Company Q and Social Responsibility

Companies that are willing to contribute resources to various causes are preferred by customers and shareholders. Responsible businesses are able to attract more investors and customers will feel good utilising the services provided by companies that aid the community. This in turn increases profits gained by Qantas, which is the primary concern for any business. No organisation can exist alone, interaction with the community is unavoidable. Corporate social responsibilities help to strengthen the relationship between the company and the people through producing a positive impact on

Other than an increase in consumption of fresh fruits, vegetables and grain-based products, vitamins and nutritional supplements have also seen an increase demand due to changes in societal trends. Americans are now more willing to splurge on healthy, organic foods. In fact, organic foods are deemed beneficial and it has since been accepted as a mainstream choice of diet. Changing preferences due to a higher proportion of women in the workforce also mean that consumers today prefer a one-stop shopping experience that is being offered by Whole Foods.

or so many years our society has been thinking of forming new creative and innovative businesses, which would be more environmental and customer friendly. Nowadays a large number of different companies follow the social, ethical, as well as moral consequences when it comes to their decision making. One of the relatively new concepts involving economic and social concerns is Corporate Social Responsibility. Many of us apply this approach not only at work, but also in everyday life without even recognizing.

In spite of all advantages mention earlier about ethically and socially responsible business practice, it also has disadvantages, limitation and challenges. The most common and obvious limitation would be the cost that comes together with every investment a business does in order to meet all publicity’s requirements, for instance setting up Ronald McDonald House Charities. Every business has a goal which is at the top of their goal list and it is to be profitable. What is more, it is challenging to maintain the publicity’s and stakeholders’ satisfaction when investing into the society, employees and the environment.

Company Q is a corporation whose stakeholders have not placed a major emphasis on social responsibility, instead it appears that the primary focus is placed on profit. With their profits on the decline, they are shying away from opportunities to help their community. By placing a higher priority on social responsibility Company Q will have the opportunity to help the community through charitable donations, employee volunteer initiatives, and creating quality jobs for the persons who live in the community. At the same time, Company Q will can also improve their public image and potentially increase profit.

Social responsibility in business can be defined as the obligation an organization has to minimize its negative social impact on stakeholders and to maximize its positive impact. In this case study we are introduced to a small local grocery chain referred to as Company Q. Located in a major metropolis, Company Q has recently closed some stores in areas of the city with higher crime-rates. They have started to stock a very limited amount of organic and health-conscience products after years of requests from their customers. Management has declined participating in a program to send expired food to a local food bank based on fears of employee theft by means of taking advantage of the situation. Based on the

Company Q missed a few opportunities to improve their attitude toward social responsibility. The first is closing the stores. The areas where the stores closed were in high-crime-rate areas, before

Company Q does not currently have a positive attitude toward social responsibility. They recently closed several stores in higher crime areas. This has eliminated job positions that were held by residents of the area and taken away revenue from the community itself. This is not being socially responsible. The company just started offering a limited selection of health and organic foods despite that the demand from customers has been there for years. They have also made the decision to not donate day old food to the local shelters, opting instead to waste the food by throwing it away. Company Q needs to make several changes in their company behavior in order to become more socially responsible.

Dannon 's CSR focused on three aspects—nutrition and health, people, and nature (Marquis et al, 2011). Despite its efforts, Dannon was not known for its CSR directives. The company 's CSR history was mostly internal—not well known to consumers—and a stark contrast to the company 's major competitor Yoplait, celebrated for its annual “Save Lids to Save Lives” campaign (Marquis et al, 2011). Contemplating on the direction Dannon should take, if any, Neuwrith sought council from company stakeholders (Marquis et al, 2011).

Keeping this definition in mind while evaluating Company Q’s attitude toward social responsibility, it is apparent they have developed a reputation for not caring about the community by closing stores in higher crime rate areas, only offering a limited supply of healthconscience and organic products, and

Many believe that business entities should have an ethical duty to be socially responsible, to work towards increasing its positive effects on society while decreasing its negative effects. Many organizations look for opportunities to be socially responsible while also creating shareholder wealth.

Businesses today face a plethora of ethical duties such as upholding corporate governance, maintaining stakeholder relationships, and presenting an image of social responsibility. In review of Company Q’s (Q) current ethics culture, its image in regards to social responsibility is not equivalent to that of its competitors. In a growing market faced with increasingly challenging competition, there are several areas that Q can and needs to address to bring the company to a level of social responsibility that exceeds stakeholder expectations. First, attention Q needs to address market demands for additional locations to better

Company Q has shown little to no social responsibility. They have not demonstrated to the communities they are in that they are a reliable company by staying in the community. By

According to Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer, the modern day corporate social responsibility goes far beyond the old philanthropy of the past that is donating money to good causes at the end of the financial year and is instead an all year round responsibility that companies accept for the environment around them, for the best working practices, for their engagement in their local communities and for their recognition that brand names depend not only on quality, price and uniqueness but on how, cumulatively, they interact with companies’ workforce, community and environment. It is necessary to move towards a challenging measure of corporate responsibility, where judgment results are not just by the input

The centre of the debate about the CSR is the nature and extent of corporate obligations that extend beyond the economic and legal responsibilities of the firm. “The idea of social responsibilities supposes that the corporation has not only economic and legal obligations, but also certain responsibilities to society which extend beyond these obligations” (McGuire, 1963: 144). The issue is therefore critical for the firm as it is in the business’s long-term self-interest to be socially responsible. If Chiquita wants to have a healthy climate in which to function in the future, it must take actions now to ensure its long-term viability. Ultimately it will benefit the company by “winning the public” because the public believe firms should take on social responsibility.