Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibilities as Strategic Issues in Business - Coursework Example

Name: Professor: Course: Semester: Date: Table of Contents Journal entry 1…………………………………………………………………..3 Journal entry 2…………………………………………………………………...5 Journal entry 3…………………………………………………………………...7 References………………………………………………………………………...10 Journal 1: corporate social and environmental responsibilities as strategic issues in business Some people will argue that the business of a business is purely business; the rest is less irrelevant or excess bargain in some cases. But I am of a different view because according to this assumption then a business should only be concerned with making profit and giving little or no attention to other beneficial issues in the society. I believe Business is part and parcel of the society; it does not operate in isolation. So anything that is affecting the society affects the business as well. For instance we are all threatened by global warming and therefore each one of us has a responsibility and a role to play in fighting global warming. I have learned that it is very possible and easy for a CEO of a big corporate to ignore such an issue as the CEO of timberland put it (Swartz, 2010) but then it is not only an issue of engaging in a problem that is not yours but it is a societal problem of which you are a part and parcel. It is therefore irresponsible I think that you can ignore problems in the community from which you are getting your revenue. Putting in mind that this same society is made up of people who have supported your brand to the heights it is, then it is worth considering corporate social and environmental responsibility issues as strategic issue because it is a fact, your brand is threatened. I believe corporate social and environmental responsibility at the corporate level should not be regarded as a nuisance in the general flow of business. There are whole lots of activists out there to ensure that profit enterprises are indeed playing within the rules to ensure sustainability. In light of this understanding I therefore believe that CEOs just like in the case of Timberland CEO Vs Greenpeace have a very instrumental role to play in as far as social and environmental responsibility is concerned (Swartz, 2010). What I have learned is that businesses and their management at large should understand that environmental activists are to some extent right when they accuse you of being irresponsible in fostering sustainability in the society. Instead of fighting them, the most prudent thing to do which is a strategic tool in fact is to find a way of balancing between you making profit and at the same time conserving the environment. Timberland as a company decided they had to work with Greenpeace in identifying ways to minimize the effects of deforestation in the Brazilian forests. It worked for the company and in fact Greenpeace announced that timberland has taken a leadership role in fighting deforestation in the Amazon forest, I believe worked wonders in the market for Timberland (Swartz, 2010). What I have learned from my research and also from this case is that corporate social responsibility is a matter that cannot be ignored especially in this 21st century. Nowadays the internet has brought the world into a single global village platform. It is in this information age that we have witnessed the Facebook and twitter based revolutions in the Arab world. Dictatorial governments cannot be the only targets in these internet revolutions. Businesses too are threatened by the power the masses have when they are directed to a common goal. I noticed that in the case of Greenpeace Vs Timberland Greenpeace primary strategy was to mobilize thousands of supporters to express their anger by sending emails of protest to the CEO. Jeff Swartz the CEO received not less than 65000 emails within 3 weeks (Swartz, 2010). Now more than ever I believe the people have more power at their disposal facilitated by activists and environmental conservation campaigners. I think that as a competitive strategy a corporate should have as one of its core values a determination and resolve to be actively involved in community issues including environmental conservation. Consumers are driven by far much advanced factors than the traditional price attraction. They want to know your stand in regards to health issues, environmental issues, and the community development. In short do you care about us or you just want to make millions from us and give nothing to the society? That is how serious it is. Journal entry 2: the learning I obtained from filling my career workbook to plan my career After filling my career workbook I was able to get a general pattern of my interests, motivation and satisfaction. This is very important as I came to learn. From it gave me an idea of where I should direct my efforts in as far as careers are concerned. I am more fascinated by the corporate world. I want to better the corporate world and find my way up the ladder top the level of top management. I actually envision myself as a CEO in a top Company. To achieve this long-term goal I learned from my career workbook that I have to find a starting point where I will have to take the relevant courses to complete my current degree and build my personality as a person and as a professional in management. I learned that I am a team player by after the process of filling the career book and it is actually a strong factor to enable me inspire my follow workmates towards a common goal. From this understanding this I am planning to take serious short courses in team work and motivation to ensure that I grow this talent as I realized talent can only be useful if I work hard to strengthen it further this is a view held by the oxford 2012 career book. I prefer working in established organizations but this does not mean I cannot fit in a start up provided it will grow me as a person to develop me professionally to face career challenges as I encounter them in my quest to be a top CEO in an established company where I will get the chance to practice my well earned knowledge and expertise. I believe I am quite flexible and I can actually work in diverse environments to produce admirable results with the enthusiasm and confidence I am building by being exposed to tremendous knowledge and situations. From the experience of filling the career book I learned that I have to list my personal strengths that I believe are a factor that separates me from the rest of the population. Discovering these personal strengths will be a key to understanding which working environments will better suit me and the people I should be looking out as my mentors in the process of developing my career. I have already started filling my strengths list and I am actually noticing that am very assertive and this is a good attribute that will aid my communication within the organization where I will be working. Assertive people usually communicate their ideas very effectively and let their opinions known in a composed manner that everybody understands. I think it is an attribute I should be proud of and learn further skills in being assertive to strengthen it further. However I have to learn some communication skills necessary to make me have stronger interpersonal skills to ensure I am not being so assertive to the point of domineering others and impact negatively on organizational effectiveness. I have also learned that there are more attractive attributes of people who are slightly different from me like the creative unconventional people. They challenge the obvious and are actually the people who come up with great companies. I believe it is a good career to of being an entrepreneur and I will actually learn a thing or two about it to understand the dynamics involved as it will enable me relate better with this different people with different perspectives in business and life as well. Journal entry 3: Integrity and Ethics in My Professional Life From what I have learned being a professional means belonging to a particular profession where I am bound by a code of ethics and rules. A profession can be defined as a pursuit of a learned art in the spirit of public service. Professional bodies have a lot of things in common like acquisition of knowledge for a very long period of time and self regulation that leads to rewards such as recognition and monetary benefits. Cowton ( Cowton, 2009)) believes that professionals have a bigger challenge identifying what a professional stands to gain by being ethical in the sense of monetary gains or privileges. Professionals are faced with a choice of upholding their integrity virtues and ethical behaviors or gaining in terms of money and privileges by compromising on these same virtues they swore to uphold. But I think a professional should stand and uphold these values as they are the reason in the first place that he should be working in the position he is in. think about it what if doctors decided to act in unethical manner as Cowton , (2009) put it . Then many of us would loose our lives in the hands of the same doctors that are trusted in saving our lives. It is the same case with other professions as well. As a professional I am trusted to discharge my duties in an impartial and professional manner that promotes transparency and good practices (Platts, 2003). If I do this in organizations I am employed then I will be a play a pivotal role in building corporate structures that uphold integrity and respect for all stake holders involved. As a matter of fact I believe all the employees that I will be working with will agree with me that, that is how things are supposed to be done. It is good in positioning an organization as a respectable company even to the suppliers. A company with no values cannot withstand challenges I believe. Individually I believe upholding integrity and ethical virtues grows me as a brand. The most important thing to a professional is the reputation he has. I totally agree with Cowton, (2009) that a good reputation earns trust for you. It is a sort of an insurance that will always guarantee me employment even if I lose a position I hold provided I have not violated on the code of ethics as stipulated by my professional body. It is important therefore that I be play a responsible role in protecting the reputation of my professional body since even other members of my professional body indirectly benefit from the ethical behaviors I display. As platts, (2003) put it, being a professional means I have to sacrifice; this means that my services as a professional are meant for the benefit of the community. But not to selfishly enrich myself at the expense of the very community I am supposed to serve. As a professional I therefore believe that when I discharge my duties in an ethical manner I am indeed developing competence which platts, (2003) suggested is at the heart of any profession. As a professional I am bound by a covenant to uphold integrity and ethics in a manner that will differentiate me from the rest who are not professionals, it is the least I can offer to a society that is totally reliant on my honesty. I believe that if all professionals behaved in an ethical manner and not narrowly thinking how they could enrich themselves, then the economy of our neighbourhoods and indeed the whole country will grow. Upholding these virtues to me is therefore not a matter of choice but a patriotic contribution that I can offer my country just like a soldier fights with resolve to protect the sovereignty and dignity of his nation. This to me means that if all professionals uphold this value then the economy of my country is set to gain a lot as the needs of all the stakeholders will be taken care of including the clueless citizen that is most vulnerable to the negative actions of professionals in discharge of their duties. In regards to all these I therefore deem it important and I discharge my duties guided by my professional code of ethics and integrity virtues because I am as Platts, (2003) put it, bound by a covenant. References Cowton. C, (2009), Accounting and the ethics challenge: re-membering the professional body, accounting and business research, vol.39, no.3, pp.177-189 Platts .J, (2003) Developing competence and trust: Maintaining the heart of a profession, Professional ethics, vol.11, no.1, pp 3-18 Swartz .J, (2010), Timberland CEO on Standing up to 65000 activists, Harvard Business Review, Vol 88, no. 9, pp 39-43 University of Oxford, (2012), Careers workbook [PDF] available online from http://www.careers.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/careers_workbook_2012.pdf Read More