Commodities and Consumption - Essay Example

INSTITUTION NAME DATE НОW HАVЕ СОMMОDITIЕS АND СОNSUMРTIОN BЕЕN UNDЕRSTООD TО HАVЕ SОСIАL MЕАNING? Introduction In economics, a commodity is a substantially used to satisfy human needs. Economic commodities comprise goods and services. According to Karl Marx’s, a critique political economist, he defined Commodity as any good or service produced by human labour and offered as a product for general sale on the market. Some other priced goods are also treated as commodities (Jhally, S.,2014. N.p). The commodity is intended to solve some problems of what establishes the economics value of goods. In both traditional and modern lifestyles, people have depended on goods to cater for their needs (Mcmurtry, J., 2013. N.p). In postmodernity, the consumer is forced to negotiate lifestyle choices among a diversity of options. Consumption of commodities has become meaningful in current social life (Papaoikonomou et al., 2012. P.p 15-32). Two theories are used to explain the social and environmental impact by the commodities and consumption. The two theories are; the organisational legitimacy and the stakeholder theory (Lanis et al., 2012.n.p). Organisational legitimacy theory This theory explains the behavior of companies and corporate groups about the social and environmental impact. The theory suggests that companies face pressure from the environmental laws in sustaining it and maintaining a functional environment. They are also challenged by the societies who request for the information about the impact the environmental impacts on the businesses (Leng Chu et al., 2012. P.p 114- 139). Good social and environmental relation act as a guarantee for a continued operation of that company in the society. The society has high expectations on the impact of a company to their environments. The theory accounts and legitimizes the existence of a company in the society (Lager et al., 2015. N.p). The company should have control methods of pollution which are due to the social demand. The theory support that, the company has to adhere to the sustainability demands to have a competitive advantage over other corporate bodies. Legitimacy theory has been used to evaluate the impact of the oil spills by the petroleum firms in North America. There was high disclosure of that pollution which supports the legitimacy theory. Legitimacy theory framework (Nishitani, K.,2016. N.p) Following methodological steps are used to illustrate the framework; Concept of legitimacy theory The theory is described as a conceptual framework explaining the relationship between the company and the community. The framework explains that the company can engage in disclosing their social and the environment impact. Poor relationship causes the poor existence of the company in that community. Objective of legitimacy theory The stakeholders have a right to know the impacts of a company to the environment at all times. They should have regulations controlling the action of the company about the environment. The regulations prevent the environmental pollution. The laws should be flexible that they can be changed at any time when necessary. Environment protection groups are formed where members will be among the stake holders. Explicit hypothesis The company’s survival depend on the image they create in the society. A good reputation is a guarantee of a continued survival of the company while poor reputation will result in failure of the enterprise. Public pressure and media attention keep the companies on the watch to prevent any bad interaction with the community and the environment. Testing the hypothesis The hypothesis is tested by comparing it with observed changes. If the hypothesis is consistent with the changes, it is confirmed and the approved. Results observed are also used in measuring the hypothesis. Suggesting principles of legitimacy theory The principles guide the company in behaving in a particular way. The benefit principle acts as the motivation for the company to comply with the environmental and social requirements. It gives an economic advantage. Hence, they create good relation with the community. Self-laudatory claims which arise from influential groups affect the corporate social disclosure. The groups request for the environmental and social disclosure to be included in the annual reports. Stakeholder theory (Brower et al., 2013. P.p 313-331) It is the theory of the management of an organization. The theory identifies all the groups operating an organization and how to manage all the groups without oppressing any of them. The stakeholders are the customers, employees, the suppliers and the government bodies controlling the company among others. Customers provide the environment and the social impact of the organization. The stakeholder theory framework is made of two main areas; internal stakeholder and external stakeholder. Internal stakeholders Top management The top managers are the control unit who influences the running of any firm. If these managers are sensitive to the environment and social preservation, then there will be the formation of a department to cater for this. Managers who are insensitive to the environment and social preservation has less care about the areas. Employees The employees are important stakeholders in the running of a firm. If the employees support the environment and social conservation, there will be actions by the firm to conserve them. Lack of support from the employees will lead to failure of the company to conserve the environment and the societies surrounding them (Sen et al.,2013. P.p 413- 427). Shareholders They are the baselines in the running of a firm. They provide profit to a firm and boost the economy status of the firm. Good environment and supporting social groups results to increase in profit while poor environment results in losses in the firm. External stakeholders (Horisch et al., 2014. P.p 328-346) Customers Customers are the consumers of the end products produced by a firm. They hold a special position as the firm cannot run without them. Customers give pressure to firms to conserve the environment and the social preservation of the company. Customers demand are important as they make a firm to be proactive about the community and their surroundings. Suppliers They provide the raw materials necessary for the running of a firm. The suppliers should provide materials that are environmentally friendly and acceptable to the communities around. Materials that are harmful to the community around should be avoided as they lead to a poor run of the firm as they create a bad relation between the consumers and the firm. Government policies The government policies provide regulations to firms in conserving their environments and protecting the social groups around them. The pressure from the government policies depends on the country, sectors, and location of the firm. A good environment is believed to be due to strict government policies which guide the way firms conduct the conservation of the environments or are sensitive to the social groups around them. Public interest Society Social responsibility of a firm leads to their interest in protecting the communities and the environs around them. Society can demand firms to care and be sensitive to the materials they use as the raw materials, the materials and the by-products should be friendly to the environments and societies around. Media Media create awareness of the destruction of environments and the effects of by-products to the surrounding community to the public. The awareness increases the pressure on the firms to be sensitive to the environment conservations. An example is in Japan where the nuclear weapons were used; the media was used to create awareness to the public where the weapons were a threat to the communities around where newborns were born with deformities. The media increased the pressure to the firms that produced the weapons and hindered the frequent use of this weapons. The communities living around vacated the place to other safe areas (Benton et al.,2013. N.p). DEFICIENCIES OF THE TWO THEORY IN EXPLAINING THE PRACTISE OF SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTING The two theories lack measures for social and environmental disclose. Social pressure, community, and public demands are the measures used which vary depending on the type of community targeted. The variation in this measuring units limits the firms from implementing their concern to the environments and the social groups around them (Bhattacharyya, A., 2015. P.p 79). The data to this variables are also different. Hence, the firms lack a definite method in which they can conserve the environments and the social groups due to the differences in the demand for this measures (Sen, A.K., 2013. P.p 325-353). Changes in social norms and values are posing a challenge for the implementation of the two theories by the firms. Social norms vary from one group to the other, hindering the firms from having a common sustainability method (Johanisova et al., 2013. P.p 7-16). Most of the research done on the sustainability of social and environments are more theoretical than practical. The theories are diverse depending on the interest of the researcher rather than the practical findings in the environments (Nava et al., 2013. N.p). Commodities And Social life The commodity is a product intended principally for exchange, and that that product emerges, by the definition, in the institutional, psychological and economic condition of capitalism. Rubin agrees with what is the common Marxist interpretation according to which Marx has revealed the presence of human relations under the appearance of the relationship between things. This prompted to the philosophical impression which gives to things characters and determinations that are typically of social relations (Brunori et al., 2012. P.p 1-30). It’s clear that society cannot live without being consuming goods or commodities. Besides from being consumed, there is a point where the exchange is done, bazaar. Under the seeming unsatisfactorily of human wants, and the obvious diversity of goods and services required by human beings (Arrow, K.J., 2012. N.P). Displacement, Identity and Commodity consumption Progressively more attention is being paid to the ways in which consumption is a geographically established process. In my argument, the notion of ‘displacement’ is used to replicate on these constitutive geographies, and comprehensively understanding contemporary consumption neither as a standardizing nor a locally bounded social activity. There are two aspects of the geographies of displacement within consuming worlds are highlighted: the representations of origins, travels, and destinations—or geographical knowledge’s—that surround and in part comprise commodities; and the contrast to features of the areas in which consumption takes and makes the place (Dunaway, W.A., 2015. P.p 2-29). Conclusion Legitimacy theories and stakeholders theory support the roles of firms in conserving and sustaining the social and environmental sustainability (Fabinyi, M., 2012. P.p 33-92). Firms are essential in any social set-up as they provide employment to the societies around, provide necessary natural resources like the water, improve the infrastructure, provide safety to the people dwelling in the area and they produce goods for consumption by the public. They are the social benefits of the communities in this areas. The firms also have an obligation to conserve the environment through becoming sensitive to the environmental conservation (Kelner, D., 2012. N.p). Settlement of any firm in an area should consider how it will benefit the people living in the aream both directly and indirectly as they utilize the resources available in that region. They should account this annually to measure their efforts in sustaining the social and the environments in that community. The legitimacy theory and stakeholder theory have been used in illustrating how firms can relate well to the society and the environments in which they are found. Reference Jhally, S., 2014. The codes of advertising: Fetishism and the political economy of meaning in the consumer society. Routledge. McMurtry, J., 2013. The cancer stage of capitalism: From crisis to cure. Pluto Press. Benton, T. and Redclift, M., 2013. Social theory and the global environment. Routledge. Sen, A.K., 2013. Approaches to the choice of discount rates for social benefit-cost Sen, S. and Cowley, J., 2013. The relevance of stakeholder theory and social capital theory in the context of CSR in SMEs: An Australian perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 118(2), pp.413-427. Nava, M., Blake, A., MacRury, I. and Richards, B., 2013. Buy this book: studies in advertising and consumption. Routledge. Brower, J. and Mahajan, V., 2013. Driven to be good: A stakeholder theory perspective on the drivers of corporate social performance. Journal of business ethics, 117(2), pp.313-331. Lanis, R. and Richardson, G., 2012. Corporate social responsibility and tax aggressiveness: a test of legitimacy theory. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 26(1), pp.75-100. Hörisch, J., Freeman, R.E. and Schaltegger, S., 2014. Applying Stakeholder Theory in Sustainability Management Links, Similarities, Dissimilarities, and a Conceptual Framework. Organization & Environment, 27(4), pp.328-346. Ieng Chu, C., Chatterjee, B. and Brown, A., 2012. The current status of greenhouse gas reporting by Chinese companies: A test of legitimacy theory. Managerial Auditing Journal, 28(2), pp.114-139. Bhattacharyya, A., 2015. Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility in an Emerging Economy: Through the Lens of Legitimacy Theory. Australasian Accounting Business & Finance Journal, 9(2), p.79. Luger, J., Mammen, J. and Haleblian, J., 2015. Security Analaysts' Influence on Acquisition Decisions: A Joint Agency and Legitimacy Theory Approach. Arrow, K.J., 2012. Social choice and individual values (Vol. 12). Yale university press. Dunaway, W.A., 2015. The double register of history: Situating the forgotten woman and her household in capitalist commodity chains. Journal of World-Systems Research, 7(1), pp.2-29. Papaoikonomou, E., Valverde, M. and Ryan, G., 2012. Articulating the meanings of collective experiences of ethical consumption. Journal of business ethics, 110(1), pp.15-32. Brunori, G., Rossi, A. and Guidi, F., 2012. On the new social relations around and beyond food. Analysing consumers' role and action in Gruppi di Acquisto Solidale (Solidarity Purchasing Groups). Sociologia Ruralis, 52(1), pp.1-30. Johanisova, N., Crabtree, T. and Fraňková, E., 2013. Social enterprises and non- market capitals: a path to degrowth?. Journal of Cleaner Production, 38, pp.7-16. Nishitani, K., 2016. A Comparative Empirical Analysis of the Determinants of Initiation of Integrated Reporting Practices in Japanese and UK Listed Companies: The View of Voluntary Disclosure Theory or Legitimacy Theory? (No. DP2016-07). Fisher, E., 2015. How less alienation creates more exploitation? Audience labour on social network sites. Marx in the Age of Digital Capitalism, p.180. Kellner, D., 2012. Baudrillard, Jean. The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Consumption and Consumer Studies. Fabinyi, M., 2012. Historical, cultural and social perspectives on luxury seafood consumption in China. Environmental Conservation, 39(01), pp.83-92. Read More