...is it the customer? Should a company simply meet the required regulations, or attempt to go above-and-beyond the requirements? All of the questions involve corporate social responsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility can be defined as “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” (World Business Council for Sustainable Development). Cash is King Many organizations and individuals feel that businesses simply have the responsibility to make profits (Friedman, 1970). These companies or individuals place emphasis on satisfying the desires of its shareholders, primarily through high profits. Generally, these companies will spend only enough money on social responsibilities to comply with regulations. The money spent going above the required amount is considered to be spending someone else’s money. “Insofar as his actions in accord with his "social responsibility" reduce returns to stockholders, he is spending their money. Insofar as his actions raise the price to customers, he is spending the customers' money” (Friedman, 1970). They feel that employees can individually donate their time or money to contribute to society. CSR is Overrated Ultimately, trade-offs must be made between the financial health of the company and ethical outcomes (Doane, 2005). Companies must make profits the priority...
Words: 1675 - Pages: 7
...business leaders that her agribusiness company is best-suited for the five year, five million dollar contract to provide organic dairy farm products to local school systems in Tokyo. This is Free Range Food’s first attempt to compete on the international landscape. Since the local school systems contract begins in one year, Free Range Food must determine if their company can compete globally while simultaneously maintaining its eco-friendly business operations. Thomas L. Friedman, in The Lexus and the Olive Tree, explains globalization as a movement that enables individuals, corporations, and countries to reach around the globe farther, faster, deeper, and cheaper than ever before. Due to more accepting international trade laws and modern advances in technology business globalization is becoming more common and some will argue a necessary component to sustaining one’s business. This script will discuss four elements Free Range Foods must consider when deciding to whether to go global: 1-analyze the pros/cons of how at least two globalization strategies might apply to their decision 2-identify the factors to be reviewed before going global 3-make a recommendation on operational restructuring to make its operations global 4-state whether and how to manage its “eco-friendly” operations internationally Can anyone identify an example of globalization in the brief story mentioned in the beginning? [Slide 2] Globalization is the process a company takes when integrating...
Words: 1611 - Pages: 7
...The term SWOT stands for analyzing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). The strengths of New Belgium Brewing are the quality of its products, its distribution network, and its social/environmental responsibilities. The weaknesses include its inability to penetrate the northeastern U.S. markets significantly, and its current infrastructure. The opportunities include growing its market share and penetrating the northeast markets. The threats include small and large competitors. The threats also include start-up breweries. The Chief Operating Officer has asked me for a list of pros and cons of opening a third brewery. The pros of opening a third brewery would be an improved distribution infrastructure,...
Words: 251 - Pages: 2
...one moment about the many products, services and items that we purchase and use on a daily basis. We use and consume this items because the publicity representatives and marketers convince us it’s for our own good According to Kokemuller (2012), "Corporate social responsibility is generally perceived as a positive business ideology in the 21st century, despite some challenges. A significant expansion of basic business ethics, CSR establishes guidelines for ethical and socially responsible behavior. It addresses how companies that want to satisfy government and societal requirements should treat key stakeholder groups, including customers, suppliers, employees and the community." In other words, corporations that want to maintain high levels of revenue can no longer “look” good they must prove to the customers and other people involved that they “are” good. There is another way to look at the concept of social responsibility by linking it to individual social responsibility. "Being Socially Responsible means that people and organizations must behave ethically and with sensitivity toward social, cultural, economic and environmental issues. Striving for social responsibility helps individuals, organizations and governments have a positive impact on development, business and society with a positive contribution to bottom-line results (Social Entrepreneur, 2012)." The concept of individual social...
Words: 860 - Pages: 4
...Partnership and business Christopher Crumbley Strayer University Mr. Swinney Business 100 June 3, 2013 Pros and Cons of partnership as form of ownership There are many benefits when dealing with partnership and the good thing about it is how easy they are to start up and the simplicity of maintaining it. The partnership would have to establish a corporation or limited liability company known as a LLC, the great benefit of this is business do not have to register with the state and pay fees, and the partners , not the partnership are taxed , and filing income tax returns is relatively easy. The difference is that there are no need to file a different tax returns from cooperate and its owners. In partnership, it offer flexibility, the partners can dictate their responsibilities and benefits as they wishes for the good of the business. The organization is set up different than a corporation, because of how they are able to distribute the profits and losses. Even though a partnership takes on more financial risk, the end results can have a higher profit turnover, because generally, corporations distribute dividends evenly depending on the stock percentage held by each stockholder. Partnerships are always not the best way to go because they could be very risky at times, the greed and irresponsible of any individual could potentially bind all of the others partners. It is best that business is agreeable with trustworthy partners and not friends and family. There should...
Words: 1175 - Pages: 5
...create a product or service and develop it into a business. As with anything, a business partnership has it’s pros and cons but there are also two types of partnerships, General and Limited. A General Partnership is subject to partnership agreement; all partners have equal rights in the management of the partnership. The Pros of General is that the partnership may designate particular partners with particular skills to make decisions in that area and reserve the more important decisions to the partnership as a whole. Cons to consider is that each partner has rights in management and may contractually bind the partnership. Each partner is responsible for the contracts that the other partners execute and the liabilities that they incur. The possibility of disagreement and deadlock exists. The other partnership is Limited. In a Limited Partnership at least one general partner is responsible for the management of the partnership. A limited partner may not participate in the management of the business or the limited partner runs the risk of becoming personally liable for the debts and obligations of the limited partnership. Pros to this partnership include that a general partner may vote on matters related to the business of the partnership provided such matters are subject to the approval of the limited partners. This also must be spelled out in the agreement. Cons are that an individual may be reluctant to invest in this partnership because of the limits on participation...
Words: 1144 - Pages: 5
...from being a teacher went on to join Stein and Company. Stein & Company is a real estate company providing complete array of real estate services. Stasch work here could be called as Change Agent in the industry. Her efforts in introducing affirmative action as well encouraging women and minorities to be part of real estate industry improved their conditions. However because of the mentality of being a male dominated industry in construction projects, she was facing problems of introducing and encouraging women workforce in construction industry The Case study concludes as to what Julia Stasch should do to overcome her dilemma, introduce changes and also be able to obtain the bid Metcalfe Federal building to advance the cause. OUTLINE OF THE CASE: Stein & company, founded by Richard A Stein which started as a small venture handling rehabilitation of townhouses evolved into a successful enterprise responsible for over a billion worth of commercial properties in Chicago . Julia Stasch, a socially conscious high school teacher, joined Stein and Company as a secretary to Richard Stein but rose to the status of president and chief operating officer within 15 years. Julia Stasch’s first real opportunity to address minority and women’s issues in construction began in 1984 when Stein and Company was asked by the city of Chicago to include an Affirmative Action Component in a small project. Shortly thereafter, Stein and Company was bidding to become the developer of a $360...
Words: 1315 - Pages: 6
...must look at different decisions that can be made, their pros and cons, and of course how they will affect the company financially, legally, and ethically. We must first look at how we come to decide on what our alternatives are before and how we came to those three. We it comes to deciding the different alternatives we must look at what options are realistically available for the problem. At this time I have come across three alternatives that can be made; cancel the order, reproduce and repackage the toys, or ship the product without the whistles. These alternatives were chosen by using the theory of Individualism in decision making. This theory allows us to look at decisions the ethical and just in the long run. If we decide to cancel the orders our company will be seen by everyone as socially responsible and having morals which is an advantage. On the other hand it may cause the purchaser money in profits in the long run, which could lead to legal ramifications. Legally our customer would be able to file a suit for a breach of contract that we entered into. Not to mention the cost to our company, this in return is a disadvantage. Our company would incur cost from scrapping, loss of sale, and the cost to initially produce the product. This is something we cannot afford to take on financially. Option number two would be to reproduce and repackage the item. A great option to show again how much we care as a company and show our...
Words: 835 - Pages: 4
...Growing up everyone is taught that recycling is essential to the environment. Many companies today have recycling programs to emphasize that. New York City has the biggest recycling program because they are the “capital of trash”. With that being said, New York faces problems on where to dump their trash. The recycling program began to sell their trash to firms, to make other products, in hope of making a profit. Unfortunately, they had more expenses than revenues. The supply for trash is higher than its demand. Meaning most of the trash people recycle is piling up somewhere. There are two solutions to this problem, closed-loop recycling or getting the government involved. Closed-loop recycling requires companies to create their own markets...
Words: 1010 - Pages: 5
...Identify the pros and cons of the partnership as a form of ownership. There are quite a few pros and cons with having a business partner. They are as follows: Having two people responsible for the big picture, and making sure no important balls get dropped makes for an easier run of things. Having two perspectives on challenges and another brain to bounce ideas off will help avoid a number of disasters that rash decisions can create. Self-care and work-life balance are the elusive goals of every entrepreneur. It's easy to keep pushing yourself to the brink in the interests of furthering your business; what's less easy is to watch someone else being pushed to that same edge. And, as we know, the trickiest piece of the puzzle is the "self" part. Another pro of having a business partner is someone always has your back. It's really easy, as entrepreneurs, to believe that your way is the best way. In fact, many people go into business, because we were pretty convinced of this, and, if your business is successful, you have ample support of that view. But no one is right all of the time, and having a business partner to whom you have to justify your reasoning is a great way to make sure you're making decisions soundly and not just because you like the sound of your own ideas. Often business partners grow apart and you may not always find yourself heading in the same direction as your business partner, even if you start off in exactly the same place. With more than one person at the...
Words: 1072 - Pages: 5
...Louisiana and Florida is soon to follow. They have seen consistent growth year over year. In 2006 NBB produced 437,000 barrels of beer. In 2011 the company produced 713,000 barrels. The company waste diversion efforts are paying off. In 2011 94.38 the latest waste diversion is 94.38% diverted and 5.62% landfill as opposed to 88% diverted and 8.5% landfill in 2009. Energy consumption is seeing a reduction each year. Energy reduction has gone from 158MJ/hl in 2008 to 138MJ/hl in 2011. This can be partially attributed to the November 2009 implementation of the largest private array of photovoltaic solar panels in Colorado. The 870 panels mounted atop the bottling plant produce 200kW of power output helping to reduce power consumption from the grid. In March of 2012 New Belgium Brewery launched it can line to tap into a new market. In April of 2012 the company chose Asheville North Carolina as the site for their East Coast Brewery. In January of 2013 New Belgium Brewery became 100% employee owned and lastly in April 2013 they completely commit to the technology trend by releasing a mobile app for Android and iOS.(www.newbelgium.com[->0]) Strengths Strong brand loyalty Well treated employees who enjoy their job Extensive line of different beers Respected company because they are environmentally, socially and ethically responsible Technical expertise of staff and brew...
Words: 2316 - Pages: 10
...LEVI STRAUSS & COMPANY CASE STUDY Cevdet KIZIL Master of Science in Organizational Leadership Program 1- Knowing that its managers are willing to trade off some economic efficiency in order to operate according to their collective view of what is “ethical”, would you buy shares of stock in this company? Why or why not? First of all, I think we are experiencing a paradox in this situation. Because, the company is trading off economic efficiency in order to operate, but it’s a well known fact that economic efficiency is one of the factors which affects the price of stocks. On the other hand, let’s say the company did set economic efficiency as a priority and decided to close some of its plants. This will mean laying off several employees. Thus, the current condition really makes is tough to judge. However, I would still buy shares of stock in this company. Because, company reputation, image and responsibility are also effective factors. Furthermore, I believe that Levi Strauss & Company’s ethical view will help them to win in the long-run. They may experience losses and they may not make profits in a short period, but I think that company’s ethical view will also affect their stock price, profitability and brand in the long run. For example, Margery Kraus, President and CEO of APCO Worldwide also justify my opinions with her words “Play by your own rules and ethics. In the long run it will pay off”. As a result, because of all these reasons, I would buy shares...
Words: 1140 - Pages: 5
...fall. From stakeholders point of view being socially responsible occurs when a company behaves in a manner that takes into account society as a whole and is accountable for its actions. Social responsibility means that organizations are part of a larger society and are accountable to that society for their actions. Since profits are also a responsibility owed to the shareholders, the company must balance profits with social responsibility. • Reactive strategy: For instance, when starbucks sees product is failing in the market, having a special offer on that product might help them with their sales. Like raise or promotion, products reviews and plan proactively. Defensive strategy: For example the coffee glasses they have are not good enough for the hot coffee they serve so they have to recall the coffee glasses but they only do the least like instead of changing the cups they just suggest customers to use a plastic or rubber holder. Accommodative strategy: I would say the seasonal change in coffees is the best thing about starbucks. For example having varieties of hot coffee during winter and cold during summer. Proactive strategy: Proactive strategies such as an environmentally friendly strategy plan. Recycling and reducing waste, tackling climate change, energy conservation and building greener stores. • Proactive strategy. • Economic responsibility and a little bit of legal responsibility • It does affect how a company addresses ethical and discretionary responsibilities...
Words: 357 - Pages: 2
...Messaging on the workplace? Are these overall beneficial to the companies and individuals? What is the most effective way to achieve sustainable computer technology? Is web usability more important than aesthetics in creating effective web design? Should cloud computing become the future framework for enterprise Information and Communications Technologies (ICT)? What are the most important approaches that organisations should embrace for dealing with cyber-crime? Education /TESOL /Linguistics At what age should a person start to learn a second language? Is motivation the most important factor in the acquisition of a second language? Is electronic media beneficial to children’s education? Teachers have a major role in motivating students to learn. To what extent do you agree? Is computer-mediated learning more effective than traditional methods? Are children better than adult when learning a new language? Should the role of ICT in secondary school classrooms be increased in the study of mathematics and language? What is the role of the early childhood educator in teacher social behaviours in children? Are children over-protected in early childhood education environments? Economics and Business What factors are behind stock market fluctuations and how do they impact? Which have the most significant impact, and why? (suitable for Banking and Finance). How do government tariffs impact on imported goods? What are the pros and cons of these tariffs and what are the likely future trends?...
Words: 839 - Pages: 4
...1) Identify the pros and cons of the partnership as a form of ownership. The pros and cons of the partnership as a form of ownership are that: General partnerships have many benefits, but the most compelling is the ease with which they can be set up and be maintained. The pros of partnerships are its flexibility where in partnership agreements; the partners are free to set their responsibilities and benefits as they see the needs of the business dictate. The structure of the organization and the distribution of profits and losses are much more flexible in a partnership than they are in a corporation. Partnerships are also considered as a discrete asset and can be transferred to other people or estates. The cons of partnership are that all partners doing business are potentially and personally liable for all business debts and lawsuits. Each partner is financially responsible for his or her share of the business debt and it is the partner with the greatest assets who loses the most if the business fails. The unlimited liability of partnership is not only the advantage but also a disadvantage. 1) Discuss funding options for small businesses. The funding options for small businesses are debt financing, equity, venture capital: Debt Financing is a way where many small businesses start up with loans and having good credit with an established bank will help the small business in getting debt. However, banks are often reluctant to loan to non established businesses, but can be get...
Words: 1688 - Pages: 7
