...Susan Bloemke June 14, 2015 Discussion Case: Coca-Cola’s Water Neutrality Initiative 1. The public issue facing Coca-Cola Company was that its stakeholders were upset with Coca-Cola because of the impact of its excessive water use on local communities. “The Center for Science and the Environment also charged that Coca-Cola products contained dangerous levels of pesticide residues.” Local officials were shutting down a local plant in the state of Kerala. “An Indian court issued an order requiring soft-drink makers to list pesticides residues on their labels.” In the United States, a grassroots campaign was established “to convince schools and colleges to boycott Coca-Cola products.” (Lawrence and Weber, p. 43) The performance-expectations gap is “the perceived distance between what a firm wants to do or is doing and what the stakeholder expects.” (Lawrence and Weber, p. 548) Stakeholders expected a large company such as Coca-Cola to be more proactive about being sustainable and protecting the communities that were home to its factories. The performance expectation gap was large because what the communities were expecting from Coca-Cola was much higher than what Coca-Cola was performing. Stakeholders expected: * Coca-Cola plants to be more sustainable in regard to the natural resources it was using in production, and * offer products that were pesticide free. Coca-Cola was: * producing products that were containing pesticides and not disclosing that...
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...2/3/14 DISCUSSION CASE: Coca-Cola’s Water Neutrality Initiative Q1. What was the public issue facing The Coca-Cola Company in this case? Describe the “performance-expectations gap” found in this case-what were the stakeholders’ concerns, and how did their expectations differ from the company’s performance? * Public issue – ‘is any issue that is of mutual concern to an organization and one or more of its stakeholders’, this according to the text Business and society. The public issue in this case was concerning the quality of water TCCC was using, how safe if was for its consumers, and the deprivation of water from local villagers. * Performance-expectation gap – ‘a gap between what the firm wants to do or is doing and what stakeholders expect.’ In the above case, the stakeholders were concerned with TCCC’s water consumption claiming it deprived local villagers of supplies for drinking water and irrigation, and depleting groundwater by its processes. They also raised concerns with the quality of its products, which they believed contained dangerous levels of pesticide residues. The corporation’s actions clearly did not match up to the stakeholders’ expectations. * Their expectations differ from that of the company’s performance in that, they expected the company to provide safe products through conservative practices only to realize that its products may contain pesticides, and that it was depriving villagers of water and depleting groundwater by...
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...organization and one or more of its stakeholders” (p.25), facing The Coca-Cola Company (or TCCC) was their mass consumption of water that was tainted with pesticides, depleting the local ground water supplies and negatively affecting surrounding communities of factories in India. The performance-expectations gap, or “the gap between what the firm wants to do or is doing and what its stakeholders expect” (Lawrence & Webber, p.25), in this case was operating their business in a cost effective way and consuming enough water to operate at capacity verses producing their product in an ethical manner that didn’t negatively impact the stakeholders. The stakeholders initially were local communities and governments in India, the Center for Science and Environment, and the India Resource Center, before expanding to encompass the World Wildlife Fund, Nature Conservancy, CASE, and various academic experts and humanitarians. 2. If we apply the strategic radar screen model, which highlights “ways of tracking important developments…outside of [the company’s] immediate view” (Lawrence & Webber, p.29), the most significant environment identified is the geophysical environment. This environment is “related to awareness of the physical surroundings of the organization’s facilities and operations” (p.30) and best correlates with this case’s public issue regarding the dependency on consumption of a natural resource, water. 3. In applying the issue management life cycle process, we can...
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...Case: Coca-Cola’s Water Neutrality Initiative and answer the following questions: • What was the public issue facing The Coca-Cola Company? Who were stakeholders, what were their concerns and how did their expectations differ from what company was doing? o The public issues facing the Coca-Cola Company were: The quality of water the company was using, Concerns of how safe the water was for consumers, and The company was using so much water that it was causing water shortages and depleting ground water for local communities o The stakeholders were the local communities, local governments and various humanitarian organizations and their concerns were: The amount of water that Coca-Cola was consuming, the depleting of groundwater due to the companies practices when it came to the use of water and there were concerns of possible high levels of pesticide residue in the products o The stakeholder’s expectations differed from what the company was doing because the stakeholders expected Coca-Cola to utilize water conservation practices, label their products regarding pesticides and realize the water shortage issues they were casing for local communities • Do an environmental analysis and describe significance of each environment. o Customer Environment (Demographic factors) These are the factors that make up the customers that are buying the company’s products. In this case depending on the biggest demographic purchasing Cocoa-Cola products, this water usage...
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...Coca - Cola: Case study This case is about Coca-Cola's corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in India. It details the activities taken up by Coca-Cola India's management and employees to contribute to the society and community in which the company operates. Coca-Cola India being one of the largest beverage companies in India, realized that CSR had to be an integral part of its corporate agenda. According to the company, it was aware of the environmental, social, and economic impact caused by a business of its scale and therefore it had decided to implement a wide range of initiatives to improve the quality of life of its customers, the workforce, and society at large. However, the company came in for severe criticism from activists and environmental experts who charged it with depleting groundwater resources in the areas in which its bottling plants were located, thereby affecting the livelihood of poor farmers, dumping toxic and hazardous waste materials near its bottling facilities, and discharging waste water into the agricultural lands of farmers. Moreover, its allegedly unethical business practices in developing countries led to its becoming one of the most boycotted companies in the world. Not with standing the criticisms, the company continued to champion various initiatives such as rainwater harvesting, restoring groundwater resources, and going in for sustainable packaging and recycling, and serving the communities where it operated. Coca-Cola planned...
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...1. What was the public issue facing The Coca-Cola Company in this case? Describe the “performance-expectations gap” found in the case—what were the stakeholders’ concerns, and how did their expectations differ from the company’s performance? Public issue is defined as any issue that is of mutual concern to an organization and one or more of its stakeholders. The public issue in this case was concerning the amount of water The Coca-Cola Company was using and how safe if was for its consumers, and the deprivation of water from local villagers in a town in Kerala, India. Also another issue was the amount of pesticide residues the Coca-Cola products contained. The performance-expectations gap is defined as when the performance from a company and the expected performance of that company by stakeholders are progressing on two different levels leaving space between them or a “gap”. The stakeholders’ concern is that with the amount of water Coca-Cola uses in its production of products it will cause a shortage in the amount of fresh water available to everyone worldwide. Their expectations are that the company is keeping up with making clean products that do not continue to cause harm to the environment. Stakeholders are expecting the business to be increasing performance as well as being economically friendly. 2. If you applied the strategic radar screens model to this case, which of the eight environments would be most significant and why? After applying the strategic radar screens...
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...CSR Case Studies: Coca-Cola Prepared by the Kenan Institute Asia October 2010 Lead author John DaSilva, Project Development Manager, Kenan Institute Asia Research, editing, production and translation team Paul Wedel, Christine Davis, Richard Bernhard, Stephanie B. Soderborg, Pham Lam Thuy Quynh, Peeranun Panyavaranant and Kamonphorn Kanchana This case study was developed under the Global Compact Network Vietnam (GCNV). The Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) is the national implementing partner of GCNV with financial support provided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Kenan Institute Asia was selected as the project consultant for the Embedding Corporate Social Responsibility in the Vietnam through Research, Training and Curriculum Development Component. Coca-Cola 1 Coca-Cola Branding and CSR: How Coca-Cola Company protects its multi-billion dollar brand image through community-based water projects. Potable water for communities is a key element of a safe and healthy lifestyle. Access to potable water for drinking, cooking and cleaning is a basic need for everyone, but in many parts of the world, safe water is still a dream. It is predicted that over the course of the next 20 years, the situation will become worse, as more water resources are contaminated or disappear while the water needs of a growing population will only increase. In Vietnam, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, an estimated 40%...
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...Coca-Cola Water Neutrality Initiative Water is an element that is required to sustain human life. Even though it makes up 80% of the planet, many areas on Earth experience a deficit supply of water. All water molecules are made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, but not all water is equal. Water can sustain life in its solid, liquid and gas forms, however its polluted element can often be poisonous and deadly. The Coca-Cola Company experienced a policy changing public issue with its operational plants in India in the 2000s (Lawrence & Weber, 2011). Coca-Cola neglected to consider how their overconsumption and pollution of the water resources would affect the host community’s supply and climate. As a result, the plants’ productivity livelihood faced endangerment of closure. The residents of India protested, challenged and charged the company with waste and abuse of their limited water resource. Local officials shutdown a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Kerala because it depleted the groundwater and poisoned it with pesticide residues (Lawrence & Weber, 2011). Reactions like this directly affected the company, the workers of the plant, and the residents of the supplying water community and indirectly affected investors. The investing stakeholders probably expected higher profit postings because cost of operations in India would be lower or that there are more operational plants producing, but closures would not produce such results. Of the eight strategic radar...
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...Chapter 02 – Managing Public Issues and Stakeholder Relationships CHAPTER 2 MANAGING PUBLIC ISSUES AND STAKEHOLDER RELATIONSHIPS INTRODUCTION Businesses today operate in an ever-changing external environment, where effective management requires anticipating emerging public issues and engaging positively with a wide range of stakeholders. Whether the issue is growing concerns about global warming, water scarcity, child labor, animal cruelty, or Internet privacy, managers must respond to the opportunities and risks it presents. To do so effectively often requires building relationships across organizational boundaries, learning from external stakeholders, and altering practices in response. Effective management of public issues and stakeholder relationships builds value for the firm. CHAPTER OUTLINE I. PUBLIC ISSUES A. The Performance-Expectations Gap ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS A. Competitive Intelligence THE ISSUE MANAGEMENT PROCESS A. Analyze Issue B. Generate Options C. Take Action D. Evaluate Results ORGANIZING FOR EFFECTIVE ISSUE MANAGEMENT STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT A. Stages in the Business Stakeholder Relationship B. Drivers of Stakeholder Engagement 1. Goals 2. Motivation 3. Organizational Capacity C. Making Engagement Work Effectively D. Stakeholder Networks E. The Benefits of Engagement II. III. III. IV. 2-1 Chapter 02 – Managing Public Issues and Stakeholder Relationships KEY LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1. Evaluating public issues and their significance to the modern corporation...
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...The Sustainability Business Case for General Motors April 22, 2014 Master’s Project for the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment Team Rose Buss Heather Croteau Steven Davidson Carole Kerrey Janet Van De Winkle Faculty Advisor Professor Thomas Gladwin Abstract The purpose of this report is to evaluate and articulate the business case for sustainability for General Motors Company (GM). After assessing the company’s exposure to risk and opportunities, the team recommends that GM should implement an internal price on carbon and a sustainable supply chain strategy. These recommendations will provide GM with tangible and substantial financial benefit in addition to improved risk mitigation and brand value. Additionally, the team found that these recommendations are viable within GM’s corporate structure and can generate systemic benefits throughout the company. Thank you to our client, David Tulauskas, and our advisor, Professor Thomas Gladwin. Executive Summary 4 Introduction 6 Client GM Corporate Overview 7 Sustainability & General Motors Sustinability & the Auto Industry Green Ranking Systems 14 Competitor Trends 17 About the Project Proposal & Opportunities Scoping 26 22 Contents 11 Research GM Interviews 28 Conferences 31 Corporate Trends & Innovations Regulations & Legislative Activity Recommendations Recommendation Development Carbon Monetization 39 Sustainable Supply Chain Strategy 32 35 36 42 Supporting Statements Support...
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...This week's graded topics relate to the following Terminal Course Objectives (TCOs): A | Given an organizational requirement to conform business practices to both the law and best ethical practices, apply appropriate ethical theories to shape a business decision. | I | Given specified circumstances of a business decision to expand to international markets, determine what international legal requirements or regulatory controls apply. | Topics for This Week's Discussion * Introduce yourself to your professor and the rest of the class. (not graded) * Thread over TCO A/I (graded) * Ethics and Patent Rights Post 9/11 (graded) * Q & A Forum for your questions and comments (not graded) | | There is a drop down arrow next to the "Select a Topic" box. Click on this arrow to select topics for discussion. | ------------------------------------------------- Top of Form Select a Topic: Bottom of Form The World Bank Situation (graded) | Class, please read Chapter 2, problem 5 from the Jennings text, p. 72. This week, we will discuss the Wolfowitz situation at the World Bank. Consider the questions at the end of the problem as you make comments in the threads this week. What are the ethics here? Was Wolfowitz trying to do the right thing? Does that make a difference ethically? Throughout the week, I will bring in further questions. Be sure to read the lecture and the international ethics article stated in your reading for the week as well. | ...
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...P R E FAC E THE ACCOUNTING ENVIRONMENT Accounting is the most employable, sought-after major for 2009, according to entrylevel job site CollegeGrad.com. One reason for this interest is found in the statement by former Secretary of the Treasury and Economic Advisor to the President, Lawrence Summers. He noted that the single-most important innovation shaping our capital markets was the idea of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). We agree with Mr. Summers. Relevant and reliable financial information is a necessity for viable capital markets. Without it, our markets would be chaotic, and our standard of living would decrease. This textbook is the market leader in providing the tools needed to understand what GAAP is and how it is applied in practice. Mastery of this material will be invaluable to you in whatever field you select. Through many editions, this textbook has continued to reflect the constant changes taking place in the GAAP environment. This edition continues this tradition, which has become even more significant as the financial reporting environment is exploding with major change. Here are three areas of major importance that are now incorporated extensively into this edition of the text. A New Way of Looking at Generally Accepted Principles (GAAP) Learning GAAP used to be a daunting task, as it is comprised of many standards that vary in form, completeness, and structure. Fortunately, the profession has recently developed the Financial Accounting...
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...onoECONOMICS RESOURCE | 1 ECONOMICS RESOURCE | 1 ECONOMICS 2009-10: FUNDAMENTALS OF ECONOMIC THINKING Table of Contents Preface to the Economics Resource .................................................................................. 5 Fundamentals of Economics ............................................................................................ 7 The Basic Economic Problem—Scarcity ............................................................................................ 8 Production of Goods and Services .................................................................................................... 10 Increasing Costs ............................................................................................................................... 12 The Factors of Production ............................................................................................................... 14 Benefit-Cost Analysis – Marginal Decision-Making ......................................................................... 15 Marginal Utility and Waffles ............................................................................................................ 17 More on Marginal Utility and the Effect of Prices ............................................................................ 19 Individual and Social Goals .............................................................................................................. 20 Positive and Normative Economics...
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...U N I T E D N AT I O N S C O N F E R E N C E O N T R A D E A N D D E V E L O P M E N T WORLD INVESTMENT REPORT 2013 GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS: INVESTMENT AND TRADE FOR DEVELOPMENT New York and Geneva, 2013 ii World Investment Report 2013: Global Value Chains: Investment and Trade for Development NOTE The Division on Investment and Enterprise of UNCTAD is a global centre of excellence, dealing with issues related to investment and enterprise development in the United Nations System. It builds on four decades of experience and international expertise in research and policy analysis, intergovernmental consensusbuilding, and provides technical assistance to over 150 countries. The terms country/economy as used in this Report also refer, as appropriate, to territories or areas; the designations employed and the presentation of the material do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. In addition, the designations of country groups are intended solely for statistical or analytical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgment about the stage of development reached by a particular country or area in the development process. The major country groupings used in this Report follow the classification of the United Nations Statistical Office. These are:...
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...U N I T E D N AT I O N S C O N F E R E N C E O N T R A D E A N D D E V E L O P M E N T WORLD INVESTMENT REPORT 2013 GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS: INVESTMENT AND TRADE FOR DEVELOPMENT New York and Geneva, 2013 ii World Investment Report 2013: Global Value Chains: Investment and Trade for Development NOTE The Division on Investment and Enterprise of UNCTAD is a global centre of excellence, dealing with issues related to investment and enterprise development in the United Nations System. It builds on four decades of experience and international expertise in research and policy analysis, intergovernmental consensusbuilding, and provides technical assistance to over 150 countries. The terms country/economy as used in this Report also refer, as appropriate, to territories or areas; the designations employed and the presentation of the material do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. In addition, the designations of country groups are intended solely for statistical or analytical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgment about the stage of development reached by a particular country or area in the development process. The major country groupings used in this Report follow the classification of the United Nations Statistical Office. These are:...
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