Discussion and Participation Questions - Essay Example

Another factor to consider is the quantity of philanthropic work companies performed. In order to foster an ethical work environment companies should have a formal code of ethics and an employee manual. Ethics can be used as a factor to gain an advantage over the competition. Social responsibility is one of the hottest trends in the business industry. 2. A company that has achieved great success and incredible levels of growth is Starbucks Cafe. This company took the concept of a coffeehouse to brand new level by offering products of greater quality, great product variety, and excellent customer service.

One of the practices that make this company very socially responsible is its use of fair trade coffee. Fair trade coffee is a practice that guarantees poor farmers across the world at least $1.26 per pound of coffee which is twice the global price of that commodity. This firm has used innovation such as being one of the first coffeehouse to offer Wi-Fi broadband internet free of charge. The firm has taken advantage of technologies to sell downloadable I-tunes. The company offers a lot of value by providing its customers with a great experience in all its stores worldwide. 3. To me it is not out of the ordinary that customization has become as valuable as standardization was at the beginning of the 20th century.

Business has change and companies now have to provide a higher level of customer service and satisfaction. If a customer desires a customized product companies cannot afford to say no because that client will be lost forever and the competition will provide the potential client the customized product or service the person needs. In the service industry customization has become more important than ever. For example consultants provide a specialized customized service to each client they serve. 4. Participation professor Corporate values are very important towards the success a manager can achieve.

A few years ago I worked at a company that was lacking any type of corporate ethics. The manager of the company lied to workers about compensation, incentives, and production quotas among other matters. The employees were offered incentives and the company never honored them. The lies and corruption at this company were so deep that the firm began to steal hours from the workers and the paychecks were received two to three weeks late every pay cycle. The lack of corporate ethics did not allow some of the good supervisors to do their job well since the employees lost all respect they had for the administration. 5. Participation – Matt An environmental factor of great importance that you mentioned in your response is pollution.

Pollution has become one of the most dangerous environmental factors humanity faces. The rising levels of CO2 are contributing to the global warming effect. Humanity is destroying our rainforest at an alarming rate. It is estimated humanity deforestation problem is so bad that at current rate of deforestation all our rainforest will be gone within 100 years. Our water supply is not sufficient to provide water for the entire population of earth. In places such as the Sub-Saharan desert people do not have accessible drinkable water.

Our society is so depend on crude oil that within 40 years it is possible that we may dried up all our petroleum reserves. 6. Participation - Kershena In your response you mentioned the importance of free trade agreements. Free trade agreement