The Role Of Social Performance Of Organizations - Assignment Example

The Role Of Social Performance Of Organizations Business can also be referred to as an enterprise or a firm. It is an organization that participates in the buying and selling of goods, services, or both to its customers with an aim of making a profit. A society is a group of individuals with interpersonal relationships or a big social grouping with the same geographical and social territory. Business and society relationship is integral for any business to be successful. This relationship shows how a business interacts with the society to which it is located. Business and society interdependence has and will always be so deep and dynamic. Businesses are important players in the society as they are the main drivers of employment, investment and wealth creation. On the other hand, businesses utilize society’s resources and are involved in activities designed to improve its profits. The decisions businesses make and their actions reverberate in the whole society. It is important for the connection between business and society to be on a strong foundation. A business has to consider the social factors for proper operation and efficient functioning. A successful organization is the one that one that can create a relationship that can last for long time with its customers. How the two relate should be of a mutual benefit i.e. the decisions made by the business and the social policies should be in line with the principle of shared value. A successful business is always brought about by the improvement in the living standard of the people where the organization operates (Ireland, et al. 2008). Apple Company was developed in 1/04/1976 bb Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak who are the co-founders. Apple Inc. is a multinational corporation that was incorporated in January 3, 1997. It designs, manufactures, and sells electronics, software, online services, portable digital music players and laptops. By revenue, it is the second largest information technology in the world after Samsung Electronics, and the third in the world in terms of mobile phone makers. Its main services and products are iPad, iPod, iPhone, Mac, Apple TV, a package of users and professional software application, OSX and iOS operation systems, iCloud, and many other accessories, services and offerings. Apple Inc. is best known for its creative and proprietary software and hardware and has reached many milestones in the world of technology in the recent years. Studies have shown that it is among the most admired organizations in the world and it tops in innovation and management of employees (Linzmayer, O. W 2004). From the time it was established it had a different and unique way of management i.e. it deviated from the traditional corporate structure that was common with organizations at that time. Its operations were based on the idea of information corporate culture within the industry of technology. It was in favor of the flat organizational structure to the tall structure. This replaces the rigid bureaucracy with informal forms of organization. This is best suited for organizations with difficult problems solve and where the innovative culture is sophisticated. The advantage of this type of structure is its effectiveness in empowerment and innovation. It is also easy and quick to implement policies, coordination is also increased. This organization has the disadvantage of difficulty in changing the leadership or the culture of the organization. It may face damaging consequences especially when other components of the strategic structures may not fit together. The major external environmental factors that can affect the success of Apple Inc. are Political Factors and Economic Factors. Other factors are Social and Technological Factors. There are many things that the company has no powers at all to control or have influence to. Examples are; geopolitical uncertainties, terrorism, issuance of working permit, and health policies and issues. All these can affect the sales of Apples products all over the world. In an attempt to reduce the operating cost, Apple has outsourced in many countries like Korea, China, Czech Republic, Ireland, and Cork. If any of this country faces political instability that may lead to the delays in manufacturing operations, will affect the reputation of Apple’s products. It will spoil their likeness in the eyes of consumers and the dealers too. In the economic factors, the purchasing power relies on the conditions on the World’s economy. Unemployment levels have increased in many countries and this has led to the decrease of Apple products in these countries. The increase of oil prices has led to the inflation of the World’s economy. As a result, the purchasing power of the people has greatly reduced and this has negatively affected the sale of Apple’s products because of their high cost. Stakeholder simply means someone with an interest to the business or organization. These are people who can directly contribute to a company’s growth and its success or someone who benefits directly from the business success. The top management tends to use their skills, experience and knowledge of each stakeholder group so as to accomplish the organization’s objectives and long term goals (Phillips, R. 2003). There are many ways through which stakeholders can influence the destiny of business and the society. They can do so through; providing the required resources, taking ownership of necessary deliverables, having knowledge of the business drivers, developing training and support requirements and by giving feedback to the business. Primary stakeholders are those people who are affected or benefiting directly from the operations of a business activity. These activities may be product distribution or even change to a service agreement. The primary stakeholders are employees, customers, stockholders, creditors, suppliers or anyone else with a financial gain in the business. Employees are responsible to carrying out the task given to them in an efficient manner. They interact with the customers on a daily basis and are the ones closest to the action. The company’s success greatly depends on their skills and dedications. The workforce is crucial for a business to realize its revenue and profit potential. Stockholders initial role is to provide the capital that a business needs so that it could grow or the capital it needs so that it can unleash its products or services to the public. In private companies they even set strategic direction for a venture. They also offer guidance and advice to the management of the business. As long as a business can satisfy the needs of its customers and benefit them in a reasonable way, its existence will always be guaranteed. The role played by customers is important to its success and survival. Through the decisions they make every day of where to buy, they determine which company prospers and the ones that fail. The business also gets feed backs from its customers about their products and services, this way it is able to improve their customers satisfaction. They also help in marketing for the business’s products and services by recommending them to other potential buyers. The suppliers help the business in bringing the highest quality goods to the market so that the customers can access them in time whenever they need them. The company depends on the suppliers to avail the raw materials used in the manufacturing in time at reasonable prices so that the entire manufacturing process is not interrupted. They also introduce new application or solutions that may lead to more efficiency and production eventually leads to lower production cost and this means more profits for the company. The community provides the business with the skilled workforce that it depends on to maintain its competitive edge. Corporate social responsibility is a company’s responsibility in line with environment and the community in which its operations are based. This citizenship is expressed by companies through taking initiative in the control and reduction of waste within their locality. They can also achieve this through adding value to the locals through education and social programs or by earning enough returns to the resources that are employed (Smith, M. A. 2000). One controversial corporate social responsibility concern associated Apple Inc. is the iTunes. Apples Inc. was in disagreement about the online sale of music in Europe. In Europe, as a single market, people are allowed to buy goods and services from any of the state that belong to them. iTunes stores there forced people to buy music to iTunes by putting a limit purchases to the nation from which the buyers payment details come from, which made buyers from other nations to pay higher. This violated the EU free trade law. Apple Inc. responded by saying they did not violate any laws but were controlled by the legal limit given to them by the music labels and publishers. Apple Inc. was left with very little choice but to offer the national stores. References Ireland, R. D., Hoskisson, R. E., & Hitt, M. A. (2008). Understanding business strategy: Concepts and cases. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Linzmayer, O. W. (2004). Apple confidential 2.0: The definitive history of the world's most colorful company. San Francisco, Calif: No Starch Press. Phillips, R. (2003). Stakeholder theory and organizational ethics. San Francisco, Calif: Berrett-Koehler. Smith, M. A. (2000). American business and political power: Public opinion, elections, and democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Read More