Strategic Business Issues - Literature review Example

Reflective Journal Student’s Name Subject Professor University/Institution Location Date How corporate social and environmental responsibilities are not merely philanthropy, but instead, are strategic business issues. As Porter, & Reinhardt (2007) observes, climate change has become a fact to political life and its effects on companies’ operations have been tangible. Strategist tools are the best way now in addressing it than philanthropist. As it can be derived from Swartz, (2010), company’s climate policies in future will be affected by its stakeholder consideration of its standards and expectations for social responsibility. This may also influence sales, just as Timberland whose shoes products indirect influence the environment through demand of livestock products whose food provision lead to deforestation. Each company needs to consider its own strategy approach depending on its business. This is unlike corporate philanthropy which is based on one-size-fits all approach which has recently been on increase. If every company is to initiates its own mitigation of climate related risks and costs a strategy has to be considered. Individual company considerations is important since it looks on the internal and external effects of their production process and adapt means and process oriented to cause a continuous effective climate solution. According to Anderson (2005), the desire for sustainability and resolution to climate change is embedded on strategy and not effectiveness. With the visible complex environmental impact which will have a direct impact on ecosystem and business, it is advisable for business who are sitting on the sidelines to initiate strategies in order to reduce risks. This is important because, soon the government will seek on mitigating the climate effects by enforcing far reaching regulations. When such regulations are enforced, these businesses that are in corporate philanthropy will be badly handicapped as they try to catch up with the one which have already devised their strategy. The growing awareness of negative impacts caused by the ever growing industrialization has brought the industrial sectors as active participators in environmental conservation. Since they do not achieve the goals alone, they depend on international, national and community contribution in terms of favorable policies. Business has taken the role of corporate philanthropy as an idea of improving the climate. They apply to similar regulations but may contribute different amounts of money, labor and time to community centers to start or improve projects at community level and fundraising for climate cause. However, there is much criticism since most serve their hidden agendas to advance their business and at times exploit the community cheap labor to gain profits. A corporate strategy desire to achieve a common goal for national and international climate management but it is ineffective in achieving goals due to dispersion of companies’ activities that cannot be solved with a general policy. Without policies followed by a particular company they only advance new market exploiting nature by increased production hidden under corporate general regulations. The community will also tend to emphasize on the goodwill of the company and therefore, increase interests and favorable opinions toward the company products. This lead to an increase in sales as business maintain co-branding and effective advertising. It is plain that most business involved as environmental corporate philanthropy are passive. The greatest carbon emitters, tree loggers and waste disposer hide in the name of corporate agenda to hide their massive destruction. Vital still, is that they particularly avoid taxes and as major player in wide activities such as advancement of environmental education and poverty alleviation they push to be exempted from taxation. Most of these businesses do not reflect the minimum expenditure tests from their donation receipts for reduction of taxes. Most of the money assigned for community projects is taken by capital properties and administration purposes. The property accumulated at the end of every project become the assets of the business and thus help to enter into new markets with lower establishment costs. Many businesses diverge in the process, from environmental improvement goals to non-qualified investments. At nominal level and face their mission is on environment but other divergent profit making plans account for most of their money, activities and inputs. The unhealthy property accumulation may not be noticed as the internal and external mechanisms of evaluation, monitoring and assessment are unavailable. Plan for my career over the next ten years My main goals in career planning and development are to acquire expertise in business management field, particularly a growing banking institution, choose and develop passionate profession and finally after specialization get promoted. This is to be systematically achieved in coming ten years. My essential career anchors and priorities include the developing of managerial competence, entrepreneurial creativity, autonomy and independence, technical or functional competency and service or dedication to the cause. My current and aspirations for occupational exploration is working with a growing financial institution, whose core roles are planning, implementing, and monitoring business strategies. In such a career, I can promote my information of local, institutional and international features and technology of a sound financial institution (Conley 2010). The choice for a growing institution depend on its requirements on dynamism, continuous knowledge hard work and skills application needed to ultimately lead to career progress, prestige and remuneration progress. Additionally, it relate with my short-term career goals for improving my skills, relationship building, demanding deadlines, balance between work and social life, provision of training sessions to improve theory application and qualifications of skills. My long-term scope of career goals are to achieve a top position in such an institution, to realize great outputs, get an early retire to become a consultant for other financial institutions in advanced region. In my career strategy development I have critically identified a number of strategies that I will develop in order to attain my acknowledged long-term and short-term career goals. First I need to define my career success in my own view and not on the basis of rank and remuneration in working place. Through a strategic planning, feasibility analysis market analysis, and competitive intelligence approach my career success will be established. I will participate in consultancy and workshops to equip myself for designing career strategy and career support programs. In the workplaces I will identify and utilize activities to develop career support, implement programs, evaluation them and provide tools, resource and coaching. Some vital short term activities will be meant for developing my intrapersonal experiences. This will then reflect in interpersonal relations at workplace in my first years. Developed activities in the first years are for helping me to deal with an efficient organizational communication; develop trust, restore compromised working relationships, individual contribution, accountability, and productivity. Long-term organizational based activities for my career development will include continuous learning from external organizations in banking sector, having competitive strategies and evaluate their skills and competency that increase their competitive advantages. Through conflict management scenarios crucial internal learning process will develop. Together with other external consideration of managing and exploiting conflict in order to promote coherence will impact me greatly. On my career planning, and development, I will strongly be driven by equal opportunity, community development values and accountability. I will initiate new options since I can maneuver even in unfamiliar paths to build business, and motivate people to make meaningful outputs. Other desirable talents are building relationships; work efficiently with unfamiliar people taking the shortest time to develop trust. To achieve some of the key talents, will arise from working with the dynamic teams, scenarios and activities. My past achievement will be continually helping me to progress as they will be vital for my selling and recommendation. To avoid stagnation I will look beyond my current job yearly to acquire transferable skills. I will move toward chances for career possibilities since every progressive job would require new skills. The skills will enable my categorization than just virtual title in occupation. These skills can then apply to variety of occupations and other different careers. Through research on advanced opportunities, I will manage to participate in international delegations and multi-racial platforms to attain a global view of business management. A wide resource from competent practical leaders will promote and refine my focus, by saving time, resources and improving value. Finally, I must stay flexible enough for career change if demands and other career anchors are all in line (Dik, Sargent & Steger 2008). The importance of integrity and ethics in my professional life As a professional, most of my life activities involving communication, activities and expectations must relate professional accountability. Based on the principles of covenant, sacrifice and modesty I will ensure that critical aspects in business dealings are of professional standards based on integrity and ethics. This is through respect of human dignity and rights ensure integrity in all relationships, act in a way to alleviate personal suffering and distress and enhance the quality of my professional knowledge and application in order to increase personal effectiveness and increase professional (Amnesty International, 2010). This will be a long lasting process which I will evaluate and monitor by appreciating diversity, culture and human experience. In practice I will advocate for adequate and fair services provision. In the pursuit of the ethics and integrity, five important aspects involving autonomy; where I will respect clients rights allowing them to be self-governing in line to their cultural and social framework, beneficence; which involves doing good to others as a way of promoting the clients well-being, fidelity; by being faithful in keeping promises to honor the trust that clients place in my professionalism, justice; meaning fairness to all clients and provision of appropriate services to all clients and veracity; which is being honest. My work and input involving the mental, technical and physical efforts will focus to develop me as significant member in business profession, produce outcomes, products and solutions that are of genuine value to the clients and users and ensure community growth by the generated surplus. These include the networking teams, trainers, loyal clients and the professional body. My professional responsibility will ensure professional competence as a vital possession for criticality and response in the business, firms and consultation. It also means awareness of cultural diversity and therefore uses competence for flexibility depending on context demand. I will adjust my manners above and beyond my cultural orientations for inclusiveness, efficiency and effective across cultures. This is by an objective decision that goes beyond biases based on age, race, ethnic grouping and social classes. Important still is developing my functional competence, through continuous application of technology, skills and knowledge to incorporate them in business and services to serve a dynamic population requiring my inputs (Platts 2003). Responsibility will also account for the public together with other professionals, who require me for knowledge building and coherence making (Cowton 2009,). In conflict situations, I will consult the scientific mechanisms for interventions, my experience, and group decision for rational and adding value. It is through the proper diagnosis of client’s problems, that I will competently use and interpret solutions, assess and do other considerations. I must from the beginning of my profession, develop an evaluation strategy. Self evaluation will influence my continuity and development as a significant business professional. In a competitive world, and the ideal nature of human to err self-evaluation can never be under-emphasized in my profession. Personal assessment involves activities, timely solutions and feedback from business fraternity including the clients, employers, and colleagues. Findings and interpretation will provide an informed consent to change, plan, and implement new strategies. At any stage such evaluation findings I shall release to competent professionals for accountability and enforcing an observable changes. This I will ensure even in group work by enhancing the information that I share with others and also being a dependable confidant. In my profession at times I will have internal and external trainees and supervisees. I will apply multi-dimensional competence for supervision, teaching, and training. This will be in accordance to learned knowledge, applied skills, experience and recommendations for more improvements. I will set realistic as well as value adding goals and objectives to help develop crucial skills for critical and creative dealings. I will perform these roles by building relationship with them to ensure open communication, evaluation, endorsement, and remediation (Farrell & Cobbin, 1999). Important aspects such as student welfare, quality and relevance of education, cultural diversity, and training programs will be ensured. This is to help develop responsibilities to juniors, minors and clients who lack the capacity to moral purpose and decision making. I will assume and execute empathetic listening and a transcendent insightful consensus for group creativity. References Amnesty International, 2010, Code of Professional Ethics. Professional Ethics, 60173(October 23), p.46 30-31. Conley, D 2010, College and career readiness. Houston A Challenge, 67(6), p.10-14.  Cowton, C 2009, "Accounting and the ethics challenge: re-membering the professional body", Accounting and Business Research, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 177-189. Dik, B., Sargent, A. & Steger, M 2008, Career Development Strivings: Assessing Goals and Motivation in Career Decision-Making and Planning. Journal of Career Development, 35(1), p.23-41. Farrell, B & Cobbin, D 1999, The Codes of Ethics Used by the Professions in Australia. Professional Ethics, p.7 (2) 23-40. Platts, J 2003, "Developing competence and trust: Maintaining the heart of a profession", Professional Ethics, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 3-18.  Porter, ME & Reinhardt, F.L 2007, A Strategic Approach to Climate. Harvard Business Review, 85(10), p.22-26. Rice, J 2008, Governing a new generation of philanthropy: key leadership tools for success. AHP journal Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, p.8-9, 11-12. Read More