Reflection on Why Businesses Should Be Concerned about Social and Environmental Sustainability - Coursework Example

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL Reflective Journal Customer Name: Lecturer Name: Date: Reflection on why businesses should be concerned about social and environmental sustainability. There is a lot of underlying relationship between contacting business and social and environmental sustainability. Business is the day to day activity that people engage themselves in order to make life comfortable, therefore to achieve success, environmental and social sustainability is an important contributor. Several businesses have been concerned with social and environmental sustainability through Corporate Social Responsibility. Businesses have to be concerned with social and environmental sustainability since it an organization's mission and act as a lead to what the company stands for and what they will produce to its consumers. Being concerned with social and environmental sustainability enables the businesses to have a built-in self-regulating mechanism in which business ensures and monitors its activities with the spirit of the ethical standards and international law, hence enabling the business to encourage a positive impact and to embrace responsibility for the company's actions through its activities on the environment, employees, stakeholders, consumers and the public. Moreover, the concern is important as a marketing strategy and a tool for the improvement of organization’s profit margins. The environment in itself affects every facet of business performance, since environmental degradation results to negative climatic changes, which threatens or destroy the ecosystem where the business depends on, thus losing its market. On the other hand, social responsibility is an important part of the wealth creation process which is integrated with environmental responsibility, if managed properly it should maximize the value of wealth creation to society and increase the competitiveness of the business. While businesses focus on generating profits, environmental sustainability is a vital necessity because for once multinational corporations who conduct businesses in more than one country are not running destructive and unethical practices like polluting the environment, which in turn leads to negative perception from the general public. Businesses also have to be concerned with environmental and social responsibilities since there is a lot of pressure from non-governmental organizations, governments, civil society, and consumers for organizations to practice sustainable business. Environmentally and socially conscious businesses are more likely to have a positive corporate image, hence attracting customers and retain employees in order to maximize profits. Furthermore businesses would promote the public interest by encouraging the development and the community growth and as well building business trust, which is a necessity for its organizational progression. The social responsibility aspect also allows the business to build good relationship with the surrounding community, hence guaranteeing continuous and active trading. Community-based development always leads to more sustainable developments. A business needs healthy, sustainable resources, educated workforce, and the government to be able competes effectively. In order for a society to excel, competitive businesses and profitable approach should be developed and managed effectively in order to create income, tax revenues and wealth. Companies have developed deep linkages between their business strategies and corporate social responsibility .They are focusing more on the opportunities for competitive advantage by emphasizing the costs and limitations of agreement with externally imposed social and environmental standards. A business has to be accountable and responsible for its actions. Social accounting is an important element of Corporate Social Responsibility which describes the communication of social and environmental effects of a company's economic actions to particular group within society and to society at large. Through being socially responsible, businesses can put in place Social accounting which emphasizes the impression of corporate accountability in which they identify socially and relevant behavior. Social and environmental responsibility is also important for risk management, which affects the business strategy. For instance, companies’ reputations may be ruined in some hours through environmental accidents or social incidents. Having the correct management within a corporation will reduce these risks. Moreover, businesses have to be socially and environmentally responsible in order to deal with the threats and opportunities associated with globalization and market forces which may impact on the growth and potential profits of the business. The need to be socially and environmentally responsible is not a choice, but a strategy that businesses have to adopt in order to progress and survive in a competitive environment. Reflection on why it is important to think about career planning while at university. Success comes always where the preparation and opportunity meet. Career planning is a processes rather than an occurrence and students should start planning for their careers while in their first year of their university studies. They don’t have to wait until graduation time to start planning careers. This allows them to make informed decisions about their careers earlier enough, therefore enabling the students to find and consider more diverse, better and more suitable career options. For instance Enrollment affects the future employment opportunities. Delaying the career planning process until graduation time may result into being weighed down with the tasks involved which may lead into unnecessary rush to find that first job out of school. Career planning is a sequence of decisions that require time and vigor, because it is more than job searching. It is a process of information gathering, decision-making, and implementing action steps. Students need to identify occupations in which they have a high probability for success and happiness. There are general skills which will be required to be pursued regardless of the career. These include the ability to read, write, think critically, and communicate effectively. The skills are developed during education courses, which will enable an individual to overcome obstacles throughout their work life. Career and Life Planning Process calls for self-assessment. One needs to identify what they need, what they have, and what works well with them and what doesn't work, so as to plan smartly for their future career. Personality characteristics also influence this act. Students will take the subjects they are comfortable with and use to explore careers related to those courses they enjoy in school. Career guidance programs and school counseling provides students with the knowledge, skills needed and attitudes to establish a well-built base for future success, such guidance may not be easily available outside the university. This helps students connect educational goals to career goals, and offer opportunities for career discovery through school college-based activities and real-life experiences. Career Planning System will help students to select one or more career paths to explore by matching their skills, interests, and work standards, from a tender age and as they grow and develop. It is important to think about career planning while at university since graduate and professional school programs assist students acquire career-related experiences and in developing and exploring career plans related to academic interests. It also helps them acquire academic training and developing personal strategies that enhance marketability and potential for successful employment upon graduation. At the university, students may use the services of the university such as libraries and career workshops which are being offered at the university. Career choice is influenced by several factors. This includes personal skills and abilities, character, interest, previous experiences, his/her life roles, gender and even cultural values. In order to make good careers, one needs to conduct some research. Career planning at the university enables the students to be in a position to know about themselves and their industry plus the job market in order to make the best possible decisions. Students should be in a position to determine their needs and priorities as they relate to career choices and the work environment. The career one, may be pursuing may have specific requirements for entry, so one needs to develop the specific requirements earlier enough before it’s too late. Apart from education and training, most positions have other requirements related to experience and skill mastery, thus calls for students to develop this while they are still in university in order to master the content well. Salary Expectations also influence the choice of a career, for instance university students are able to develop their career by comparing current salaries for specific job titles using Pay Scale resource, and even comparing the salaries for similar jobs in different locations. This will allow them to decide on the salary needs after graduation so as to help them plan for their future. It is therefore important to think about career planning while at university, since it offers various benefits to the student. Reflection on the link between being ethical and being professional.  Ethics is the practice of becoming excellent, thus it is somehow what we think its right to do, and are not being forced. This differs from one person to person. Being ethical means being principled; it is a set of standards of conduct which the human service professionals and educators consider in ethical and professional decision making. Ethical codes are used to assist in the settlement of issues related to ethical human service behavior. Being ethical is good for the wider community and the environment; it can also benefit the businesses. When one is trading overseas for example can be able to build sales, as customers increasingly choose to base their purchasing decisions on more than strict financial factors. It enhances trust in the business, by fostering good relations and being transparent in the daily activities. It also maintains staff loyalty and motivation, because of treating people fairly and offering them chances of development. It also boost revenue, by opening up business to new ideas, attract investment, as ethically motivated investors grow in number and save money, for example by implementing better waste-management procedures. Being ethical stimulates the professional’s commitment to work, Rob & Deirdre, (2000). An organization’s ethical integrity directly influences their decision to work at the company. In fact the most important factors for professionals in deciding where to work depends on the treatment of employees and business practices plus quality services in terms of professionalism. Customer Loyalty also depends on being ethical. Business ethics matter so much to consumers because without customers then the business does not work well in terms of making profits. Thus call for being able to handle consumers with a lot of care for them to continue appreciating your services Professionalism in everyday life is being used to refer to any occupational group, where there is a widely agreed and extensive specialist skill and knowledge base. For one to qualify to be professional they must undergo long period of training, with formal certification of competence usually involving written examinations and, frequently, some form of license to allow for practice Its benefits is that it has thigh levels of personal and financial reward. Professional ethics are limited in capacity as they are useful in the work place.  Human service professionals and educators uphold the integrity and ethics of the profession. Human service professionals promote and encourage the unique values and characteristics of human service. They promote client and community well-being, and enhance their own professional growth. Professionalism shows a level of competence in the field reached. This is important from a career and financial point of few. Professionalism helps to find career advice and uncover new industry resources through becoming a member of a professional organization. This must provide a value to the individual; enhance the performance of the person to ultimately benefit the organization. One of the benefits of being professional is having personal satisfaction and professional insight gained by being on the leading edge of any industry. Hence, there is a link between being ethical and being professionalism, as highlighted by definition of the term personal ethics which mean one’s conscience and professional ethics to mean adherence to a professional code. Typically people have resolved this by drawing a line between their role as a professional and their role as an individual.  Hence individuals may often decide to follow a professional code of ethics when they are acting as a professional even though they may personally disagree.  Ethics, which is the practice of becoming excellent at being human according to Socrates, is always conducted with respect to something. Professional ethics is probably more specific, and is practicing becoming an excellent human being with respect people and situations in work life. Personal ethics will always be with a basis for all ethical decisions that is made, whether they are personal or professional. It is important for professions to think about ethics not only in times of turbulence, or moral panic indeed, but in times of relative calm too. Ethics is, or should be, an everyday feature of professional life, and that is where the link is. Reference Rob, T. and Deirdre S. The Ethical Consumer. New York : SAGE, 2000. Read More