Different Levels Of Involvement In Social Responsibility Business Essay

A socially responsible business practices are where the corporation adopts and conducts discretionary business practices and investments that support social causes to improve community well-being and protect the environment.

Here are three levels of its involvement:

Social responsibility is the business’s obligation to pursue long term goals that helps the society. It goes beyond legal and economic requirements and view the business as a moral agent.

Social obligation is the business’s obligation to meet its economic and legal responsibilities where it pursues social goals only when they contribute to economic goals.

Social responsiveness is the capacity of the firm to conform to changing societal condition, where it tries to satisfy social needs in line with social norms.

As might be expected, most initiatives related to socially responsible practices relate to altering internal procedures and policies, such as those related to product offerings, facility design, manufacturing, assembly, and employee support.

An initiative can also be reflected in external reporting of consumer and investor information and demonstrated by making provisions for customer access and privacy, and can be taken into consideration when making decisions regarding hiring practices and facility and plant location, common activities include the following:

Designing facilities, developing process improvement, select supplier, provide full disclosure,

Developing programs to support employees well-being, measuring, tracking and reporting, providing increased access for disabled populations, projecting privacy of consumer information,…Kotler.F&Lee.N (2005).

Figure1: corporate social responsibility process.

3.2 The stages progression of an organization’s social responsibilities

-Promote stockholders interest by looking forward to minimize cost and maximize profit.

-Following all laws and regulations and feeling obligation to satisfy other societal needs.

-Managers to agree their responsibility to employees and focus on human resource affair and improving condition, to expand responsibilities to other stockholders include faire prices, good quality of product and services, safe product, and good supplier relationship.

-Finally managers to feel responsibility to whole society by trying to advance the public good, preserving the environment, promoting social justice, and then support social and cultural activities.

3.3 characteristics of the social responsibility.

The social responsibility major consideration is ethical.

It focuses on ends.

It emphasis is obligations. and

Make it decision framework a long term.

3.4 The Greening of Management.

The greening of management is the identification of the nearly link between an organization’s decisions and activity and its collision on the natural environment, it’s resulted from highly visible ecological and environmental disaster.

The organization go green once it shades of green shows the different approaches that an organization may take in which:

Legal approach: it follows the legal obligations.

Market approach: organization behave to the customer’s environmental preference.

Stakeholders approach: organizations chooses to respond to multiples demand made by stakeholders.

Activist approach: looks for ways to respect and preserve the earth and its natural resources. Terry.J

4.0 Ethics.

Ethics is concerned with the study of morality and standards of conduct of reason to clarify specific rules and principles that determine right and wrong for a situation. It can be a code that you follow and live by.

4.1 ethical Leadership.

The ethical leadership is the direction and example presented by senior management in terms of what is considered to be acceptable practice within an organization must inform and shape the behaviour of others.

It is a leader’s role to define the vision and core values of an organization. Fisher.C&Lovell.A(2009)

Focus on the personal qualities, attitudes and mind-sets which managers need to learn and which will in turn drive improvement in business performance.

Should become embedded into the education, training and development of managers and staff, and are tool for assessing performance in all business functions. Ibid

Figure2: Factors that affect ethical behaviour.

4.2 Ethics Management.

The business ethics management is the direct attempt to formally or informally manage ethical issues or problems through specific policies, practices and programmes.

There are numerous management activities that could be regarded as aspects of business management, Some of which:

Mission or values statement.

Codes of ethics.

Reporting/advice channels.

Risk analysis and management.

Ethics managers, officers and committees.

Ethics consultant.

Ethics education and training.

Auditing, accounting and reporting. Crane.A & Matten.D (2007)

4.3 Morality in Ethics.

Morality is the concerned with the norms, values, and believe enclose in social processes which defines right and wrong for a person or community.

Whereas the key practical direction for ethical behaviour tend to be codified in the negotiated

agree framework of businesses.

Morality is social attitude that distinguish between right and wrong in the human society. Distinguish morality in this way is not making an affirmation about what is objectively right or wrong, but only referring to what is examined right or wrong by people.

4.4 Mission or Values Statements.

Mission or values statements are generate statement of corporate aims, beliefs, values. Such statements frequently include social goals of one kind or another and may often specify a commitment to operate in an ethical fashion.

Example: the british retailer Mark and Spencer aim to be the most trusted retailer, wherever the trade by demonstrating a clear sense of social responsibility and consistency in their decision making and behaviour.

Codes of ethics are explicit outline of what conduct is the desired and expected of employees from an ethical point of view within a certain organization, profession, or industry. Ibid

Figure3: purposes of shared values.

To develop a shared values managers are in charge for shaping the organization so that its norms, ideas, and values appeal strongly to employees.

To create a good corporation of values statement one should:

1.Involve everyone in the company.

2.Allow customizing of the values by individual department.

3.Expect and accept employee resistance.

4.Keep the statement short.

5.Avoid trivial statements.

6.Leaves out religious references.

7.Change it.

8.Live it. A.Farnham(1993)state your values: hold the hot air,fortune,p117-24

5.0 Matalan

Matalan is one of the UK’s leading clothing and home wares retailers offering prepared fashion and home goods at up to half the similar high street price.

5.1 Matalan social responsible and ethics.

As one of the UK’s ten largest retailers of clothing, Matalan takes seriously its responsibility to provide its customers with clothing products that have been produced ethically. Whilst decided on ensuring its position as a provider of high quality excellent value products, this must not be at the dignity or expense of individuals with whom they sources.

As social and ethical compliance is paramount in their partnership with suppliers and is seen as an obligation to be fulfilled on behalf of their customers.

Matalan founded necessary to go beyond a simple customer supplier relationship, and accept the responsibility of improving the working conditions of their supplier workforce in partnership with their suppliers to improve conditions and quality of working life.

To achieve that Matalan have invested a lot in recruiting people with many years experience in the industry who are on hand to work closely with suppliers at all levels of people on improving their quality of working practices and conditions.

5.2 Audit policy in Matalan

Matalan have an ethical audit policy with their full time auditors, they regularly visit locations where their manufacture is import. They have launch over 650 audits in the past three years. These audits are directed in a good spirit of co-operation with management, supervisors and factory floor employees. Additionally they possess independent auditors with local language skills and they have bring more than 85 Audits in the last three years. This powerful activity has resulted in over 1100 positive curing actions being completed during the audit period. Over this past year a number of unexpected factory visits have been made in order to satisfy their own integrity. . http://www.matalan.co.uk

Every article of clothing factory used for Matalan is audited, and must conform to the below:

5.2.1 Government.

Every Factory must at the very least abide by local government laws on:

Basic minimum wage.

Over time.

Minimum working age.

Hours of work.

5.2.2 Social.

All factory owners and Management allow and support:

Freedom Of Association.

Collective Bargaining.

Independent Works Committees.

Working to paying a realistic living Wage.

Complaints procedure. Ibid

Matalan recognizes its responsibility to minimize the promising for causing harm to the environment and struggle to sustain and ameliorate the environment through the careful consideration of design, alternative of materials and operational procedures.

Matalan is achieve to complying with all regulatory and legislative requirements in all aspects of the business and will undertake where practicable to ensure that its contractors and suppliers also comply. The company views this as a minimum basic with awe to environmental issues. ibid

6.0 My suggestion to Matalan.

An ethical policy should be set up to set standards and give guidelines regarding the way advance Promotions should operate in Ethically. It is useful to hold this set of basis values and approaches to the method of running business on a daily basis.

The ethical policies focuses around this key areas:

6.1 Employees.

Promotion values of employees as a key resource, a good employee communication, involvement and responsibility both individual and team could be for central importance.

Giving an equal opportunity to every employee for personal recognition, regardless of personal background or culture belief, and also provide salary without exploitation.

executives must set a best example. honesty and integrity must be first concern,

executives must have an open door policy and welcome suggestions and care from employees. This to allow employees to feel comfortable discussing any issues and will bright executives to concerns within the work force. executives must reveal any conflict of interests regard their position.

6.2 Customer.

Everyone must play a part in providing efficiency and quality to customers. Set Promotions believes that honesty in dealings with customers is necessary for a sustained and successful business relationship. Personal network, helpful and responsive action are aspects of the service to provide to establish long term relations with our customers.

6.3 Supplier.

Promotions should aim to develop relationships with suppliers based on common trust and all dealings should be directed in a professional manner at all times. Also undertake to pay suppliers on time and concur to agreed terms. All supplier relationships should determined against feedback and Quality Counts standards given to suppliers on a time basis.

6.4 Community.

Promotions seek to insure agreement with legislation affecting its operations. Matalan will have to look for how to serve and support the community where it functions by providing services profitably and efficiently, and by giving good employment opportunities and work conditions. They should take into account the concerns of the immense community including national and local interests. In particular, Matalan should accept a chosen local charity and essay to augment money outside of business interests for a good act.

Matalan might occur some problem if this suggestion is adapt such

Resistance of employees to the new norms.

Difficulties of employee and customers in getting used to the new style.

Conflict between employees and managers due to new rules.

Conclusion.

Overall, some basic models of social responsibility have been introduced briefly. Hence, a general idea about social responsibility should be achieved and ethically. Moreover, the benefit of utilising social responsibility successfully is clear so that is strongly recommended that Matalan should achieved at least a basic task of managing its social responsibility in order to lead the organization to success.