Microsoft Green Solutions : Communication Plan (April 2008)

Résumé du document

A recent trend in customer relationships puts an important emphasis on corporations' behavior towards environmental issues. Several non-governmental organizations have pointed out companies that had been engaged in activities damaging the environment. Among them was Greenpeace which targeted Microsoft and considered the firm environmentally irresponsible. Microsoft's development strategy suggests an important turnover for its products that implies frequent software updates along with important hardware updates or renewals. Unfortunately, former computers are often thrown away by individuals and end up in landfills, where they have been proved to pollute the environment because of the chemicals used to produce electronic devices. Although Microsoft's main products (operating systems, general software) are not directly responsible for the waste and pollution generated by renewal of computers, as the company does not produce any, some other secondary Microsoft products are (electronic devices, games consoles, etc).

Extraits

[...] Microsoft has been criticized by professional IT publications for releasing new versions of certain of its products that not contain anything (PC Pro, 2008) but still require more powerful devices. Everything however is not as black as it seems. New operating systems integrate energy saving functions, and some corporate and academic customers participate in CSR/recycling programmes by giving their old computers to developing countries, a practice that should be more frequently looked up to. All these factors mentioned above show the opportunities and threats that Microsoft faces, summarized in Appendix 1 (PESTEL analysis). [...]

[...] Last but not least, the company is known for its Human Resource policies and CSR programmes, among them the well established Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. However, some of these strengths can turn into weaknesses as well: the size and worldwide representation of Microsoft leads to the fear of a monolithic position of the company, which results in the general perception of an unethical business approach. The analysis further proves that the involvement in litigation processes (e. g. monopoly issues, anti-trust issues) has resulted in the damage of reputation and the loss of market share. [...]

[...] The major goal of the campaign is to create a recycling programme and to develop awareness about it among 20% of the UK population which equals 12.1 million people. In total of the population own home-computers. The secondary goal is therefore to reach of these households to actively participate in the recycling campaign Target audience To achieve the major objective (creating awareness of the recycling initiative), the target group is the whole population of the UK. Concerning the second objective, the campaign will aim at every household that owns a computer. [...]

[...] Thus Microsoft's benefits plan and resources are designed to keep their employees healthy, happy, and moving ahead at optimal speed. Microsoft's benefits outlined below cover the employee, spouse or same-sex domestic partner, and eligible children or dependents. (http://members.microsoft.com/careers/mslife/benefits/plan.mspx#healthbenefi ts) Investment benefits help the employees develop a financially secure future. The services, that are available, range from Employee Stock Purchase Plan, Discounted Financial Services and Credit Unions. Health benefits incorporate various medical plans for instance Health Savings Plan that covers aspects such as vision care, dental care, and life insurance. [...]

[...] Product Range: Microsoft produces quality software products for personal and business use. Its main products are operating system named Windows NT, Server, etc). On top of that, Microsoft also releases other pieces of software that can be used on its operating systems and on competitor's. The Microsoft Office suite provides for example a large range of office automation tools (word processing, spreadsheet, presentations, databases) that are used by students, professionals and families for all purposes on Microsoft's Windows OS's and Apple's Mac OS's. [...]