Both on the job and beyond the workplace, PSU graduate business alumni have long contributed to making the world a better place - not only for themselves but also for others. In your opinion, what companies or organizations have shown a strong commitment - Essay Example

Question Both on the job and beyond the workplace, PSU graduate business alumni have long contributed to making the world a better place - not only for themselves but also for others. In your opinion, what companies or organizations have shown a strong commitment to making the world a better place? How do their practices align with your personal views of ethical behavior?
There are various criteria upon which the evaluation of the companies can be done in order to determine which other companies have made it better to make this world a better place to live in. two of the most common criteria include:
Corporate Social Responsibility
Ethical Behavior
The above two mention are the basis for judging which companies are making this world a better place to live in. Regardless of the sector or industry, every company strives to achieve the best possible position in these two areas. Companies from major industries like oil and gas, IT firm, hotel management, automotive suppliers, all of them have incorporated a hint CSR and ethical behavior in their strategies.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Almost every other company strives to formulate policies for corporate social responsibility. In the annual statements or social responsibility reports, companies often mention their strategies which they implement for maintaining social responsibility. Recently, the new idea which has emerged for demonstrating social responsibility is ‘Going Green’. Some of the companies which have adopted this strategy of ‘Going Green’ are:
American Seating
Bodman LLP
Contractors Building Supply
Duro-Last Roofing, Inc.
Dynamic Systems Inc. (Cadabas, 2010)
Apart from these companies, recently a well-known company British Petroleum (BP) has also changed its strategy and converted into environmentally friendly brand image. It has changed its name from ‘British Petroleum’ to ‘Beyond Petroleum’ and in order to communicate its vision it has changed its brand image and has included a hint of green in it. Recently, the incident of oil spill in Gulf of Mexico raised serious questions on the Social Responsibility of BP. Despite of that, BP managed to overcome its image and put all the required actions into practice immediately.
Ethical Behavior
In order to determine the performance of the companies for making this world a better place to live in, the first and foremost concern that arises is of ethical behavior of the companies. Ethical behavior supports the company in making a better image in the eyes of its stakeholders. A company which ruthlessly utilizes the resources or endangers the environment or species in order to generate maximum amount of revenue faces a lot of criticism and disapproval from pressure groups. Therefore, in order to furnish their brand image, nowadays companies are thriving harder to make reputable position in the eyes of its stakeholders and especially customers. The more a company is ethical, the more it will receive appreciation from its stakeholder.
Recently, Forbes has released the list of most ethical companies in the world. In that list, the top 10 most ethical companies are:
i. Accenture (Ireland)
ii. Adobe Systems (US)
iii. AECOM Technology Corp (US)
iv. Aflac Inc. (US)
v. Alcoa (US)
vi. Alyeska Pipeline Service Company (US)
vii. American Express (US)
viii. Applied Material Inc. (US)
ix. Aramak (US)
x. Arthur J. Gallagher Corp (Smith, 2012)
According to Forbes (2012), nowadays more and more companies are realizing the fact that ethics is so important for businesses and they are integrating ethical standards in the culture of their company. Even in order to attract more candidates from the pool of labor market, the companies must possess adequate brand image otherwise candidates will get reluctant in working for that particular company.
Works Cited
Cadabas, J. P. (2010, January 28). Making the World a Better Place: Going Green Winners Show Innovation and Commitment. Retrieved from http://www.corpmagazine.com/Departments/CoverStories/tabid/54/itemid/1257/Default.aspx
Smith, J. (2012, March 15). The Worlds Most Ethical Companies. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2012/03/15/the-worlds-most-ethical-companies/ Read More