QSO 328: Microsoft Company Case Study

Company Case Study: Microsoft

Technologies

Emerging technologies leveraged by Microsoft support the organization’s efforts to promote environmental and social sustainability. Over the years of its operations, Microsoft has been adopting diverse strategies to promote environmental sustainability and improve its carbon negativity. The organization has been committed to promoting sustainable development and low-carbon business practices globally through our sustainable business practices. To achieve its objectives, the organization has been leveraging new cloud-enabled technologies to minimize its dependence on non-renewable sources of energy (Microsoft, 2021). Microsoft has initiated new technologies to manufacture devices with an emphasis on eco-friendly materials to help businesses cut energy consumption, reduce their carbon footprints, and develop products that support social and environmental sustainability.

The process of adopting emerging technologies to support the organization’s commitment to sustainability causes a significant increase in its running costs, which reduces Microsoft’s profit margin. However, Microsoft builds its outlook and reputation by using such technologies to help customers build sustainable solutions and advocate for policies that benefit the environment. Eventually, the organization records sales and customer loyalty growth, which builds its financial bottom line. For example, according to Macrotrends (2021), the company recorded a 17.53% growth in annual revenue within the past year despite its investment in environmental sustainability. Therefore, emerging technologies leveraged by the organization are observed to build its financial bottom line.

Assess

Microsoft collaborates with its suppliers and customers to support environmental sustainability across the entire supply chain. The company seeks to be carbon negative by the year 2030 and remove from the environment an equivalent of all the greenhouse gas it has emitted over the years by supporting sustainability initiatives by other businesses in the supply chain (Microsoft, 2021). To achieve this goal, the company is committed to developing products that support environmental sustainability to help organizations that use such products to minimize their carbon footprint. For example, through its partnership with solar energy development firms, Microsoft encourages households and businesses to use renewable energy sources to reduce their dependence on petroleum fuels. Such collaborations have significantly reduced the global carbon footprint, constituting a positive trend toward a sustainable environment.

The organization has also been making new partnerships with environmental activism organizations, governmental institutions, and members of society to advocate for a zero-carbon community. Such collaborations have been observed to promote environmental sustainability across the entire supply chain. While most of the company’s products do not have any significant environmental implications, the organization uses raw materials and production processes that support sustainability. Moreover, through the use of cloud-enabled technologies to deliver computing resources to customers through the use of the internet, the organization reduces the need for transport to marketplaces among its customers (Tripathi et al. 211). Such a strategy helps reduce the amount of carbon gas produced by the transport sector.

Metrics

Some metrics used by the company to assess how well it is meeting its environmental and social impact goals include electricity usage, level of fuel consumption by the company’s vehicles, and return on investment. The organization keeps track of the amount of electricity used to support its operations. Such information helps identify trends in the company’s energy consumption to substitute the effectiveness of the strategies put in place to support sustainability. To achieve this goal, the organization analyzes data presented by its electricity usage monitoring technologies. It also regularly appraises the cost it incurs for fuel used by its vehicles. Data for such assessments include financial reports demonstrating changes in petroleum fuel expenditure. It also uses financial accounting data to evaluate gains produced from corporate sustainability initiatives relative to the amount of money invested in them.

References

Microsoft (2021). Made to measure: Sustainability commitment progress and updates. https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2021/07/14/made-to-measure-sustainability-commitment-progress-and-updates/

Macrotrends (2021). Microsoft Revenue 2006-2021 | MSFT. https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/MSFT/microsoft/revenue

Tripathi, A. K., Agrawal, S., & Gupta, R. D. (2020). Cloud-enabled SDI architecture: a review. Earth Science Informatics, 13(2), 211-231. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12145-020-00446-9

Microsoft (2021). Carbon dioxide removal: Removing our historical carbon emissions by 2050. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/sustainability/carbon-removal-program