Social Responsibility Is a Responsibility That Everyone Should Be Involved with to Make

Part A

Social responsibility is a responsibility that everyone should be involved with to make the world a better place. Business organizations are in the perfect place to be able to help with social responsibility because of the power that they wield as a recognizable brand that has sway over their customers and because of their financial standing can be greater than individuals. Social responsibility means that the business organization does not hold themselves separate from the world, but a full participant for more than just making a profit. It means that a business organization is going to be willing to give back to the community that they are a part of, and for those global business organization, the community is the globe. It is an ethical imperative for a business organization be willing to not only take from a community in having individuals and families buy their products, but to also give back to the world that gives them their place in society.

Yes, business organizations should be socially responsible. Business organizations interact with their consumers and customers to build up their brand image, and it can be very good public relations for their company to be more socially responsible. It does make very good business sense to look into those issues that are important to consumers and their loyal customers. A business organization may find that by creating recyclable packaging or reconfiguring their manufacturing process to produce less waste are great ways to let their current consumers know that the organization is not just a faceless entity, but a company that is comprised of people just like them, and this can also work as an attractant to consumers that had been spending their budget elsewhere. These consumers may find that they are more interested in purchasing this company’s product because of these changes that the company has made to their products or process. The same is true when a company stands behind a charity or does good work in the community to give back. It does make good business sense to get involves with social responsibility from the standpoint of attracting consumers to the brand, but that is not the only competitive edge that this can give to a company. It can also be a great way to attract new talent to the company. Many individuals want to work for an organization that they can be proud to proclaim that they work for this company. Bright and inventive new talent that decides to work for one brand over another will be another competitive edge. These individuals will be more excited about coming to work to be as efficient and effective as they can because they know that they work for a company that has a heart.

Social responsible efforts can also be good business sense because it is helping individuals in places of the globe that may eventually become consumers or business partners in one sense or another. Levis Strauss & Co. is one company that understands this practice in that they have a very large social responsibility program in place before other companies began looking into this type of program. “Once considered pioneering, such codes — requiring that supply chain workers be treated with dignity, respect and fairness within safe and clean factories — are now widespread in global companies within and outside of the apparel industry” (“Improving Worker Well-Being, 2012, p. 4). These types of programs are helping those around the world to improve their lives by earning a decent wage in a safe environment where they are not treated like slave labor. This is good for the company in workers are probably going to want to work harder for a company that treats their workers so well when other companies in their area may not, but it is also good for the overall economy of the country that is being impacted. People will be able to do more for their family, and in return, help to grow their country’s future. This is one situation that could certainly be seen as a win-win for all involved because it does make a business look good, but it is giving that necessary helping hand for people that are living in developing countries.

Value-based management is not just a “do-gooder” ploy, and a company that is just using it as a ploy rather than to actually have an impact on the world that the organization is a part of will be missing out on the benefits that exists from efforts like social responsibility. According to Duckworth and Moore (2010), “Research that suggests socially responsible efforts result in improved business performance is also emerging. For example, researchers have found that social responsibility actions affect consumer decisions only when the motives of those actions are credible” (p. 31). Consumers have a great deal of choices to make with the money that they earn, and if they are not pleased with a particular brand because of the way that the organization does business, these consumers tend to take their business to another brand. It makes sense that an organization, which is created out of many people, would have a desire to share the same values that their employees and customers may have in their personal life. These individuals are all shareholders in the organization, and their values are important considerations when an organization makes any decision. There are probably some business organizations that are not passionate about their value-based management, and have ulterior motives in just skimming the surface to let the company look good, but overall, many organizations are invested in more than just gaining positive public relations to promote the community that they are a part of as an entity.
Part B

The first question that management should ask to analyze the need to balance the interests of a variety of stakeholder groups would be what stakeholders the organization has as it is possible that some groups of stakeholder may be overlooked. The next question that should be asked would be what each stakeholder group is seeking to achieve and what their interest is in the company. This information would be necessary to learn what balance would need to be made for these stakeholders. The third question that should be asked is what order do the stakeholders fall in involvement with the organization. Some stakeholders may have more influence over the organization than others, such as the government versus members of the community where the organization is headquartered. The government is the key stakeholder in that instance. The final question that should be asked is how much participation each group of stakeholders needs to have to stay engaged in the company as this can help the company further evaluate how each stakeholder’s interests are balanced.

Managers can misuse the disciplinary powers that they have been granted by management for their position as a part of management. Discipline is intended to be used to keep employees working as they are supposed to be working, and not breaking any rules. “In any successful business, there will be certain people who have more power than others. If wielded appropriately, power can influence others in a positive way. If misused, power manifests as dictatorial and bullying behavior” (Grace, n.d., para. 1). When an infraction occurs, a manager would then utilize the appropriate discipline for the incident that occurred. There are times when a manager can go overboard with their use of discipline. One example of a way that a manager can misuse their disciplinary powers would be to be verbally abusive to the employees when they are correcting the person on some behavior. For example, a worker that arrives late should be given the correct amount of discipline per the company’s policies and procedures, but a manager that yells and swears at the employee for being late is abusing their power to discipline the employee. Another example of a way that a manager can misuse their disciplinary powers would be to discipline employees under them for something that they did not do. For instance, a manager might make up a reason to discipline an employee because they have an ulterior motive, such as making a good employee look bad because they are worried about their job as the head of the department. Abuse of power by managers should not be condone by a company, and should be addressed by the company’s policies and procedures if it wants to keep down turnover.

References

Duckworth, H. A., & Moore, R. A. (2010). Social responsibility failure mode effects and analysis. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press/Taylor & Francis.

Grace, N. (n.d.). How to Reduce the Misuse of Power in a Workplace. Chron. Retrieved July 18, 2014, from

Improving Worker Well-being: A New Approach to Supply Chain Engagement . (2012). Levi Strauss & Co.. Retrieved July 18, 2014, from