Sure we can (and do) do all that, but if you scroll back and read the older Postings in this thread - e.g. Oct 11, 2013 - you'll find out, why this is not a good solution. At least not a convenient one (especially for co-workers that are not IT guys).
Short: LO can read OOXML, but it has trouble in correctly interpreting OOXML "transitional" files (which are basically just .doc encapsulated in an XML structure). Especially the advanced features like Formulas, backtracing changes, ... which are essential
in a corporate environment.
In our office we only use Linux and MacOS, so MS Office for Mac would have been a convenient solution - but unfortunately this version can *not* read ODF. So yes, we keep juggling with MS Office and LO in parallel, which is a pain...