Sustainability

Introduction

Business has been going along since long before money, insurance plans, and global warming were even a glimmer in someone’s mind. The days of trading your skill for what you needed are still present today, but in a much different realm. Most people do not rely on their neighbor to grow vegetables for their family to eat while they herd the sheep. Disposing of chemicals and building a greener society were not a worry on the mind of anyone many moons ago.

It has changed and businesses can overlook people’s personal issues, individual need, and impact on the environment. The ideal role for business in society is to treat their employees fairly by providing respectable employment plans that fit individual needs and being greener in society by caring to implement plans to reduce their carbon footprint. Ben and Jerry’s Ben and Jerry’s started out as small ice cream makers in Vermont with a very small company that grew astronomically. They did not intend on having a plan for responsibility to employees, society, and the planet.

They are a prime example of how a business that is not focused solely on the bottom line can make a difference in the community and the world. In 2010 to make the company greener they said, “Our vision is that the entire country will switch over to hydrocarbon (HC) freezers that are significantly more energy-efficient and use gases with lower global warming potential than standard freezers, which use hydrofluorocarbons (HFC). ” (Ben and Jerry’s Social and Responsibility Report 2010). They are making an effort to do something to improve the environment even if it does cost them some profits.

They give back to the community and support jobs with their foundaiton stating, “Through the Foundation, we’re helping immigrant workers, neighborhood groups, farm workers and dozens of other groups around the country to get organized and fight for a fair deal. In 2011, Ben & Jerry’s contributed $2,180,808 to the Foundation based on the 2010 sales of the Company. ” (Ben and Jerry’s Social and Responsibility Report 2010). These are all things Ben and Jerry’s or any corporation could certainly overlook ithout many reprocussions , but being outardly accountable and charitable makes them a more appealing company to buy from. This also leads the way in showing other corporations that you can make a difference in the world, grow as a company, and be responsible.

The Walt Disney Corporation

When I think of The Walt Disney Company I think of fun amusement parks, Mickey Mouse, and entertaining childern’s movies. They are much more than that stepping up to the challenge of being reposible as a corporation to its employees and the environment. Disney has a very focused plan to do their part in the environment as shown in the chart below. (The Walt Disney Company 2010 Corporate Citizen Report) The goals and plan they have to minimize the effects of on the environment is something every company should be doing, and having it available for the public to read is another positive apect. The employees at disney receive opportunity to pursue further education and get great benefits packages. They state, “But we know your life isn’t just about work. You have additional things going on – family, friends, personal interests, education and more.

The Walt Disney Company offers a comprehensive total rewards package that helps you live your best life, grow personally and professionally, and get rewarded for the results you deliver. ” (Disney Careers. Total Rewards). This leads me to believe that Disney has a vested interest in the employees they hire and care about them as individuals. Tyson I see a commercial for some hungry teenagers and how Tyson chicken nuggets or strips satisfies their cravings, but I rarely stop to think if they treat their employees fairly or the environment. Tyson is a leading corporation that does care saying, “We offer one of the best benefit packages, not just in the industry but in the nation. ” (Tyson Corporation. Tyson Benefits. ) They a great plan for all realms of health care, stock options, retirement plans, a full service credit union, education and leadership training, discounts on all products. They participate in hundreds of community events, showing they care about the public. Tyson also is striving o not just follow the guidelines of the law but to go above and beyond to protect the enviornemnt, “For Tyson Foods, protecting the environment is about more than maintaining compliance with the environmental laws and regulations applicable to our operations. It’s about embracing a process of continual improvement aimed at protecting the environment for future generations. ” (Tyson. Sustainablity Report. Planet). They recyle, reduce amount of water used, evaluate using an alternative fuel source, reduce packing waste, conserve energy, and reduce the number of trucks on the road.

They are focused on the future and know that playing their part is not just about following the law but providing more for the community and the environment. For Tyson Foods, protecting the environment is about more than maintaining compliance with the environmental laws and regulations applicable to our operations. It’s about embracing a process of continual improvement aimed at protecting the environment for future generations. For Tyson Foods, protecting the environment is about more than maintaining compliance with the environmental laws and regulations applicable to our operations. It’s about embracing a process of continual improvement aimed at protecting the environment for future generations.

For Tyson Foods, protecting the environment is about more than maintaining compliance with the environmental laws and regulations applicable to our operations. It’s about embracing a process of continual improvement aimed at protecting the environment for future generations. Conclusion Corporations need to be responsible while still earning a resonable profit to continue thriving, changing, and becoming better. “Doing no harm beyond meeting legal requirements regarding the environment, conditions of employement, community relationtions, and ethics.

The law always lags behind the best practice. ” (Charles Handy What is a Business for). It is the corporations reposnsibility to step up and take action instead of being forced to by law or any other organizations. Corporations need to start doing more and providing the information to the public so we can see that they are actually making not just a profit but a change to make the world a better place.

Sources

1. Ben and Jerrys. Social and Environmental Assesment Report 2010. http://www. benjerry. com/company/sear/2010/index. cfm Harvard Business Review. What is a Business for. Charles Handy. (Page 7)
2. The Walt Disney Company. The Walt Disney Company 2010 Corporate Citizen Report 2010. http://corporate. disney. go. com/CITIZENSHIP2010/environment/overview/ourapproach/
3. The Walt Disney Company. Disney Careers Total Rewards. http://disneycareers. com/en/working-here/total-rewards/ Tyson Corporation. Careers.
4. Why Tyson. Tyson Benefits. http://www. tysonfoodscareers. com/Why-Tyson-Foods/Benefits. aspx Tyson Corporation. Sustainablitity Report 2010. Planet 4. 0. http://www. tysonfoods. com/Sustainability/2010/Planet. aspx

Process focus is a strategy where you have a few different input varieties and many different output solutions. Every specific input situation will have a specific flexible output. Repetitive focus process involves using modules (previously assembled components of a product) to complete another manufacturing process/step including combining various modules to produce any different completed options.

It has less flexibility than process focus.  Product focus process involves using a specific facility, which focuses on the product itself, providing very little variation options. It requires specific trained individuals and is a generally a much longer process.  Mass Customization focus – a facility that will make a highly customized final product as per customers desires and when the customer orders rather than as per company planned schedule (BOOT). It also combines the efficiency of a product focus strategy and flexibility of process focus.

It may also involve dollar use as per repetitive process. Give an example of each other than examples used on the lessons or text and state why your example has the characteristics of the particular strategy. Process focus – A cable/cell/internet provider voice response system that a respondent has to communicate with depending on what they are calling about and for what reason would be an example of a process focus strategy, because you have generally labor employees that are following different scenarios and may finish with each call in many different varieties. A coffee shop such as Struck will receive a few different rodents that may be combined or slightly modified to produce various options as per their menu. This is a repetitive focus, because employees receives somewhat completed product and then use it in combination/slightly modified to produce final product as per the options available on the menu. There are less final options when compared to process focus (modification is slight ex. How many sugars/milk)

Product focus – A soft drink manufacturer would be an example of product focus, because the company will receive various ingredients, but the final product will always be the same with little variation (ex. Sizes of the bottles the drink will be available in). Mass Customization – custom designed and order by customer m&ms. Having the ability to order your m&ms online in a color you want, giving the consumers the option of putting their own message would be a great example of mass customization 2.

Process Chart (marks) Naomi owns a plastics molding company. She creates signs for companies in standard sizes. Her production process is described as follows. There are four stations through which the product moves through. The first station is a mixing table. The product is then poured into the cavities in the molding taxation. Products come out of the mold and move to a finishing area. From there the product goes to packaging where it is labeled, boxed, and made ready for shipping. The production process is as follows:

1. Appropriate molds are pulled from molding racks and placed on molding tables. The racks are 3 meters from the molding table. This takes 2 minutes.
2. The molds are made ready for use. This takes 5 minutes.
3. Naomi then goes to the chemical storage cabinet and brings the resin, hardener, and dyes to the mixing table. The storage cabinet is 4 meters from the molding table and 2 meters from the mixing table. This takes Naomi half a minute.
4. Naomi mixes dies to create the color specified by the customer. This takes 10 minutes.
5. Naomi pours the resin into a pail with an appropriate amount of hardener and mixes it so the hardener is evenly distributed within the resin. This takes 7 minutes.
6. Naomi then pours in the colored dye into the pail and mixes for another 8 minutes.
7. Naomi carries the pail to the molding station and pours the dyed resin into the molds. It takes Naomi 3 seconds to walk to the molding station with the pail and 2 minutes to slowly pour the colored resin into the mold. The mixing table is 4 meters from the molding station.
8. The resin takes 17 minutes to cure and harden.
9. Naomi takes the hardened sign out of the mold. This takes 1 minute.
10. Naomi inspects the sign to ensure it meets the required specifications and quality. This takes 30 seconds.
11. Naomi takes the product to the finishing area 4 meters away where the base of the sign is ground off using a wet sander. It takes Naomi 6 seconds to walk to the finishing table and 3 minutes to sand the base of the product
12. Naomi then labels the product and makes it ready for shipping. This takes her 2 h minutes and she does this on a table right beside the wet sander.

 Complete the following process chart for Mammon’s process to make a sign. The first two lines show you how to begin. Calculate the value-added time. Show your work.  Explain what the value added time means with respect to operations efficiency and waste. B. Value-added time-? operational time(5+10+7+8+2+1 +3+2. 5)/total time(2+5+0. 5+ 10+7+8+sec+2+17+1 to. 5+sec+3+2. 5) Total time 39 sec = sec pop trine= 38 min 30 sec = 2310 sec Value added C. Based on the above calculations, the value added is 65. 64%, which indicates that almost half of the time is being wasted.

The individual in charge has to work to eliminate all of the non-value added time. 3. Sustainability (5 marks) Find a recent article within the past 6 months that describes how a company has included sustainability in its production process. You must identify the company and source and use your own words. This September, Nestle and Kellogg have joined other companies in Ceres’ Business for Innovative Climate and Energy policy, which is an organization that is committed to working with company policymakers to pass energy and climate legislation.

The Winter Olympic Games is an international event that features various winter sports disciplines. This year, it will be hosted in Socio, Russia, which is costal to the prominent Black Sea. These competitions are scheduled to take place between February 7th and February 23rd, 2014. With more than the estimated 2,800 athletes participating, and approximately ninety-eight events, It Is sure to be exciting. However, It seems that many people are uncomfortable with the 22nd Winter Olympics being hosted in Russia. Many are concerned about the security Issues and fatty.

London Reed expressed that “It’s not safe at all”, and many agree with him. “Vive seen on CNN that fifty-seven percent agree that It’s not safe”, said Reed. He Insists that terrorism activities are extremely possible. Another two persons retorted the same. Land’s brother, Jack Reed had a negative overall view for Russia. When asked his thoughts on the Winter Olympics he responded, “As beautiful as the events are, Its dangerous”. He too was knowledgeable about the terrorist threats. Reed gave a brief history lesson. He explained, “The threats today are threats due to an Islamic LOL war.

He also mentioned that Austrian competitors have already received threats. Furthermore, the American government insists that persons not represent their flag to avoid being a target. Yet, according to some people and news blobs, the 22nd Winter Olympics will be secured. It is said that 40,000 police will be operating in the Socio region. This will be double the amount on duty during the London Olympics. There are also much more security measures implemented to ensure a safe successful competition. But of course, its almost impossible to guarantee absolute safety. Let the games begin?

Soon after Anita got back to England, her mother introduced me to a young Scotsman named Gordon Rowdier. Their bond was Instant. Together, Anita and Gordon opened first a restaurant, and then a hotel In Alliteration. They married In 1970; they already had a baby and another on the way. The Beginning Anita opened the first The Body Shop on March 26, 1976 in Brighton, on the south coast of England. Anita simply wanted to create a livelihood for herself and her two daughters, while her husband, Gordon, was trekking across the Americas.

Anita had no training or experience and my only business acumen was Cordon’s advice to take ales of $300 a week. Nobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival, but that’s exactly what It Is and what nurtures creative thinking. Running that first shop taught Anita business is not financial science, it’s about trading: buying and selling. It’s about creating a product or service so good that people will pay for it. Now 30 years on The Body Shop is a multi local business with over 2,045 stores serving over 77 million customers in 51 different markets in 25 different languages and across 12 time zones.

Anita had no a clue of how they got here! It wasn’t only economic necessity that inspired the birth of The Body Shop. Anta’s early travels had given her a wealth of experience. Anita had spent time in farming and fishing communities with pre-industrial peoples, and been exposed to body rituals of women from all over the world. Also the frugality that her mother exercised during the war years made me question retail conventions. Why waste a container when you can refill it? And why buy more of something than you can use?

We behaved as she did in the Second World War, we reused everything, we refilled everything and we recycled all we could. The foundation of The Body Shop’s environmental activism was born out of ideas like these. One of Anta’s strengths was the empathetic way in which she dealt with her employees, she would meet / approach with all them at one time or another, go to every part of her organization, sit in on meetings, motivate them and empower them to stretch their abilities, so one could agree that Anita Rowdier used the HRS approach to leadership.

This perspective puts emphasis on the ‘social interaction’ and processes at work. [2] Human relations approach; is a school of management thought based on findings in research carried out by Elton Mayo which emphasizes the importance of such an approach. Husking & Buchanan, (2001). “The hallmark of human-relations theories is the primacy given to organizations as human co-operative systems rather than as mechanical contraptions. Wilson & Responded, (1990). Leadership Style Anita was aware that success is more than a good idea.

It is timing too. The Body Shop arrived Just as Europe was going green’. The Body Shop has always been recognizable by its green color, the only color that we could find to cover the damp, moldy walls of my first shop. Anita opened a second shop within six months, by which time Gordon was back in England. He came up with the idea for ‘self-financing’ more new stores, which sparked the growth of the franchise network through which The Body Shop spread across the world. The company went public in 1984.

Since then, Anita has been given a whole host of awards, some Anita understood, some she did not and a couple she thought she deserve. Businesses have the power to do well. That’s why The Body Shop’s Mission Statement opens with the overriding commitment, ‘To dedicate our business to the pursuit of social and environmental change. ‘ We use our stores and our products to help communicate human rights and environmental issues. Adapt to Cultural Differences; discuss how he or she has adapted to cultural differences and how he or she operates the business effectively in global markets.

In initiate met a delegation of Goon people from Nigeria. They were seeking justice and reparations against the giant oil multinational Shell that was ravaging their lands through oil exploration and production. Working with other Mangos, we spokesperson, Ken Sara-Way and 8 other Goon, were executed in 1995 by the Nigerian Government. But our campaign continued and eventually 19 other imprisoned Goon were released. In 1997, after 4 years of unrelenting pressure, Shell issued a revised operating charter committing the company to human rights and sustainable development.

A year later, they launched their ‘Profits and Principles’ advertising campaign declaring their recognition of the interests of “a much wider group of stakeholders in our business”. I like to think we had a hand in getting Shell to think about what it really means to be a corporate citizen”(Anita Rowdier, 1998). Evaluate this business leader’s theory of business leadership, management, and methods for motivating individual and group behavior. One key area where business and personal interests naturally combined was through Community Trade.

A trailblazer of fair trade in the cosmetics industry, The Body Shop was the first cosmetics company to develop direct relationships with communities in return for natural ingredients and accessories. Launched over 20 years ago Anita oversaw the programmer, initially under the title of “Trade – Not Aid”. Starting with one supplier in India, our Community Trade programmer now operates from Brazil to Zambia across more than 20 countries and provide essential income to over 15,000* people across the globe.

Anita was aware that the trading relationship with The Body Shop were was never going to make the farmers financially rich, but it enabled them to maintain their chosen way of life and through co-operation, achieve autonomy. One example of a Community Trade supplier is Tenanting in Ghana, where Anita and The Body Shop Foundation gave initial help by providing grinding mills and nut cracking plants to help with the extraction of she butter – this for the first time enabled the women of the Tamale region to earn a regular and reliable income, afford schooling, medical care, build and improve their homes.

It has also led to the building of 10* schools and paid for both equipment and teachers, while the area can now also more easily enjoy safe piped water and latrines. In a country where 43%* of the population lives below the World Bank poverty line, and employment opportunities are limited, the story of the Tenanting She Butter Association is an inspiring one. We believe there is only one way to beautiful, nature’s way. We’ve believed this for years and still do.

We constantly seek out wonderful natural ingredients from all four corners of the globe, and we bring you products bursting with effectiveness to enhance your natural beauty. Whilst we’re doing this we always strive to protect this beautiful planet and the people who depend on it. We don’t do it this way because it’s fashionable. We do it because, to us, it’s the only way. The Soul of Beauty humor are freely expressed and celebrated. That’s the soul of beauty. It’s not Just about looking beautiful.

It’s about exuding a vibrant attitude to life. Our Incredible Planet Our commitment to seeking and sustaining natural materials and ingredients, and using all our planet’s resources wisely, guides our approach to business. We set Hellenizing environmental targets, which we detail in our bi-annual Values Reports. We were one of the first to make a stand against animal testing in the cosmetics industry, and through The Body Shop Foundation, we continue to fund organizations campaigning to end the needless suffering of animals.

The Community of People People are at the heart and soul of our business. We strive to treat all people in a fair and open fashion, to respect and value their integrity. We’ve never been afraid to champion the vulnerable and the disadvantaged, and we continue to campaign for social Justice and human rights. We take enormous pride in our Community Fair Trade programmer, not Just because we were the first to bring fair trade to our industry, but because of the real difference it makes to the lives of the farmers, producers and their communities.

Discuss how this business leader has made an impact on the world through his or her vision, business, and through other areas (e. G. , philanthropy, environmentalism, etc. ). Consider the following, which is the first sentence of The Body Shop mission statement; “The Body Shop mission statement states that we will operate our business with a strong commitment to the well being of our fellow humans and the reservation of the planet”. Anita Rowdier saw the responsibility of businesses as being supportive to the community both locally and globally.

Employees were encouraged to take a half day holiday on the company’s expense so as long as it benefited the community. Democracy was encouraged within the organization for example: Encourage staff to ask questions to find better working methods, encourage debate. Always be supportive of new ideas this keeps people interested and innovative. Share prosperity with the staff. Involve them in decision making. Listen to staff suggestions. Make heroes of employees who personify what you want to see. Feel free to employ relatives of existing staff.

Have the staff write a charter that codifies the core values of the organization. Always respond to suggestions and acknowledge them. Managers do not always know best. Break the barriers that isolate work from family. Have 2 way assessments staff to managers and managers to staff. Ask your staff “how can we ennoble your life? “, and “how can we make your spirit sing? ” Ensure staff that they are not a lone voice. Allow them to grow. (Bestow, Mission Coach, 2007). The above could explain why the business became so successful; she used the bottom to top approach to drive the organization.

However, if she were to use this framework in another context the results of her success may dominated workforce maybe the ideas would have been too radical. However, because she was the CEO of The Body Shop and the workforce was predominantly female, her autonomy was exacted to the full. Accomplishments The first Community Trade product for The Body Shop, a Footsies Roller, is produced in 1986 by a supplier in southern India. This trade in Footsies Rollers has evolved into the current trade with Teddy Exports in India, one of our key Community Trade suppliers.

By 1990, Just one year after launching in the USA, there are 2,500 applications for a franchise, with demand for The Body Shop products ever-growing, driven by expansion which saw the company trading in 39 countries within Just fourteen years after the opening of the very first shop! In 1990 The Body Shop Foundation is established, a charity which funds human rights and environmental protection groups. The Big Issue paper for homeless people, which began as a The Body Shop Foundation project, is launched in 1991.

By 1998 its success saw The Body Shop Foundation part-funding the launch of The Big Issue stateside, in Los Angles. The New Academy of Business is established in 1995, as an initiative by Anita Rowdier. This innovative management degree, addressing social, environmental and moral issues, is run at The University of Bath, in England. In 1993 The Body Shop launches a high profile international campaign to raise awareness of the plight of the Goon people and their leader Ken Sara-Way. They were being persecuted for protesting against Shell and the Nigerian dictatorship over exploitation in their homeland.

The Body Shop At Home, the direct-selling arm, is launched in the UK in 1994, Canada in 1995, Australia in 1997, and USA in 2001. It has now rolled out in 48 states in the USA and is set to grow even bigger. The Body Shop continues to increase its positive environmental practices. In 2001, The Body Shop I-J region and service- centre head offices in Watershed, switch to Cockatrice, providing them with energy from renewable sources. In addition, a number of The Body Shop stores have now converted to green electricity. Campaign successes include the Against Animal Testing campaign.

The campaign leads to a I-J-wide ban on animal testing of cosmetic products and ingredients in November 1998, and the largest ever petition four million signatures) being delivered to the European Commission in 1996. In 1997, The Body Shop is the first international cosmetics company to sign up to the Humane Cosmetics Standard, supported by leading international animal protection groups. In 1995 and 1997 The Body Shop Values Reports are recognized as trailblazing by United Nations Environmental Programmer and SustainAbility, and ranked highest in their review of International Corporate Environmental Reports.

In 1997, The Body Shop celebrates its 21st birthday with the launch of a new flagship store design, winning the prestigious Retail Week Store Design of the Year Award. To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1998, The Body Shop launches a Joint worldwide campaign with Amnesty International to highlight the plight of human rights defenders around the world, encouraging customers to ‘Make Your Mark’ for human rights. This successful campaign saw three million people sign up.

In 1999, The Body Shop creates four new business units in the structure out to the regions. 2001 saw the first The Body Shop customer reward programmer launched in the US. It becomes so popular, it’s now in key markets lovably, known as Love Your Body customer programmer with customers rewarded by 10% off their purchases, free gifts and a birthday present, as well as other members- only benefits. In 2001, Anita launched her website www. Anticipation. Com The Body Shop branches into South Africa in June 2001, via New Clicks Holdings as The Body Shop direct franchisee in South Africa.

New Clicks have a strong commitment to corporate social responsibility through its New Clicks Foundation. During 2002, The Body Shop runs a global campaign with Greenback International on promoting renewable energy, which culminates in the presentation of 1. Million customer signatures at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. We further our commitment to environmental sustainability through investment in renewable energy, funding of energy efficiency projects in the developing world, and incorporating post-consumer recyclable into our packaging.

During 2003 The Body Shop launches a global campaign to raise awareness and funds to help those affected by domestic violence. The Stop Violence In The Home campaign builds on almost a decade of campaigning on the issue in a number of our markets, including Canada, the USA, and West Malaysia. The campaign aims to gaslight the issue, raise money to support the work of groups helping victims of violence, and ensure that customers and employees are provided with information on sources of advice and help.

Anita Rowdier is appointed as a Dame of the British Empire as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honors on Saturday 14th June 2003. During 2003 The Body Shop launches in Estonia and Turkey. In 2004 The Body Shop is the first global retailer to Join the Board of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil, working with Mangos and plantations to protect tropical rainforest’s and improve the human rights of workers and indigenous people. In 2005 The Body Shop Joins The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and is commended by Greenback and the Brainteaser Fund for our responsible chemicals policy.

1. Make some readings about the human person and it’s nature. Then create an essay guided by the following questions: (a) What is the Human Person? (b) What is the nature of the human person; and (c) How does a person attain his highest potential that can create a possitive result towards society?. Your essay must be composed of at least 150 words 2. Utang na Loob and Bahala na are two of the most familiar characteristics of most filipinos. Choose one of these two characteristic and discuss your own opinion about it. 3.

In your own observation, describe the feature of the Filipino Family nowadays. 4. Give what values are being pointed out by the following quotations: a. “treat life with respect and life itself will reveal its beauty to you. ” b. “We can get so involved in what we are doing that we forget why we are doing it. We are so involved in living that we forget the purpose of living. We get so involved in pursuing the things money can buy that we forget the things that money can’t buy. ” c. “Justice is giving every man his due. ” d. Each man may differ in worldly stature, but each one bears the same amount of dignity as another and all share one common destiny. ” e. “There is no truth and no good in lies” f. ” The real heroes among us are those who live their lives daily in genuine concern for the welfare of the others. g. “Let every individual and institution now think and act as a responsible trustee of Earth, seeking choices in ecology, economics and ethics that will provide a sustainable future, eliminate pollution, poverty and violence, awaken the wonder of life and foster peaceful progress in the human adventure. “

Even as the practice of CSR is gradually gaining momentum among companies all across the globe, there is still no single, universally accepted concept regarding what could be the ideal CSR practice that would convince everyone about its importance in raising the company performance. Therefore, CSR practice is yet to shrug off the labels like “tortured” (Godfrey and Hatch, 2007, p. 87) or “fuzzy”(Lantos, 2001, p. 595) concept. On the other hand, the proponents of CSR observe, “the relationship of an organisation’s ethics and social responsibility to its performance concerns both organisational managers and organisation scholars” (Daft 2007, p. 377).

The above state of affairs clearly shows that the difference of opinion stems out of complexity of the term “ethics”, which can be applicable both in favour of CSR and against it, where in the first instance, it can be used in support of the fair treatment to the surrounding ecology in which a company operates, i. e. , in the macro level situations, and on the other hand, it can be used to shield the interest of the investors of the company who expect a fair treatment too, in terms of financial returns.

The issue of employees too can be attached to it, as any money spent on CSR may contain a fragment from their share as well! However, researched evidence suggests that there is a small, but positive relationship between ethical and socially responsible behaviour and the organisation’s financial performance, as Baker (2009) observes that best practice of CSR can be underpinned in the cases where CSR enables companies to manage the business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society and on the other hand becomes an integral part in the process of wealth creation (Baker, 2009).

Therefore, this essay explores the nuances of both CSR and ethical dilemma involved in its proceedings to ascertain if there is any true impact of CSR on company performance and whether it would be best to put CSR before profit-making mindset. 2. 0. Background 2. 1. What is CSR One of the common definitions of CSR is that it is a “concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis” (Prieto-Carron et al. , 2006).

However, definition of CSR has always remained multidimensional. The early attempts of defining CSR were limited into fundamentalism or neo-classicism (Moir, 2001, p. 17), which held the view that corporations’ social responsibilities ends with paying taxes and creating employments (Klonoski, 1991, p. 9). Thus it wanted to exploit legal avenues over and above the greater aspects of CSR.

The views of Friedman (1970, p. 31) would be enough to substantiate the above view, where he said that “… [social] responsibility is to conduct the business in accordance with their [owners or shareholders] desires, which generally will be to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom.. “

Gradually the concept took a new turn with the advent of social corporatism (Drucker, 1973), which can be considered as a step forward from the ghetto of legal explanation of CSR, as Drucker commented that Friedman’s approach is untenable and that the corporations need to concern themselves with society and for that matter they should stretch themselves beyond the legal umbrella to perform social duties (p. 349). In all, social corporatism wanted to redefine CSR as a business strategy with potential to adjust the companies with the dynamism of the environment (WBCSD, 2002, p. 2).

On the other hand, Social Institutionalism (Klonoski, 1991, p. 12) observed that corporations are social institutions with associated social responsibilities, while operating from the philosophical background created by Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, or Kant, who provided a rationale for relationships between persons, society and its members, as well as between society and institutions (Gauthier, 1977, p. 135; Moir, 2001, p. 19). Since social contract is not bound by law and yet potent enough to influence humans about the desired mechanism of value system, this may be underpinned as one of the catalysts that propelled CSR into further prominence in modern times.

Moralism is another such catalyst (Klonoski, 1991, p. 10), which brought forth the issue of accountability of the companies regarding their actions and its impacts on the society, where the companies would be treated as a natural person. This approach has gained ground even in modern times through the works like Palazzo and Scherer (2006), who suggested adopting moral legitimacy as the foundation of CSR (p. 71). Yet the world of researchers is divided with varied opinions.

For Mintzberg (1983), CSR can be seen from four perspectives, one, in a purist form where CSR would be practiced for its own sake, two, when it would be practiced with the belief of a return in any form, three, when CSR would be treated as an investment and four, when CSR would be practiced to avoid external influences. However, Minzberg voted for the purist form of CSR. In all, it can be seen that the issue of ethics is embedded with CSR, and thus it would be pertinent to explore CSR from ethical perspective. Ethics

Going by the lexicon, ethics refer to the principles of right and wrong that are accepted by an individual or a social group, or to a system of principles that govern morality and acceptable conduct. However, the elements like right, wrong and morality can always carry more than one explanation and thus, can produce conflicting situation. For example, it would be ethical for the companies to safeguard the interest of their shareholders, and at the same time it would be ethical for the companies to respond to the social responsibility.

Now if the companies choose to meet the first responsibility in purist form, it cannot meet the second responsibility, as in the purist form, the companies are responsible to provide maximum return for the money invested by the shareholders and thus have no right to spend any money provided for business or earned from business in any activity other than developing the business. This is what ethical dilemma is all about, and thus it is not only ethics, but also ethical dilemma that is embedded with CSR practice. Ethical Dilemmas

An ethical dilemma arises in situations where humans find it difficult to take one decisions out of the options, because all probable decisions carry elements like morality, obligation, duty or responsibility. For example, a worker might come to know about a certain act of her colleague that could be harmful for company, and might feel the ethical urge to inform the authorities about that, but at the same time the worker might be pulled back by another ethical call that reminds her about her duty as a friend – where she is expected to save her colleague from losing her job!

Much like the personal ethical dilemmas, companies too can suffer from indecision, for example, a company can be caught in the middle of deciding whether to go for business ethics or to go for ethical business – where in the first case it requires to maintain the ethical norms under legal framework, and in the second case it requires to put the universal ethical norms before business gains. While the first one would allow the company to do business, the second one would expand its horizon on greater ethical perspective, but that may cost a slice of its business.

It is for this reason some opine that corporate responsibility is the expression of the values of business both within core business strategies and as a set of commitments and obligations made to its stakeholders (IBE, 2009). In all, ethical dilemma for a company can boil down to situations like companies cannot do XYZ to fulfil their promise to the stakeholders, and yet they ought to do XYZ to fulfil their obligation to the society and environment (Klempner, 2009). Which way to go? Theorists and researchers provided several answers to such dilemmas, though none fixing the issue for once and all.

Lantos (2001) saw three divisions in CSR practice, like ethical CSR, altruistic CSR and Strategic CSR, where the first one refers to the moral responsibility to prevent any harmful outcome from business practice, second one refers to a CSR practice with wholehearted care and concern for the society even at the expense of organizational sacrifice, and the third one refers to a kind of CSR practice that ultimately aims to accomplish strategic business goals. Lantos, however, took a leaf from Caroll’s (1979) model as presented below: Caroll’s CSR Pyramid

The same elements have been represented through concentric circles or intersecting circles, though none clearly advocating on whether CSR should be put ahead of Profit or vice versa. CSR or Profit: Which Should be Top Priority? While “shareholder accountability” is still a haunting issue to many companies, there are ample evidences of gains through successful practice of CSR, where the companies put ethics and social responsibilities ahead of profit making and yet profit making surpassed their expectations, as it emerged as if a byproduct of CSR practices.

On the other hand, there are instances of bad CSR practice too – which served clear hint about the possibility of losing business to a great extent. The above state of affairs thus prompts this essay to advocate in favour of putting ethics and social responsibility ahead of profit making, followed by its own justification. Best Practice of CSR: Altruistic Pattern Firstly, one look at the toppers’ list in CSR practice would provide a fair hint that CSR practice only added to their success.

CSR Quest (2009) has provided a list of CSR International Business Leaders as on 2004, where the rated the following seven companies as the leaders: 1. Aviva, the world’s seventh-largest insurance group and the biggest in the UK; 2. BP, the leader in oil, gas and renewable energy resources; 3. Carrefour, the second largest company in food retailing; 4. Credit Suisse, a leading global financial services company; 5. Intel, the largest chip maker and producer of computer and communication products; The brief description of the all the five companies clearly point at their success, and all of them are big companies.

It would be pertinent to review the policies adopted by Aviva, the topper of the list, and which is a company with 30 million customers, 56,000 employees, ? 240 billion assets under management, and ? 30 billion premium income and investment sales from continuing operators (Corporate, 2004). Aviva provided clear mission statements for areas that are intimately related to social responsibility, such as environment, community, workforce, health and safety, customers, human rights, suppliers and standards of business conduct.

In its report (Corporate, 2004) it stressed on the fact that “Aviva board has a clear view of the importance of CSR to the success of business” (p. 3), and aired their observation that they are “closer to their ambition of having CSR as simply the way they do things around here” (p. 4), while declaring, “we describe CSR as our corporate DNA, since that describes how we do things round here” (p. 6). This shows that AVIVA adopted an altruistic approach in practicing CSR and yet doing top business.

Aviva Group has extended their support to community development across the globe and during 2004 it donated ? 4. 6 million to various worldwide community initiatives like youth education and development, crime prevention, etc. Apart from that it also achieved notable success in preserving the environment. According to its report, it was able to reduce 22. 3% CO2 emissions, increased the use of renewable-sourced electricity; reduced paper usage by 33%, increased waste-recycling and reduced 20% in total business mileage.

Not only that, it partnered WWF and Amnesty International to promote and manage a host of projects. There are scores of other instances too, where the companies have risen over the ethical dilemma and are geared for future success. For example, Unilever, the largest tea company of the world has already taken the decision to purchase all of its tea from sustainable, ethical sources and accordingly it has involved the international environmental NGO, Rainforest Alliance, to begin the process by certifying tea farms in Africa.

Accordingly, Lipton, the best-selling tea in the world and PG Tips, UK’s largest selling brand will be the first brands that would contain certified tea. Unilever has also declared its plans to sell certified Lipton Yellow Label and PG Tips tea bags in Western Europe by 2010 and certified Lipton tea bags globally by 2015. This is an ample example of how the companies can respond to corporate social responsibility and yet maintain their positions. However, someone may argue that bigger companies like Unilever can afford to take such steps, which the smaller companies cannot afford.

Yet, such argument can be countered by the question that the companies too are created by humans and thus the sole aim of any company should be to serve the humans and not to harm them in any way (Unilever, 2007). Another such instance can be found in the actions of MUCOS Pharma CZ, Ltd. , a company from Czech Republic, which even operating under unsettled market condition vowed to the chosen task of transforming their society by introducing a new treatment method, though at the same time realizing that uncertain and non-profit projects cannot be the solution to achieve their aim.

Amid this state of affairs, they first convinced their shareholders about their long-term plan and risked a huge fund in training, mass media campaign about their intention. In the end MUCOS Pharma products amount to 1 per cent of all Czech exports to Russia (CSR Europe, 2007). On the other hand, strategic CSR can be a boomerang, and a handy instance of the same can be found in the case of Taj Group of Hotels. Worst Practice of CSR: Strategic Pattern

The account of Mangalassery (2009) involves the fishing community of Kovalam fishing village of India and Taj Group of hotels, owned by Tata group. It started 30 years ago, when Tata established Fishermen’s Cove Beach Resort at around Kovalam village by taking two acres of land on lease and taking over another seven acres from the village land through an oral agreement of providing basic services to the village community like drinking water of two tanks a day, children’s education and rice during rainy season, besides paying them fees to take hotel guests on boat cruises.

But that oral agreement abruptly ended right after the tsunami struck in the area in 2006, and soon the community and the hotel officials embroiled into conflicts, as the village people wanted back a portion of land and the group denied, though the group assured the villagers at the time of acquisition that they would return the land if the villagers needed it for housing or education institutions. The conflict involving Taj Hotel Group ran for three years before the two parties signed an agreement with government as its mediator, who coaxed the villagers to forego the seven acres in lieu of the three acres of land from the government.

However, that too has not been realized yet, while the group has started construction on the disputed land, allegedly violating the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification Act. It takes a continuous effort to establish the impression of a company through its deeds, and instances of Aviva and Taj Hotel Group corroborate that from both ends, where Aviva would continue to enjoy the positive impact of their good deeds, and Taj Hotel Group would continue to suffer from its bad image of corporate citizen.

Accordingly, one cannot ignore the implication of CSR in the businesses of the companies mentioned above, and from that perspective, Taj Hotel Group is definitely not in comfortable position. The Trend Too Favours CSR Practice over Profit Culture According to Welford (2005) the trend is that the companies seem to respond to what is important in their own country and reflect the challenges. Singapore (with an economy based on trade) has put up much more stress on the external aspects of CSR than internal ones, while Norway and Canada, with their own significant indigenous population, have the highest incidence of local policies.

Hong Kong corporations may not have heaps of written policies like their European counterparts but they too are not lagging behind the British or other developed countries in the sphere of CSR. The earlier notion that the degree of CSR practice increases with the degree of development in a country is now proved wrong, as the Asian countries too are coming up with evidence of quality CSR practice, such as Japan or Korea (Welford, 2005). Welford’s (2005) survey also highlights the Global leaders of CSR practice where UK, Germany, Canada, or USA share the limelight.

Interesting angles are provided by Business Ethics magazine (Business, 2009), which found USA’s CSR practice stemming out of philanthropic perspective, where even big companies are spending portions of profit in CSR practice in a “zero return” policy. European companies, according to Baker (2009), is more focused on operating their core businesses in a socially responsible way, complemented by investment in communities for solid business case reasons.

A 2002 survey of more than 1,000 Indian companies (India, 2002) showed increased state of CSR practice in India. Therefore, the global trend of CSR looks very encouraging, especially with the increasing instances of Asian countries responding to this cause. Scopes to Mix CSR and Business Companies can be the great social problem solver in any society, and if their mission gets integrated with CSR goals, then such endeavours get high momentum.

Such is the state in the energy sector, where multinational companies or even countries have found a new meaning of corporate social responsibility as they are searching for alternatives to fossil fuels. For example New Energy Movement (2008) is already working in the field of emerging technologies that can produce the gadgets that would have ability to access the primary sources of energy from cosmos and thereby building sustainable future of earth (New, 2008).

There are other energy-related works are going on too, like Vattenfall’s (2008) aim to reduce CO2 emissions per generated energy unit in own operations by 50% by 2030. Alongside it has planned to meet the rising European demand for energy with low emissions. Apart from that, they have already invested in wind power and plans to introduce Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology, which is estimated to make up approximately 16% of total generation and would highly contribute to lower CO2 emissions per KWh.

They are also probing the ocean energy including wave and tidal power, bioenergy and natural gas. These ventures, therefore are gearing up to open new horizons of corporate social responsibility. British Energy Group (2008), the largest electricity provider in UK too is working hard on lowering the carbon emission and it has already succeeded in avoiding emissions of around 35 million tones of CO2 according to its CSR report of 2008, where it also claims as the largest producers of low carbon electricity in the UK.

NEC Corporation (NEC, 2008), a leading provider of information and communication technology in Singapore, has sponsored the “Henderson Secondary School’s Energy Efficiency Project” under their CSR programme, through which they aim to utilize wind power to generate electricity. Mitsubishi Corporation has opened The New Energy ; Environment Business Division in 2007, which is developing new energy business models that would help to solve global warming and recycling of water and other resources.

It has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Al Fateh University, to carry out a programme to stimulate applied field study of new energy (JCN, 2009). Hitachi, the refrigeration giant, has come up with power-saving IT equipments, besides introducing highly efficient air conditioners and electrical equipment that would run with less electricity (Using, 2008). US too is emphasizing on more usage of renewable energy, where both corporations and individuals are purchasing renewable energy from local vendors (PR. , 2005).

Japan Energy (Promoting, 2008) is contributing to energy conservation and reduction in CO2 emissions from air-conditioning in large buildings by collaborating with Shimizu Corporation. The above endeavours clearly show that corporations can highly contribute to the society if they aim to search, identify and solve those social problems with which they too are closely associated, and in the process may hit goldmine of profit. 5. 0. Conclusion While the best and worst practice of CSR showed that the quality CSR practice is not only earning name and faith on the company but also that faith is eventually getting translated into good business.

This is the real-life situation, far from the smoke of theories. The above discussion also showed that companies worldwide too are favouring this strategy of putting ethics and CSR above the traditional thrust on business, and eventually garnering more profit. This new prospect of doing business by being a social player first has surely encouraged the companies, as more and more companies are coming out of the shell of ethical dilemma and aligning their mindset with the need of this earth and its subjects.

The instances of unique ventures viewed above surely carry refreshing news for the world that the companies have started aligning their business aims with the positive factors of living. Yet all said and done, this essay finds that there is a hidden key in this process too, which is the ability of the companies to look outside the box with an intrinsic desire to serve the society and ultimately finding unique avenues of business where there would be no age-old traditional conflict between shareholders’ claim and responsibility to the society.

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In general, every firm is confronted with some basic issues such as. ; – in which markets to operate what products to offer and – how to distribute these products The “standard way” united Cereal used to enter the European market consisted of three main steps, namely acquisitions of companies in deferent European countries (1), introduction of products from the United Cereal US product line (2) and promoting organic growth through the adoption of these products to local market conditions by a respective country manager In charge (3).

The advantages of establishing national subsidiaries by acquiring laid primarily In an effective and fast way of gaining market share in a particular market. Thus, in 2009 the market share of US in Europe amounted to 20%, only 6% below the market share of its main competitor Kellogg. Considerable benefits could also be achieved due to local expertise and reputation of the established companies in respective countries in terms of marketing focus, local tastes, targets, competitors, brand loyalty as well as legal framework.

Other advantages were realized from already existing distribution networks, providing access to local logistics companies as well as cooperation with local retailers and wholesalers. However, there also were certain risks concerning the suitability of the distribution partner to the Introduced products as the exploitation of particular sales channels varied considerably across countries (e. G. Germany with 80% vs.. Italy with 17% as mentioned above).

Further rolls/dilettantes of this strategy (although not stated in the text explicitly) might be associated with the integration and implementation costs, caused by adoption of the foreign business to the united Cereals business and its values concerning the “US Way”. The next step of he United Cereals’ standard way was the introduction of products from the existing product line, which comprised more than 100 brands. Thus, the company profited from the possibility to launch its successful US brands also in the European market.

This strategy was enforced especially by high demand for US products which were very much in vogue at that time, especially in ass and ass. Furthermore, as there was no need In developing a completely new product line this fast and cheap access Into local competition enabled united Cereals to achieve a solid organic growth. However, due to differences across European markets there still were costs, associated with customization of products and adjustment of manufacturing processes when US brands did not correspond to the local market tastes.

Introduction of US line in each decisions and determining, which products from United Cereals could succeed and make profit in that country. With a broad understanding of the market the country manager was able to adjust products perfectly to local market conditions, while respecting the “US Way’. Such country level approach coupled with high susceptibility and flexibility led to a very high motivation of country managers as well as profit minimization in most national markets. However, over time inconsistency in positioning the products, e. . Positioning a product as high-end in Germany, but as a low-end in I-J, became a matter of concern. Redundancies due to individual marketing campaigns in separate countries for different products led to expenses 25% higher than in the U. S. Operations. Especially, in the light of a global recession in 2008-09 and more competitive markets, forcing market participants to provide lower- ricer products cost reductions and cost efficiency, became a major focus of United Cereals.

Further risks were associated with country managers, preferring product extensions rather than new product introductions in order to reduce costs and maintain profits in their country. Reasons for this behavior were above all lack of resources and too high costs of launching and developing new products. Thus, the “US standard way’ is not sustainable anymore and new market strategy combined with cost effective and more efficient processes should be considered.