...UGB247- Responsible Business Report on Corporate Responsibility ‘Fashion Retailing in Europe’ Laura Wallace: 1083579942 Module Leader/ Tutor: Mark Winter 15th May 2015 Word Count: 3,296 1 Contents 1.0 What is Corporate Responsibility? Page 3 2.0 Key Issues of Corporate Responsibility Page 3 2.1 Issues Relating to Outsourcing Page 4 and 5 2.2 Child Labour Page 5 and 6 2.3 The Use of Animal Fur and Environmental Issues Page 6 and 7 3.0 Best Practice Within the Sector Page 7 3.1 Primark, Compensation and Utilitarianism Page 7 and 8 3.2 H&M, Child Labour and Deontology Page 8 3.3 M&S and Virtue Theory Page 8 and 9 4.0 Recommendations Page 9 4.1 Responsibility Auditing Page 9 4.2 Education Page 9 and 10 4.3 Making a Stand Against Animal Fur Page 10 5.0 Conclusion Page 10 6.0 References Page 11 and 12 7.0 Appendices Page 13, 14, 15 and 16 2 1.0 What is Corporate Responsibility? Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is “about businesses and other organizations going beyond the legal obligations to manage the impact they have on the environment and society.” (Lea, 2002) In recent years, the fashion retailing sector in Europe has gained a lot of media interest over its irresponsibility to society and its employees. Some companies which have been under scrutiny around this issue include: Primark, Zara and H&M as well as many other brands which are increasingly popular...
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...About my in-class writing submission in week 2 tutorial about my understanding of the need of engage in responsible commerce, it is just a superficial discussion. At that time I did not thinking about this topic systematically. In that article, I only talk about the importance of responsible commerce like how necessary of responsible commerce and what consequences it can be brought if there is not responsible commerce. To my mind, ‘responsible commerce’ refers to the corporation preventing and solving long term issues to maximize the benefits of the shareholders and stakeholders which compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards and international norms. But during the study of COMM101, I found that the principles of responsible commerce are really important for the development of our society, both in economic and culture areas. With the development of globalization, the competition among industries becomes more and more fierce. How to earn more profits with much lower operational cost has become every company's concern and pursuit. Unfortunately, in order to reach their profitable goal, many companies adopt illegal and immoral methods to conquer the market and maintain their market share. However, their improper market behavior is devastating to both the market and the enterprises themselves. On the one hand, their immoral market activity may break the market rules and regulation, which in turn disrupt the normal running of this industry and threaten the operation...
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...Week 6 tute: Is Responsible Business Important? (Assessed) Research about the ‘phone hacking’ scandal involving News International and be prepared to discuss the following based on the ‘Sorry’ advertisement reproduced below. 1. Identify three key aspects of the ‘phone hacking’ scandal? On 13 November 2005, the News of the World published an article written by royal editor Clive Goodman, claiming that Prince William was in the process of borrowing a portable editing suite. Following the publication, the Prince and royal staff met to try to figure out how the details of their arrangement had been leaked, as only two other people were aware of it, and asked police for investigation. In August 2006, Goodman and private investigator Mulcaire were arrested by the Metropolitan Police, and later charged with hacking the telephones of members of the royal family by accessing voicemail messages. It was first reported by The Guardian on 4 July 2011 that police had found evidence suggesting that the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire collected personal information about the family of the missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler, following her disappearance in March 2002 and the subsequent discovery of her body six months later. According to the paper, journalists working for the News of the World had hired private investigators to hack into Dowler's voicemail inbox while she was still missing. It was alleged that they had deleted some messages, giving false hope to police and to Dowler's...
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...Tutorial 1: What is does the term ‘responsible business’ mean to you? Knight (2015) noted that the word ‘responsible’ can be seen as accountable as well, and principles of responsible commerce is another language rather than accounting, marketing etc. The ORB (2009) website provides information about the definition of responsible business, which is business responsibility is often known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and CSR is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large. For me, responsible is someone treats something as his or her obligation. And business is activities of buying and selling, or in another word, social dealings between hundreds of thousands people all around the world. So my understanding of the term “responsible business” is that companies and firms should build their businesses with the consideration of morality and values rather than only aim to maximize their profits, which means companies and firms should build a socially acceptable business that not only according to shareholders’ wants but also have good influences for society and the environment of our planet. Knight (2015) discussed there are two points of views as in shareholder and stakeholder. Docstos (2009) post details about these two theories that stakeholder theory is businesses have corporate social responsibilities...
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...Responsible Business Pressure Groups-F.O.E. | Pressure Groups | 1. Introduction Like a mantra, so has responsible business been for the current generation. There are many interpretations of the different underpinning concepts but, with contested definitions. Externally pressure groups seek to pressure the government and business to pursue sustainable policies and practises. The government have a role to ensure societal expectations of business are met. Thus, section two shall review various interpretations of responsible business. Section three shall outline and evaluate the issues surrounding pressure groups, whilst section four shall evaluate the role of government as an enabler and barrier. To achieve these, academic, government and expert materials shall be cited. 2. Copious studies (Carroll 1999; Kerlin 2006; Elkington 1997) have attempted to explain what constitutes ‘Responsible Business’ (RB) through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Sustainable Business (SB), Corporate Responsibility (CR), and Social Enterprise (SE). To have an overview of RB, it is necessary to define the term responsible. And also, answer questions such as to whom, for what is business responsible and how are those responsibilities defined. Argandona and Hoivik (2009; 12) defined ‘responsible’ “as being accountable” i.e. assuming an obligation to care. Friedman (1970) argued that business...
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...Ethical a Socially Responsible Business 1. Describe key areas of the selected company’s code of conduct that are of significant importance to the business, and explain why. Ethical and social responsibility of a company are critical to the integrity of the organization and how the community at large views and supports the organization. As stated by Kelly, McGowen, & Williams, 2014, Ethics is about standards of beliefs regarding right and wrong, good and bad and business ethics is how this is applied in the workplace. In business, ethics is directed towards the conduct of individual employees of the organization with regard to their daily behavior. However, Social Responsibility is the organizations obligation to contribute to the great good of society. Chipolte has specific polic in their code of conduct that specifically address holders, who are As a Service Representative working with customers on a daily basis for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, sustaining effective communications with our customers and my co-workers is essential in accomplishing and maintaining my daily work activities, 2) Explain the steps that the company should take to ensure that employees follow the code of conduct. The communication was effective and valued; the customer was contacted, informed, apologized to about the reservation issue and was supported with future service that will be completely satisfied. It provides the management team detailed understanding and awareness that there was...
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...1.0 Introduction 1.1Definition of Responsible Business Responsible business is the same meaning as business ethics which mean runs a business honestly, and tries to think more about the environment and people when making decisions for business, so that can make a positive contribution to the local community and wider society (ORB, n.d.). Besides, business responsibilities also known as Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR), it was actually a management concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental will be more concern in business operation and interaction with stakeholders. According to Starbucks (2004), a responsible company is the one who always listen to the stakeholders and response honestly with concern. Stake holders can be categorise as a person, organisation or a group that has interest or related in an organization. Examples for stakeholders are directors, creditors, employees, shareholders, supplies, government, the community and unions. Proton 1.2 History of Proton Malaysia PROTON (Perusahan Otomobil Nasional Berhad) started their very first business on May 7, 1983 and main in manufacture, sell motor vehicles and related products, which including spare parts accessories for vehicles and other components. As a very memorable history, the first car that produced by PROTON is Proton Saga (Appendix 1), which is launched on July 9, 1985. The original idea that conceived the Malaysia car is actually by a Malaysian, his name is Dato’ Seri Mahatir...
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...Article Critique In his article, “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits,” Milton Friedman asserts that businesses should devote themselves to the sole quest of optimizing earnings. Friedman’s entire hypothesis rests on a model where an executive decides the activities the company shall undertake alone. This model is possible, but unlikely since business activities ought to be designed by many stakeholder groups, other than the executives. (p. 211). This is because public relations is an effective tool for shaping the opinion of consumers regarding a corporation and structuring the image of the business. However, in expressing his argument, Friedman relies on several logical fallacies that constitute abstract relations meant to stir the emotions of the reader. By creating a false society where income and collective good are mutually exclusive, social accountability compares to communism, and workers are separated from the society. Friedman’s narrow argument is devoid of scale and methodical firmness and fails to persuade the reader of its logical qualities. This commentary aims at clarifying the significance of corporate social responsibility and establishes how organizations can achieve their profit motives in a socially responsible manner. First, Friedman pushes the reader to take his side by creating an abstract division amid profits and social accountability. In his view of a capitalist economy, the one and only responsibility...
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...clients, and its employees. With this in mind, it is important for each and every business to be socially responsible. According to Meeting Professionals International, “social responsibility” is defined as the responsibility of an organization for the impacts of its decisions and activities on the society, the environment, and its own prosperity. (“Committed to Improving Our World”, 2012). This approach does two things: It helps to build the company’s reputation which will have a great impact on its customer base, and it also gives back to the community, which in turn helps our economy. In a price-conscious world, it is difficult for businesses to welcome the idea of “giving back” to the community. However, in the long run, giving back is what will help to increase the customer base over time. After all, the community that the business is giving back to is the same community that provides daily financial support for the business. Company Q faces several challenges that further goes to support why it should practice social responsibility. Being a small chain store in a big metropolitan area, the competition alone from the big brands stands to reason why Company Q should opt to support certain philanthropic activities, even it means taking a small loss in the beginning. Currently, it appears that Company Q is rather closed-minded toward being socially responsible. There are three areas where I would recommend Company Q improve as it relates to...
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...1a. Describe THOUGHTFULLY why it is important to understand the roles and functions of investment theory and social responsibility in a global economy. Ans.) The concept of social responsibility was not just conceptually valid, but could also be framed as a valid statistical construct. Social responsibility had been positively associated with financial outcomes. Typical socially responsible investors tilt their portfolios toward stocks of companies with high scores on social responsibility characteristics and shun stocks of companies associated with tobacco, alcohol, gambling, firearms, and military or nuclear operations. Analyzing 1992-2007 returns of stocks rated on social responsibility, study found that this tilt gave such investors an advantage over conventional investors. The study also found that shunning resulted in a disadvantage for such investors relative to conventional investors. The advantage from tilting toward stocks of companies with high social responsibility scores is largely offset by the disadvantage from the exclusion of stocks of shunned companies. Socially responsible investors can thus do both well and good by adopting the best-in-class method in constructing their portfolios: tilting toward stocks of companies with high scores on social responsibility characteristics but refraining from shunning stocks of any company. Social responsibility is an ethical ideology or theory that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to...
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...STOCKHOLM SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS Master thesis within Finance Evaluating the Performance of Socially Responsible Investment Funds: A Holding Data Analysis H. Camilla Stenström* Jessica J. Thorell** Abstract: This paper investigates the performance of regular mutual funds compared to Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) mutual funds, over the time period of January 2001 to September 2007. The paper extends the research on the performance of SRI funds by using holding data of regular funds to create replicating portfolios. In the replicating portfolios, unethical investments are excluded according to a norm-based screening list, hence creating artificial SRI funds. The replicating portfolio returns are then used as a benchmark to compare against the SRI funds’ and regular funds’ returns. Results from the study indicate that an exclusion of companies according to norm-based screening can improve a fund’s performance. However, when looking specifically at the fund management of SRI funds, the results point towards inferior performance compared to regular funds. Key Words: Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) funds, ethical investments, holding data analysis, norm-based screening PhD Stefan Engström 13:15-15:00, December 14, 2007 Room 349, Stockholm School of Economics Tutor: Presentation: Venue: * 19873@student.hhs.se ** 19924@student.hhs.se H.C. Stenström and J.J. Thorell ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks to tutor PhD Stefan Engström for all support and guidance...
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...students to learn. To what extent do you agree? Is computer-mediated learning more effective than traditional methods? Are children better than adult when learning a new language? Should the role of ICT in secondary school classrooms be increased in the study of mathematics and language? What is the role of the early childhood educator in teacher social behaviours in children? Are children over-protected in early childhood education environments? Economics and Business What factors are behind stock market fluctuations and how do they impact? Which have the most significant impact, and why? (suitable for Banking and Finance). How do government tariffs impact on imported goods? What are the pros and cons of these tariffs and what are the likely future trends? What is the impact on organisations of implementing corporate social responsibility? What are the most important factors that influence customer satisfaction when buying online? What factors influence the implementation of corporate social responsibility in business? Accounting Is fair value accounting...
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...OKE STEPHEN SSP12/13/H/0831 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is typically described as self-regulation that is part of a corporation's business model and strategic plan. In a perfect world, CSR means that a business monitors itself to make sure it adheres to legal, ethical, environmental, and international standards across its operations. The more visible aspect of CSR is a corporation's willingness to promote and support community, national, and global causes. Corporations do this through corporate philanthropy, cause-related marketing, and sponsorships. CSR aspires to honor people, planet, profits...in that order. Corporate initiative to assess and take responsibility for the company's effects on the environment and impact on social welfare. The term generally applies to company efforts that go beyond what may be required by regulators or environmental protection groups. Corporate social responsibility may also be referred to as "corporate citizenship" and can involve incurring short-term costs that do not provide an immediate financial benefit to the company, but instead promote positive social and environmental change. Companies have a lot of power in the community and in the national economy. They control a lot of assets, and may have billions in cash at their disposal for socially conscious investments and programs. Some companies may engage in "greenwashing", or feigning interest in corporate responsibility, but many large...
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...we purchase and use on a daily basis. We use and consume this items because the publicity representatives and marketers convince us it’s for our own good According to Kokemuller (2012), "Corporate social responsibility is generally perceived as a positive business ideology in the 21st century, despite some challenges. A significant expansion of basic business ethics, CSR establishes guidelines for ethical and socially responsible behavior. It addresses how companies that want to satisfy government and societal requirements should treat key stakeholder groups, including customers, suppliers, employees and the community." In other words, corporations that want to maintain high levels of revenue can no longer “look” good they must prove to the customers and other people involved that they “are” good. There is another way to look at the concept of social responsibility by linking it to individual social responsibility. "Being Socially Responsible means that people and organizations must behave ethically and with sensitivity toward social, cultural, economic and environmental issues. Striving for social responsibility helps individuals, organizations and governments have a positive impact on development, business and society with a positive contribution to bottom-line results (Social Entrepreneur, 2012)." The concept of individual social...
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...significantly to the sustainable long tail. Building a Vision-Guided, Values-Driven Organization Richard Barrett is the Managing Partner of Richard Barrett and Associates and creator of the Corporate Transformation Tools®. He has written a powerful article on values driven companies. Barrett believes that organizational values are more important today than at any other time in history because the personal and societal context within which business operates is changing. Who you are as an organization, and what you stand for, is just as important as what you sell. The values that an organization lives by are important to a variety of stakeholders: Societal: Organizational values need to meet society’s expectations with regard to environmental stewardship and social responsibility. Failure to support society’s values can have a very significant impact on financial performance. Shareholders: Organizational values need to meet the needs of the new breed of shareholders that are only investing in companies that: (a) meet socially responsible investment criteria; and (b) compete to be the best companies to work for, or other quality awards. Potential employees: To attract the best people, the organizational values need to meet the needs of potential new employees who are choosing to work in organizational cultures...
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