Managing People and Organizations - Essay Example

? Managing People and Organizations [Supervisor Managing People and Organizations Executives Managing People and Organizations with CSR: The concerns of organizations around the world regarding corporate social responsibility have been increasing constantly for many years and many managers believe that the success of organizations depends on whether they are socially responsible or not. Corporate social responsibility can be defined as the skills of the company for using its obligations in order to solve the problems of the people and society. Companies take corporate social responsibility very seriously because they realize the importance of CSR for their businesses. The organizations commit themselves to contributing to the society by performing business ethically and contributing to the development of the people and the society (Rashid and Saadiatul, 2002). The agency theory is relevant for this case as this theory states that the shareholder of the company gives authority to the agent that can take any decision regarding the company. These agents or managers manage the company and take decision according to their own conditions. Every manager has a different style of controlling people and the company, and the attitude of these managers towards managing people varies according to their way of leadership capabilities. The conflict arises when the owner of the company wants to maximize the profit of the company by performing certain activities that are not ethical, while the manager wants the organization to fulfill its social responsibility (Germanova, 2008). The issue of CSR has risen in many countries, and the public has also been involved in this issue; this is the reason that CSR has become a major issue in Malaysia. The large organizations of Malaysia have raised many questions regarding the environmental hazards, drug abuse, safety, product quality, discrimination etc. The government of Malaysia has made policies so that organizations can fulfill their corporate social responsibility. This research will examine the attitudes of the managers towards corporate social responsibility and in which way they are managing people and organizations (Rashid and Saadiatul, 2002). In 1976, Holmes was the first person in USA who researched regarding the attitude of the corporate executives towards CSR, and he wanted to know the changing opinions of the firms towards CSR in the last five years that means from 1970 to1975. The result of his research revealed that the opinions of the executives for CSR changed drastically, and these executives were very positive for their organizations to fulfill corporate social responsibility (Rashid and Saadiatul, 2002). The managers and executives of Malaysian companies have a very positive attitude towards corporate social responsibility, and they believe that if the life of the people in which the company is working can be improved, then the long-term profitability of the organization can have a good impact. The managers also believe that if the organizations want to show positive image to the people, then it should take social responsibilities and should meet the needs and expectations of the people. The socially responsible organizations are also able to satisfy their shareholders and CSR is important for them in order to reduce the behavior that is not responsible. The managers recognize the fact that organizations are social entities, and they should compete with standards of the people. These opinions of the executives were taken from a survey conducted for Malaysian companies and the results of this survey were similar to the findings of Ford and McLaughlin in 1984. This means that the opinions of the managers are consistent for many years, and they realize the importance of CSR for the success of their organizations (Rashid and Saadiatul, 2002). Another survey was conducted in Vietnam in 2011 in which the research was performed for managers in order to investigate their perception regarding CSR and the extent to which they had performed CSR in their organizations. The results showed that more than 75% of the managers in the organizations of Vietnam revealed that they had spend extra money in improving the quality of the environment of their organization, and they believed that CSR could have a positive impact on the image of their organizations (Hieu, 2011). The number of companies involved in CSR activities is increasing, and more than 97% of the companies of Malaysia believe that they are involved in CSR activities. The managers in Malaysian companies have given most importance to the welfare of the employees, and they want to provide maximum facilities and give benefits to their workers to get maximum output. The managers give response to the complaints and problems of customers and they maintain the quality of the product by ensuring the safety of the product. Another way that managers fulfill the social responsibility of the organization is by donating to the welfare organizations that help to improve the image of the organization. The executives of Malaysian companies also manage the organization by taking part in the games and culture that help to motivate employees. CSR is also fulfilled in Malaysia by giving jobs to the people who are handicapped, and they do not have any support. The organizations give loans to people who are not able to make their own homes and they help the small firms by giving financial support to them. The managers try their best to contribute to the prevention of crime and help the government to improve the public places such as shades, bus stops, etc (Rashid and Saadiatul, 2002). The managers of Malaysian companies have involved their organizations in CSR activities, but it is interesting to know that only half of these managers have revealed it in front of the public that their organization is performing CSR activities. The main areas where the managers made it clear to the public regarding the CSR activities are the welfare of the employees, customer service, community involvement, and physical environment. The managers in these days report to the public regarding CSR activities more often as compared to the managers of olden days. This shows that in recent times, Malaysian companies are more involved in CSR activities, and they are trying hard to fulfill the social needs of the people (Rashid and Saadiatul, 2002). A quantitative study held in the US revealed that more than 90% of the manager thinks that CSR is very essential for their organizations. Interestingly, only 50% of the managers agreed that they do not identify the nature of CSR and that was the reason that they were not able to properly inform people regarding the CSR activities of their organizations. The executives of the organizations feel that if CSR activities are more involved in their organization, then their employees can feel more relaxed, and their personal life improves as well. This also helps the executives to manage their people in a more effective manner (Bhattacharya et al., 2008). In managing and organizing people, the attitude of the executives matters a lot, and they deal with their employees and people according to their own style. The factor that is most influential in determining the attitude of the executives is the family upbringing of the executives. The traditional beliefs and customs are responsible for the attitude of the managers when they manage their organization and people. It is interesting that the university and school training of these executives do not have a big impact on their style of managing people and organization. The culture and values are very important for changing the attitude of the executives, and when they manage their organization, culture and values do matter a lot (Rashid and Saadiatul, 2002). According to Mintzberg, there are three categories by which managers uses their role to manage their organizations, and these roles are interpersonal, informational and decision-making ones. The main role is an interpersonal one in which the manager is social by nature, and he represents his organization in all the social gatherings. The interpersonal skills of the executive are very necessary in performing this role because these skills are very important in the management of the organization and employees. An example of this role is Intel Inc. where the purchase manager of the company is responsible for purchasing the entire inventory, and the price depends on interpersonal skills to negotiate with the supplier (Delta, 2006). Executives of different sectors in Malaysian industry have a different attitude towards managing their people and organizations. For example, the executives of the telecom sector have a different approach to managing their organizations as compared to the construction sector. The corporate social responsibility fulfilled by these managers varies according to their sectors as well. The results of the research conducted to evaluate the attitude of the executives suggest that the financial sector in Malaysia has the most positive attitude towards corporate social responsibility and managers of these sectors manage the organizations in the most effective way (Rashid and Saadiatul, 2002). The comprehensive research work was conducted in the UK to evaluate the attitude of the managers towards the old age workers. The results showed that managers do not have a positive point of view for the old age workers because according to them, such workers do not cope up with the changing environment and it is difficult for them to manage such workers in this fast-paced environment. Some of the UK managers still think that the old age people are very efficient in their work, so they should continue to perform their duties. This shows that different managers have a different attitude towards people, and it depends on their nature and perceptions (Chiu et al., 2001). References Bhattacharya, C.B., Sen, S. and Korschun, D., 2008. Using corporate social responsibility to win the war for talent. MITSloan Management Review, 49(2), pp.36-44. Chiu, W., Chan, A., Snape, E. and Redman, T., 2001. Age stereotypes and discriminatory attitudes towards older workers: an east–west comparison. Human Relations, 54(5), pp.629-61. Delta, 2006. Undertanding and managing organizational behavior. Carlifornia: Delta Publishing Company. Germanova, R., 2008. Corporate social responsibility as corporate governance tool: the practice by the business in Bulgaria. Research Report. Hanken: Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration. Hieu, P.D., 2011. Corporate social responsibility: a study on awareness of managers and consumers in Vietnam. Research Report. Hanoi: University of Commerce, Hanoi, Vietnam. Rashid, Z. and Saadiatul, I., 2002. Executive and management attitudes towards corporate social responsibility in Malaysia. Corporate Governance, 2(4), pp.10-16. Read More