Organisational Behaviour (Corporate Social Responsibility and National Culture) - Essay Example

Breadtalk, is a company that was established in 2000 and deals with designing confectionery store, and is known for its delicious cream filed buns. It owns some of the best performing food courts and restaurants in 13 different countries, including Singapore, Indonesia, China, Kuwait, Oman, the Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong, India, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, and Bahrain. Moreover, the company owns more than 240 stores across the globe. Although the company operates in different culture, the adequate understanding of the issues that arise from cultural differences has enabled BreadTalk expand rapidly in different countries.

This essay focuses on what corporate social responsibility is and how it could influence the organizational behavior of BreadTalk. Moreover, the essay will explain why an understanding of cultural differences is important to the business at BreadTalk, and include a brief description of the Australian company where BreadTalk is planning to expand. In the contemporary world, companies have to operate in a competitive market characterized by changing consumer preferences. Therefore, it has become inevitable for companies willing to succeed to make strategic decisions such as undertaking to contribute to some activities in the society (Love, 2008).

BreadTalk is one company that has benefitted from its engagement in corporate social responsibility. In china, BreadTalk is recognized for its role in assisting the victims of the Sichuan earthquake on 12th may 2008. BreadTalk designed Panda Bear shaped buns symbolic of the horror associated with the 7.8 magnitude earthquake. All proceeds obtained from the sale of Peace Panda buns were given to aid the different bodies dealing with the earthquake. The activity enhanced the reputation of BreadTalk and resulted in increased media coverage.

This activity demonstrated the innovativeness of BreadTalk since it made use of their own products in raising funds, which also boosted sale of other products other than “Peace Panda” (Wood 2010). Different countries are characterized by different cultures, which affect certain aspects of business such as customer preference. Multinational companies are at times faced by conflict most of which are related to cultural differences that characterize the different countries. BreadTalk is a multinational company but has managed to gain wide acceptance in the regions where it has expanded its operations.

Different cultures are characterized by different cultural values and ethics, which often affect the moral judgments of individuals (Tay 2010; Wood 2010). Having operated in different countries, especially in the Asian continent, BreadTalk management has sound understanding of the influence of culture on performance. Understanding the cultural differences that characterize different nations is important to the Business Managers at ‘Breadtalk since the company operates in a multicultural setup characterized by varying customer preference.

Moreover, the company the company deals with offering food products. Most cultures are characterized by varying eating habits hence varying preference (Hart & Rosenbergerg 2004; Jones, Comfort, & Hillier 2007). An understanding of the Australian culture is important to the Business Managers at ‘Breadtalk and will enable them to decide if they should expand to