BUS101: Introduction to Business - Free Samples to Students

Introduction:

With the rapid development of business environment, strengthening the public image of a company has become the key factor. With the assistance of strong public image, the organization can sustain in the extremely volatile market. Therefore, the need of running business in a socially responsible manner is increasing in a drastic manner. Schwartz (2017) commented that this is the key of strengthening the economic viability of a company, which is very much needed in order to attain financial stability. Ensuring long term sustainability is also a great outcome of running business in a socially responsible manner. Present essay will put forth the discussion of the ways, through which the companies can run business in socially responsible manner. this essay will highlight the article of Park & Ghauri (2015) in order to explore the way, through which the companies can get something to the society. Theoretical frameworks of running business socially responsible manner. The paper will also cover the benefits, which a company will more likely to get by acting in a socially responsible way.   

Generating attention among the local people is one of the most significant factors n strengthening its public image. Generating employment opportunity for the local people is the greatest reward, which a company can offer to the society. As overseas business is the emerging trend in the market, this cannot offer any kind of benefit to the society. According to the article, the organizations must be committed towards designing the recruitment and selection program in such a manner, which can help in recruiting the local staffs.   

Analysis and discussion:

The need of running business in a socially responsible manner is increasing in a rapid manner. This is the key of strengthening the public image of a company, which is very much needed in order to cope up with the intense competitive market. There lies the significance of corporate social responsibility (CSR), which can be referred as the actions, which the companies can take in order to promote social well-being. According to the discussion of Weber & Wasieleski (2018) it can be said that this is one of the major business philosophy, which intends to implement self-regulatory mechanism, in terms of monitoring the ethical standard followed by a company. In the contemporary business scenario, it has become the matter of utmost importance for the business professionals to undertake strong action with the intention of protecting the well-being of the society.

CSR can be regarded as an effective managerial strategies, which are being implemented by multiple companies in order to generate a positive impact on the society. This is the mode, through which the organization show intense commitment of running business in a socially responsible manner. This is the way, through which the companies can also put their effort towards promoting the economic development of the society and also improving the quality of workforce. Saeidi et al., (2018) observed that CSR plays a very significant role in integrating both social and environmental as well as economical consideration in the decision making process, which is the key of promoting social well-being. Therefore, it is the prime responsibility of the managers of corporate entities to explore innovative ways for solving any impending issues such as any kind of environmental challenges. The companies must show interest towards maintaining healthy communication with that of the stakeholders, which can help them to handle potential risks in a collaborative manner.

It is the ethical responsibility of every company to comply with relevant rules and regulations in terms of in order to act in a socially responsible manner. One of the greatest advantages of CSR is that, it offers the corporate entities with the opportunity to lower the negative impact of business from the society, which is highly required to be differentiated from the crucial competitors. Running business in a socially responsible manner paves the way for the companies to build their reputation and thereby lead the customers be inclined with the brand.

Park & Ghauri (2015) opined that as the rate of unemployment is rapidly increasing, it is imperative for the companies to employ more number of local people. This is one of the most significant mode of running business in a socially responsible manner. This can have a firm impact on generating trust among the local community. Building strong trust in the community is the crucial factor in running business in an ethical manner. Conmtrarily, As discussed by Jamali & Karam (2018) suggested that implementation of strong and proactive environmental policy is also a greatest way of acting in a socially responsible manner. Effective corporate social responsibility can act as a competitive advantage for the firms, by serving them with enormous opportunities. It is the prime responsibility of the companies to run the business in an ethical manner.

Epstein (2018) stated that healthy communication with the stakeholders plays a significant role in running the activities of CSR with utmost proficiency. According to the Stakeholder Theory, it is important it is the ethical obligation of the business professionals to perceive the individuals and `community, who are more likely to be influenced by the internal functionality of the business. Local community, in which a company is running their business is one of its major external stakeholders. Therefore, it is important to protect the health and well-being of the community, which is highly required to generate interest. Strong compliance with rules and regulations can serve the companies with the capability of reduce the negative impact of business from the society.

On the contrary Brueckner, Spencer & Paull (2018) argued by saying that economic improvement is the greatest outcome of corporate social responsibility. According to the Triple Bottom Line Approach, economic, social and environmental sustainability are the factors in running business in ethical manner. The companies must take care towards developing comprehensive business plan by integrating sustainable action. The companies must make strong investments which is the key of attaining economic stability. Social stability can be defined as the mode of balancing value in between the lives of the people, living in a community. In addition, economic sustainability is referred as the mode of protecting the environment from the harmful effect of business (Dorobantu et al., 2018).  

However, business organizations are rapidly developing their ways of adopting CSR, it should also be kept in mind that few organizations are there who do not follow the basis CSR practices in their operations. Examples of companies proving a failure while following CSR. Some organizations are there which focus on CSR only for the purpose of marketing and achieving a competitive edge on their market competitors (Juš?ius, Šneiderien? & Griauslyt?, 2014). Volkswagen is one such company proving CSR to be a failure in their organization. It shows an absolute failure in terms of adopting CSR in their business practices. It has been found that the company had introduced a stratagem to get an unfair advantage over its customers. It designed an emission control stratagem to appear as an environmentally friendly car producing company, but poisoning the planet underneath (Kim, Kim & Qian, 2018).

The rejection of any standard ethic in its engineering department, the Volkswagen Company has been accused of hiding their defects in products under the cover of CSR activities. Their diesel engines were highly contaminating. They used CSR as a marketing exercise which would construct an image of the company in front of its customers and stakeholders. The company decided that it would not matter if the vehicles it produced contaminated the planet by emitting high amount of nitrogen oxide (forbes.com, 2018). Hence, it is a sheer denial and humiliation of the CSR values, the ethics and the responsibility of each individual towards the planet and the people. The planet and the people must be the priority, the profit must come later in order to enrich the world and humanity.

The Corporate social responsibility is important because it gives the companies room for doing something for the society, environment and the customers in return. The companies can perform CSR activities by observing their environmental responsibilities, philanthropic initiatives such as standing beside the people suffering from a natural disaster at local or international levels. The clean water, educational programs and the women safety programs also come under CSR activities (Lim & Greenwood, 2017). The organizations can also conduct ethical business practices by establishing an employee friendly environment and supporting their well-being. Functioning following the sustainable practices the organizations can strengthen the economic condition of the society. The reputation of the company in front of the customers and the stakeholders also gets elevated by following the CSR practices. The customers really get driven towards that company which encourages strong CSR values and morals in their activities (Jamali, Lund-Thomsen & Jeppesen, 2017).  The employees who are an essential part of the organizations take pride for being a part of a responsible organization and tend to work more passionately and responsibly. It is a perfect way for becoming the ‘common man’s brand’.        

Conclusion:

Based on the discussion, it can be concluded by saying that operating the internal functionality of a company in a socially responsible manner is the most significant factor in strengthening the public image. This is the way, through which competitive advantage can also be acquitted. It is imperative to frame certain policies in order to protect the environment from the harmful effect of business. Employment opportunity must also be created for the local people in order to generate positive perception among them. It is a way through which companies can contribute in some way for the betterment of the community. Following CSR in the organizational operations, companies get a chance to make others smile leaving behind for once the rush to get profited and winning over the market rivals. With the assistance of corporate social responsibility, the organizations can undertake philanthropic initiatives for the sake of promoting environmental, social as well as economic well-being.

Reference List:

Brueckner, M., Spencer, R., & Paull, M. (Eds.). (2018). Disciplining the Undisciplined?: Perspectives from Business, Society and Politics on Responsible Citizenship, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability. Springer.

Dorobantu, S., Aguilera, R. V., Luo, J., & Milliken, F. J. (Eds.). (2018). Sustainability, Stakeholder Governance, and Corporate Social Responsibility. Emerald Group Publishing.

Epstein, M. J. (2018). Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental and economic impacts. Routledge.

forbes.com. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/enriquedans/2015/09/27/volkswagen-and-the-failure-of-corporate-social-responsibility/

Jamali, D., & Karam, C. (2018). Corporate social responsibility in developing countries as an emerging field of study. International Journal of Management Reviews, 20(1), 32-61.

Jamali, D., Lund-Thomsen, P., & Jeppesen, S. (2017). SMEs and CSR in developing countries. Business & Society, 56(1), 11-22.

Juš?ius, V., Šneiderien?, A. & Griauslyt?, J., (2014). Assesment of the benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility reports as one of the marketing tools. Regional Formation and Development Studies, 11(3), pp.88-99.

Kim, K. H., Kim, M., & Qian, C. (2018). Effects of corporate social responsibility on corporate financial performance: A competitive-action perspective. Journal of Management, 44(3), 1097-1118.

Lim, J. S., & Greenwood, C. A. (2017). Communicating corporate social responsibility (CSR): Stakeholder responsiveness and engagement strategy to achieve CSR goals. Public Relations Review, 43(4), 768-776.

Park, B. I., & Ghauri, P. N. (2015). Determinants influencing CSR practices in small and medium sized MNE subsidiaries: A stakeholder perspective. Journal of World Business, 50(1), 192-204.

Saeidi, S. P., Othman, M. S. H., Štreimikien?, D., Saeidi, S. P., Mardani, A., & Stasiulis, N. (2018). The Utilitarian Aspect of the Philosophy of Ecology: The Case of Corporate Social Responsibility. Filosofija. Sociologija, 29(1), 88-117.

Schwartz, M. S. (2017). Corporate social responsibility. Routledge.

Weber, J., & Wasieleski, D. M. (Eds.). (2018). Corporate social responsibility. Emerald Group Publishing.