Case Study «The millennium meeting»

ISSUE

Your company is a manufacturer of sportswear for schools and youth clubs. The main market for your products is the many schools and youth clubs throughout the country which offer sports, either as part of their timetable or as a leisure activity. At present you sponsor a number of national sports events and make charitable contributions to worthy causes.

Many initiatives are being prepared for the millennium. Your company has decided to make a sum of £20,000 available. No specific areas have been selected, but the overall idea is ‘to make a lasting contribution with some visible outcome’. A millennium committee has therefore been set up with the specific task of deciding how the money should be spent.

AGENDA

1. The purpose of the ‘millennium fund’

2. The various options

3. Decision and follow-up action

Notes to the agenda

1. The Managing Director will present the purpose of the ‘millennium fund’.

2. Each manager and representative will present their views on the best use of the fund.

The Managing Director will chair the meeting and lead it to a decision.

Brainstorming

Think over the task and sound your decision, providing with effective arguments.

Giving presentations

The Managing Director of the company you work for is concerned about the quality of presentations given by staff at internal and external meetings. You have been asked to help to organize some training for staff in giving presentations.

Discuss the situation together and decide:

• which types of staff would benefit most from this training

• who would give this training

• how to decide whether the training has been successful.

INDIVIDUAL PROJECT / Presentation

Microfinance Institutions (1 by choice)

Unit 13 theory: «Business ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility»

«Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the commitment by business to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to improve their quality of life that is both good for the business and good for development»

The World Bank

The United Nations uses the term ‘global corporate citizenship’ to describe multinational companies’ obligations to respect human rights, improve workers’ conditions and to protect the environment. CSR is about conducting business in a way that meets or goes above the expectations that any one society has of a business. CSR lays the foundation of companies’ ethics, principles and values, helps to reduce the environment impact of business activities and improves overall working conditions.

On the one hand, it is argued that this management of the environmental and social risks has a positive effect on the market value of a company in the long term, adds to operational efficiency in terms of brand recognition and value and increases shareholder support. On the other hand, some CSR professionals argue that the measurement of the work-life balance relative to the efficient provision of customer service is the correct definition of the role of CSR.

Corporate Reputation Quotient of Harris-Fomburn

The Corporate Reputation Quotient of Harris-Fomburn is a comprehensive measuring method of corporate reputation that was created specifically to capture the perceptions of any corporate stakeholder group such as consumers, investors, employees, or key influences. The instrument enables research on the drivers of a company’s reputation, and allows to compare reputations both within and across industries.

Six drivers of the Corporate Reputation Quotient

This business reputation model has the following 6 drivers of corporate reputation with subsequent 20 attributes:

Emotional Appeal	Workplace Environment
- good feeling about the company - admire and respect the company - trust the company	- is well managed - appears to be a good company to work for - appears to have good employees
Products and Services	Financial Performance
- company believes in its products and services - company offers high quality products and services - develops innovative products and services - offers products and services that are good value	- history of profitability - appears a low risk investment - strong prospects for future growth - tends to outperform its competitors
Vision and Leadership	Social Responsibility
- has excellent leadership - has a clear vision for the future - recognizes and takes advantage of market opportunities	- supports good causes - environmentally responsible - treats people well

Making random checks, these criteria taken together result in lists of most reputable and/or visible companies.

FOLLOW-ON QUESTIONS…

1. How would you define CSR?

2. Is CSR little more than corporate goals and public relations?

3. What are the 4 areas of CSR? Are they of equal importance?

4. Is it possible for an organization to meet the needs of all its stakeholders or will the interests of these groups always be in conflict?

5. What is your personal opinion on CSR? How can companies improve their CSR?