Companies for Social Responsibility Essay

Whether made in business, politics, science, or sports, most decisions are judged as either right or wrong, ethical or unethical. Regardless of what an individual believes about a particular action, if society judges it to be unethical or wrong, whether correctly or not, that judgment directly affects the organization’s ability to achieve its business goals. For this reason alone, it is important to understand business ethics and recognize ethical issues. Ð «ocial responsibility, an organization’s obligation to maximize its positive impact on stakeholders and to minimize its negative impact. Philosophers increased their involvement, applying ethical theory and philosophical analysis to structure the discipline of business ethics. Companies became more concerned Bowie contends that when a business also cares about the well-being of stakeholders, it earns trust and cooperation that ultimately reduce costs and increase productivity.24 Much evidence shows that social responsibility, including business ethics, is associated with increased profits The opportunity that employees have for unethical behavior in an organization can be eliminated through formal codes, policies, and rules that are adequately enforced by management. For example, financial companies Company Q is a small local grocery store chain located in a major metropolitan area. They have recently closed a couple of stores in higher-crime-rate areas of the city, reportedly because these two stores were consistently losing money. After years of requests from customers, all of their stores have started offering a very limited amount of health-conscience and organic products—all of which were high margin items. When asked by the area’s food bank for donation of day-old products, management declined deciding instead to throw the food away, citing worries over lost revenues due to possible fraud and stealing by employees who might say they are donating the food. Company Q is a small local grocery store chain. Unfortunately company Q is having a hard time with the idea of social responsibity, which in turn is hurting their business. Let’s first look at the definition of corporate social responsibility. This is a term that means a company big or small tries to maximize its positive impact on, investors, customers and on the community. Now let’s look at why Company Q is low on the evaluate scale of social responsibility. Company Q has three areas that could use some improvements, in the regards to social responsibility. The first one is the donation of the day old products to the community food banks. The community will look bad on the company for just throwing the day-old products out. And there is a way of placing rules and regulations on the employees so the company is not losing profits and having to deal with fraud. The second one is that the company has taken years to respond to their customers asking for health conscience and organic products. And then after finally getting some health option the store only offers limited amounts. Because the company took a long time to respond to their customers need. The consumer thinks that the company really does not care too much on what they need or think. The third one is losing their two stores in a high-crime area that was reportedly losing money. Having two abandoned store does not give the company a good look, it shows stockholders that the company cannot flourish and survive. And also the company’s reputation with their consumers starts to go down, and less people will go to their stores. By seeing just these three areas of company Q’s ethics it is clear that the company is not seeing the big picture on being social responsibly. The company is on the low end of leaving a positive impact on its customers, investor and their community. The company is not responding to the consumers’ needs and wants, in a timely manner and when they do, it is a low end response. The consumer will go somewhere else, and in turn the company will lose money. The community will see that the company does not even try to help to make the area a better place to live. Then what happen are the leaders of the community talk with the people around them about the company and more consumer stop shopping at their stores. If the company help with some charities in the area that the stores are in might get a little bit better and the crime would go down. And finally not looking in to the reasons or trying to find solution on the stores that were having troubles. Evaluate Company Q’s current attitude toward social responsibility. 1. Recommend three areas that could be improved regarding the company’s attitude toward social responsibility. TABLE 2–2 Fortune’s Best and Worst Companies for Social Responsibility Best Companies Worst Companies 1.International Paper 2.United Parcel Service 3.Starbucks 4.Fortune Brands 5.Walt Disney 6.McDonald’s 7.Medco Health Solutions 8.Herman Miller 9.Weyerhaeuser 10.Union Pacific 1.Constellation Brands 2.WellCare Health Plans 3.Sears Holding* 3.Dana* 5.Federal-Mogul 6.Beazer Homes USA* 6.S&C Holdco 3 (Swift & Co.)* 8.Dollar General 9.Brown-Forman 10.Delphi There are four levels of social responsibility—economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic—and they can be viewed as steps (see Figure 2–3).34 At the most basic level, companies have an economic responsibility to be profitable so that they can provide a return on investment to their owners and investors, create jobs for the community, and contribute goods and services to the economy. Of course, businesses are also expected to obey all laws and regulations. Business ethics, as previously defined, comprises principles and standards that guide behavior in the world of business. Finally, philanthropic responsibility refers to activities that are not required of businesses but promote human welfare or goodwill. Ethics, then, is one dimension of social responsibility. Reputation is one of an organization’s greatest intangible assets with tangible value. The value of a positive reputation is difficult to quantify, but it is very important. A single negative incident can influence perceptions of a corporation’s image and reputation instantly and for years afterwards. Corporate reputation, image, and brands are more important than ever and are among the most critical aspects of sustaining relationships with constituents including investors, customers, financial analysts, media, and government watchdogs. It takes companies decades to build a great corporate governance. Accountability refers to how closely workplace decisions are aligned with a firm’s stated strategic direction and its compliance with ethical and legal considerations. Oversight provides a system of checks and balances that limit employees’ and managers’ opportunities to deviate from policies and strategies and that prevent unethical and illegal activities. Control is the process of auditing and improving organizational decisions and actions. The stakeholder model of corporate governance adopts a broader view of the purpose of business. Although a company has a responsibility for economic success and viability to satisfy its stockholders, it also must answer to other stakeholders, including employees, suppliers, government regulators, communities, and special interest groups with which it interacts. Due to limited resources, companies must determine which of their stakeholders are primary. Once the primary groups have been identified, managers must then implement the appropriate corporate governance mechanisms to promote the development of long-term relationships.47 This approach entails creating governance systems that consider stakeholder welfare in tandem with corporate needs and interests. The opportunity that employees have for unethical behavior in an organization can be eliminated through formal codes, policies, and rules that are adequately enforced by management. For example, financial companies Thesis Paper Outline Format I. Introduction: In this section, give the reader an idea of why your paper will be important and/or interesting, what you will be arguing, and make the organization of the paper clear to the reader. a. Explanation of purpose and background information (optional): Explain why this topic needs to be written about (may require some background on the topic) b. Thesis statement: A basic statement of your position; your answer to your research question c. Expanded thesis statement: A brief listing of the major points that you will make in your paper, in the order in which you will make them II. Arguments: Each of your main arguments can either argue a point that supports your position, or argue against something you believe is wrong. This is a lengthy paper, so ideally you will have more than three arguments to make. You should make as many as you can. Organize your arguments to flow from one to the next or, ideally, to put your strongest arguments first and last. d. Argument 1 i. Supporting evidence (author, pg. or para. #) ii. More supporting evidence! (author, pg. or para. #) iii. Even more supporting evidence!! (author, pg. or para. #) e. Argument 2 iv. Supporting evidence (author, pg. or para. #) v. More supporting evidence! (author, pg. or para. #) vi. Even more supporting evidence!! (author, pg. or para. #) f. Argument 3 vii. Supporting evidence (author, pg. or para. #) viii. More supporting evidence! (author, pg. or para. #) ix. Even more supporting evidence!! (author, pg. or para. #) III. Conclusion: This section of your paper should summarize and look to the future. g. Acknowledge the opposing side of the argument h. Re-emphasize your own argument by summarizing the main points that you made i. Draw final conclusions about the strength of your position Fictional Outline for a Thesis with Parenthetical Citation in MLA Format I. Introduction a. Background i. The number of flavors of ice cream produced by major companies has quadrupled over the past decade (â€Å"Consumer Choice† 25). ii. People debate which flavor is the best. b. Thesis: High-quality vanilla ice cream remains the best ice cream flavor on the market. c. Expanded thesis: People will continue to enjoy vanilla ice cream more than any other flavor for its simplicity, versatility, and its cultural significance. II. Argument d. Vanilla ice cream is the best because it is simple, yet never boring. iii. Vanilla ice cream can be made with only four ingredients (Breyers 6). iv. In her new book Rachel Ray argues, â€Å"The flavor of vanilla is a simple, yet classic one that goes well with any meal!!!† (43). v. Despite the simplicity of vanilla ice cream, it comes in many different varieties, such as French Vanilla, Vanilla Bean, and other delicious variations (â€Å"Edy’s Ice Cream† par. 6). e. Vanilla ice cream is better than any other flavor because it is versatile. vi. Vanilla can be eaten plain, but also goes well with many different toppings. vii. Vanilla is the most popular base flavor for Blizzards at Dairy Queen (McBurty 56). viii. Vanilla is easily made into a milkshake as well as eaten plain, which is not the case with a flavor like cookie dough (dangerous when sucked through a straw!) (McKay 73). f. Vanilla ice cream has significance in American culture. ix. Chef Julia Child has written, â€Å"Vanilla ice cream is one food that bridges generations. I share it with my children and grandchildren each summer† (16). x. Classic American movies like Back to the Future and Anne of Green Gables have prominently featured vanilla ice cream (â€Å"Ice Cream in the Movies† par. 8). xi. American presidents have served vanilla ice cream at the White House for over 200 years (Clinton 8). xii. Research has found that more Americans prefer vanilla ice cream than any other flavor (â€Å"Gallup Poll† par. 3). III. Conclusion g. Although chocolate is a close second, vanilla reigns supreme. h. Nothing can beat vanilla ice cream’s simplicity, versatility, and cultural significance. i. In the future, others will attempt to beat it. j. Try as they might, no manufacturer can come up with a way to top classic vanilla.