Trust with our customers
Our ability to meet people and organizations where they are, with what they want and need, is our path to success. Our customers must be at the center of everything we do. Look for ways to engage our customers, advocate for them, and empower them to achieve more.
When making decisions, ask yourself: does this build or harm trust with our customers?
Honor privacy
We honor privacy by being transparent about how we handle customer data, including personal data. We want our customers to trust us to protect their privacy and use their data in the ways that they permit us.
Don’t make improper payments
We are committed to truthful and transparent interactions with customers, and we prohibit any attempt to influence their decisions through improper payments. Corruption can harm our customers in many ways, including sometimes causing them to pay more than they should. Winning and preserving customers’ trust every day is more important than any benefit we might get from doing business improperly. In some parts of the world, paying bribes to get business may be something that others do. We prohibit them. We would rather lose the business than secure it through a bribe, kickback, or other improper benefit.
Compete fairly
The way we compete is as important as the result we achieve. Healthy competition and fair business practices put our customers first by giving them access to a variety of products and services at fair prices. Competing fairly ensures that we meet our business objectives with our integrity intact.
How to build trust:
- By following local privacy and data protection laws.
- By providing clear and accurate privacy notices when collecting or processing personal data, including employee personal data.
- By honoring privacy choices by using customer data to provide the services customers have agreed to.
- By protecting our customers’ data through building secure products and services.
Learn more
Privacy Policy (internal only)
- By refusing to offer or pay bribes or kickbacks to anyone.
- By prohibiting corrupt payments of all kinds, including payments to secure permits or approvals, and small payments to speed up a routine government process (often known as a “facilitating payment”).
- In any deal, we will avoid hidden terms or arrangements and reduce complexity wherever possible, because transparent transactions reduce the risk of a bribe or kickback.
- By using partners that have a reputation for integrity, and reporting signs that a representative is unethical or could be paying a bribe.
- By making sure that any gifts, hospitality, or travel we offer to government officials or customers are reasonable and appropriate, and pre-approved where necessary.
- By hiring candidates based on their merits, and not make hiring decisions to benefit a customer or government official.
- If we make charitable donations, we will do so to support a legitimate charitable cause, not as part of an exchange of favors.
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Giving Gifts, Hospitality & Travel to Government Officials (internal only)
- By avoiding any formal or informal agreements with competitors that limit competition.
- By respecting competitive bidding processes, and not rigging or fixing the outcomes or helping anyone else do so.
- By not dictating the prices that our independent channel partners charge their customers.
- By gathering competitive intelligence using only appropriate resources, being truthful, and not misrepresenting who we are.
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Competitive Intelligence Policy (internal only)
Microsoft Fair Competition Policy (internal only)
Upholding our Trust Code
As a leader, you have a special responsibility for setting the culture and the work environment for your team.
The way you make decisions, and handle concerns, different opinions, and even bad news, will set the foundation for trust with your teams, customers, and stakeholders. Your success and the success of your team depends on the trust you build together. Take these simple steps to build a culture of trust and integrity on your team:
Communicate
Communicate regularly the importance of ethics and integrity to your team and be clear that you expect work to be done ethically.
Model
Lead by example, by modeling ethical decision-making and good judgment.
Question
Ensure your team knows that for results to matter, they must be achieved the right way. Then, ask questions and satisfy yourself that results have been achieved the right way.
Listen
Make sure your team knows you will listen, even if they have something difficult to say.
Microsoft’s Standards of Business Conduct and its Compliance and Ethics Program are endorsed by and have the full support of Microsoft’s Board of Directors. The Board of Directors and management are responsible for overseeing the Compliance and Ethics Program and compliance with these Standards. These Standards apply to Microsoft, its Board of Directors, and all employees, directors, executive officers of Microsoft. When we refer to “Microsoft” we mean Microsoft Corporation and all its subsidiaries and affiliates in which it directly or indirectly owns more than 50% of the voting controls. References to “employees” include the Board of Directors, employees, directors, and executive officers of Microsoft. Only the Board of Directors may waive a provision of these Standards for a director or executive officer. Any waiver that is granted to a director or executive officer will be publicly disclosed as required by NASDAQ listing requirements and applicable laws, rules, and regulations. These Standards are important to us. Violation of these Standards may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment. Employees are expected to always exercise common sense and good judgment and to act responsibly, irrespective of the existence of a policy that prohibits specific behavior.