JUST Capital polls Americans every year to identify the issues that matter most in defining just business behaviour. For their 2021 rankings the public identified 19 issues, which are organised under the headings Workers, Communities, Customers, Shareholders and Environment. JUST Capital then define metrics that map to those issues and track and analyse the largest, publicly traded U.S. companies. This analysis powers their rankings, in which this company ranked 1st of 928 companies, and 1st of 57 Software companies.
66.0% in Newsweek Green Ranking 2017
This company received a score of 66/100 in the Newsweek Green Ranking 2017, which ranks the world's largest publicly traded companies on eight indicators covering energy, greenhouse gases, water, waste, fines and penalties, linking executive pay to sustainability targets, board-level committee oversight of environmental issues and third-party audits. Ranking methodology by Corporate Knights and HIP Investor.
This company is a participant in the Public-Private Alliance for Responsible Minerals Trade (PPA), a multi-sector and multi-stakeholder initiative to support supply chain solutions to conflict minerals challenges in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Great Lakes Region (GLR) of Central Africa. The PPA provides funding and coordination support to organizations working within the region to develop verifiable conflict-free supply chains; align chain-of-custody programs and practices; encourage responsible sourcing from the region; promote transparency; and bolster in-region civil society and governmental capacity.
Responsible Business Alliance member
This company is a member of the Responsible Business Alliance (formerly the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition), a non-profit coalition of electronics companies which supports the rights and wellbeing of workers and communities worldwide affected by the global electronics supply chain. RBA members commit and are held accountable to a common Code of Conduct and utilize a range of RBA training and assessment tools to support continuous improvement in the social, environmental and ethical responsibility of their supply chains.
Circular Economy 100 member
This company is a member of the Circular Economy 100 (CE100) Network, a multi-stakeholder platform run by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The CE100 is the world's leading circular economy network, and facilitates market making by providing collaborative and pre-competitive opportunities which bring together business, innovators, cities and governments, universities, and thought leaders.
Responsible Minerals Initiative member
This company is a member of the Responsible Minerals Initiative (formerly the Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative), which helps companies address conflict minerals issues in their supply chains. The RMI provides information on conflict-free smelters and refiners, common tools to gather sourcing information, and forums for exchanging best practices on addressing conflict minerals. Membership is open to companies that use or transact in tantalum, tin, tungsten or gold (3TG). Founded in 2008 by members of the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative.
UN Global Compact participant
The United Nations Global Compact asks companies to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of 10 values in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment, and anti-corruption. However it's non-binding nature has been widely criticised, and many signatory corporations continue to violate the Compact's values.
This company is a signatory to WRAP's Electrical and Electronic Equipment Action Plan (esap). Signatories take collective action to reduce their environmental impact and sign up to contribute to the development and implementation of esap.
This company has Corporate Social Responsibility claims on its website including in the areas of global giving and sustainability.
The European Union fined this company 561m euros (US$731m)for failing to comply with a 2009 agreement relating to its practice of automatically installing Internet Explorer as the browser for Windows customers. Microsoft had agreed to pay an 860m euro (US$1.2b) fine and offer a choice of browsers in the future. It then violated the agreement from May 2011 to July 2012 affecting 15 million installations and was sanctioned for its failure to comply.
This company is on OpenSecrets.org's list of the 100 top donor organisations in US federal-level politics since 1989. Companies on this list lobby and spend big, with large sums sent to candidates, parties and leadership PACs. This company comes in at number 37 on the list, with donations totalling US$41,181,223 between 1989 and 2018.
Fined for FCPA violations
On 22 July 2019 the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission announced that Microsoft Corporation agreed to pay more than $16 million to settle charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in connection with its operations in four different foreign based subsidiaries (Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Turkey). Microsoft Hungary also agreed to pay a criminal fine of $8,751,795 on related charges.
As You Sow's 2017 report, 'The 100 Most Overpaid CEOs', reveals the 100 most overpaid CEOs from USA's 500 largest public companies (as determined by the S&P 500 list). This company's CEO, Satya Nadella came in at number 80 on the list, having been paid US$18,294,270 in 2015. According to the report, "Most CEOs have come to be grossly overpaid, and that overpayment is harmful to the companies, the shareholders, the customers, the other employees, the economy, and society as a whole."
In 2012, this company lost its appeal against a fine imposed by the European Commission in 2008 for breaking antitrust laws. The case began in 1988, a 497m euro fine was imposed in 2004 along with orders to allow competitors' products to interface properly with Microsoft's server software, a further penalty of 280.3m euros was imposed in 2006 for non-compliance and another penalty of 899m euros in 2008. In 2012, the Grand Court adjusted the 2008 penalty for miscalculation to 860m euros so the case cost Microsoft a total 1.64b euros in fines and penalties. [Listed under Information due to age of court finding]
In 2019 the median pay for a worker at this company was US$172,512. The CEO was paid 249 times this amount. Exorbitant CEO pay is a major contributor to rising inequality. CEOs are getting more because of their power to set pay, not because they are increasing productivity or possess specific, high-demand skills. The economy would suffer no harm if CEOs were paid less (or taxed more). In contrast, the CEO-to-typical-worker compensation ratio was 20-to-1 in 1965 and 58-to-1 in 1989.