Business Ethics and philosophy

1. Introduction
The study of moral good and bad as well as moral right and wrong can be referred to as ethics in philosophy. Corporate ethics is a type of professional or
applied ethics that addresses moral or ethical dilemmas that develop in a business context (Fernando,2010). Business ethics is integrated with the strategy
that a company follows. It is very important for a company to maintain the ethical standards. Most people believe that in order to maintain high ethical
standards, both individuals and corporations must adhere to morally upright values. However, when integrating ethics into business, a few unique factors
need to be taken into account. Businesses need to generate revenues in order to survive. The lifespan of the firm may be brief if earnings are obtained by
dishonest means. The company must keep a balance between its own financial goals and societal demands. And when company try to maintain a balance
it face ethical dilemma, because maintaining balance is not easy task. To aid with this, society has created laws and underlying norms that businesses
must go by in order to make profits in ways that do not negatively impact people or society as a whole. For this study, Microsoft is chosen for the most
ethical company
Company Overview
Microsoft Corporation is a global corporation that develops and sells computer software and other telecommunication technologies worldwide. The
corporation, which has its headquarters in the United States, is still doing well on the global market. It was formed by Bill Gates and his childhood friend
Paul Allen on 4th April 1975. Microsoft is involved in the creation, granting of licenses, and maintenance of a variety of software products and services that
address various needs. Microsoft also made a debut in the mobile phone and gaming industries, where it was successful in gaining a sizable market share.
When it first debuted in 2005, the Xbox 360 was a very potent gaming device with lots of rivalries. The company also offers cloud computing services with
the help of the Microsoft Azura platform. It is now the world's most computer operating system provider company. The current CEO of the company is
Satya Nadela, who is playing a great role in the progress of the company.
Reason for Considering Ethical
For the eleventh year in a row, Ethisphere Institute named Microsoft as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies. Moreover, The company has been
found to be the most ethical in the USA compared to its competitor. Based on a survey of American consumers and an analysis of how these various IT
businesses treat their employees, clients, communities, and shareholders, Microsoft is rated as being more ethical (Thomsen,2005). The business constantly
highlights the negative effects and never abuses human rights. Every year, Microsoft releases its Human Rights Report, which highlights all the
developments made in this field. Microsoft has donated over 1.4 billion dollars to nonprofit organizations throughout the world, and the firm is also
creating a strong culture of employee giving through donations. Microsoft's carbon fee schemes have allowed it to remain completely carbon neutral since
2012 across all of its global activities. The company has been maintaining an environment-friendly business operation, which is very much necessary
nowadays, as global warming is increasing day by day (Morris, 2007). In the category of working with workers, the company has ranked 2nd in the tech
industry. According to a study that was published, Microsoft gives the most information to people about the demographics of their employees. One of
several initiatives Microsoft has done to increase diversity is the transparency it offers. Microsoft is among the more than 4% of businesses in the Russell
1000 that provide specific information about employees' jobs, ethnicities, and gender. Microsoft worked with numerous high schools to create a program to
aid in the development of an all-encompassing computer science curriculum. Microsoft supported about 21,785 nonprofit schools globally in 2018, with
donations totaling more than $163 million. The company also donates to many charitable organizations around the world, special to poor countries, to help
the people who are deprived of their basic needs. Microsoft operates its business activities in an energy-efficient way and also tries to shift renewable
energy by implementing solar panels and windmills. As a tech company, Microsoft has been continuously performing its obligation to society, employees,
customers, and the environment. That's why Microsoft is considered an ethical company.
Ethical Philosophy of Microsoft
Determining the core aims of a corporation is one of the goals of the business philosophy, which is reflected in business ethics. The organization's purpose
explains why it exists. The philosophy of Microsoft corporation is to enable each individual and each organization on the earth to accomplish more.
Businesses adopt business ethics to encourage employee morality and win over important stakeholders like investors and customers. Business ethics is
important for every business. Nowadays, almost all businesses run corporate ethics programs (Morris, 2004). That's partly due to how simple it is to
recognize and publicize ethical lapses thanks to information and electronic communication. Companies are investing more in corporate ethics to avoid the
consequences. Microsoft is also very conscious about its business ethics. The core value of Microsoft are respect, integrity, accountability, and innovation.
The company respect everybody's thought and give equal opportunity to show the creativity of every employee working within the organization. At
Microsoft, innovation is a key area of concentration. It creates cutting-edge technologies at a reasonable price. The corporation has invested in a sizable
research facility since it is committed to innovation. Microsoft places a lot of emphasis on diversity and inclusion. It is committed to maximizing the value
of every individual, from its workers to its clients. Microsoft aspires to be a socially conscious partner. Microsoft strives to maintain confidence if the
community has put it in them. To put it in the forefront, the company conducts its business in a way that is open, transparent, and considerate of human
rights. Microsoft places a lot of importance on the environment. The business is setting the bar for leveraging technology to conduct sustainable business
while reducing the environmental effect of its operations and output. The company has been maintaining its Corporate Social Responsibility significantly.
According to the nonprofit Just Capital, Microsoft is the most environmentally friendly firm. In addition to becoming carbon neutral, it decreased the
packaging of its goods by 20% and gave communities and NGOs billions in technology solutions. By offering computing and data that are safe,
confidential, and dependable, Microsoft best serves both organizations and individuals. Microsoft values its accountability, and they take responsibility for
their action.
The Key 5 stakeholders
Stakeholders are the people who have a direct economic link with the company. A stakeholder has an
involvement in a firm and has the potential to influence or be affected by its activities and results. An
organization's stakeholders may be internal or external (Mitchell,2020). Stakeholders are important to
an organization for a number of reasons. Internal stakeholders are crucial to since the operations of the
company depend on their capacity to collaborate and achieve the company's objectives. On the other
hand, external stakeholders may have an indirect impact on the company. The key five stakeholders of
Microsoft Corporations are:
Customers: At Microsoft Corporation, customers are significant stakeholders as they are the source of
sales and money. A company must offer products that are both of great quality and value. Microsoft
works tirelessly to meet the needs and concerns of its clients in terms of service quality. They promise
to keep enhancing their processes in order to better serve their clients.
Employees: The growth and well-being of its workers are important to Microsoft. As the company
continues to work on fostering a culture of high performance to fully meet the demands of the modern
business environment, employees receive ongoing training and development to help them deliver great
performance in line with the corporate mission (Greenwood,2001). Programs for career advancement
are used to assure professional advancement through learning opportunities, work enrichment chances,
and career growth. To support employee health and wellbeing, sufficient arrangements are made for
healthcare and other vital benefits as well as for workplace safety.
Investors: Investors are one of the key stakeholders as they satisfy the financial demand of the
company. The Board is responsible for ensuring that the company honors its commitment to promptly
disclose any significant data and transactions that may have an impact on the share price of the
company.
Communities: Microsoft launches programs to help individuals in the community live better lives
outside of the corporate boardroom and office walls. They participate in programs that advance
entrepreneurship, education, and the environment as a responsible business citizen in collaboration
with non-governmental organizations, governmental bodies, and other civic organizations.
Government: Because Microsoft conducts business internationally, it is not surprising that
governments have an impact on the corporation through numerous legislation. Due to its authority to
forbid or permit economic activities, this group is also quite important. Microsoft creates policies and
procedures to protect the interests of all stakeholders in order to produce the best results possible.
Ethical Challenge and Microsoft
In the areas of corporate social responsibility and philanthropy, Microsoft is a well-known leader in the world of computer software.
Allegations of antitrust crimes and monopolistic, anticompetitive business practices have dogged the company. Microsoft is positioned
for market dominance due to the concurrent development of SO and Application software. Microsoft app developers got access to
Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) codes before third-party programmers since the SO, and the Applications were created by the
same business. This made it possible for them to launch their products ahead of their rivals and build a powerful co-branding
advertising platform (Jamni, 2017). Even though concurrent development is not inherently immoral, early access to the OLE by
Microsoft Programmers was judged to be an anticompetitive activity, and because of that Federal Trade Commission examined an
investigation into Microsoft. The dilemma is whether to sacrifice ethics in the name of growth or to sacrifice growth in the name of
ethics. Balancing the two extremes is the best course of action. Microsoft is capable of operating with the balance outlined in its code
of conduct. Microsoft has escaped the possibility of a recoup due to the beneficial effects of the numerous charities backed by the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation, including a huge number of museums, schools, and libraries throughout the world. Microsoft has
become more careful in its commercial methods after these significant settlements and has concentrated on Corporate Citizenship
strategies that enable them to preserve its reputation as a widely utilized platform (Carrol,2010). Now, other businesses, outside simply
Microsoft, can expand on the Windows SO platform. As a result, despite the reputation-damaging legal disputes of the previous
decade, Microsoft products are still largely regarded as the industry standard and offer the most applications and support. According to
public opinion, Microsoft has surmounted its legal challenges by contributing more to the good than to the bad in the overall scheme of
events. Legally, the economic sanctions by the case findings were effective in compelling Microsoft to review its procedures and
develop a more moral code of behavior. And by doing this, they have also become leaders in corporate social responsibility because of
their newly discovered sense of morality.
Conclusion
Operating a business and maintaining business ethics help in many ways to sustain a business. Corporate ethics rules,
which lay out a set of core principles that direct what employees of corporations must do or must not do, are
becoming increasingly common ways for businesses to solve the ethical issue. Microsoft has been maintaining
business ethics, which creates a positive brand image to society, employee loyalty, and a good relationship with the
government. Although the company faced ethical issues, it overcame those issues and developed new strategies.
Companies can secure a great reputation and lengthy financial benefits by acting consistently ethically. Companies are
more motivated to act ethically as the market for socially conscious and ethical investing continues to expand. The
potential stakeholders are also seeking to invest in an ethically operating company
Reference
Fernando, A.C., 2010. Business ethics and corporate governance. Pearson
Education India.
Thomsen, S., 2005. Business ethics as corporate governance. European Journal of
Law and Economics, 11(2), pp.153-164.
Morris, D., 2007. Business ethics assessment criteria: Business v. philosophy—
Survey results. Business Ethics Quarterly, 11(4), pp.623-650.
Morris, D., 2004. Defining a moral problem in business ethics. Journal of Business
Ethics, 49(4), pp.347-357.
Jamnik, A., 2017. The challenges of business ethics: The basic principles of
business ethics-Ethical codex in business. Review of Innovation and
Competitiveness: A Journal of Economic and Social Research, 3(3), pp.85-100.
Mitchell, J.R., Mitchell, R.K., Hunt, R.A., Townsend, D.M. and Lee, J.H., 2020.
Stakeholder engagement, knowledge problems and ethical challenges. Journal of
business ethics, pp.1-20.
Carroll, A.B., 2010. Ethical challenges for business in the new millennium:
Corporate social responsibility and models of management morality. Business Ethics
Quarterly, 10(1), pp.33-42.
Greenwood, M., 2001. The importance of stakeholders according to business
leaders. Business and Society Review, 106(1), pp.29-29.
Business Ethics