

Looking to the future

The environment needs to be taken care of in a proper manner so that the future generations are able to enjoy it as well. The use of minimum driving will reduce in reducing the carbon compounds in the environment. The company needs to increase the work from home facility for the employees so that they do not have to come to the office through a means of transport. The company can also adopt the pool car facility where the employees can be bought together within the office premises. This will result in significantly reducing the carbon footprints, as the number of cars will reduce greatly. The company can install LED lights in the entire office premises so that it can reduce the emission related to carbon compounds. The desktops and the laptops that are being used within the office premises should be in energy-saving mode so that it can result in reducing the consumption of energy to a great extent. The company also reduces the use of water within the premises, which helps in reducing the carbon compounds to a great extent. The recycling of the water and the waste products within the organization has resulted in saving the environment to a greater extent. It has also reduced the cost for the operations due to the recycling programs that has been taken up by the organization, which has resulted in using the products all over again so that maximum utility can be derived from the products. The company also minimizes its packaging so that the distribution system for the company can be done in an efficient manner. This has resulted in reducing the carbon footprints to a great extent for the company. 

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