...EST1 Task#310.2.1-05 Businesses in today's society have multiple areas that they need to pay attention to in order to be successful. Of course profits are important, without them a business will not be successful, but there are other areas that need attention as well. One such area is social responsibility. Social responsibility can be defined as, "The obligation of an organization's management towards the welfare and interests of the society in which it operates." (BusinessDictionary.com, 2015). Social responsibility is a gray area, what one person views as a necessary social responsibility another person may not think of as very important. However, there are some social responsibilities that should be considered universal, such as, treating employees fairly and not harming the communities in which they operate to name a couple. Company Q has overall not done very well in the area of social responsibility. Company Q does not really seem to consider their social responsibility based on the description of the company's actions. Company Q, like any business has various stakeholders. A stakeholder is, "A party that has an interest in an enterprise or project. The primary stakeholders in a typical corporation are its investors, employees, customers and suppliers. However, modern theory goes beyond this conventional notion to embrace additional stakeholders such as the community, government and trade associations." (Investopedia, 2003) For Company Q, the stakeholders...
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...Evaluation In evaluating Company Q for social responsibility, I have found that the company has not made a commitment to being completely socially responsible. The definition of Corporate Social Responsibility according to Lord Holme and Richard Watts (2000), “is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large”. The company has made some attempts at social responsible behavior by listening to a portion of their customers supplying them with health-conscience and organic products; however, this concession came after years of request from their customers and the stores only offer a very limited quantity of those types of foods. Company Q has ignored other opportunities to better the general community where the company conducts its business. Company Q has closed two stores in higher-crime-rate areas because of loss of profits. Company Q failed to recognize that this poorly impacts the community and the employees in that area and reflects poorly on its overall corporate image. Also, Company Q opted to throw away day old food instead of giving it to the community food bank believing it may promote fraud or stealing within their own employees. Both of these decisions were not based on a proper socially responsible attitude. This type of behavior was well hidden several years ago before the world was as...
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...Company Q’s foundation in not built on social responsibility. Based on the recent closure of two large grocery stores within the same relatively close geographical location, it's clear that their foundation is not built on profitability either. Company Q needs the restart their engine and focus on these two goals: profitability for their investors and social responsibility to the areas they serve. Areas that are riddled with economic poverty face the overbearing challenge of a workforce lacking sustainable jobs. Large employers such as Company Q help the overall well being of a community by providing employment and resources. Company Q needs an overhaul in socially responsive attitude if it is going to rebuild its reputation in the community and regain profits. Community outreach, customer satisfaction, employee commitment and investor loyalty have all become major factors in making the transition from disrespected looser to heralded community leader. Gaining employee commitment and trust is the first step in reimagining this failing grocery store chain. Company Q's leadership needs to guide behavior and build trust through involvement. Company Q leadership is concerned about employees stealing the product that would otherwise be donated. Employees need to have a sense of ownership and responsibility within their individual roles and relate this to the goals of the company. This helps to empower the employee to think and act in ways that make them feel...
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...To: Company Q From: Classifying Your Success Inc., Business Consultant RE: Evaluation and Recommendations for Company Q’s Recent Modifications Dear Company Q, Per your request, I will evaluate your business outlook and your recent modifications on how you have or have not made socially responsible decisions. I will then provide stable recommendations for the company’s benefit and best interest. This evaluation and recommendation regarding social responsibility relates to the closing of two facilities, adding new products at the request of your customers, and your denial to donate day-old products to a local food bank. Keep in mind that social responsibility in business can be defined as “an organization’s obligation to maximize its positive impact on stakeholders and to minimize its negative impact.” In addition, “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.” Your decision to close the two stores in high crime rate areas, reportedly because the stores were consistently losing money may be unhealthy to the future success of the business. The threats to be considered in this situation are 1) losing that geographical customer base and having to make up for the loss within your existing locations and 2) attracting investors to support your upcoming endeavors because those two businesses were not...
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...Social Responsibility is defined many different ways. One definition states: “Acting with concern and sensitivity, aware of the impact of your actions on others, particularly the disadvantaged.” (1) Another states it as: “The idea that a company should embrace its social responsibilities and not be solely focused on maximizing profits. Social Responsibility entails developing businesses with a positive relationship to the society in which they operate.”(2) Company Q’s current attitude towards social responsibilities seems insensitive. Their insensitivity has really shown when they chose to throw away expired food instead of having it donated to a local food bank. They were more concerned with reducing internal theft than helping feed the less fortunate. It took years of requests from their customers to get more organic products stocked in their stores. The customer may perceive that their concerns are not worth the company’s time. They also closed two stores because they were no long being profitable. What about all the customers/families that have been shopping at these two stores for the last X amount of years? Where do they go now? By closing the two stores and refusing to donate food to the local food bank, we can conclude that Company Q is not being socially responsible. In fact they are doing the complete opposite. They chose to close the two stores rather than exploring different options to improve store performance, which in turn could potentially...
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...Western Governors University EST1: Task 310.2.1-05 Corporate social responsibility is when a company takes responsibility for the effects the company has on society and the environment. Company Q's current attitude toward social responsibility is pretty negative. They will have to work hard to create a higher level of social responsibility, which is not only beneficial for society but for them as well. Some of the irresponsible social decisions they have made are as follows. The company closed two of their stores that happened to be located in higher-crime-rate areas in the city. They closed the stores because they were losing money on a consistent basis. It does not seem like the company thought out the closing of the stores thoroughly. With some changes they could have kept themselves from losing money while still serving that area and employing workers from that area. Company Q decided to throw their day-old products away instead of donating them to a local food bank. They decided to throw the food out even after the food bank had inquired about the company donating the food. The company's reason for not donating the food was due to the worry of losing money from possible theft of the food by employees saying they were donating the food when they were actually were not. This was a concern even though they had never actually donated food previously and had this theft situation actually occur. Another socially irresponsible decision that Company Q has made is in...
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...Student ID Business Management Degree Program EST1 310.2.1-05 Social Responsibility The small grocery chain Company Q takes a pessimistic view towards the community which is shaped by the experiences of high crime rates in the area. In order to remain economically feasible Company Q has closed locations that were losing money. This allows the company to retain profits from other locations and provide jobs to members of the community. Unfortunately, because of the high crime rates, Company Q has taken and apathetic view towards the community. This is displayed through their response to requests made by members of the community. It has taken several years of customer requests for the chain to begin carrying specialty high profit items. Members of the local food bank have asked for donations of day old food and Company Q decided not to donate citing that fraud and stealing would arise through possible deception from employees. Overall, the company displays a mediocre attitude towards social responsibility and can improve in a variety of ways. Company Q can improve their social responsibility through economic, ethical, and philanthropic means by developing customer loyalty, employee commitment, and being a good neighbor to the community. For many years customers had asked for specific health-conscious items before the company considered bringing the items for sale. This lack of response displays a poor attitude towards customers needs and must be improved. Company Q...
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...EST1 – Subdomain 310.2 Task 310.2.1-05 This paper will address the areas of improvement that Company Q can implement to improve their attitude toward social responsibility. Company Q is described as a small local grocery store chain with several locations in metropolitan areas. Recently, Company Q closed a couple of it's stores that were located in higher-crime-rate neighborhoods citing a consistent loss of revenue. Additionally, Company Q does not participate in donating day-old products to local community food banks. Management explains that day-old products are instead thrown away. The explanation provided for this is that management fears that donating food may heighten their risk of losing revenue to fraud and employee theft. Lastly, it is explained that Company Q – after years of customer requests – has started to offer it's customers a very limited selection of high margin, health conscious and organic products. Scores of small and large businesses operate in metropolitan areas. Chain businesses that operate in multiple areas should target each particular customer base individually – what sells very well in one area may not sell at all in another. Because economic, cultural, and lifestyle differences exist from one neighborhood to the next, a business that focuses on it's local customer's needs will be more successful. I feel that Company Q should reconsider the closing of their stores in higher-crime-rate...
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...Recommendations for Company Q EST1 Task 310.2.1-05: Ethical Situations in Business Western Governors University Mary Lyles - ID 000389714 September 7, 2014 Recommendations for Company Q The main responsibility of a company is to make a profit for it's stakeholders, both the employees and the investors. Company Q has taken this priority to heart and has overlooked the benefits of the other responsibilities of their involvement in the retail business. The admission of not donating the day old food to a local food bank stems from an inherent distrust of their employees. The current distrust will become more tangible as the managers and employees are not treated with the respect they are earning and will certainly breed unhappy employees which will in turn result in lower sales. Another one of the issues regarding the public service of Company Q is the closing of the two unprofitable stores in high crime areas. If the closure was done without analysis of why the stores are unprofitable, the surrounding community would suffer in regards to availability of merchandise . Offering some high margin health conscious items without surveying the viability of these items is also an issue. Company Q can take some planned, simple steps in resolving these issues with a manageable, well thought out ethics program. Recommendation One Company Q could create a program to donate the expired day-old items to the local food bank. This program would become the responsibility of the...
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...EST1 Task 310.2.1-05 In the business world, social responsibility and profitability often are dependent upon one another. Many companies view social responsibility as being just as important, if not moreso, as making a profit. May times, the community relies upon local businesses upholding a certain level of social responsibility. Company Q is one company that is not setting, or meeting, a standard of social responsibility. Company Q’s actions show that the company places profitability at a higher level of importance than social responsibility. Company Q is not making an effort to be socially responsible, which may have played a part in the lack of profit of the closed stores. Many people in the community are unable to provide basics, such as food and water, for their families. In an effort to assist these people, food banks reach out for help from the community, in the form of monetary and food donations. One of the more common donation sources is grocery stores. Some grocery stores donate their day old and damaged food items to food banks. This gives the food to the local food banks, which is then given to the needy people in the community. This is a relatively easy thing to do, and something which utilizes a product which would likely be disposed of anyway. Company Q has failed to take this important, and much appreciated, step towards showing that it is socially responsible. The company’s choice to not donate the day old food is telling the community...
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...Western Governors University Student: Anne Jaymes Student ID: 000320202 Course: EST1 Task: 1 (310.2.1-05) Social Responsibility Jaymes Page -2- Part A: Evaluate Company Q’s Attitude Toward Social Responsibility “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.” Evaluation of Company Q: Businesses are in business to make a profit. Businesses that are in business to make a profit with a total disregard for all else, is capitalism at its worst. A company who habitually relies on or exploits others and gives nothing in return, is a parasitic company. In order for companies to positively co-exist with their stakeholders, they must work to minimize the negative impact their business has on them. It was not against any business law, for Company Q, to close two stores that were located in higher crime-rate areas of the city that were consistently...
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