HMAN GROUP 3 PRESENTATION

PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT
 QUESTION
TEAM 3

Presentation

CSR
A small outdoor clothing company has just received an attractive offer
from a business in Bangladesh to manufacture its gloves. The offer would
allow for substantial cost savings over the current supplier. The company
manager however, has read reports that some Bangladesh businesses
break their own laws and operate with child labour.

How would differences of the following corporate responsibility strategies

affect the manager’s decision regarding whether to accept the offer:
Obstruction, defence, accommodating and Proaction?
DEFINITION
Social responsibility is the thought that a company should build relationships with both the society and the
environment where it's located. It means valuing those relationships with society, customers, and employees, and
not being totally consumed with only maximizing profits.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a type of corporate strategy that looks at how the business can better
society as a whole. These can target moral issues such as environmental protection and animal testing, to more
ethical acts such as charitable fundraisers. The general aim is to improve public relations and the firms brand
image.
Prachi Juneja (2015) Management Study Guide describes CSR as the obligation and commitment of managers to
take steps
3 for protecting and improving society’s welfare along with protecting their own interest.
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Environmental Responsibility
 For companies committed to CSR, it’s important for
businesses to engage in environmentally friendly practices.
Corporations can be significant contributors to greenhouse
gas emissions, pollution, waste, and natural resource
depletion—but by committing to environmental
responsibility, a business takes ownership over its impact on
the environment.
 Premier Medical Aid Services, donated steel bins around
the CBD and also created and maintains an Island along
fourth street road in the CBD in Harare.
 Depending on a business’s size and industry, environmental
responsibility can take many different forms. For some
companies, it means using alternative energy sources and
sustainable materials. For others, it means enacting a
company-wide recycling program or donating to and
volunteering for local environment-focused organizations.
 Under Cassava Smartech/Econet, they launched Clean City,
which collects garbage in the high density areas for free
since the City Council always says they are incapacitated
and cannot collect refuse. That is Econet taking part in
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taking care of the environment as part of its corporate social
responsibility.
Ethical Responsibility
 Being ethically responsible means ensuring
a business engages in fair business
practices across the board—including
treating all employees, stakeholders, and
customers ethically and with respect.
 This type of CSR can also take a lot of
different forms. Some common examples
of ethical responsibility include setting a
higher minimum wage, guaranteeing all
materials are ethically sourced, and
ensuring that all employees receive
competitive pay and comprehensive
benefits as well as treated with respect.
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Philanthropic Responsibility
 In today’s world, it’s almost expected for businesses to
give back to the communities they exist in and donate
to causes that align with their company mission. When
businesses do this, they’re following through with their
philanthropic responsibility.
 This philanthropic responsibility can be as small scale
as sponsoring a local non-profit’s annual fundraiser or
as large-scale as donating a percentage of a business’s
annual earnings to a prominent cause.
 Econet, Nedbank and NOIC are some organisations
doing philanthropic work through giving scholarship to
high school and tertiary students from less privileged
homes.
 Since 2010, the ZOL Start-Up Challenge has been giving
innovative and creative potential entrepreneurs the
chance to explore and execute their visions with the
help of a select panel of Start-Up experts as well as
essential financial support.
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Economic Responsibility
 When a business is acting with economic
responsibility in mind, it is making financial
decisions that prioritize doing good, not just
making more money. This means that this type of
CSR is intertwined with the other types above.
 For example, this could mean that a business signs
a contract with a supplier that uses sustainable
materials—even if it costs more.
 Another example of economic responsibility is
when a company commits to a transparent salary
system that fairly compensates all employees and
makes up for past gender and race pay gaps.
 For example companies such as Econet, Delta,
Stanbic, Deloitte and Touché, are rated as the
best employers in Zimbabwe with good salaries
and working conditions towards their employees.
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 OBSTRUCTIVE
 Perhaps the most deceitful approach to social responsibility is obstructive. Obstruct means to block or get in the way, so an obstructive
stance blocks out its social responsibilities. It's more concerned with profits. Obstructive companies are known to pollute, deceive
customers, and even exploit their own employees.
 As an organisation and as the manager taking an obstructive approach will have the business viewed in a negative manner. Although it
is cheaper to take a supplier from Bangladesh, the issue of child labour can be detrimental to the business if the public or human rights
activist are to get wind of it.
 For example a new lawsuit has been filed against chocolate companies Nestle, Cargill, Hershey, Olam, Mars, Mondelez and Barry
Callebaut over allegations that they benefitted from cheap cocoa harvested by forced child labor. This is the latest action in a long legal
battle for justice in U.S. courts. They allege that the seven companies formed a “venture to allow them to continue benefitting from
cheap cocoa harvested by forced child labor.” (Freedom News 2021)
 As such, no matter how much profit can be made from a cheap supplier, negative media and lawsuits are never good for the
organisation.
 Furthermore, Zimbabwe is a member of ILO since June 1980. ILO Conventions on child labour states that;
 “No.138 on Minimum Age and Convention and No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. These Conventions are “fundamental”
Conventions. This means that, under the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, all ILO member States have an
obligation to respect, promote and realize the abolition of child labour, even if they have not ratified the Conventions in question.”
 On 22 May 2019, Zimbabwe deposited its instrument of ratification of the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930,
thereby becoming the thirty-second country worldwide to ratify the Protocol. By ratifying the instrument, Zimbabwe is demonstrating
its firm commitment to combating forced labour in all its forms.
 Thus taking a supplier from Bangladesh will not only mean a violation of the law but the government can be forced to take the
organisation’s operating licence to protect the image of the country.
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 DEFENSIVE
 In most cases, companies that take a defensive stance towards social corporate
responsibility are not particularly responsible. These companies may consider themselves
neutral, and they make profits a more important motive than performing actions in a
socially responsible way. These companies make a point of following the law to ensure
that others cannot take legal action against them. For example, a company may create
more waste than necessary, but it will remove the waste in a legal method rather than
dumping it illegally.
 Black granite mining in Mutoko is one example. Where companies doing that are only
focused on making profits and are not doing any community development.
 According to Newsday 2019 article, a number of companies, which include Natural Stone,
CRG, Zimbabwe International Quarry, Enterprises and Ilford Red are extracting granite in
the district, but the poverty of the people of Mutoko towers above and beyond the
abundant precious stone, which is in high demand in Europe and America.
 Locals accuse the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) of working in cahoots with
mining
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companies and levying them paltry fines, which can never compensate for the cost
of environmental rehabilitation.
 
 ACCOMODATING
 An accommodating stance signifies that a company believes social responsibility is
important and perhaps as important as making a profit. These companies satisfy all legal
requirements and attempt to meet ethical standards. An accommodating company does
not attempt to hide its actions and remains open about why it takes specific actions. For
example, it may decrease its creation of waste, source products that are not tested on
animals and pay its employees a fair wage. The company would keep its records open to
the public. Though these companies are often socially responsible, they may change their
policies in response to criticism.
 For example, Johnson & Johnson
 An excellent example of CSR on the frontline is big pharma pioneer Johnson & Johnson.
They have focused on reducing their impact on the planet for three decades. Their
initiatives range from leveraging the power of the wind to providing safe water to
communities around the world. Their purchase of a privately-owned energy supplier in the
Texas Panhandle allowed the company to reduce pollution while providing a renewable,
economical alternative to electricity. The company continues to seek out renewable energy
options
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with the goal of having 100% of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2025.
 PRO-ACTION
 Like an accommodating company, a proactive company makes social responsibility a priority, even if doing so cuts into
their profits. Instead of reacting to criticism, a proactive company attempts to remain ahead of the curve when it comes
to social responsibility. It may make ethics part of its mission statement and attempt to avoid any harm to the
environment or its employees. A proactive company may go out of its way to institute new recycling programs, give all
of its employees a living wage and benefits, and donate a portion of its profits to charity.
 For example, as a brand, Coca-Cola is putting a huge focus on sustainability. The key areas are climate, packaging and
agriculture along with water stewardship and product quality. Their message is ‘a world without waste’, with the aim of
collecting and recycling every bottle, making their packaging 100% recyclable and replacing all water used in creating
their drinks back to the environment to ensure water security. They aim that by 2030, they will have reduced their
carbon footprint by 25%.

 Another example is, Ford Motor Company

 Ford has huge plans in the area of CSR. Their mission is to ‘build a better world, where everyone is free to move and
pursue their dreams’. They have increased investment in electrification to $22Bn (from an original $11Bn) and aim for
their vehicles to be carbon neutral by 2050.
 “We’re committed to carbon neutrality”, stated Bob Holycross, Ford’s VP, Chief Sustainability, and Environment & Safety
Officer. “It’s the right thing for our customers, the planet and Ford. Ninety-five percent of our carbon emissions today
come from our vehicles, operations and suppliers, and we’re tackling all three areas with urgency and optimism,”
 Interestingly,
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the company is also focusing on pay equity. They are conducting a diversity, equity and inclusion audit
while introducing a global salaried pay ratio (including gender) to level the playing field for all employees.
CONCLUSION

As an organisation,
maintaining the relationship
with employees and our
stakeholders is of
paramount importance.

Consumers and employees

alike can feel when an
organization’s CSR efforts
aren’t aligned to its overall
mission, vision, and values.
But when organizations get
it right, the impact is noted
across14 the board.
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