After years of communication Microsoft a formal environmental sustainability policy, seem the shareholders have won: Microsoft will now be its hardware suppliers of the company's social responsibility requirements.
Hardware vendors will be prompted to go good environmental behaviour and to accept Microsoft's full code of conduct. This cover regulatory compliance, business ethics, the work and the human rights standards, respect of intellectual property and the environment. Before two years Microsoft has been started from the NASDAQ-sustainability index "due to insufficient disclosure of quantitative environmental metrics", in accordance with the Microsoft. For the last two annual general meetings, activist investors have tried Microsoft level to get measures for the improvement of sustainability.
While Microsoft's new effort "is directed in General in the right direction," environmental activists question, how much influence, it really have, says Casey Harrell, environment analyst at Greenpeace International.
In particular, will select hardware vendors in Microsoft's supply chain called upon to submit reports and tests. The results will be published in Microsoft's citizenship annual report. Microsoft not name but said that this directive will affect a dozen of his most important suppliers and contract manufacturers hardware. Microsoft calls vendors publish their own results.
Dell of suppliers could be? One of the policies in Microsoft's code of conduct is: "if applicable, the chemicals, or other materials identify published, that pose a threat to the environment and manage them accordingly, secure their handling, movement, storage, use, to ensure recycling or reuse and disposal."
Greenpeace was for years the dangerous chemicals from the production of electronics for Dell. It won a concession from Dell earlier this year when the company agreed to more environmentally friendly packaging, and working with Dell to eliminate plastic and brominated flame retardants (BFR) from its products toxic PVC. A document of the Dell progress to later in the year and Harrell says that it now expects that to displace more PVC/BFR reduced Dell and PVC/BFR-free models.
In its press release credited shareholder John C. Liu, New York City Comptroller work Microsoft's new policy for the New York City pension funds, with approximately $120 billion of assets under management.
The last two years shareholder activist John Harrington, the socially responsible investment firm Harrington investments, requests from shareholders to eco-friendly sustainability for a Board-level Committee questions presented. Both years Microsoft Board recommended a 'no' to the shareholders. The Board declared that already the responsibility of Microsoft's governance and Nominating Committee "verify it from Microsoft's policies and programmes, including on corporate responsibility in particular environmental sustainability," einbezogenen accordingly in the annual proxy statement. ERGO, no separate Committee level is required. Microsoft has services such as the "generation 4"-Rechenzentren, the energy consumption drastically.
Last year's shareholder resolution did not pass. With today's news, it is unlikely that "No," recommendation ignored shareholders of the Board and for the benefit of votes. Microsoft's annual general meeting will take place next month.
Note that Greenpeace Microsoft is a "C" on his clean cloud report card in April [PDF gave]. While Harrell is supported by Microsoft's new effort, it is not convinced.
"In General is gut-more data - in particular, if this with other checks cross-reference." "This reporting will work very much more useful if Microsoft really require suppliers to adhere to stricter standards than the law allows," she added, says that certain high standards are required, "If Microsoft wants to change his game." For example, refers them to an announcement from Sprint on Wednesday, in which also, now is a better reporting from hardware vendors, and wants too, that it aims to reduce emissions.
The rules that will promote Microsoft at the supply chain, go far beyond environmental standards. Microsoft will also ethical business practices and regulatory compliance. For example in the field of legal and regulatory compliance, Microsoft insists that their companies follow trade laws, engage not in antitrust behavior (Microsoft his lesson learned it?) and "bribes or kickbacks of any kind not participate." This is interesting from a company, the worldwide scandal in 2007 for allegedly bullying and bribery accelerated adoption of Office OpenXML caused members of the international standards organization.
The company of next list of illegal commercial practices such as insider trading, and offers a commendable list of a no no in working practices, including providers discrimination in hiring practices, to prohibit child labour or abuse.
"Microsoft has taken an important step to promote the sustainability and transparency between its global suppliers,", said Liu in the press release. "If more companies showed such leadership it would keep other suppliers responsible for the protection of human and labour rights and reduce the legal and reputational risks, the company and its shareholders face."
We look at Apple and Foxconn, on you.
Bort is the editor of Network World Microsoft subnet and open source subnet communities. She writes the Microsoft Update and source Finder to blogs. Follow bort on Twitter @ Julie188.
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