Corporate Social Responsibility - Assignment Example

Should hospitality and tourism companies always demonstrate corporate social responsibility? Discuss the costs and benefits of such an approach. Student Name Student ID Subject Submitted To Submission Date University Should hospitality and tourism companies always demonstrate corporate social responsibility? Discuss the costs and benefits of such an approach. Corporal behavior is one, which has taken its base from the dealings of the business world. As such it has no direct or indirect contact with the social norms of human life but when we talk about Corporate Social Responsibility, this mixture of both these behaviors comes in the frame. When the corporal mannerisms interact with the society and its different manners and ways whereby it helps the society in various means, call it culturally or from the community point of view then this merger comes into reckoning. The society gains quite a bit from the corporal interaction and thus gives back much in return as well. It is sort of a symbiotic relationship between the two where each benefits the other one. The business company, by helping the society in terms of different reforms and programs, gains a lot for the company’s overall standing between its competitors and all. The society, on the other hand, gets to make quite a lot as the business entity restructures the different people who are either illiterate or need help or are in distress. There are obviously many controversies whenever anything is done which involves the business doing something out of its actual set approach. The example here can be given of the company Enron for which the critics had said that considering the personal relationship between the CEO Kenneth Lay and the US President George Bush, the company would be rather listening and applying to Vice President Cheney’s energy policy process than any other single interest taking birth from within the company itself. Such kind of controversies can erupt anytime within any company that has set its mission to go about the process of carrying the Corporate Social Responsibility. Much has to be tackled whilst hundreds of obstacles come. CSR movement needs caution while promoting their achievements because there are many critics around who can question the legitimacy of a particular accomplishment and can sabotage it altogether. CSR can really get the best out of business companies and industries. When they find out that their market is in direct proportion to what they do in the social sector, they invest more and more which ultimately profits the society and the needy in particular. The citizens, no, matter what they feel about the corporal responsibilities they own to the society, must agree in principle that these business companies can really get the best out of themselves and help the society in more than one ways. Their commitment is loyal because this is the golden tenet of business, never to lie with the customer so how can they tell untruths and fool around people with false welfare works and the like. Corporate Social Responsibility can regulate the workings of the company and serve as a welfare organization for the masses of a particular society, thus boosting the market as the competition will increase between the different corporals, which will, in the long-term, only benefit the society. It would also fulfill the role due on the business companies’ part. Thus the role played by CSR with regards to the corporate world of present times is immense and cannot be denied its due place in the scheme of things. Tourism for a country brings in the much needed foreign exchange that is welcomed by the government and the related ministries. What it does best is to make the law-makers realize of the tremendous potentials that their country possesses in the wake of tourism and thus an industry of sheer magnitude needs to be in place so that more and more tourists visit each year. The economic impacts in the tourism sector immediately ask for grants, loans and stipends to be given to the people who have an indirect or for that matter direct role in the building up of structures, buildings and pathways – all of which come under the tourist attraction cycle. The role of governments in the planning phase of tourism both regionally and nationally is significant since it fosters growth at all levels and increases the chances of economic prosperity and wellness for the related stakeholders. The tourism sector must make sure that the role of government is encouraging at consistent levels and there are no hiccups in the wake of provision of funds for the growth regimes of the tourism industry. Tourism would be conducted best if it is left to the locals as it is a thriving industry. However the role of government is of essence as it works as a helping agent in whole scheme of things. The same is the case with the hospitality industry as it caters to the different stakeholders in much the same way as tourism. The service standards within the global hotel chains provide an interesting measure of the revenue that these hotels could earn. Since the guests demand a lot of service measures to be made a part of their stay at the respective hotels, the revenue could exponentially multiply at the hotels where service is of the highest standards. It means that the staff behavior towards the customers/guests is out class and there are no two views about the very same aspect. The global hotel chains have a similar understanding as far as the service standards are concerned and they leave no stone unturned when it comes to a firm grasp of the guests’ needs and wants. The ethical behavior with their own staff is also an interesting debate that has been making the relevant rounds and hotels need to instill the pride and much needed confidence within their own hotel staff so that they could work to their optimum levels and provide for all the services that are needed by the guests and customers. This an happen if the staff knows that their wants and needs are being taken care of in an efficient manner by the hotel management and the top notch within the hotel echelons are doing their utmost to guarantee the very same at all times possible. One must understand that the end result is there for the taking, by the hotel management itself. The revenue would increase and so would the chances of having more and more guests over a period of time within the hotel – thus increasing the rapport amongst the global hotel clan as well as the bonding that it creates with the existing guests and the potential ones who plan to stay in such hotels during their stay at the cities where these hotels are. The marketing field is slowly diversifying with the introduction of the new environment marketing or more popularly known as green marketing which is a pertinent aspect of corporate social responsibility. Consumers and producers are becoming more sensitive to the environment and are thus creating more ‘environmental friendly’ products. Businesses are now modifying themselves to accommodate this new phenomenon. Environmental management systems and waste minimization are now being paid more attention to. Journals such as Business Strategy and the Environment and Greener Management International and other reports are being created to support a more ‘green environment’. Ecological marketing (which has now evolved into green marketing) is the study of the positive and negative aspects of marketing activities on pollution, energy depletion and non-energy resource depletion. This definition is highly sub-divisional and examines both the process of marketing and the environment as interdependent variables and examines their joint effort and its positive and negative consequences upon society in general. However today, this definition proposed, may be deemed inadequate or insufficient. Whilst green marketing may be the age old ecological marketing which was first discussed in 1975, over the years this process has undergone noticeable changes. The general lack of consistency in a standard definition of green marketing has led to ambiguity in research. Researchers are unsure of what all may or may not be inclusive in the subject they are researching on. Many individuals and firms have offered their own personal definitions to simplify ‘green marketing’ coming under the direct hold of corporate social responsibility. Most proposed definitions of green marketing integrate the standard definition of marketing which are all activities designed to generate and facilitate any exchanges intended to satisfy human needs or wants. This standard definition of marketing keeps in mind the basic purpose of marketing, to maintain and/or initiate a buyer seller relationship that is mutually beneficial to both parties. Because of this lack of a uniformed definition for green marketing, people wrongly believe that the term is restricted to goods that are recyclable, ozone friendly, refillable etc. These terms, though active terms of green marketing, fail to highlight the bigger picture that green marketing can also be applied to industrial and consumer goods and services. An excellent example of this would be resorts that promote themselves as ‘ecotourist’ with facilities that makes its customers experience nature etc. Green marketing or environmental marketing is being applied by renowned and reputable organizations. Organizations such as The Body Shop, which were always environmentally active, established a pattern of providing alternatives to the available cosmetic products. This resulted in the creation of a new line of cosmetics that paved the way for competitors to follow. In a study conducted in 1992 of sixteen countries, it was discovered that more than 50% of consumers in each country, indicated they were concerned about the environment. Whilst in another study conducted in 1994 in Australia found that 84.6% believed all individuals had a responsibility to be sensitive to the environment. 80% of the subjects claimed they had modified their behavior, including their purchasing behavior, for environmental reasons. The popularity of environment friendly products amongst the consumers, led to many organizations following in this trend. Generally there are five reasons cited as to why organizations would turn to Green Marketing which are: Organizations perceive environmental marketing to be an opportunity that can be used to achieve its objectives Organizations believe they have a moral obligation to be more socially responsible Governmental bodies are forcing firms to become more responsible Competitors environmental activities pressure firms to change their environmental marketing activities Cost factors associated with waste disposal, or reductions in material usage forces firms to modify their behavior In the case of corporate social responsibility the government intervened and to protect consumers and society, came out with regulations to: Reduce production of harmful goods or by-products Modify consumer and industrys use and/or consumption of harmful goods Ensure that all types of consumers have the ability to evaluate the environmental composition of goods. The government has played such an imperative role in implementing these reforms that the productions of many by-products are controlled through issuing various environmental licenses. At other times, the government tries to induce its customers to be more socially responsible. If one were to investigate the importance of corporate social responsibility and try and discover why it is important, one would arrive at the simple conclusion that green market is the preservation of our limited natural resources. Individuals and organizations are showing an obvious preference for green market so as to be more considerate of the environment. Companies are now realizing the social role they have to play. They are now seeing themselves as part of a greater community. Tourism and hospitality industries have found a way of adhering to this new trend of becoming environmental friendly yet keeping their objective of making profit in mind. Not every firm promotes the fact that it is environment friendly and in line with the notion of corporate social responsibility. A reason for firms not highlighting their conscious attitude towards corporate social responsibility would be that if firms were to draw attention to the fact that they are socially responsible, they face the risk of being declared negligent or harmful to the environment as with the changes and improvements in research and technology constantly in the shift. At present, green marketing/ environment marketing has no strategies for the conventional process of segmenting, targeting and positioning. Bibliography Berkhout, Tom. (2005). Corporate Gains: Corporate Social Responsibility Can Be the Strategic Engine for Long-Term Corporate Profits and Responsible Social Development. Alternatives Journal, Vol. 31 Besser, Terry L. (2002). The Conscience of Capitalism: Business Social Responsibility to Communities. Praeger Dunning, John. (2003). Making Globalization Good: The Moral Challenges of Global Capitalism. Oxford University Press Husted, Bryan W. (2006). Corporate Social Responsibility in the Multinational Enterprise: Strategic and Institutional Approaches. Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 37 Kline, John M. (2005). Ethics for International Business: Decision Making in a Global Political Economy. Routledge Lambert, Susan J. (2005). Work and Life Integration: Organizational, Cultural, and Individual Perspectives. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Lefkowitz, Joel. (2003). Ethics and Values in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Marty, Diane. (2007). Calling All Consumers: Green Marketing for Green Products. E, Vol. 18 Moore, Curtis. (1995). Green Revolution in the Making. Sierra, Vol. 80 Munt, Ian. (2003). Tourism & Sustainability: Development and Tourism in the Third World. Routledge Pardue, Leslie. (1994). Multilevel Marketing Goes Green. E, Vol. 5 Proctor, Tony. (2000). Strategic Marketing: An Introduction. Routledge Rudman, Richard. (2003). Performance Planning and Review: Making Employee Appraisals Work. Allen & Unwin Scheer, Roddy. (2006). Greening Up the Downline: Multi-Level Marketing Comes of Age. E, Vol. 17 Siegel, Donald S. (2006). Three Lenses on the Multinational Enterprise: Politics, Corruption, and Corporate Social Responsibility. Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 37 Simmons, Annette. (2003). When Performance Reviews Fail: Performance Management Often Conflicts with Relationship Management. Negative Feedback Doesnt Motivate; Ignoring the Subjective Element in Reviews Undermines Employee Attitudes. Heres a Proposal for an Alternative Review System That Takes into Account the Important Emotional Aspects. T&D, Vol. 57 Sims, Ronald R. (2003). Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility: Why Giants Fall. Praeger Zietsma, Charlene. (1999). Shades of Green: Cognitive Framing and the Dynamics of Corporate Environmental Response. 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