Principled, accountable, and transparent business practices
At Microsoft, we believe that good corporate citizenship starts at home and that
how we work is just as important as all that we do to support our local communities.
We work across our business to be a responsible partner to those who place their
trust in us. Knowing that our behavior affects all of our stakeholders (including
customers, shareholders, employees, communities, suppliers, and partners), we seek
to ensure their voices are considered in decisions we make. Our engagements range
from consulting leading human rights experts to parents concerned about the online
safety of their children.
We align our work with internationally recognized priorities and frameworks, such
as the United Nations Guidelines on Business and Human Rights and
the United Nations Global
Compact. To allow our stakeholders to understand our policies, practices,
and performance, we base our Citizenship reporting with the standards provided by
the Global Reporting Initiative.
Finally we recognize that many issues are too large and complex for any one organization
to solve itself and have helped form a number of partnerships to advance responsible
practices across our industry, including the Global Network Initiative and the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition.
Principled Business Practices
In meeting our responsibilities as a global corporate citizen, Microsoft seeks to
develop principled, pragmatic business approaches to challenging issues.
- Human Rights: Our commitment to respect fundamental
rights reflects our company mission to help people and businesses throughout the
world realize their full potential.
- Responsible Sourcing: We ask our suppliers to uphold
the high standards of Citizenship to which we hold ourselves.
- Environmental Sustainability: We seek to unlock innovative
ways to reduce the environmental impact of our operations, products and services
and to help others use the power of technology to address sustainability challenges.
- Integrity & Governance: We are committed to growing
our business in and ethical and responsible way and in compliance with applicable
laws and regulatory requirements.
- Political Engagement: We seek to ensure that our participation
in the political process takes place in the light of day and for reasons that are
clear and justifiable to our shareholders and the public.
- Our People: We are proud our commitment to employees
has led to Microsoft being widely cited as one of the best places to work in the
world.
