Portfolio for Managing Business Responsibly - Assignment Example

PORTFOLIO FOR MANAGING BUSINESS RESPONSIBLY College Portfolio for Managing Business Responsibly Question Cultural difference is one of the issues that may result to personality clashes within the social realms. As Burr (2003) states, cultural relativism influences the way people socialize and the manner in which they relate to one another. Therefore, the ability to understand people’s cultural backgrounds is important to understand the way they behave and the way we can improve our relationship with one another. For instance, friends who have lived for long may fall out and their cultural backgrounds may inhibit their ability to community and resolve their personal issues. This makes its more complex to sustain their social relationships. Recently, I had to watch two of my friends, male and female of medium age, argue after they had failed to agree on the way they should organize their group meetings. They failed to agree on the day they could meet to handle their assignments. Since each member proposed a day of their own when they would be free, they failed to reach a concession since every one of them wanted their decision be taken into consideration. At the end, they started shouting at one another and this resulted to a serious argument that I had to intervene. My boyfriend felt that the lady should submit to his suggestion while the lady felt that the boy was exercising male chauvinism and this was against the principle of equality which she upheld. On intervention, I advised them to calm down and avoid the row that was now attracting a larger crowd. I felt that it was not a good idea for each person to pursue personal interests as this was would be a selfish behaviour that may affect the process of socialization. Evaluating the idea of cultural influence in the social realms as expressed by many scholars, personality crashes arise due to the cultural social behaviour that people acquire in their traditional lifestyle (Melé & Sánchez-Runde, 2013: Li, 2007). While the two friends may have given selfish propositions, their ideas may be in a way regarded as correct. They followed the decision making process that they feel is most suitable. While my male friend seems to have been brought up in a society where the males make decisions, the lady seems to have been brought up in a culture where females are empowered and they have the same rights to make decisions. Therefore, this kind of crash was a result of their cultural understandings. However, it would be important for them to learn to listen to each other so as to sustain their social relationship. They should solve their problems more easily by agreeing that they are equal members who should make decisions that are fair to all of them. Question 2 A breaching experiment refers to an action that is correct yet does may not be in line with the norm that is generally accepted by the society (Rafalovich, 2006). Since the society has a particular way of doing certain things, doing it in a different way, which may not be wrong, is likely to attract attention in the public. In the sociological realms, scholars have identified that breaking the norm may have great consequences whether in the society or even in an organization demanding attention from people who may not be directly involved in the particular experiments. This kind of behaviour has become more common and the managers are advised to induce organizational change by breaking the norms and attracting affirmative change in behaviour in the work environment. One of my friends attracted a great attention from the public after behaving in a way that people feel is abnormal. Normally, people are used to the belief that it is only normal to greet those people that you know and avoid those that you do not know especially when you meet them on their way (Chandler& Munday, 2011). Those people who break this norm are treated as suspects and many people may even fear to respond to their greetings. One of my friends, a young man aged 20 years decided to break the norm by greeting any person that came on their way in a very warm manner. This kind of behaviour attracted the attention of many people who observed his behaviour. Those who he greeted responded in a different ways; while some acted friend, other did responded suspiciously while others did not respond at all. By the end of the day, my friend made a few friends out of breaking the social norm in the society. The breaching experiment has found a wide application in the organizational development strategies (Braswell, 2014). In this environment, the management is tasked with the idea of behaving out of the norm to stimulate change in the organization. For instance, a manager from Wal-Mart Company who decides to work at the customer service desk may be regarded as doing something out of the norms (PR, 2013). Many employees may question the reason why such a senior person may take such a position, something that is beyond the normal. However, it is not a wrong action, however abnormal it may be. This may serve as the best way to lead by example within an organization. The manager may take advantage of such an abnormal behaviour to show the employees how to handle their customers more efficiently and attract them into the business. Question 5 The concept of experiential sharing helps people to learn from the friend and to avoid falling into the same mistakes that others may have committed. Jabri (2012) recommends that people share their experiences to shape their own organizational behaviour. While there is always a negative perspective of every mistake, the positive side lies in learning from mistakes and trying to win in other similar situations. In the organizational environment, experience is crucial for every person as it becomes the basis of their professional development. Learning from personal mistakes helps one to avoid failure in the future and also to helps others in avoiding similar problems. In my own experience I have learnt that the problem does not lie in making a mistake but in learning from every mistake that one makes. Last year I committed a mistake that saw my opportunity to become a business marketer jeopardized. During my holiday, I was fortunate to secure the position of a paid intern in a hospitality organization. I was given the position of a part time marketer in the Perma Food services company. This was one of my passionate positions as I have always dreamt of working for a hospitality company as full time marketer. Since this was part of my passion, a promotion to a permanent position would have been an ideal opportunity for me. My supervisor was pleased with my work and had promised to recommend me for a promotion any time that the promotion officers would visit. Unfortunately, at the time of their visit, I had absent at work at a visit that my mother had organized to take us for a holiday at the city. When I came, this opportunity had been awarded to a friend of mine, and I lost the opportunity which would have seen me permanent in the organization and I would have fulfilled my career dream before completing my school. While this situation was painful, I had to let it go and accept the matter that as it was. While the opportunity to fail to attend the visit and remain at work, I decided to enjoy the ride which resulted into me missing the golden opportunity. The lesson I learnt here is the value of making sacrifices at work (Mousavi Davoudi, 2012). I would advise any other person that sacrifice in an organization always pays. In the contemporary business environment, promotion is offered on the basis of sacrifice and handwork. On this note, it is important for every employee to put extra handwork to guarantee their secure position. If I had made the sacrifice of working on that day, I would have had an opportunity of working in one of the best companies and in a permanent position. Question 7 From my point of view, Annita Roddick’s idea that corporate social responsibility is one of the optimal ways of attracting income in an organization is agreeable. Many scholars have arrived into a concession that corporate social responsibility is critical part of the customer-based approach of business marketing. Corporate social responsibility is one way in which an organization seeks to satisfy the welfare of the employees, the consumers, the government, the environment and the any other stakeholders of the business. While many companies feel that corporate social responsibility imposes great cost for the organization, it is clear that it is one way of winning customer loyalty and attracting more buyers in an organization (Homburg et al., 2013). Customers are more attracted to organizations that place value on them and ones that are friendly to their stakeholders. Wal-Mart is one of the companies that have utilized an effective corporate social responsibility to build its reputation. The company has for long now marketed its products by alluring to the slogan of “natural products” as the trend to modern eating habits. The company has attracted many customers by selling food products that are natural and that have been grown through organic farming methods. One of the reasons of the company to use this approach is to encourage healthy eating habits in the community (Eberle, Berens & Li, 2013). Healthy eating habits require that people eat natural food and avoid chemicals that can harm their bodies. Since the world is changing and people are shifting from unhealthy feeding habits to healthy eating behaviours, it is becoming more popular for people to embrace this company and its social corporate behaviour. As result, Wal-Mart has become a strong global marketer that has remained competitive in the supply of food products in the global market. Corporate social responsibility in organization creates a good reputation for a company within the public and attracts more buyers. This approach is linked with customer based marketing strategies that seek to market products that satisfy the needs of the target customers. Corporate social responsibility helps to build the organizational image, which is an essential part of business development. Providing natural products builds Wal-Mart’s corporate image in two ways. First, it complies with the government regulations that require that all organizations adhere to more environmental friendly business operations (Mihalache, 2013). As such, using natural products makes the company avoid any legal challenges that is likely to spoil the reputation in the organization. Secondly, it meets the health needs of the society and avoids any criticism from the public. As such the company enjoys loyalty from customers and this ensures that the company survives even during periods of harsh market competition. Question 8 In my own judgement, Primark is one of companies that have shown organizational responsibility in the world. A responsible organization is one that takes care of the stakeholders of its business and any other person within the environment that the organization operates (Blanco et al., 2013). Primark is a multinational company that operates in different states with varying traditional, cultural and religious and traditional behaviours. As such, the success of the company depends on the ability of the management to remain responsible in handling its internal as well as the external business environment. The organization lays an emphasis on corporate social responsibility by developing values and principles that treat all stakeholders with due dignity. One of the ways that the organization has manifested responsible behaviour is by creating a conducive work environment for all the employees through a strong diversity management strategy (Gadeikiene & Banyte, 2013). The company has avoided all forms of discrimination irrespective of the colour, the gender, the culture or even language. For instance, in Baghdad the company has empowered women by starting the HERproject that has seen 50% of the workers in the company being women (Primark, 2013). This ensures that every person has an opportunity to work with the company and to develop irrespective of their diverse characteristics (Yates-Smith, 2013). The company has a clear promotion criterion that provides each employee with an opportunity to grow along the organization and to increase their income. The salary wages in this company are fare and all employees are satisfied. In this company, employee complaints are attended promptly to ensure that they remain satisfied and can work efficiently. The ability of the company to develop harmony within the work environment can be attributed to its social responsibility to take care of the employee welfare in the organization. The success of this organization can be attributed to the company’s responsibility and its attendance to employee needs. Lastly, the organization has manifested its value for responsible organizational behaviour by taking care of the environment. The company has many food manufacturing plants that are a potential cause of environmental pollution. To curb this, Primark has focussed on the use of less carbon fuels within the plants to reduce negative environmental impacts that could be caused by carbon compounds (Primark, 2013). The company also strives to comply with the environmental laws that require that all the companies provide hygienic working environments within work place. Apart from satisfying this condition, the company teaches women in countries such as Bangladesh how to remain hygienic, in a country where poor sanitation has resulted to the death of many people. The success of Primark can be attributed to its ability to appeal to a decent corporate social responsibility. Bibliography Blanco, B, Guillamón-Saorín, E, & Guiral, A 2013, Do Non-socially Responsible Companies Achieve Legitimacy Through Socially Responsible Actions? The Mediating Effect of Innovation, Journal Of Business Ethics, 117, 1, pp. 67-83, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 2 April 2014. Braswell, M 2014, Once More unto the Breaching Experiment: Reconsidering a Popular Pedagogical Tool, Teaching Sociology, 42, 2, p. 161, Supplemental Index, EBSCOhost, viewed 2 April 2014. Burr, V. (2003). 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