Communication and social networking at any of its level is an important issue in the history and tradition of any society irrespective of its level of development. The case of Mike Sterling shows that communication and effective interaction is a core of any business (Canary et al 2003) The potential benefits of the strategy and policies are improve communication quality and better information sharing. As it has already been mentioned, communication between individuals and groups is usually indissolubly related to social responsibility of these people and groups to the society they live and operate within because all of their interactions to this or that degree influence the social life.
When we consider social responsibility in the context of communication, it is necessary to emphasize upon three angles of this question: individual level of social responsibility, interpersonal communication in the context of social responsibility, and finally, group communication and social responsibility which in many situations can be made equal to corporate social responsibility (if organizations are contemplated). And thus, all these three angles will be discussed hereinafter (Wood, 2003).
Also, change will allow user to share expertise experience, save time & money. There exists such a notion as individual social responsibility. This notion implies the individual becoming responsible in ones actions which may have some kind of effect upon communities outside ones immediate circle (which is ones family and friends). In other words, the individual is always included in the community one lives in, and individual social responsibility will mean interest towards all events which happen within the community, as well as active participation in solving the problems of the community.
What is more, improve job satisfaction also includes donations of the individual for different society purposes. But new communication does not only include donations and participation in the social life, but also ethical behaviour. Ethical behaviour derives from individual knowledge as for what is right and wrong (Knapp and Vangelisti 2004).
Risks
Potential risks are lack of anonymity, potential of misuse of information and inappropriate sharing of sensitive information. If the question arises concerning the practicability of social networking, this appears, that for the most people this question of responsibility is indeed practical, because most of the population in the US (two-thirds, in particular) support their behaviour by decisions which rely on their understanding of what is good and bad.
Individual interests are promoted by people but to the degree their realization does not harm other members of the society. Thus, it is evident, that this theory of communication states that any individual is supposed to take an active part in the life of the society, but not to concentrate on oneself only, for if all people unite and behave in an ethical way and act for the benefit of all society members irrespective of their background, but not act selfishly and on their own account, the society will change for the better.
Also, the proposed changes may lead to information overload, so difficult to handle and malicious intent. In the context of ethics as a crucial element of peoples behavior and attitudes towards society and its members, interpersonal communication also plays a significant part. Interpersonal communication occurs between two or more (as many as four) individuals who see each other and it can be both verbal and non-verbal, as well as both one-way and two-way. Interpersonal communication still is not only subject-object interaction, but a more serious interaction which implies mutual approval of companions. And this as well places a serious importance on responsibility towards the relationship of companions because any interpersonal communication which happens between people can be called a relationship (Wood, 2003).
The process barriers involve all components of the perceptual model of communication. The personal barriers involve components of an individuals communication competence and interpersonal dynamics between people communicating. The physical barriers pertain to the physical distance between people communicating. Finally, the semantic barriers are related to the different understanding and interpretations of the words we use to communicate. The more detailed perceptual barriers to effective communication include stereotyping and generalizing; criticizing or discriminating others based on race, gender, sexual and orientation
Measurable Objectives
The measurable objectives of implementation will involve logging time, number of active users and statistics about types of shared information. Thus, interpersonal responsibility lies in care for interpersonal relationship. And in different types of relations and communications, interpersonal relationship responsibility means the distance and closeness in these relationships, and this is the factor which identifies the quality of any individuals personal life This level of commitment to interdependent living means a lot for people as members of a society because their interaction and mutual respect is vital for the society to exist.
Interpersonal domain includes these two issues. One of them is social interactions of people (engagement with others people who differ from an individual and the degree of cultural sensitivity as well). This is one more aspect of interpersonal relationship respect to representatives of other cultures, with who the interpersonal relationship may occur. The other aspect is social responsibility focus not on the relationship alone, but on responsibility for the relationship to the companion (Sims, 2002).
If group communication is considered, it is as well closely related to the issue of social responsibility, and in this context it is often contemplated as group social responsibility or corporate social responsibility. Often companies, which co-operate within a country or represent different countries in their work, form groups. And these groups in their turn have their social responsibility at the group level. When corporate social responsibility is examined, it is usually an essential part of any business, or at least is supposed to be so. In this context the impact of a companys operation is viewed in conjunction with its influence on society and environment.
The entire strategy of business dealing usually has its impact on the companys environmental and societal footprint. As well, it can be good, if social responsibility of the company is integrated in the processes of work such as investment or decision-taking. Furthermore, successful partnerships may depend greatly upon the politics of social responsibility the company conducts, such as connected with its influence on environment and society. (This works out under condition that the potential partners are as well socially responsible and are concerned with this question) (Robbins, 2002).
High level functional requirements
The social networking system will improve all levels of communication and interaction at MGBI. It is understandable that corporate social responsibility is just an abstract notion in the sense of its composite nature. This composite nature means that even the smallest organizations, let alone serious corporations, are a collection of participants, or stakeholders, who influence the operation of the company. And in many cases, individual social responsibility in particular plays the key part in the formation of corporate social responsibility. This happens because of the fact that any corporation consists of individuals, who help it work and progress, and thus, their individual social responsibility impacts the corporate operations at all levels and in all forms.
Any employee makes ones contribution in corporate social responsibility, and as a result, social, environmental as well as economic goals of the company will be reached. And the examples of this opinion can be many. For instance, to reduce companys carbon footprint, an employee may save electricity and reduce the bills, and in order to prove that the company is socially committed, this employee may participate in social camps organized by the company. Supporting the company in difficult economic situations and being committed and loyal, the employee can improve the companys economic situation. This is the proof that corporate social responsibility depends on individual social responsibility of the companys employees (Knapp and Vangelisti 2004).
Communication within groups here implies communication of employees of an organization, or communication of social workers who work in certain organizations and realize their kind of group social responsibility helping other society members, less provided or those who for some reason have lost everything. In this case, group social responsibility of people is to improve the society, and people operate in groups and share the same ideas and ideals.
Any type of social networking is a crucial thing for the company to be consistent of adequate people who understand what is the best for the society and who are committed to what they do, for any type of social responsibility implies an individuals or a groups responsibility to the society in general, and to each of its members in particular and to the environment. And in this context, it is vital for every person to understand and live to ones social responsibility. To promote effective communication towards diversity, Mike could additionally implement the following initiatives:
involve every employee possible in formulating and executing diversity initiatives in the workplace;
encourage employees to express their ideas and opinions and attribute a sense of equal value (Robbins, 2002).
Conclusion
Thus, it is understandable that social networking implies sharing knowledge to this or that degree, and can happen at different levels, which include individual and small groups, different types of communities and networks, formal organizations, municipalities, states, and finally, international organizations level. As well, it is known, that communication as a form of social interaction happens within the framework of the society, and thus this interaction impacts seriously the behaviors and relations of individuals interacting (Knapp and Vangelisti 2004). Thus, there exists a responsibility for everything said and done by any individual within the society.
This is social responsibility of individuals an entire theory which regulates the relationships between people and which is the basis for the actions people perform. Any entity, whether it be an individual, a company, a government have their responsibility to society for the words spoken and actions performed. A diverse collection of skills and experiences allowed the company to provide service to customers on a global basis with special attention to local demand and consumers taste.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to business activities and practices that organizations participate in for the benefit of the society. These activities do not bring any revenue or profits. CSR in the UAE encompasses a variety of practices ranging from charity work to giving away part of company revenues. CSR has gained increased attention in the last decade primarily due to the influence of globalization. Studies show that CSR in the UAE is shifting from philanthropy-based practices to more expansive strategies that aim to attract customers and improve societies. The three main forms of CSR in the UAE include emiritization, corporate philanthropy, and environment.
Activities that promote emiritization include education, hiring, training, and skills development. One of the main challenges in the UAE is unemployment. The World Bank has identified unemployment as the main development barrier in the Gulf Countries. As a result, many countries have created initiatives in the private and public sectors to promote the creation of job opportunities. Several organizations are providing education, training and development, and career counseling to young people. For instance, TANMIA helps young people find employment by reducing the number of foreign workers in the UAE and increasing the number of youths qualified for jobs. Other companies are trying to increase the number of women in the workforce by finding ways around the religious and cultural limitations that prevent them from getting jobs.
Corporate philanthropy is a very common form of CSR in the UAE. This is driven by the teachings of Islam that value giving to the needy and mitigating the pain and suffering of other people. Companies donate to local charities, set aside part of their revenues for the improvement of communities, and give scholarships to needy students. In addition, they help clinics and hospitals improve the quality of medical care services. Many companies donate money to set up medical facilities that provide medical care to needy people. These companies usually partner with international aid organizations such as WHO and UNICEF.
According to studies, the UAE has huge demands for electricity and, as a result, use fossil fuels to produce energy. The carbon footprint per capita of the UAE is the largest in the world, thus making environmental conservation an important CSR activity in the public and private sectors. UAE has the highest rates of water consumption, carbon dioxide emissions, solid waste, and energy consumption in the world. Therefore, the rates of environmental pollution are relatively high compared to other parts of the world. Companies such as Enoc and DLA Piper have programs that aim to reduce the impacts of business operations on the environment. Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) educates residents on the importance of preserving the environment. The UAE has a stringent waste management program that aims to protect the environment from degradation. The activities of numerous companies augment the policies and programs created by the Emirati government to protect and conserve the environment. Islamic teachings and Sharia consider taking care of the environment an important religious responsibility.
In conclusion, CSR is gaining attention in the UAE. The three main forms of CSR include philanthropy, environmental conservation, and emiritization. Emiritization aims to increase employment opportunities, environmental conservation aims to protect the environment from the massive pollution caused by electricity demands and the use of fossil fuels to produce energy, and philanthropy aims to help needy people by offering scholarships and medical care.
The varying initiatives used by the banking sector in advancing employee-focused corporate social responsibility is explored in the article through a research study conducted in New Zealand and Australia alongside other European based banks. Different banks are analyzed on the basis of their present stated corporate social responsibility that has been focused on employees. In addition, some o the policies used by the very banks based on reports obtained from the annual financial records, corporate social responsibility reports as well as information gathered from the web. These reports are then critically compared with up to date academic literature in addition to internationally recognized standards of regulation.
This detailed research method is aimed at obtaining a more balanced and justified report finding. According to the inferences deduced from the research study, the European bank are generally perceived and assumed to be more thorough and superb in their banking and reporting practices as far as employee-focused corporate social responsibility is concerned. Nonetheless, the Northern Hemisphere banks are also found to be less versatile in certain areas of corporate social responsibility that are focused on employees especially after the findings obtained from New Zealand/Australian banks were concluded. Finally, the research article recaps with the possible limitations of the study conducted and the other research areas which should be conducted in future.
The performance of employees and their general commitment to the well being of a organisation is paramount (Backhuas, et al., 2002). The research study conducted on the European banks focusing on the importance of social corporate responsibility on employees can be used to make business decisions in all levels of management. For instance, the research study is relevant in the sense that it is an eye opener to the management in regard to how employees behave with respect to corporate social responsibility. In addition, the commitment of employees in organizations in relation to corporate social responsibility is very important if any positive growth is to be realized. Organizations which optimize on the potential of employees in their different areas of skills, competence and talent are more likely to reap huge benefits alongside meeting the needs of consumers in the dynamic market (Bentley, 2006).
Moreover, there is a close link between organizational commitment and the general social corporate responsibility (CSR). Through well coordinated CSR, employees and above all, the target market will be able to build long terms relationship. This will in turn create a healthy ground for customer loyalty towards consuming products and services from a particular organisation.
The third most important link is that between organizational commitment and performance. The research study is also relevant to researchers in all business enterprises (Horrigan, 2010).
One significant attribute of employee-focused CSR is that organizations can boost the performance of their employees by engaging then in social exercises. One way through which this can be achieved is through involving the employees in the process of identification of the community needs as well as charting the way forward on how to meet the very needs (Idowu & Filho, 2009). Further, organizations ought to involve the welfare and overall well being of employees in the course of discharging corporate duties. Consumers complete the channel of production and as a result, their needs should also be met. The success of the benefits derived from employee-focused can only be met if the respective organizations comply with the government requirements.
All these initiatives works positively towards affecting the commitment of employees in organizations and at the same time boosting the performance of an organisation. Policies that are related to employees can also be designed with the help of the findings obtained from this research study. Well defined policies that favor rather than hamper the working morale of employees are necessary. Moreover, if employees feel that certain organizational policies are unfavorable and punitive to them, they will lose both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to deliver their services. The level of loyalty will also be affected significantly leading to a lower degree of commitment to the organisation.
The employee-focused CSR research study is also an important point of reference for research studies that may be carried on the subject in future. The main motivating factor that led the researchers to conduct this study is the need to identify why some banks are more successful and profitable than others in the financial market and why customers will be drifted closer to certain organizations than others. From the findings obtained in the research, it is concluded that when the needs of employees and indeed those of consumers are given priority, an organisation will by no doubt be in the right path towards success.
One of the strongest points in the article is that the subject matter is indeed appropriate and applicable to the issue under discussion. The topic A Research Note: Employee-focused corporate social responsibility reporting in the banking industry (Raubenheimer, 2008) has been intensively and extensively researched based on the empirical study of European banks and their initiatives towards employee-focussed corporate social responsibility. The research study has also been backed up with pertinent citations form a variety of sources. Besides, each of the sub domains of the topic has been vividly discussed and as a result, it is quite easy for the reader to follow through.
The organisation of the research method used is also brilliant bearing in mind that the researchers began by collecting secondary data, expounded on their source of data as well as the method used to collect the data. For instance, secondary data was obtained from recent academic literature, reputable websites as well as regulatory bodies such as Charted Institute of Personnel and Development which is based in UK. In addition, the researchers made use of illustrations in form of diagrams. While reading through the content of the article, the reader is left with a feeling of being talked to and not talked down (Crane, 2008).
Another important strength of the article is the relevance of the content matter in relation to purpose of the research. The European/International banks are being compared with their counterparts in New Zealand and Australia. Indeed, the research methodology, results and inferences all abide by the initial purpose of the research.
The researchers also made some background study on the field of employee-focussed corporate social responsibility before embarking in the process of collecting basic data. Such a procedure is indeed necessary for a quality research process whereby background information is used to shed light on the type and nature of data required.
The tallying system used to rank performance indicators in terms of the scores obtained is a useful analytical point in the research. The table is comprehensive and the reader can glance over the key indicators easily. For instance, the research study found out that for banks which have their CSR reporting kept well, diversity is an important ingredient since its number of comprehensive scores was 8. The international reporting standards used as part of data sources for the research is welcome since such standards are have been reviewed objectively and recommended for use (Rettab, et al., 2009).
However, the article presents on major weakness in terms of the methodology used to gather research evidence. The main limitation of the article is that the researchers made use of secondary data in analysing the corporate social responsibility reporting of these banks. The study would have been profound and self supportive if primary data gathered directly from the target audience were incorporated in the research analysis (Hond et al., 2007).
In addition, the researchers analysed a very limited number of banks. The New Zealand/Australian banks that were researched on included the Australian and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), ASB, BNZ and Westpac. The European/international banks that were subjected to research were The Co-operative Bank of England, HSBC Bank of England, Deutsche Bank of Germany, Barclays Bank of England and Danske Bank of Denmark (Raubenheimer, 2008. This was a relatively narrow array of institutions to analyze. In order to reduce the possible error margin, the researchers should have included wider pool of banks, with more variety in terms of geographical location. For instance, most of the banks analysed in Europe mainly came from England.
Another evident weakness in the research is that the banks that the researchers studied banks that are superior in the financial market and ignored the upcoming banks.
The assumption that sources of data used may have been adequate might be wrong. A critical look at corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports will often reveal that institutions may only keep and provide certain data that they think are relevant to them (Mallin, 2009).. Moreover, the use of websites may also prove to be unreliable owing to the extensive use of such sites in advertising. Consequently, some information obtained from websites can be skewed and lack objectivity.
This research study could have been made better by first of all gathering primary data to be used for analysis (Banerjee, 2007). Secondary data should be used sparingly since tan independent and customised study is necessary in order to draw comparative conclusions with previous findings.
After data collection, better analysis tool should be used. For example, the use of SPSS to analyse raw data. Thereafter, the data should be transformed into variables that can be understood. Using the structural equation technique, the data is then analysed and the right hypothesis is drawn. The structural equation assists in the process of identifying variables which are then used to develop the theory into practice. Although this method may be complicated and requires specialised skills, the outcome of any research study is expected to have a negligible error margin (Keinert, 2008).
Finally, it is imperative to note that in spite of the observed weaknesses in the research study carried out on the New Zealand/Australia and European/international banks, the finding were valid. According to other research studies carried out on the influence of employees on social corporate responsibility, it has been found that employee-focussed CSR has a positive effect on the performance of organisations (Albinger &Freeman, 2000). In addition, the research study was keen to include international banks in Europe thereby strengthening the overall outcome.
However, future research on the subject should attempt to explore an in-depth relationship between CSR and human resource issues and establish how the two components can be integrated for optimum organizational performance (Brammer, Millington & Rayton, 2007).
References
Albinger HS, Freeman SJ (2000). Corporate social performance and attractiveness as an employer to different job seeking population . J.Bus. Ethics: 28-243-253.
Backhuas, et al. (2002). Exploring the relationship between corporate social responsibility and employer attractiveness . Bus. Soc., 41:292-318.
Banerjee, B.S. (2007). Corporate social responsibility: the good, the bad and the ugly , Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing limited.
Bentley, E.G. (2006). CSR and staff retention in New Zealand Companies: a literature review . Working Paper Series, Department of Management and International Business, Messy University, New Zealand.
Brammer, S.; Millington, A. and Rayton, B. (2007). The contribution of corporation social responsibility to organizational commitment . Int. J. Hum. Res. Manag. 18 (10):1701-1719.
Crane, A. (2008). The Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility , Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mallin, A.C. (2009). Corporate social responsibility: a case study approach , Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing limited.
Hond, et al. (2007). Managing corporate social responsibility in action: talking, doing and measuring Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited
Horrigan, B. (2010). Corporate Social Responsibility in the 21st Century , Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing limited.
Idowu, O.S. and Filho, L.W. (2009). Global Practices of Corporate Social Responsibility , Berlin: Springer.
Keinert, C. (2008). Corporate social responsibility as an international strategy , Heidelberg: Physica.
Raubenheimer, K. (2008). A Research Note: Employee-focused corporate social responsibility reporting in the banking industry , New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations, 33(3): 91-104.
Rettab, et al. (2009). A study of management perceptions of impact of corporate social responsibility on organizational performance in emerging economic: a case of Dubai . J. Bus. Ethics, 89:317-390.
The business value proposition- affecting and affected by stakeholders. The issue of credit scores is a latest development inmarketplace and already has targeted stakeholders. The success of credit scores is to be passed to these stakeholders. However, the response by stakeholders is going to affect the success of the project far and large.
Entrepreneurship in action. Entrepreneurship is all about putting resources and mind in an area that there are minimal investments. Companies such as Fair Isaac Co and Experian PLC have gone ahead to invest in some areas that are mentioned contrary to the expectations of competitors. The daring nature of these companies shows that there are lots of entrepreneurial skills at play.
Ethics and social responsibility. In this article, there are serious ethical concerns that emerge. For instance, the privacy of participants information is questionable especially id their data is to be used in developing an analysis. It is also critical to mention that companies take social responsibilities upon themselves to protect and improve the well being of others.
Analysis
Credit scores are recentdevelopments in the market. Making behavioral predictions by just asking people to take some scores is adding value to a number of sectors. For example, the Medication Adherence Score is the latest innovation to be brought to the world by Fair Isaac, and aims to gauge likelihood of a person taking prescribed medications.
In this case, it can be seen that this innovation is meant to add value to the companys name. It implies that the targeted stakeholders are to affect the outcome of the test. However, the company has a sole intention of testing its works on the persons, and therefore they become important stakeholders.
Credit scores simply display innovation at work and use of entrepreneurial minds. The rivals and partners to Fair Isaacs innovation agree that the credit score innovation is one of a kind, and which shows that there are great minds at play. Additionally, the proliferation of these scores just shows that there is widening of trade and exploration of new areas of investment.
The idea is to look at areas that have not been exploited, and knowing that it would generate enough interest on the areas; companies are putting their resources and minds on them. The idea itself is unique since it focuses on the historical information of people. The credit scores build on the basis that people have information; for example, the discretionary spending and pay index use the information on how people pay their bills. The latter is apparently entrepreneurship in action and should be highly encouraged.
Ethical concerns are critical in running businesses. In essence, total disregard of the dynamics of people and failure to obtain a go ahead in the use of peoples information is illegal and totally unethical. The invention of credit scores has been used to invade privacies of people, especially in accessing important medical data of a person.
On the same note, it has become important for companies to be responsible to people when it comes to use of their information. Social responsibility in this regard means respecting the dynamics of people and using of the information for only the purposes intended. On this particular invention of credit scores, there are some social responsibilities that are lacking.
To recap it all, it is imperative to emphasize that for businesses, innovationswill be considered to be important only if stakeholders are put into consideration. In a business idea such as development of credit scores, what comes out clearly is the business mind and entrepreneurial skills that are involved in achieving desired goals and objectives.
It is a very sad moment for the citizens of the world when the companies only focuses their efforts on profit making without even caring for the people and environment around where they operate. It is a mere fact to every sensible mankind that the main objective of entering in to business is profit making. Consequently, this does not give the corporate world moral authority to use all means available to them to maximise their profits at the expense of failing to adopt social responsibility programs.
Even though the corporate sector may argue that it is the work of the government to ensure safety for their citizen by taking care of all environmental and social issues which may arise in the course of business undertaking by the corporate sector since they pay taxes to the government. This will not be a moral approach because various companies should be responsibly accountable for the consequences of their business activities which they undertake on daily basis.
Thus this call for all companies to put in place all possible programs of social responsibility and if this programs are implemented effectively then corporate sector will be in good terms with the various stakeholders and thus gain their good will which may be of great boost to their success.
In this case we are going to address various practices which the corporate world can implement to promote their social responsibility (Wood, 2001, p.699). We will are look at some examples of the companies and see what they are doing so far and the consequences which they might have faced or caused due to their failure to incorporate social responsibility programs in their management.
Some social responsibility practices
The social responsibilities entail the acts of companies to embrace the stipulations of law, standards which are ethical and global norms in their day to day activities. This implies that the companies should always be in a position to assume and take responsibility in case something wrong happens in the course of their service delivery.
The companies may need to compensate various stakeholders who may include the employees of the company, the local community, consumers of their services and the members of the public at large not forgetting the environment. Social responsibilities will not only be limited to what the companies should do in case of uncertainties in their service delivery but also include what the companies should attempt and do in order to better the lives of humanity at large (Windsor,2006, p. 95).
To attain this better life for every mankind the socially responsible companies should actively involve themselves with charitable programs. The companies can involve themselves with offering scholarships to the needy as a way of giving back to the society and also offering equal employment opportunities to all persons without any discrimination of any form.
The corporate sector should always put the interests of the public first in their key decision making and not just thinking of making big money without attaching value to the concerns of their customers and general public at large. Always the corporate sector should bear in mind that they stand to gain a lot if they stop practicing management system which is focussed on immediate and temporary profits (Handy,2002, p. 71).
This is because sustainability is of critical importance to the continuity of any given company and thus when planning for the activities of the business, the future generation should be taken in to consideration such that they are not affected in meeting their needs.
Companies in oil industry
The issues of social responsibilities have been of serious consequences most especially in companies operating in energy sector and specifically in United States of America.
This is because despite the global efforts to reduce the carbon emission which has brought adverse impacts on climate change and global warming the energy industry in United States of America has been so reluctant in implementing safer energy sources. This is very evident in the way the top five energy companies have contacted themselves in trying to address the challenge of going green in terms of energy sources.
Even some of the chief executive offers of these companies have been quoted showing a lot of pessimism on the global dream of going and instead saying that the world will for a very long time rely on hydro carbons in order to get or acquire energy. Some of these giant energy companies include the Shell, BP, Exxon, Conoco Phillips and the Chevron (Kotler,2005, p. 63).
Despite the fact that these companies have continued to enjoy abnormal profits they have shown very little concern on shifting to green energy. This is very evident since even after making huge profits due to global hikes in oil prices they have only invested insignificant amounts of this profits in other alternative sources of energy such solar energy and wind energy.
It is also a known fact that the energy industry companies have continued to neglect the implementation of social responsibility programs, and instead they have continued to suppress the interests of majority by working with corrupt politicians.
These oil companies have used all means to ensure that their interests are protected in the legislature in such a way that even if they pose great risk to the public they have very little to be accountable for. It is said these companies usually fund so heavily to the federal election so that they can get favours from the government of the day and also they at the same time corrupt some law makers to champion for their interests in the congress.
It is also said that despite the fact that this oil companies have continued to make huge profits at the expense of all other sectors of economy they have also continued to enjoy subsidies and incentives (Edwards,2006,p. 67). This fact has forced president Obama to propose taxation to these companies but the proposal is currently being fought by the companies who are arguing that taxing energy sector is like discouraging the growth of domestic industries at large.
At the moment we are experiencing a severe consequence with BP Oil Company as a resort of gulf oil spill. This has occurred due to practice of very dangerous methods of oil exploitations and most probably the insensitivity of companies such as BP towards the humanity, aquatic life and the environment at large.
This is a clear evidence that all what this company cares for is big money but not clean environment because it has not been involved in the clean up exercise effectively and tourists in various beaches are complaining about the waters and the safety of such environments not to mention how adversely lives of fishermen and aquatic animals have been affected. If the BP Company had taken the public interest in their decision making may be this could not have happened because they could have used safer methods to extract oil (Cochran, 2005, p. 767).
Consequently, such big loses as a result of pressure to compensate the affected people could not have occurred and the image of the company could have continued to be good but now even the shares have reduced price in the stock market due to that occurrence of oil spill and may be the company may undergo receivership.
Companies in banking sector
In the banking industry there has been some great hope and sincerity in implementing the social responsibility programs. This is evident with some banks such as the JP Morgan, Bank of America, City Group and the Chase bank companies.
These banks have implemented policies which restrict them from lending money to those projects which are destructive to the environment in accordance with the interest of environmentalists. The banks have implemented environmental policies which are very effective in order to reduce emission of green house gases despite the fact that this action will reduce their opportunities of making more profits (Handy,2002,p. 83).
Conclusion
It is evident from the above that the need to implement social responsibility initiatives is inevitable for each individual company for the sake of well being of mankind at large. Also it is seen that the benefits of implementing the social responsibilities programs are enormous in long run in terms of good will for the company from the public.
The costs of failure to consider the interests of the other stakeholders in corporate decision making are very severe in event of a disaster. Here we have illustrated the social responsibilities by using real and existing companies.
Bibliography
Cochran, P. (2005). The Evolution of the Corporate Social Performance Model. Academy of Management Review, Vol.10, p. 767
Edwards, T. (2006). Corporate Social Responsibility in Multinational Companies. Journal of Management, p. 67
Handy, C. (2002). What is a Business For? Harvard Business Review.
Kotler, P. (2005). Corporate Social Responsibility. New York. Barnes & Noble.
Windsor, D. (2006). Corporate Social Responsibility: Three Key Approaches. Journal of Management Studies, pp. 93-114
Wood, D. (2001). Corporate Social Responsibility Revisited. Academy of Management Review. Vol. 4, pp. 691-718
The article titled Corporate social responsibility and corporate social irresponsibility: Introduction to a special topic section by Murphy and Schlegelmilch starts out with the history of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
It has been known for some time but has only recently received the needed attention. The concept very much reflects the views and values of society and looks at the greater context of all corporate institutions and practices. CSR was developing in the United States in 80s and 90s but was also, previously known to be one of the ethical topics in Europe.
The details consider the environment and how corporations or organizations act in keeping the balance between the two. It is interesting that the United States was ahead, comparing to Europe, and ethics and morality in business were becoming predominant. Corporate social irresponsibility looks at everything from environmental pollution, to conditions that are made available for employees and the consumers.
It is divided into three categories where one is related to the threat management, in relation to morality and norms. The second one is about the responsibility regarding morality. And third deals with the affected people, especially those who are indirectly influenced (Murphy and Schlegelmilch 1808).
The recent changes have become a major goal of the society in establishing morally correct conditions for all parties involved. The present and future consideration is the condition of businesses towards ethics, in order to set the proper course of action.
Marketing techniques must be aligned with reasonable behavior and outlook, so that the best qualities are supported and those that need improvement are fixed. An important part of the process is to look at the strategy and how it can be implemented into the changes taking place. Some of the problems in implementation are analyzed as well. Because it is such a significant part of the matter, there is no specific plan of action that is concrete and clearly outlined.
The society and morals are always fluctuating and so, it would be difficult to adjust to what is needed and demanded by the population. An in-depth look is taken at the specific methods and mediums where social responsibility will be applied. Publicity through advertisements is an important part of the process and thus, will have to deal with alignment to proper intentions and responsibility (Murphy and Schlegelmilch 1810).
Perspectives are mentioned, so that it is known what to expect and how to deal with the new policies. The study that will be produced, will explore the market and how people relate to corporate responsibility and actions taken. A specific analysis of two types of corporate social responsibility (CSR) cause-related marketing (CRM) and cause sponsorship (CS) is presented (Murphy and Schlegelmilch 1811).
This is where the interconnection with marketers and consumers is developing. The decisions that will be taken now have to be adjusted to the theoretical issues and perspectives revolving around environment, as the modern day policies are getting stricter and enforcement more organized.
The evidence will be presented to show peoples preferences and set the general direction of the decisions of corporations. CSR has become a trend which resonates with the social ethics and morality in pursuing a strategy that is both effective for corporations and responsive to the business and natural environment. The connection between stakeholders, corporations and market are tightened for a better management of resources and interests (Murphy and Schlegelmilch 1811).
Works Cited
Murphy, Patrick and Bodo Schlegelmilch. Corporate social responsibility and corporate social irresponsibility: Introduction to a special topic section . Journal of Business Research 66 (2013): 1807-1813. Print.
The 21st century is being insulated by a concept that originated in the 20th century called corporate social responsibility. Today, due to globalization and internationalization of businesses, most MNCs are under great pressure to embrace socially responsible behavior in their global operation. As this need arises, one is left to ask how well are MNCs able to develop and implement CSR policies in cultures that are diverse and largely heterogeneous from theirs.
Other questions may include: Why is there much greater emphasis for CSR policies than earlier and why are most businesses voluntarily embracing the concepts of CSR? With wide adoption of CSR and companies jostling to design them, what are the overall effects of the policies on the performance of the business? How well can the CSR policies get integrated into the companys strategy?
Which are some of the dominant themes that guide the CSR policies today? These questions may seem to be ordinary but their relevance and implication to the business world cannot be bypassed or assumed. Therefore, this paper tries to generate detailed information through investigation and analysis of these concepts and largely give precise insights into the concept of CSR specifically in modern economy.
Use of scientific data and information is what guided the research since it is only from such data objective information can be generated. What became true after the research is the fact that CSR as field still need more research work especially due to dynamism being experienced in the business arena. On overall, it was evident that CSR has become an integral necessity in most business and that success and growth of a business today depends on implementing a workable and sustainable CSR.
Introduction
The history of corporate social responsibility (CSR) dates back to almost one and half centuries where organizations discovered that, their role was not only obliged to profit making but also to the development of the wider society. Generally, CSR can be classified into four eras that defined the breadth and growth of the field. Murphy establishes that the period preceding 1950 was largely characterized as, philanthropic era whereby most companies got involved in donating to charities[1].
Prior to the period 1953-67 classified as awareness era, there was greater recognition of the larger responsibility of the business and subsequent involvement in various community affairs. During the period 1968-73 termed as issue era, most businesses started to pay a lot of attention to the specific issues such as urban decay, racial discrimination, and pollution problems.
Lastly, there was responsiveness era which took place between 1974-78 and beyond, in which business entities began to view management and organizational actions more seriously with aim of addressing the issues to with CSR[2].
In 1953, Bowen published his book, Social Responsibilities of the Business, setting ground for the beginning of modern literature on corporate social responsibility.
At that time, the author observed that numerous, larger business entities acted, and operated as critical centers of power and decision making where at the same time, actions implemented by the businesses in many ways touched the lives of people involved. In the Book, Bowen raised many questions, for instance, he asked, what responsibilities to society may businessmen reasonably be expected to assume? [3]
In exploring the concept of social responsibility (SR) what exactly did Bowen mean? Defining the concept, the author noted that it refers to, the obligations of businesspeople to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society[4].
Therefore, the concept of corporate social responsibility can be seen to have a relatively long history prior to its current usage and understanding. As a result, the aim of this research will be to explore the concept of corporate social responsibility with much emphasis on topical issues.
These include, why modern businesses are increasingly engaging in corporate social responsibility issues; what constitute socially responsible behavior for the business as opposed to the management of corporate image management; and what are the predominant themes arising from the definition of corporate social responsibility and their conceptual value added.
Other issues include how viable can CSR framework be linked to the business strategy and which approach highlights can be considered for CSR across the six dimensions of a firm strategy; how can a model that bridges the gap between CSR definitions and strategy be developed; and lastly what is the impact of CSR on profitability, the benefits and criticisms against CSR. Relevant data and information will be generated from relevant scientific literature.
National culture and social corporate responsibility
GeertHofstede asserted that, culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy; cultural differences are nuisance at best and often a disaster [5]. The author of the famous five cultural dimensions notes that people working in the international business are confronted with dilemmas on how people in those specific countries behave. Although humans generally assume that almost all people are the same, it generally becomes disastrous when certain ideas and styles are implemented in a particular country, leading to clash of cultures.
In developing the five-cultural dimension model, Hofstede studied each country and produced a score for the country based on power distance index (PDI), individualism (IDV), masculinity (MAS), uncertainty (UAI) and lastly, long term orientation (LTO) where every country appeared to be culturally different from the others based on these factors[6].
According to Ibrahim Nabir and Parsa Faramarz, concentration on the aspect of social responsibility by organizations is an issue that continues to confront many businesses. For instance, they view social responsibility as, a process in which managers take responsibility for identifying and accommodating the interests of those affected by the organizations actions [7].
The authors note that there have been many actions and debates among many researchers which in turn have spurred the need for more diverse literature in the field of corporate social responsibility.
Unfortunately, the diverse literatures touch little on the concept of national culture and the way it affects or influences corporate social responsibility (CSR). The observation made by the authors is that numerous existing literature and field data indicate that there is a significant impact of national culture on, managerial values, attitudes, styles, and perceptions depending on the operational environment[8].
In a detailed study carried out on national cultures of USA and France, the two authors categorize the work done by Bedeian where it was found out that, it is a well-established fact that different cultures possess different organizational norms and behavior standards and that they recognize these as legitimate forms of influence [9].
In another study of American and Australian students undertaking business courses, Dowling and Nagel found out that there existed certain differences between these two groups specifically in their work-related attitudes, a situation that made them to conclude that, national culture has an impact upon the ethical beliefs and conduct of managers [10].
Why modern business are getting involved in corporate social responsibility
Carly Fiorina in 2003 noted that,
for many years community development goals were philanthropic activities that were seen as separate from business objectives, not fundamental to them; doing well and doing good were seen as separate pursuits; but I think that is changing&&&&&..cutting-edge innovation and competitive advantage can result from weaving social and environmental considerations into business strategy from the beginning [11].
The above observation just indicates how social cause has become an issue in almost all quarters of life. In addition, key actors in society are more aggressive in promoting sustainable social welfare[12].
The dynamics taking place in the business sphere where many business players are yearning and struggling to create a more competitive, productive and knowledge-based economy is in turn forcing business entities to realize that ethics and social responsibility are vital and therefore should be given the necessary attention by businesses. The same businesses are operating the conviction that success in the market place has shifted and in future, it is greatly going to depend on the confidence and respect the people have in the specific business.
Presenting as evidence is the fact that many actors in the field of business are being held morally responsible for the actions and that on increase is the fact that more individuals, firms and companies are in continuous process to improve their business practices. In this case, they are putting more emphasis on both legal and ethical behavior while at the same time accountability increasing at a faster speed.
Consumers are the key stakeholders for any business entity to survive or grow. Earlier, it was considered that only employees were the vital aspects to the company but as reality continued to dawn, many of these businesses realized that consumers could not be sidelined and therefore most businesses have made it a duty to fulfill and to be careful with their social responsibility towards their customers[13].
With regard to environment, humans beings together with other organisms depend on the resources present in the environment for their survival and as such, humans have an almost natural moral duty to take care of the environment and have respect to the natural order of things.
When compared to other organisms, humans appear to have the role or responsibility of taking care of everything in the universe on behalf of the others. As a result, from the period of creation, although human was given insurmountable authority, the same is expected from him to protect the environment and not at all to disrupt the forces of nature[14].
In modern world, businesses have appeared to be benefiting immensely by utilizing environment to produce goods and services to meet the needs of the business to prosper; and as a gesture to show appreciation to the environment, businesses are obliged to design and establish corporate social responsibility policies with aim to preserve and maintain the balance of nature[15].
Further, Roa observes that modern businesses need to establish and implement corporate social responsibility policies emanate from the fact that most of these businesses are discovering that they need to establish good conducts and form positive images among the various people of the community. Because of such established association, there is likelihood that competitive advantage will be accrued on the part of the business.
From this recognition many businesses worldwide are being motivated to respond favorably since such responses of being responsible has resulted into business improving in terms of financial performance and profitability, improved accountability and assessments from the investment community, enhanced employee commitment, decreased vulnerability through stronger relationships with communities and improved reputation and corporate image building.
What constitute socially responsible behavior for the business?
Today, corporate social responsibility is being undertaken more on voluntary basis rather than as a legal obligation. Although some legality are intertwined in some CSR, the dynamism and increasing stakeholders demand for businesses to be more responsible is acting out to be the firm premise upon which most businesses are forced to incorporate and implement corporate social responsibility.
Francoise Quairel-Lanoizeelee makes precise argument by saying that CSR is connected with sustainable development. His claim is grounded in United Nations assertion that many corporations and businesses have a role, which they need to play in sustainable development, and this can be achieved by managing their operations and stimulating economic growth while in the same measure designing and implementing protection mechanisms and promoting social responsibility[16].
A derived idea from this is that a business or firm should be seen to be part of the society where its concern for environmental and social issues needs to be reflected in their strategic management plans and policies.
When it spreads its wings into the international environment, the business is required to contribute to the solution of all vital problems concerning world politics specifically with regard to the environment, the fight against poverty, prevention of war and conflict without forgetting the promotion of human rights, good working conditions, and social stability.
Francoise Quairel-Lanoizeelee finally concludes that, corporate social responsibility implies the conscious contribution of the firm to engage in the problems of the world community as revealed by the different declarations and statements of intent by international bodies of the United Nations [17].
Taking the case and argument by the European Commission, it becomes evident that for business to be regarded as socially responsible, it needs to show concerted efforts in promoting and enhancing human rights, the environment or good relationships with others key stakeholders[18].
The modern world can be seen to be transforming the institutions of economy whereby, to be viewed as socially responsible, efforts by the business in areas such as human rights issues, environmental degradation concerns and also world conflicts have to be largely reflected in the operations of the business.
On their part, Kumar and Sharma observe that a business can qualify as a socially responsive entity when such business participates in finding solutions to social problems in the community. When the management of such business device initiatives to address the social problems then they are likely to receive considerable public approval for their actions.
Therefore, today business is supposed to facilitate or show social-responsiveness that in turn contribute to social responsibility hence an entity is largely viewed to promote two broad themes of social responsibility: involvement in activities that are geared to prevention as well as solving social problems; and organizations are seen to be the most effective problem-solving organizations in capitalist society[19].
The two authors go ahead to construct a continuum of social responsibility in which they identify the three meanings of social responsibility. First, on one extreme of the continuum is social obligation-which constitutes business behaviors that shows and reflects a businesss responsibilities as outlined both legally and economically.
Second, the middle part of the continuum largely constitutes social reaction-which includes the behavior type that re generally demanded by various groups that are concerned with the actions of the organization. Lastly, the far extreme is composed of social responsiveness-that is, behavior that is largely a reflection of anticipatory, proactive and preventive expectations[20].
Specifically, a business will be socially responsible when, within its limits, it is able to provide the following eight categories of socially responsible actions.
A business should manufacture and distribute products and services that are safe, reliable and of exemplary quality;
Fostering marketing practices,
A business needs to be truthful and complete especially in its product advertising;
Business employees should be effectively prepared to perform duties well and also be subjected to continuous re-training rather than laying off the employees when a new technology is adopted;
With regard to the environment, a business is regarded to be socially responsible when it is able to implement a production technology that is able to reduce the amount of pollutants produced by the manufacturing process;
With regard to employee relations, a socially responsible business is one that is able to provide benefits to employees while providing a satisfying and enriching job environment;
With regard to do with employed minorities of the society, a business is seen to be socially responsible when it is able to provide and promote employment opportunities to the minority groups;
Be able to participate in providing a clean, safe and comfortable working environment that enhances the safety and health status of the employees[21].
Therefore, for a business to be considered as socially responsible in terms of behaviors then it has to be seen or it has to integrate the above outlined measures in its management strategies.
Predominant themes arising from the definition of CSR and their conceptual value added
The recent decades have witnesses much involvement in seeking to understand better the concept of corporate social responsibility. First, many debates continue to revolve around the role that corporate social responsibility plays in the society, and as a result, standards governing CSR have been defined differently by the ideological orientation of each society[22].
The authors further notes that, high performance and high integrity are good for the bottom line and that citizen require a rigorous, unwavering compliance with the law that strictly blends and adhere to capital performance with integrity to never allow that commitment to corrode those principles& [23].
Critics of CSR pursue their stand by claiming that CSR possess the potential to be insulated, self-serving and self-affirming-often to the detriment of the society where it is supposed to be social, political, technical, and financial benefit& [24].
No fierce debate has been witnessed in CSR like that initiated by Milton Friedman in 1970, who boldly asserted that CSR was an absurdity. The period that followed witnessed those who supported and defended Milton on one side and those who criticized him on the other side. Friedman argued that companies that were publicly managed had only one responsibility-to increase profit for the organization which it him was an efficiency paradigm of organizational starling performance[25].
He went further to claim that companies should only give wages and salaries to employees to a level they are able to operate efficiently while at the same time they should not hurry to pay taxes. Those who champion and defend this position claim that, there exists no any viable and exhaustive data, which explains or shows that there exists a positive relationship between the numerous activities of CSR and the corporate financial performance in terms of profits[26].
The modern themes underlying the concept of corporate social responsibility can be traced to the origin of the concept itself. For instance, Arthur Page, a renowned historian and editor of the Worlds Work did a detailed work of analyzing the origin and development of the CSR concept.
Working on the same works by Page, Remund did a literature examination of 180 issues of the Worlds Work and noted that CSR rested on five key themes: environmental protection, labor rights, consumer protection and education, child welfare and corporate transparency [27].
During this period, Page was more involved in Agitating for, sustainability in logging practices, labor rights for African-American cotton workers, better safety measures for underground miners, greater consumer education about investment banking, an end to child labor, and more corporate transparency [28].
Prior to the year 2000, Crane, McWilliams and Matten noted that CSR themes were shifting from over-concentration on the theoretical orientation to empirical research and new modern themes revolved around stakeholders theory, business ethics, sustainability and corporate citizenship[29].
Writing during the same period in the year 2000, Bryan Husted developed and outlined a contingency theory of corporate social performance (CSP) where he advanced the argument that the theory fitted well between the nature of the social and its subsequent strategies and structures. As such, modern themes of CSR revolve around corporate social responsiveness, issues management, and stakeholder management[30].
During the 2001-2, other numerous researches were conducted that revealed the broadening themes in CSR. For example in 2001, Smith et al., examined the extent to which characteristics of diversity and stakeholder role influence corporate social orientation, and Jones and Murrell in 2001, established how a business public recognition for excellent performance has the ability to serve as a positive signal of the business performance to the shareholders.
In 2001, Zyglidopolous studied the impact of accidents on a businesss reputation for social performance, and Schwartz and Carroll in 2003 developed and presented a three-domain approach that constitute the main themes of modern CSR and in the model the authors postulated that modern CSR themes centers on economic, legal and ethical aspects[31].
How viable can CSR framework be linked to the business strategy?
Bilson writes that, an effective strategic social responsibility framework aligns community efforts with core business strategy, company expertise and market needs [32]. When a business is able to develop a strategy incorporating the three main actors outlined above, then possibilities are that the business will manage to empower the society in addition to building its own reputation and income stream.
In creating a framework that aligns the business strategic goals to the CSR, key steps have been outlined which when followed, there will be numerous success.
First, the business should develop a value proposition, on which abilities and guideline to sell corporate social responsibility needs to originate from the board. At the same time, the business needs to indicate to the board how viable the business will be socially responsible while the financial prospects and fortune of the business remains healthy and sound. Why is the board important in all these?
The board as the vital organ of the business plays and assumes a vital role that frequently has been seen to shape and develop the value proposition, especially when performing business performance management [33].
Second, the business needs to engage the larger community, which will in turn lead to sustainability. Building on this premise, businesses are advised to seek by identifying the various social opportunities in which the business can get involved in, while at the same time remaining and improving long-term competitiveness of its overall business fortunes in the environment.
As such, the business needs to draw wider participation of the community it is responsible to without removing or divorcing the businesss expertise from the process[34]. Therefore, the premise of this strategy I that the business while reinforcing and pursuing its strategic goals needs to modify value chain activities so that the larger society can benefit.
Third, business needs to participate in a continuous process of measuring and weighing corporate social responsibility efforts and results. First, it is a basic fact that anything that is measured is the one that will be accomplished or one that will draw sustainable efforts to accomplish it.
This fact does not run away from businesses that are involved in corporate social responsibility activities whereby they are required to establish sustainable measurability tools, which have the ability to conduct analysis in the most cost-effective, and beneficial way as far as CSR expenditure is concerned[35].
On his part, Collings Rebecca observes that for an organization or business to be regarded as socially responsible, it has to engage in promoting and facilitating good things specifically in the eyes of its stakeholders[36]. The process of finding out what each of these stakeholders considers, as the right thing generally has to involve carrying out dialogue with the concerned stakeholders then afterwards make changes to the existing business behavior. Again, how is behavior changes monitored?
The suggestion given is that business should create sector benchmarks and other necessary performance indicators and the commitment of the business to fulfilling them should be characterized by continuous measurements. The author note that, it is a forensic process that involves year-on-year data collection and analysis process, that apart from addressing the weaknesses and threats in the environment it should at the same time investigate and identify strength and opportunities present [37].
Summarizing research on CSR strategy, WAL-MART publication outlined the basic but fundamental steps to realization of a viable CSR strategy. The advice was directed to businesses that senior leadership and management of the business has to make an authentic, firm, and public commitment to CSR efforts and also engage with them; determine top three business objectives of the company and develop CSR goals that will contribute to the achievement of those business objectives.
After the process of determining business objectives has been done, there is now need to align goals with the firms core competencies; integrate CSR efforts into the governance of the business and into existing management systems; and lastly, there should be establishment of clear performance metrics, or key performance indicators to measure the impact of the CSR effort[38].
Which approach can be considered for CSR across the six dimensions of a firm strategy?
Strategy has been depicted to be concerned with understanding and addressing issues that have the ability to influence a business potential and capability to realize its mission and broader objectives. Hence, within these perspectives, a strategy is concerned with six issues.
What is business participating in order to realize long-term goals; what are the current internal and external issues that are likely to affect the business ability of realizing the established strategic issues; which markets offers the business the greatest chances to compete; what specific products and services suites the customers in the identified markets; how well is the business internally structured in terms of key resources; and which strategies can be adopted for the business to excel in the identified markets[39].
Developing a model, Carroll in 1979 identified key responsibilities of the firm to involve: the economic responsibility to generate profits; legal responsibility to comply to various laws and treaties that the business operate within; ethical responsibility to meet social expectations by avoiding social injury, respecting moral rights of people and largely doing what is right; and lastly, to foster those behaviors and activities the society deem to be right for the business.
Therefore, in building a CSR strategy that address the six dimensions, the strategy should be based on mission that integrate strategic issues, competitive advantage, business resources, customer needs, and the market forces. In essence, these aspects will interrelate and interact to produce a viable CSR model that covers the six dimensions of the business strategy.
What is the impact of CSR on profitability, benefits, and criticisms against CSR?
Studies done have indicated that there exists a positive relationship between CSR and business financial performance. Studies by Beliveau, Cottrill and ONeil in 1994; Sen and Bhattachanya in 2001; Rochlin, Witter, Monagah and Murray in 2005 conclude that, CSR performance can increase market clout if it relates to product quality and consumer personal preferences views on key social issues [40].
Further, research by Gildea in 1994 established that, when a business formulates good CSR decisions, there is high potential that the business will realize increased sales and good reputation on its management.
Their data analysis also revealed that, 34 per cent of consumers expressed their position not to make any purchases from a business that they thought was unethical, 16 per cent demonstrated that they always seek information concerning a companys practices and ethics before making any purchase decision, and another 50per cent of consumers indicated that they were not ready at all to make purchases in any company they perceive not to be socially responsible[41].
Although many other researchers have criticized the role of CSR claiming that it only siphon financial and other key resources of a business, the wide evidence shows that, CSR is becoming one of the determinant for a business to succeed and when a business is seen or regarded to lack CSR then it is as well as dead.
Conclusion
Globalization and internalization of businesses is bringing new challenges to both the corporate and social world. As business strives to produce goods and services using the available resources, it is becoming clear that social and environmental responsibilities are intertwined in most strategies of the business. CSR policies are becoming the new faces of modern business and those that have effective CSR gain both social and economic approval from the public.
Essentially, sustainable development, a new and widespread anthem in 21st century, is rooted in CSR hence making it a key priority for business to adopt them for survival. The overall observation that can be made I that when properly and efficiently designed and formulated CSR have the capacity to impact positively on the business in terms of financial performance and social approval.
Bibliography
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Crane, A., A., McWilliams and D Matten, The Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility, Oxford University Press, London, 2008.
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Footnotes
A. Crane, A. McWilliams and D. Matten, The Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility, UK, Oxford University Press, 2008, p.25.
A. Crane, A. McWilliams and D. Matten, P.25.
A. Crane, A. McWilliams and D. Matten.
A. Crane, A. McWilliams and D. Matten.
G. Hofstede, Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions, Itim International.
G. Hofstede.
I. A. Nabir and P. Faramarz, Corporate social responsiveness orientation: are there differences between U.S and French managers? Review of Business, 1.
I. A. Nabir and P. Faramarz, ibid.
I. A. Nabir and P. Faramarz, ibid.
I. A. Nabir and P. Faramarz, ibid.
P. Kotler and N. Lee, Corporate social responsibility: doing the most good for your company and your cause, MA, John Willey and Sons, 2005, p.1.
P. Kotler and N. Lee,p.2.
William Werther and David Chandler, Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Stakeholders in a Global Environment, SAGE, CA, 2010.
Jerry W. Anderson, Corporate social responsibility: guidelines for top management, ABC-CLIO, 1989.
F. C. Roa, Business Ethics and Social Responsibility, Manila, Rex Bookstore Inc., 2007,p.201.
J. D. Rendtorff, Ethics and Legitimacy of Corporations, Denmark, Copenhagen Business School Press, 2009,p.151.
J. D. Rendtorff, p.152.
J. D. Rendtorff.
A. Kumar and R. Sharma, Principles of Business Management, New Delhi, Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, 2000,p.572.
A. Kumar and R. Sharma,p.573.
A. Kumar and R. Sharma,p.576.
R. L. Heath and L. Ni, Corporate Social Responsibility, Essential Knowledge Project, Institute for Public Relations, 2008, p.1.
R. L. Heath and L. Ni.
R. L. Heath and L. Ni.
R. L. Heath and L. Ni.
R. L. Heath and L. Ni.
Science Blog, CSR origins earlier than supposed, 2010, p.1.
Science Blog,p.1.
A. Crane, A. McWilliams and D. Matten,p.39.
A. Crane, A. McWilliams and D Matten,p.39.
A. Crane, A. McWilliams and D Matten,p.40.
J. Bilson, Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility, Online Article, 2010,p.1.
J. Bilson, p.1.
J. Bilson.
J. Bilson.
C. Rebecca, behind the brand: Is business socially responsible? Consumer Policy Review.
C. Rebecca,p.1.
WAL-MART, Building your CSR Business Strategy, n.d,pp.7-9.
J. Galbreath, Building Corporate Social Responsibility into strategy, Curtin University of Technology, Australia, 2008,p.2.
Premier Oil Company put in significant efforts in carrying out activities aimed at improving the nature and conditions of the societies that form its environment through out the world.
The different nature of the various environments this multinational company operates in, provide for unique approaches in playing this vital role as a corporation. In Indonesia, this company engaged in various activities. Their aim was to improve the general welfare of the society for the year 2009.
Community Centered Responsibility
Premier Oil believes in empowering people. Hence, its corporate social responsibility policy provides for consideration and adoption of approaches that seek to promote this worthy course.
To be specific, it took part in development of infrastructure in the Palmatak sub- district through the construction of health facility, supporting the education programme of the people of Indonesia through construction and maintenance of such learning facilities as kindergartens as well as setting up of sponsorship programmes for locals especially in various institutions of higher learning.
In conservation matters, the company was involved with turtle conservation efforts in Durai Island. Furthermore, it was also involved with provision of relief aid after the devastating earthquake that struck the country in 2009.
Impact of This Engagement
By choosing to invest in the various sectors in Indonesia, Premier Oil places the interests and the future of the people of that country on a path that is to guide them realise their potentials. The government and the people of this country are the biggest beneficiaries, since they directly gain from the infrastructure and other facilities that are put up.
Scholarships enable students that would not have otherwise been able to attain degrees and other professional qualifications due to financial constraints to do so.
This translates to bigger trained and qualified workforce for the country; with invaluable contribution in the various sectors of the economy contribute to positive economic growth in the long run. Its conservation measures ensure that natures gifts to the country are well taken care of for posterity and promotion of other industries such as tourism (Blomstrom, 1975).
An educated public is also more informed, and is better placed to make informed decisions and participate effectively in promoting the activities of the company, by virtue of its involvement in improving the welfare of the people. The companys image is greatly enhanced in Indonesia as a result of the kind of support it offers to the people of that country.
A positive image translates to preferential treatment by the consumers of oil and gas products which are its main areas of concern. This ensures that sales volume is on the increase, and as thus the profit margins. The company is therefore better placed to get involved in even more activities aimed at assisting the community (Crane and Matten, 2007).
Resource Centered responsibility
Premier Oil being a commercial entity requires a workforce to enable the entity carry out its responsibilities in its day to day operations. There is therefore the prospect of exploitation of the countrys resources to achieve this purpose. Reports for 2009 show that majority of the companys employees were Indonesians.
This is further reinforced by the fact that the company was interested in and did give scholarships to students in universities within its proximity, understandably with a view of recruiting qualified personnel from these institutions.
In addition to employment, there are training programmes and deliberate efforts geared towards personal development for existing employees to ensure they remain current and relevant to the requirements of the industry in their respective departments. Low turnover of employees reflects the companys fair treatment of the workers at their work stations as well as remunerations (Schmidpeter, 2005).
To the government, hiring of the citizens reduced the unemployment numbers while at the same time increasing the purchasing power of the people. Remittance of income related taxes to the government also benefits it as it contributes to increased revenues. This has a positive effect on the overall gross domestic product of the country denoting economic growth.
The living standards of the people that get employed are also improved, leading to contribution in reduction of the poverty levels in Indonesia. The employees are motivated to put their best efforts in their respective duties, enhancing efficiency in performance and output for the company.
This greater efficiency is reflected in the companys profits in the long run since it operates at its optimum in terms of labor efficiency and relevance (Saether, 2008).
Critics to These Undertakings
There are numerous arguments that question the relevance and business sense of Premier Oils involvement in meeting its social responsibilities in Indonesia with respect to the types of activities it was undertaking. The general outlook by external critics is mainly focused on the priorities of the company as a multi national rather than the role it has to play by virtue of being part of the society.
Critics also argue that the company is not doing enough of corporate social responsibility work. They say that such a big company should be seen to engage in bigger projects. The motive behind this work should be pure good causes rather than an attempt to woo more market share. This is because it kills the very essence of the work.
It is also notable that premier oil is facing major criticisms as concerns its handling of various commodities. Many critics argue that despite hard efforts aimed at helping the public, the company is also doing so much harm to it. The net effect cancels out or even leans to negative. This means that the public is seen to miss out instead of gain.
The company should have policies that duly govern the essence of its corporate work. This should be in line with many other corporate endeavors to ensure that it is not an act in futility. This is what many critics say. On the other hand, there are those who highly laud the company for its hard efforts in its CSR (Buchholtz, 2006).
Conflict of Course
As a business, Premier Oils ultimate goal is ideally maximizing profits by enhancing efficiency and reducing operational costs. This calls for limiting outward cash flows especially if such out flows are not related to the operations of the firm.
By diverting some of its revenues towards numerous social courses, Premier Oil is viewed to veer from the purpose of being in business in the first place since the overall effects of such diversions is proportional reduction of the companys net profits.
In addition, engagement in social responsibility activities is likely to divert the attention of the management thus affecting the companys efficiency in performance since too much time and effort would be diverted to the non business aspects of the company in the form of social responsibility (Branco, 2007).
However, this is not necessarily the case since the companys long term sustainability is not only dependant on its volumes of output, but also the command it would have in the environment it operates in. By being part of the Indonesian community, the company has to play its roles that transcend beyond its areas of operation to encourage a cordial coexistence with the various elements of its environment.
The level of involvement is not defined due to the uniqueness of the environment it is in, in terms of need and capacity to respond. Indonesia is a relatively poor country with low literacy levels, strained public utilities and poor infrastructure. These therefore form the stress points that can be addressed albeit in smaller capacities and in the process improving the general conditions (Crowther, 2000).
Limited Repatriations
As a multinational, the company is expected to make its repatriations of part of the earnings it makes to the parent companys country. These repatriations are usually a percentage of the earnings for a specific period of time.
This means that the amounts sent to the parent company are directly proportional to the earnings for that particular period. Since engagement in social responsibility limits the profit levels for the company, the amounts repatriated are also limited in the process.
The existence of the company in another country such as Indonesia does not guarantee returns of the parent companys expectations irrespective of its performance there. Sustainability is vital to existence in this country in the first place, thus the need to take measures that are aimed at ensuring that the future of Premier Oil Company in Indonesia is catered for.
This is one of the long term purposes of corporate social responsibility for any firm. Besides, the companys social responsibilities in the country seek to build the image of the entire corporation all over the world. Goodwill and a respected brand is in themselves an asset to the parent company. By hiring citizens of a country, the firm cuts the extra costs that come with hiring and maintenance of expatriates (Kytle, 2005).
Institutional Interference
Some activities that constitute social responsibility are such that they take the form of the host countrys government responsibility. Provision of social amenities and construction of infrastructure are a good example of what should be left to the government especially because taxes are paid for the same purpose.
When a company like Premier oil gets involved in provision of the same, it is viewed to interfere with the duties and responsibilities of the government in this case of Indonesia. This may lead to punitive measures should there be legislation that provide for action against multinationals that get involved in such activities.
Alternatively, where such moves are permitted, the requirements and procedures to be followed may be very expensive to the company, further decreasing the already reduced profits (Jill, 2008).
For a company like premier oil to be involved with such responsibilities that are essentially the duty of the government, it must have established beyond reasonable doubt that it would get the necessary support and cooperation from the authorities.
For instance, Premier oil was involved in the construction of the health centre with conjunction with the local government of Anambas which had presented the request for development of the projects (Kytle, 2005).
Reference List
Blomstrom, R. (1975) Business and Society: Environment and Responsibility. New York: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Branco, M.C. (2007) Positioning Stakeholder Theory within the Debate on Corporate Social Responsibility. Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies, 12: 5-15.
Buchholtz, A. (2006) Business and Society: Ethics and Stakeholder Management. Ohio, Thomson/South-Western Publishers.
Crane, A. & Matten, D. (2007) Business Ethic. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Crowther, D. (2000) Social and Environmental Accounting. London: Financial Times Prentice Hall.
Jill, S. (2008) Corporate Governance and Accountability. London: John Willey and Sons LTD.
Kytle, B. (2005) Corporate Social Responsibility as Risk Management: A Model for Multinationals. Harvard. Web.
Kytle, B. (2005) Corporate Social Responsibility as Risk Management: A Model for Multinationals: Social Responsibility Initiative Working Paper. Cambridge, MA: John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Saether, K. (2008) Corporate Social Responsibility in a Comparative Perspective: The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Schmidpeter, R. (2005) Corporate Social Responsibility across Europe. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Article Review: The Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility: A Review of Concepts, Research and Practice. By Archie B. Carroll and Kareem M. Shabana
Introduction
Several studies have been conducted over the past on the Corporate Social Responsibility. This review intends to analyze the main concepts presented in the article The Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility: A Review of Concepts, Research and Practice , which was compiled by Carroll and Shabana.
This article gives a clear analysis of business case for the corporate social responsibility. The article also seeks to find out how organizations benefits in one way or another by engaging themselves in CSR policies. In other words, it seeks to find out what organizations really get by engaging themselves in CSR policies and practices.
The article begins by giving a general background on the topic. By so doing, the article gives an outline on how the idea of how the practice of business participation in community activities has been viewed over the past as well as the evolution of these views over time.
This includes the ideas opposing business participation in community activities and the ideas proposing business participation in these activities. Initially, there was little effort to study the benefits organizations get by participating in community development activities.
The main focus was the business responsibilities to the societies and the duties they are expected to meet (Carroll & Shabana 2010). This undermined the CSR to some extent since this view presented the program as a cost ignoring the benefits associated with it.
Background Information
In the recent past, the idea of corporate social responsibility has been a critical issue in business policies. According to Tonello (2011), there has been a measurable payoff of corporate social responsibility efforts both to the stake holders and their respective companies over the last decade.
There are some benefits for a company enraging in CSR. It has been realized that CSR can assist an organization in creating its competitive advantage (Tonello 2011). In the contemporary business world, the market has become very competitive, a condition which has threatened the performance of many organizations.
Therefore, this article touches important issues which can significantly help organizations in improving their performance by reducing their operational expenses and improving their competitive advantage.
The issue of CSR can be traced far back before the World War II. The concept of CSR has been used over the past by various organizations in an attempt to align their business interests to defend the free market capitalism (Carroll & Shabana 2010). This was aimed to counter the danger posed through the soviet communism. However, there are increased benefits for organizations engaging on CSR.
Summary
As already noted, this article gives an analysis of the company participation in CRS, how a company benefits from it as well as its shortcomings. The authors recognize the importance of the CSR in the contemporary business world.
For instance, the authors have identified several bodies like the Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) which has been organized by the business community in order to understand these issues better and hence enjoy its benefits (Tonello 2011). Other than thinking about their profits and their employees, organizations are encouraged to think about the entire public as well in order to achieve their goals effectively.
The article has clearly analyzed the reasons why companies are advised to engage themselves with CSR activities, policies and practices. On the other side, the article has also analyzed the reasons against the idea of CSR. According to this article, the main reason against the CSR policies and activities is based on Friedmans classical economic argument that argues that the management has one responsibility, which is to maximize profits (Carroll & Shabana 2010).
Therefore, the social responsibility in this case is not one of the businesses. According to Friedmans argument, the social issues are automatically resolved through the operations of the free market. In case the free market fails to meet these functions, then it is the duty of the government and not the businesss responsibility.
It has also been argued that the business does not have the capacity to handle the social responsibilities in the society. The managers are trained to handle the management cases and do not have the social skills. Therefore, the business should not be given any social responsibility. There is also another group which argues that CSR makes an organization to be less competitive in the global market (Tonello 2011).
Despite of these arguments against the idea of CSR, there are several reasons for the CSR policies and practices presented in this article. To start with, every business aims at creating a good working environment by cultivating good relationship with the society (Carroll & Shabana 2010). This is realized by promoting operations, which makes a company to bed socially responsible.
This article has also paid attention in analyzing the concept of the CSR business case purposes. CSR has been said to cover four main areas that includes legal, economic, discretional and ethical practices which the society expect from organizations (Carroll & Shabana 2010). By accomplishing these expectations, an organization manages to fulfill its social responsibilities and in the process helps in solving the problems in the society.
Finally, the article has given an analysis of the business case for the CSR. It has been pointed out that CSR has been evolving over the past decades, which have led to change in how it is viewed over time (Carroll & Shabana 2010). Although there has been several social responsibility business cases that have been developing over the past years, there has been no single rationalization for ways in which CSR improves the bottom line.
Evaluation
This article has presented a clear explanation in its purpose to achieve its goals. The article has presented a clear background of the general issue at hand that has helped in understanding the problem. This has been supplemented with the past studies which have been on the field. This provides a firm support of the ideas presented.
Through the CSR policies and activities, an organization manages to facilitate its operational efficiency as well as creating competitive advantage. For instance, an organization can reduce the level of government intervention in the business activities since the practices provide a kind of self discipline and standards (Carroll & Shabana 2010).
This increases the efficiency in the business operations. It is also advisable for business to act rather than just reacting to the problems facing the society. This will yield better results.
Since several parties have tried to solve the social problems in vain, it is advisable for the businesses to play their role in solving these problems (Carroll & Shabana 2010). These are some of the most convincing points in the article. This is because they are supported with evidence.
However, this article suffers from the fact that it has failed to provide figure to support its arguments. Figures can increase the convincing power by providing evidence.
Direct Comment
In conclusion, this article has helped in understanding the importance of CSR in the contemporary business world. Over the past, this has been viewed as an obstacle since it comes as a cost to an organization.
However, this article has revealed some of the benefits which are associated with the CSR activities, practices and policies. There is several business benefits associated with CSR. It is therefore advisable for all organizations to adhere to the CSR policies and practices.
Reference List
Carroll, A. and Shabana, K. (2010). The Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility: A Review of Concepts, Research and Practice. International Journal of Management Reviews. pp. 85-pp. 104. Web.
Tonello, M. (2011). The Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility. Web.
Corporate Social Responsibility refers to all the efforts made by an organization to satisfy the interests of the society and its stakeholders. An organization goes beyond the expectations of regulatory bodies to promote the social welfare of its stakeholders and the surrounding community.
Corporate Social Responsibility is not a profit making venture but a way of giving back to the society by guarding stakeholders interests. The benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility should trickle down to all the members in the community without any kind of discrimination. Corporate Social Responsibility should begin from within the organization where the welfare of employees is taken care of.
Organizations are always under scrutiny by the, government public and other stakeholders with failure to participate in activities that enhance the welfare of its customers, employees and the community at large dents its leading serious consequences. This essay will compare and contrast different Corporate Social Responsibility models used by organizations.
The financial power exhibited by organizations means that the national economy of any country depends on their general input (Mallin, 2009). The surplus money that organizations have at their disposal should be used on funding environmental conservation and social welfare programs.
The Social Corporate Responsibility concept is understood differently by different organizations. The Corporate Social Responsibility programs and initiatives are implemented using different models that depend on a companys philosophy on Corporate Social Responsibility (Mallin, 2009). There is always a contention on how far organizations should go when trying to meet societal goals.
Many Corporate Social Responsibility models used by organizations are normally integrated with the overall business model of the organization. Organizations are expected to comply with legal and ethical standards when carrying out corporate and social responsibilities.
The pyramid of Social Corporate Responsibility is a graphic model that defines Corporate Social Responsibility in four parts. This broad definition has some similarities and differences with other Corporate Social Responsibility definitions (Mallin, 2009). The four facets of the Corporate Social Responsibility pyramid define and explain Social Corporate Responsibility from different perspectives.
The Corporate Social Responsibilities are very wide and this calls for a clear understanding of the four perspectives. The economic facet that represents all the economic responsibilities of an organization forms the base of the pyramid (Mallin, 2009). Organizations have shareholders that invest in them with an aim of getting returns from their investment.
The economic facet ensures that shareholders do not lose their investments. Companies have the responsibility of ensuring that investors receive rightful dividends and investment returns on time. It is the responsibility of a company to come up with ways of making profits for investors to enjoy the benefits of their investment.
The economic facet brings a new dimension to the definition of Corporate Social Responsibility because other definitions do not actually highlight the investors welfare (Bacher, 2007). A profitable company ensures continuous supply of important goods and services as well as the creation of employments opportunities for the unemployed.
It is the responsibility of an organization to come up with the right strategies and systems in order to improve its revenues for the benefit of shareholders (Bacher, 2007). The second facet of the Corporate Social Responsibility pyramid is the legal facet. Organizations have the responsibility of obeying all the regulations that govern its operations.
The company has to adhere to all the laws and regulations governing environmental conservation, employee protection, consumer protection and contractual agreements.
The legal facet of the pyramid only focuses on the laid down regulations but does not mention the extra effort put in place by organizations beyond the normal legal requirements (Bacher, 2007). Organizations come up with extra initiatives to help the community which supersede the minimal legal requirements.
It is important for organizations to adhere to all regulations because failure to do so puts the company at the risk of being shut down and in the process harming investors and employees (Bacher, 2007). The third facet of the Corporate Social Responsibility pyramid is the ethical facet.
All the activities of an organization should be just and fair without causing any harm to employees, consumers and the environment. It is the responsibility of an organization to observe the law and demonstrate ethical leadership for the benefit of all stakeholders (Bacher, 2007).
Examples of an organizations ethical responsibilities include waste management, genuine advertisements and how the employees are treated within the organization. It is also ethical for an organization to provide good working conditions for its employees.
The ethical facet emphasizes the fact that Corporate Social Responsibility should begin from within the organization as it spreads to the community (Bacher, 2007). The fourth and final facet of the Corporate Social Responsibility is the philanthropic facet.
This is the facet that is highlighted in almost all models of Corporate Social Responsibility. According to the philanthropic facet, it is the responsibility of organizations to commit its financial and human resources towards improving the quality of life in the community (Anderson, 1989).
Some of the programs that organizations support under the philanthropic facet include health programs, educational programs, civic programs and volunteer programs (Anderson, 1989).
The four facets of Social Corporate Responsibility have critical tensions among themselves (Anderson, 1989). There is a strong relationship between the economic facet and the philanthropic facet because the financial position of an organization determines whether it will participate in philanthropic programs or not.
Philanthropic initiatives require finances and it becomes difficult for an organization that is struggling financially to sponsor philanthropic initiatives.
The economic and legal facets are dependent on each other since it is difficult for an organization to operate and make profits without having complied with all the laws and regulations (Anderson, 1989). All the components of the Corporate Social Responsibility pyramid are very important in the general running of an organization.
The corporate Social Responsibility pyramid forms the basis on which different models are built upon. The similarities between the various Corporate Social Responsibility models are many compared to differences (Bacher, 2007). The objectives of Corporate Social Responsibility are very similar regardless of the model adopted by an organization.
It is important to conduct a feasibility study before choosing the type of Corporate Social Responsibility model to use in a particular community. The two most common models are the constituency and the sustainability model (Bacher, 2007). The constituency model classifies an organization into different groups that have similar interests.
The company management should work hard to ensure the interests of each group are satisfied. Some of the constituencies under the constituency model include shareholders, employees, consumers, creditors and the outside community (Bacher, 2007). This model can lead to conflicts if an organization satisfies the interests of one group and fails to consider other groups.
The interests of shareholders and non-shareholders should be considered in a companys Corporate Social Responsibility strategies (Bacher, 2007). A company that focuses on making a lot of profits without giving its employees fair remunerations is bound to have conflicts.
The idea of splitting an organization into constituencies is what makes this model to be very unique compared to other models (Schwartz, 2011). The Sustainability model takes a different approach by advocating for economic sustainability for the successful implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives.
According to the sustainability model, an organization should have long-term strategies to ensure it maintains profitability on a long-term basis (Schwartz, 2011). An organizations future depends on the economic sustainability of the organization. The well-being of stakeholders is key to an organizations sustainability.
In conclusion, Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives are aimed at ensuring the interests of all stakeholders are satisfied. Corporate Social Responsibility is a way through which an organization can give back to the society.
The Corporate Social Responsibility pyramid consists of four fundamental components that are necessary for a company to be fully operational (Schwartz, 2011). Corporate social Responsibility models may have different approaches but the goals and objectives are almost similar.
The sustainability and constituency models are the two major models that organizations use when implementing Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives.
The Corporate Social Responsibility pyramid broadens the definition of Corporate Social Responsibility definition to include the economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic components. Corporate Social Responsibility Definitions have many similarities compared to differences because the goals and objectives are almost similar regardless of the model or approach a particular organization adopts.
References
Anderson, J., (1989). Corporate Social Responsibility: Guidelines for top management. New York, NY: ABC-CLIO.
Bacher, C., (2007). Corporate Social Responsibility. New York, NY: GRIN Verlag.
Mallin, C. (2009). Corporate Social Responsibility: A case study approach. New York, NY: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Schwartz, M., (2011). Corporate Social Responsibility: An ethical approach. New York, NY: Broadview Press.