Business Strategy Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Strategy Questions - Essay Example In many companies and organisations, however, this area of social responsibility is often not identified as a major or separate functional area; instead the responsibility is vested on an individual or managing staff, which frequently performs within the human resources management area. (Anderson, 1989, p. 15) Most companies find it no simple matter to formulate and implement socially responsible actions and programs; however, all companies must become concerned and involved in this area. To operate without major disruptions, a company must at all times be in compliance with legal requirements international, federal, state, and local. It must develop, establish, implement, and police a code of ethical and moral conduct for all members of its organisation. In the area of implementing activities on behalf of CSR, where there is considerably more latitude of operations in how, when, where, and even if the company or division wants to contribute money or other resources to 'worthy causes', the firm must deliberate about and resolve many questions prior to establishing fair and workable guidelines. Gone are the 'showing damn to public' attitudes once held by some companies. With a more active government and populace, company social responsibility in each of the three major areas has continued to gain greater concern and prominence over the past several decades. Social responsibility will continue to take more time, money, consideration, and concern in all future management decisions and actions. Diverse managerial skills, ranging from simple to highly complex, are required in all of these areas of social responsibility. It is the social and moral responsibility of an organisation to consider and recognise the rights or interests of various stakeholders first, not only stockholders and employees but also outsiders affected by the company's actions. Among outsiders include customers, suppliers, governments, unions, competitors, local communities, and the general public whereas stakeholder groups justifiably expect and often demand that the firm satisfy their claims in a responsible manner. In general, stockholders claim appropriate returns on their investment; employees seek broadly defined job satisfactions; customers want what they pay for; suppliers seek dependable buyers; unions seek benefit for their members; local communities want the company to be a responsible citizen; and the general public expects the company's existence to improve the quality of life. To be successful in today's business environment, which is dynamic and complex at the same time, organisations must attempt to incorporate t he interests of these groups when defining their strategy or making business decisions. (Sims, 2003, p. 40) To build an enduring and resilient competitive advantage, an organisation must establish strong relationships with all of its key stakeholders due to the fact that no organisations in today's infrastructure can afford to ignore certain other specialised and highly influential groups which include government agencies that look at organisation compliance with regulatory standards, financial-ratings