A Corporate Situation That Could Disturb Managers in the Company - Research Paper Example

Corporate Social Responsibility Executive Summary The research aims at enhancing and identifying a corporate situation that could disturb managers in the company. One of the situations that were identified and analyzed in this report is the implementation of corporate social responsibility. Most managers face a rough time in implementing corporate social responsibility. The challenging situation is deciding the type of the responsibility to implement, and training the parties who will be responsible in implementing it. In order to supplement the wealth of research that already exists in this domain with a more practical approach on how to implement corporate social responsibility; I interviewed our main competitors in the market and the randomly collected people from the community. The information collected has been used to compile this report. Tables of Contents Executive Summary 1 Introduction 4 Challenges Facing Implementation 4 Market Situation 5 Methodology of Corporate Social Responsibility 6 Lack of Departmental Commitments 6 Accessing Corporate Social Responsibility 7 Research methods 8 Current corporate social responsibility issues and practices 9 Key issues in company’s performance 9 Corporate social responsibility in practice in the company 10 i.Strategy 11 ii.Management 12 iii.Performance 12 Analysis of Findings 13 i.Comprehensiveness 13 ii.Accountability 13 iii.Implementation Challenges 13 iv.Factors that will increase the impact 14 Summary and Recommendation 14 Recommendation 15 i.Conduct additional research 15 ii.Clarify accountability and responsibility 15 a)Clarify accountabilities 16 b)Building capacity 16 c)Engage with other stakeholders 16 iii.Build the capacity of the civil society 16 iv.Establish control and monitoring committee 17 Conclusion 17 References 18 Introduction In my capacity as a manager, I have dealt with the most difficult situation in my company. The most challenging situations I faced were deciding the relevant corporate social responsibility to adopt. It is essential for every company to have social corporate responsibility because it is a way of returning services the community. However, the situation of deciding the type to adopt can be a great challenge for various managers. Challenges Facing Implementation The primary challenging situation in the implementation process is when the managers are about to decide the kind of corporate social responsibility to adopt. This is because the existing types of corporate social responsibility are essential for the company. According Schwartz (2011), the success of the company entirely depends on the corporate social responsibility a company has involved itself in. However, there are various factors that contribute to the success of the company. Scientific managers such as Frederick Taylor believe that corporate social responsibility improves the company’s performances. This is because the company will position itself well in the market. The company image is essential because it acts as a marketing tool for the company. It is, therefore, advisable for the company to ensure that they adopt effective strategies to ensure that they position their self well in the market. Some of the various types of corporate social responsibilities comprise of the following: Environmental Responsibility Human Rights Responsibilities Financial Responsibility Political Responsibility Market Situation Implementation of corporate social responsibilities will help the company boost its marketability. The current market condition is good for the company. This is because the market size is large with many potential buyers. Market research indicates that the company is enjoying high speed to market because of the ready market which is available. Other factors that emerged are that the company was enjoying the uniqueness of offer because the company is effective issues of differentiation. These factors are essential though the needs to participate in the corporate social responsibility so that they can attract customers. It is essential for the company to return services to the services so that they can develop customer loyalty. According to Brennan (2011), customer loyalty is a free marketing tool because it is evidence that one satisfied customer is able to attract or refer 10 customers. Its verse is also through because unsatisfied customer can discourage many customers (Nannette, 2009). A company can achieve customers’ loyalty through various means through the corporate social responsibility is the most effective way of achieving it. Manager and other top personnel in an organization need to strategize effectively so that they can overcome all the obstacles that can interfere with the implementation of the social responsibility. Methodology of Corporate Social Responsibility Managers are facing issues when implementing social responsibility because of the unfavorable environment within the institution. However, the resistance can be overcome by assessing the following aspect of business: a) Employees b) Customers c) Suppliers d) Communities e) Environment Even though the corporate responsibility is maintainable as it involves activities that can be upheld by the company, it can also be time consuming. It is hard for the company to be interdisciplinary-expert because companies lack time for such. Furthermore, some companies can find it impossible finding appropriate training materials. Successful implementation requires training for the people who have been selected to implement the proposed social responsibility. Training of the staff members who are implementing the social responsibility is essential so that they can be able to handle customers who are likely to disregard social responsibility endeavors. In most cases, customers view this as a marketing ploy, and they conclude that the company is simply trying to drum up good public relations and win customers. Lack of Departmental Commitments Some departments are not willing to commit themselves to the project because corporate social involves the use of money on some things that are not directly rated with the business. Such resistance can be of a great problem to the top managers who are responsible for implementation. Furthermore, some managers might fail to support the implementation process because they believe that the implementation process is likely to shift the focus away from the company’s main business concerning. To overcome such problems, it is, vital to carry out training for the department head on advantages of corporate social responsibility. There is a need to notify the entire staff on the advantages of implementing corporate social responsibility. Besides, it is essential to define the entire departments within the company on expectations of various apartments. The company’s management should also ensure that the number of staff members is sufficient to carry out the implementation process in the company. This means that the company needs to employ additional staff within the community. The company needs to work closely with the community so that the people within the community can feel that the company is part of them. The corporate social responsibility itself should form a strong fundamental and integral part of any organization’s corporate governance strategy. Accessing Corporate Social Responsibility The relevant authorities in the company have developed a simple framework for the purposes of understanding and assessing how corporate social responsibility is practiced in the company perspective. This framework has utilized various literature and toolkits; it comprises the Responsible Competitiveness Index reporting guidelines. This framework is essential because it enables managers to assess the extent in which the corporate social responsibility of the company have progress starting from philanthropic interventions to innovative value-adding initiatives. The frame shown below indicates the standard management cycles of understanding the required implementation process. These implementation processes are categorized in the form of strategies, management and performance. Fig. 1 Research methods To establish a more comprehensive and qualitative investigation of the implementation process, it is essential for the managers adopt research methods such as interviews and questionnaires. These tools will facilitate the analysis of corporate performance, and the results obtained should be benchmarked against anticipated indicators across Strategy, Management and Performance. However, the researchers can also consider adopting qualitative assessment because it can also provide a sufficient snapshot understanding and success of corporate strategy on corporate social responsibility (Fraser, 2013). The interviews took place one month ago, and the participant is listed in the appendix below. The interviewers were mainly people from the communities within and also organizations within the town. Current corporate social responsibility issues and practices This section provides application of corporate social responsibility from the perspective of the company itself and not from the community based assessment and the actual impact of the responsibility. Key issues in company’s performance The research about identifications of corporate situations that could disturb managers while designing implementation procedures has been written primarily with the use of secondary data sources, while the importance of the corporate responsibility to the company was established through primary sources. Other critical issues that have been reflected in the research comprise of: 1) Displacement and conflict, 2) Environmental impacts 3) Service provision to communities The complexity of the implementation process is due to unwilling departments to cooperate. Furthermore, the company needs to employ the expertise to train managers who are heading the implementation process. The top management should also educate various departments on the importance of implementing corporate social responsibility so that the entire departments within the company can support the idea. However, more research and analysis is required to establish resistance for departmental heads. It is not professional to ignore such resistance because the people who are not for the idea might have some functional alternatives. Some analyst believes that when there is resistance to change in an organization, it is hard to implement a corporate social responsibility. Besides, the focus of implementing corporate social responsibility might shift to other less important issues in the company. This is dangerous for both the company and the community because it can lead to the life-threatening issues of environmental management and community service provision. Katrina (211), for example, suggests that the company needs to adopt environmental policies so that they can protect the environment from destruction through pollution. This research is expected to be influential to those individuals who are not welcoming change in the company. The research is detailed on the importance of the corporate social responsibility both to the company and the community. Corporate social responsibility in practice in the company In this section, I analyze and sample findings from interviews with the customers, company stakeholders, as well as company competitors. I complement this analysis basing on the corporate policies of three major stakeholders. I applied this analysis to the framework shown in figure 1, to assess corporate strategy, management and measurement of performance of the corporate social responsibility. i. Strategy According to the interviewees, corporate social responsibility concerned with the provision of basic services to the community, and sharing the success of the company with the entire community. Competitors have corporate social responsibility, and this is likely to affect the company’s performance because the competitors are likely to win many customers. Several interviewees feel part of the company with corporate social responsibility because such companies offer so much to the society. I also realized that many interviewees were not aware of our company because we did participate in effective operate social responsibility. The company gets to be known when they are involved in community building projects. Our company was only known by people who are within. It also came to my attention that most companies do not budget for the corporate social responsibility. This is likely to affect the auditing efforts of both internal and external auditors. It is, therefore, essential to account or budget for the corporate social responsibility because there are various issues that may fall under corporate social responsibility and the fact that they are not necessarily coordinated and consolidated under one budget line (Proctor, 2009). ii. Management I listed all the issues I considered to be collectively be defined as “corporate social responsibility”. Some of the issues I prioritized for the corporate social responsibility intervention include environmental issues (water and soil), infrastructure, human rights, corruption, displacement, staff recruitment and training and revenue transparency. Apart from this, the company needs to establish corporate social responsibility committees for all the branches and the subsidiaries of the company across the country. It is essential to invest in skills and infrastructure than to spend a lot of funds in short term relief efforts. iii. Performance Interviewees (companies) were asked to comment on their relationship with the communities within after implementation of corporate social responsibility. The criteria used was to score in a range of 1 to 10. The results were awesome because most of them gave themselves high scores in this question. However, after careful analysis, it is evident , that the respondent had no mechanism to monitor the performance. It is essential to develop a performance measurement system in place so that the reliable results are obtained. All the interviews confess that the implementation of the corporate social responsibility is one of the best and easiest ways to improve the relation between the company and the community. Finally, some company does not evaluate the impact of corporate social responsibility strategy for their business. It is, therefore, essential to evaluate the impact so that the management can identify areas that require improvement. Analysis of Findings i. Comprehensiveness Most departments within the company do not know the relevance of having corporate social responsibility in the company. The key problem is that most employers lack the understanding of corporate social responsibility. The management of the company needs to educate all the entire staff on the importance of the corporate responsibility. ii. Accountability The interviews reveal that there are various challenges relating to the accountability and the responsibility of the environmental and social problems. The respondents felt that the environmental responsibility rests with the government and the relevant authorities. Others felt that, it is wise for the company to be responsible for the environment. Personally, I believe that the company needs to be accountable for its action because the environment is good for all. iii. Implementation Challenges The companies that were interviewed reveal that the implementation process requires full commitment from the entire organization. It also emerged that the companies who are implementing corporate social responsibility can fail to achieve their goals and objectives because employees are not fully committed to the process (Proctor, 2009). The respondents also talked of the limited resources in the company making implementation process to be impossible. Corporate social responsibility requires adequate resources for effective implementations. Furthermore, the project requires budgeting and control to ensure that the process is smooth. iv. Factors that will increase the impact It is essential for the company to return services to the community and to offer other services in the form of corporate social responsibility. Serving community is essential and other cases, the law requires each company to participate in corporate social responsibility. This will improve the relationship of the company and the community. Summary and Recommendation This qualitative research shows that the implementation of corporate social responsibility can disturb managers in the company. The challenges managers face can sometimes be discouraging and hard to overcome. The key findings are summarized below: a) Managers in some companies can lack the understanding and importance of corporate social responsibility to the company and to the community. b) It is difficult to determine whether the department heads are not willing to discuss the relevance of corporate social responsibility or they lack necessary resources to fund the implementation process c) There is a possibility that the company will likely to face real challenges around community expectation management d) Various departments within the company, the employees have so far been unable to develop strategies to direct, or systems to implement, robust CSR initiatives e) The commitment, accountability, might be hard to establish the company. This makes it impossible to achieve transparency and responsibilities over community and environmental issues f) The lack of proper guidelines, basic knowledge and skills can be a big barrier to the implementation process. g) The company’s management tends to neglect stakeholder’ role in implementing corporate social responsibility. Recommendation i. Conduct additional research It is essential to research the company’s ability to fund the process of implementing corporate responsibility. It is also vital for the company to look for various solutions and train employees who will participate in the implementation process. I recommend that this research be conducted on a wider perspective. The interviewers need to interview different companies so that they can obtain reliable results. It is helpful to have a wide source of information on the likely challenges to be faced in the implementation process. ii. Clarify accountability and responsibility The research indicated that the responsibility of departmental heads on the implementation process was unclear. There should be clear accountability and responsibility for participating managers. This will help the representative to be accountable in certain issues. Finally, to build strong relationship between the community and the departments that holds responsibilities a) Clarify accountabilities Conduct additional research on issues where there is legal and normative responsibility for different aspects of corporate social responsibility. Ensure that the senior managers are involved in the committee of corporate social responsibility so that they are aware of the necessary funds required b) Building capacity Educate the entire staff members on the importance of corporate social responsibility both to the company and the community Conduct the training of the implementing parties and develop a local corporate social responsibility strategy, using focused local data Reinforce company structures and determine the best corporate social responsibility to develop c) Engage with other stakeholders The implementing team should involve civil society groups and communities in designing and planning for the corporate social responsibility to ensure that the desired goals and objectives are achieved. iii. Build the capacity of the civil society Civil society needs to be able to research and present the needs of the people who are living within the town. This will be essential in designing the corporate responsibility that can help and improve the social welfare of the community. The company needs to allocate adequate resources to ensure that the needs of the community are well addressed in the corporate social responsibility. iv. Establish control and monitoring committee This is essential to ensure that the resources are directed as planned. It is always essential to focus on issues that are planned for so that wastage of resources is minimized. Conclusion In conclusion, managers normally face a rough time when implementing change in the company. Change can be anything new provided its repercussion is for the good of the company and the welfare of the community. The implementation of the corporate social responsibility is essential because it will boost the company’s relation to the community. The company will benefit by involving itself in a constructive corporate social responsibility. This is because the company will earn customers’ loyalty. Furthermore, the company will improve its competitive advantage because they will position itself well in the market. On the other hand, the community will benefit from the product safety and the quality. In addition, the community will benefit from the charitable contribution and the Employee volunteer programs. All these issues are essential in the community level; many people will benefit from it. References Schwartz, M. (2011). Corporate Social Responsibility: An Ethical Approach. Broadview Press Brennan, D. (2011). Corporate Social Responsibility: The Corporate Governance of the 21st Century. Kluwer Law International Nannette, R. (2009). The Communication Problem Solver: Simple Tools and Techniques for Busy Managers. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn Fraser, C. (2013). Business Statistics for Competitive Advantage with Excel 2013: Basics, Model Building, Simulation and Cases. Springer Science & Business Katrina, P (2011). Sharing Hidden Know-How: How Managers Solve Thorny Problems With the Knowledge Jam. John Wiley & Sons Proctor, T. (2009). Creative Problem Solving for Managers: Developing skills for decision making and innovation. Routledge Read More