...Introduction Since the 1970s, corporations have addressed business ethics in various ways, including the introduction of compliance programs and managers, the addition of board-level ethics committees, the development of codes of conduct, the preparation and dissemination of values statements, the hiring of corporate social responsibility managers and training programs of all kinds. As the events of the past few years in the United States have demonstrated, these efforts, unfortunately, have not prevented certain U.S.-based corporations from engaging in unethical behaviors that lead to larger corporate scandals. This analysis will clearly demonstrate that General Mills is not one of those corrupt corporate entities. The pandemic of our current global economic discontent can be found in the continuing examples of questionable behavior not just by individual employees but also corporate executives. This malfeasance has given rise to critical questions of how corporate ethics efforts can be improved and can address the underlying causes of misconduct, as well as the growing demands for proactive, socially responsible, and sustainable business practices. This paper will discuss the efforts General Mills have gone through to remain the corporate model for ethical business practices while maintaining internal, self regulation to ensure they continue to earn the trust of the consumer. General Mills Background General Mills history started in 1866 when Cadwallader Wasburn created...
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...Political, Economic, Social, Technological - the categories into which a compound business environment is broken up for analytical ease. It is a strategic planning tool for gaging the various factors in a potential business environment to estimate its suitability for the enterprise at hand. Therefore, let's take a look at all these building blocks of a business environment separately. Political environmentrefers to all those things pertaining to and perpetrated by the government that affect the economy and business scenario in general. Government regulations and policies that impact the business environment the most may include trade and labor laws, tax policies, environmental laws and regulations, trade restrictions, commercial tariffs, infrastructure and development policies, etc. The degree of political stability also has a huge impact upon business environment and the economy in general. Economic environmentrefers mostly to the macroeconomic factors as these factors may have a high impact upon the business environment but a firm does not have any control over them. The most it can do is modify its business strategies and various commercial and financial policies accordingly to make the most of the economic situation at hand. These economic factors may include the currency exchange rate, interest rate, economic growth rate, rate of inflation, etc. Social environmentrefers to the social, religious and cultural aspects of the business environment that may be affected...
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...Strategic Management The General & Competitive Environment (Slides based on Chapters 2 and 3) Key concepts we will cover: • Analysing the General Environment – PEST analysis – Risk & Scenario Planning • Analysing the Competitive Environment – Porter’s 5 Forces model – Porter’s Strategic Group Analysis – Hypercompetition The General Environment • The external environment facing the organization consists of: • General environment • Competitive environment • The changes that occur in the general environment transcend organizations and industries • The competitive environment consists of the industry and markets in which an organization competes Some Interactions Between Businesses & Their Environment Customers Shareholders & Creditors National & Local Governments Media Suppliers Competitors Business Support Groups Wholesalers Public Opinion The Organisation Foreign Governments Social Activist Groups Local Communities Employees Adapted from K Davis & W C Frederick “Business and Society: Management, Public Policy, Ethics”, 5th Edition, McGraw-Hill, 1984 The General Environment • The figure shows the relationship between the organization and its external environment • Other things being equal, it is the competitive environment that has the greatest impact on the organization Figure 2.1 The General Environment • PEST analysis is useful for scanning the general environment • PEST is political, economic, social, and technological factors ...
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...The Macro Environment factors are: 1) Demographic Environment 2) Economic Structural Environment 3) Technological Environment 4) Political Environment MACRO-ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS A business and its forces in its micro environment operate in larger macro environment of forces that shape opportunities and pose threats to the business. It refers the major external and uncontrollable factors that influence an organization's decision making, and affect its performance and strategies. These factors include the economic factors; demographics; legal, political, and social conditions; technological changes; and natural forces. The important environmental factors are; (1) Economic Environment (2) Political and Governmental Environment (3) Socio-cultural Environment (4) Natural Environment (5) Demographic Environment (6) Technological Environment (7) International Environment. 1. Economic Environment: - Economic environment of business has reference to the board characteristics of the economic system in which the business operates. The business sector has economic relation with the government, capital market; household sector and global sector. These sectors together influence the trends and structure of the economy. The form and functioning of the economy vary widely. The importance external factors that affect the economic environment of a business are; (i) Economic Conditions: - The general Economic conditions prevailing in the country viz. national income, per capita...
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...Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is commonly described by its promoters as aligning a company's activities with the social, economic and environmental expectations of its "stakeholders" (http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Corporate_Social_Responsibility). It has become a multi-billion dollar public relations specialty in the business world (http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Corporate_Social_Responsibility). Social responsibility is an ethical or ideological theory that an entity whether it is a government, corporation, organization or individual has a responsibility to society at large (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_responsibility#See_also). For instance if a company is proactive and follows the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines for emissions on dangerous pollutants and even goes an extra step to get involved in the community and address those concerns that the public might have; they would be less likely to have the EPA investigate them for environmental concerns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_responsibility#See_also). There are four areas that should be measured regardless of the outcome needed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_responsibility#See_also): * Economic function * Quality of life * Social investment * Problem solving Common CSR policies include (http://www.asyousow.org/csr/): * Adoption of internal controls reform in the wake of Enron and other accounting scandals; *...
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...Business Ethics and Corporate Responsibility Introduction Corporate Responsibility or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been a term coined in the previous century in order to define the social responsibilities of corporate heads and their corporations in securing the trust of its community by determining and fulfilling its roles towards the betterment of society. Simply following the rules set down by legislation would not do; corporate authorities and workers alike were demanded to be ethically inclined and considerate of how their actions affect society in general, both as residents and providers within their immediate communities. But both ethics and responsibility are vague terms, and prior to the 19th to 20th centuries, neither of them has been attached to business entities like corporations. Business ethics and corporate responsibilities, then, are much vaguer terms in that they entail more than simple and faithful provision of goods and services to people; some may even think that corporate giants and ethics do not exactly go together, or even share a superficial partnership. But these revolutionary concepts have played a major role in redefining corporations in the 21st century; these conceptual standards remain strong factors towards corporate determination of company action and assessment of overall company performance today. This paper will discuss business ethics and corporate responsibilities as sister terms, but also as discrete concepts, both of which...
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...ALWAYS LEARNING B401 Assignment Business Environment PROFESSOR: Apoorva Chaudhry th SUBMISSION DATE: 4 May 2016 15100150 PEARSON COLLEGE LONDON BUSINESS & ENTERPRISE STUDENT – LEVEL 4 B401: Business Environment 15100150 Level 4 ALWAYS LEARNING 2 PEARSON B401: Business Environment 15100150 Level 4 B401 – Assignment ..................................................................................................................... 5 business environment .......................................................................................................................... 5 Task 1 ........................................................................................................................................... 5 part 1 ....................................................................................................................................................... 5 Part 2 ....................................................................................................................................................... 7 Part 3 ....................................................................................................................................................... 8 TASK 2 - Power Point Slides’ notes ..................................................................................................... 9 TASK 3 ..............................................................................................
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...a group. Business ethics refers to the study of business policies and practices. Social responsibility refers to how a business performs its activities to meet its wider obligations toward the society and environment. Strategic planning in the corporate world is considered to be a very important step. Social responsibility as well as ethical values in the strategic plan process are deemed to serve as an important role. The paper will explore the role of social responsibility and ethics in the business world. The role of ethics According to www.investopedia business ethics refers to the study of proper business policies and practices. There are several important issues to be aware of, such as corporate governance, insider trading, bribery, discrimination, corporate social responsibility and fiduciary responsibilities. (4) Business ethical principles are no difference than general ethical principles that is judged with the same right and wrong standards that are judged in society. Ethical factors have a great impact in the way businesses are ran today. The role of ethics may differ depending on which point of view is used. Ehow.com states that the ethics role and purpose is to control the human ego. Simply put, ethics is a system of thought that has as its end the process of organizing the aspects of personality such as drives, attitudes and aims into a balanced whole within the community. It is a balancing act between the "I" and the "you." (3) The role of social responsibility ...
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...2 2.1 The General Environment The General Environment 2.2 Scanning, Monitoring, and Forecasting Changes in the Environment 2.3 Scenario Planning 2.4 PEST Analysis 2.5 SWOT Analysis 2.6 The General and the Competitive Environments Key Work Strategic decision making under conditions of uncertainty Key Work Strategic inflection points and their impact on strategy Tools and Techniques Writing a PEST analysis Tools and Techniques Undertaking scenario planning ➜ Main Reference Schoemaker, P.J.H. (1995). Scenario planning: a tool for strategic thinking. Sloan Management Review, 36(2), 25. Learning Objectives After completing this chapter you should be able to: • Define what constitutes the general environment • Evaluate the role of scanning and monitoring in detecting environmental trends • Apply scenario planning to decision making in uncertain environments • Evaluate PEST as a framework for analysing the macro-environment • Explain the use of SWOT analysis • Evaluate the relationship between the general and the competitive environment 37 Introduction In the previous chapter we looked at what strategy is and introduced a number of different perspectives on strategy formulation. We addressed the importance of values in determining why an organization exists, and looked at how an organization’s values, its vision, and its mission guide individuals’ behaviour by signposting what is important to the organization. We explained the importance...
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...topic within the business scene. Although the term, ethics, is nothing new it has become a highly talked about subject ever since the Enron scandal occurred several years ago. In the following, the role of ethics and social responsibility in developing a strategic plan, considering stakeholder needs will be explained as well as how a student’s ethical perspective has evolved throughout the program. Due to the fact that the general public is increasingly involved and interested in the activities that businesses do, the businesses must be at their best behavior. Stakeholders and the general public have a better understanding as to what businesses do and they know when businesses are not doing the right thing ethically. Two of the most sensitive topics nowadays are the way businesses deal with the environment and how they are treating their finances. If the general public and stakeholders alike find out that a particular business is hurting the environment or don’t have a plan to avoid damaging the environment they will have a serious public relations and financial problem. Also, as it occurred with Enron, if the stakeholders find that there is something unethical about the financial dealings within the company, the company risks serious hardship including bankruptcy. It is important that companies nowadays consider the role of ethics and social responsibility while developing a strategic plan. There is an increased awareness regarding the environment and everyday...
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...management, Faculty of Business Administration, Rajamangala Institute of Technology In what sense can it be said that an organization can, as a whole, be ethical of unethical? What characteristics (e.g. structures, policies, powers, responsibilities, codes, cultures, procedures) would mark out an ethical organization? Business ethics is an applied ethics. It is the application of our understanding of what is good and right to do. A discussion of business ethics must begin by providing a framework of basic principles for understanding what is meant by the terms “good” and “right”. In popular usage the term “ethics” has a variety of different meanings. One of the meanings often given to it is: the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group. We use the term “personal ethics” to refer to the rules by which an individual lives his or her personal life, and use the term “accounting ethics” to refer to the code that guides the professional conduct of accountants (Velasquez (1988).,p.11). Ethics is concerned with the moral judgments involved in moral decisions. Ethics does not study all normative judgment, only those that are concerned with what is morally right and wrong, or morally good and bad. When something is judged to be morally right or wrong, or morally good or bad, the underlying standards on which the judgment is based are moral standards. Moral standards include both specific moral norms and more general moral principles. ...
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...change? Why organization cannot only concentrates on their core business which they are earning profit and comparatively doing better than their competitors? The customers are changing, our competitors are changing, the world is changing. Globalization and forces driving the major change in organization Firms nowadays are not only competing with the local firms which provide similar services. A globalized economy is creating both more hazards and more opportunities for everyone, forcing firms to make dramatic improvements not only to compete and prosper but also to merely survive. Globalization, in turn, is being driven by a broad and powerful set of forces which can be summarized into four categories, they are Economic, Technological, Political and Social forces. The example of the car manufacturing companies in US are a very good example of why firms have to keep ‘Changing’ in order to survive in the modern world. The US car manufacturers were once very successfully organization in US and their cars were once the first choice of US people. However, the firms were on the edge of bankrupt and nearly need to shutdown the business because of the competitions from the Japanese cars which has been keep innovating new models and technology while US car firms failed to change to cope with the new demand from customers. We can see that due to deregulation and foreign competition and also the keen competitive environment within the country, if businesses want to survive or maintain...
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...508: The Business Enterprise Strayer University Summer 2010 Destination CEO: Nordstrom Abstract Given a business situation describing a company’s product and general business strategy, complete the actions below and prepare a 3-4 page report with your recommendations: 1. Since Nordstrom’s (p. 402) competes in the U.S., give an example of each of the marketing environment forces (Political, Legal, and Regulatory; Technological; Social; and Competitive and Economic Forces). 2. Discuss the impact of the forces on marketing the department store (positive or negative). 3. Recommend how the company should take advantage of or respond to each of the marketing environment force examples (Political, Legal, and Regulatory; Technological; Social; and Competitive and Economic Forces). 4. Assume the company is planning to open stores in a new foreign market area, Mexico. Recommend an overall promotional (integrated marketing communication) strategy to support the market entry (major actions, general sequence). 5. Outline at least one marketing (distribution) channel that could be used to reach buyers in this foreign market. Provide supporting rationale. . 1. Since Nordstrom’s (p. 402) competes in the U.S., give an example of each of the marketing environment forces (Political, Legal, and Regulatory; Technological; Social; and Competitive...
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...Task and General Environment TASK ENVIRONMENT: It is a kind of external environment.It is closer to the organization and includes the sectors that conduct day-to-day transactions with the organization and directly influence its basic organization and performance. GENERAL AND TASK ENVIRONMENT: You can distinguish between the differences of the general environment and the task environment as although they have similar features in business they are not the same. This is because the general environment can affect anyone in an industry, whereas the task environment also includes sectors that the organization interacts directly to make a direct impact on the organization's capability to reach its goals through its operations and performance. This task environment normally includes the industry, competitors and the customers, while it sometimes includes techniques of production, suppliers, raw materials and market sectors. Some organizations will also have human resources and the international sector as part of this environment. It is where a company operates within the second sub environment that actually lies outside of the business. It is affected by the variables in the market environment and these affect the business, making it important for the management to react on opportunities and pressure in the market environment; whereas the general environment is the layer of the external environment that will only affect the organization indirectly. It is the one...
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...FACTORS AFFECTING BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT SUBMITTED BY: AAYUSH VERMA INTRODUCTION A business firm is an open system. It gets resources from the environment and supplies its goods and services to the environment. There are different levels of environmental forces. Some are close and internal forces whereas others are external forces. External forces may be related to national level, regional level or international level. These environmental forces provide opportunities or threats to the business community. Every business organization tries to grasp the available opportunities and face the threats that emerge from the business environment. The term business ‘typically’ refers to the development and processing of economic values in society. Normally, the term is applied to portion of economic activities whose primary purpose is to provide goods and services for society in an effective manner. It is also applied to economics and commercial activities of institutions which having other purposes. Business may be defined as “the organised effort by individuals to produce goods and services to sell these goods and services in a market place and to reap some reward for this effort.” Functionally, we may define business as “those human activities which involves production or purchase of goods with the object of selling them at a profit margin”. Business organizations cannot change the external environment but they just react. They change their internal business components (internal...
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