BUS 475 Week 1 Part 1: Business and Society Slide Topic # 1 Intro 2 Objectives Narration Welcome to Business and Society. In this lesson, we will discuss issues related to the relationship between business and society, stakeholder theory, and stakeholder analysis Please go to the next slide. Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to: Describe the relationship between business and society and the ways in which they are part of an interactive system. 3 4 Examine Stakeholder Theory Please go to the next slide. We will also discuss how an organization examines the issues related to the stakeholder theory, stakeholder analysis, and business and society Please go to the next slide. Stakeholder theory has evolved from a corporate centered perspective into a more comprehensive research field, which addresses business-society relations from various points of view. Recent research shows that the issue of stakeholder management can be approached from a corporate, a stakeholder, or a conceptual point of view. The corporate perspective focuses on how corporations deal with stakeholders. The stakeholder perspective analyses how stakeholders try to influence corporations. And the conceptual perspective explores how particular concepts, such as the common good or sustainable development, relate to businessstakeholder interactions. 5 Stakeholder analysis Please go to the next slide. Many business leaders have not fully recognized the significance of employee stakeholders to the design and effective operation of performance management systems. Recent studies have demonstrated the centrality of employees within the stakeholder systems model of performance management. Stakeholder theory is often utilized to critique current scorecard type performance management frameworks with a particular focus on the balanced scorecard as the most popular of these. There is case study evidence relating to the effectiveness of performance management systems in knowledge intensive organizations. The recent trends in many successful organizations demonstrates the significance and application potential of the stakeholder systems development of scorecard type performance management frameworks. The "why" and the "how" of a more participatory role for organization stakeholders, and why employee stakeholders merit a "first among equals" status within these. The stakeholder systems approach represents a holistic approach to performance management through its incorporation of stakeholder perspectives at system design, operation, and evaluation stages. There is a need for a new philosophy of performance management in an era of stakeholder accountable organizations. 6 Business and society Please go to the next slide. As the Corporate Social Responsibility literature has developed, it appears that a dominant paradigm has emerged. Both scholars who study Corporate Social Responsibility and those who write about its organizational application have largely converged on Corporate Social Responsibility as an organizational strategy issue. Viewing Corporate Social Responsibility as a matter of top-level strategy unwittingly links it to a particular conceptualization of organizational change, a top-down perspective. It is noted that the dominance of this traditional view of organizational change is limiting the study of Corporate Social Responsibility. Thus, we need to increase awareness of an alternative model, one that complements the strategic view. Specifically, one in which the model of Corporate Social Responsibility organizational change that suggests two things: First, that significant change can be initiated at lower organizational levels as well as from the top. And second, that the change can be accomplished in small steps and involve only a portion of the organization, as opposed to an overarching organizational strategy. An employee-centered approach to Corporate Social Responsibility change is an addition to the traditional top-down view. 7 Business and society Please go to the next slide. Consumers in modern societies are increasingly sensitive to environmental performance by large and small corporations, making it a crucial issue in the overall policy of corporate social responsibility. The role of environmental performance in the profile of corporate social responsibility is perceived by consumers. Many companies utilize a stated preference approach to consumer's preferences. This approach allows for the evaluation in monetary terms of the trade-offs that individuals can make between various aspects of corporate policy decisions, including the extent of environmental performance. The data is modeled by means of a mixture heuristics approach that allows the companies to study the utilization of various decision rules in the choice of products with various degrees of environmental performance. There is a linear compensatory heuristic which is the most extended across individuals and these subjects value most the policies concerned with environmental management. Those subjects opting for the non-compensatory decision rule tend to focus on the attribute of good labor relations as the most salient factor defining corporate social responsibility. In addition, policy measures are relatively more valued for some products rather than for others, suggesting that consumers discriminate between products when valuing companies' environmental profiles. Please go to the next slide. 8 9 Check Your Understanding Summary We have reached the end of this lesson. Let’s take a look at what we have covered. First, we learned that stakeholder theory has evolved from a corporate centered perspective into a more comprehensive research field, which addresses business-society relations from various points of view. Recent research shows that the issue of stakeholder management can be approached from a corporate, a stakeholder, or a conceptual point of view. Recent studies have demonstrated the centrality of employees within the stakeholder systems model of performance management. Stakeholder theory is often utilized to critique current scorecard type performance management frameworks. Next, we discovered that many business leaders have not fully recognized the significance of employee stakeholders to the design and effective operation of performance management systems. Recent studies have demonstrated the centrality of employees within the stakeholder systems model of performance management. Stakeholder theory is often utilized to critique current scorecard type performance management frameworks with a particular focus on the balanced scorecard as the most popular of these. Finally, we discussed how consumers in modern societies are increasingly sensitive to environmental performance by large and small corporations, making it a crucial issue in the overall policy of corporate social responsibility. The role of environmental performance in the profile of corporate social responsibility is perceived by consumers. This concludes this lecture. BUS 475 Week 1 Lecture 2: Boundary Spanning Slide Topic # 1 Intro 2 Objectives Narration Welcome to Business and Society. In this lesson, we will discuss the issues related to the dynamic environment of business to include Boundary spanning. Please go to the next slide. Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to: Describe the relationship between business and society and the ways in which they are part of an interactive system. 3 4 Examine Boundary spanning Please go to the next slide. We will also discuss how an organization examines the issues related to the dynamic environment of business to include Boundary spanning. Please go to the next slide. Organizational design failures are dependent on the principle of reap and sow. The Merriam Webster Unabridged Dictionary 2002 states that to sow is "to plant or scatter" such as when a farmer plants seeds in the ground and to reap means "to gather, obtain, or win as the fulfillment, reward, or other recompense of effort, labor, or some other action" in the future. When departments participate in organizational boundary spanning, they are encouraging cross-organizational and external collaboration. Members are sowing knowledge into other departments, with customers and distributors, and reaping the benefit of gaining new knowledge which; allows them to create new ideas and products, ultimately gaining a competitive advantage. Likewise, leaders that sow into the lives of other leaders, internal and external to the organization, will reap the benefit of receiving actionable knowledge to enhance their careers, help them understand the organization better, and develop enduring relationships. Additional benefits derived from leadership boundary spanning is that the leader who communicates and shares knowledge with other leaders, customers, and distributors across and external to the organization, will get a better understanding of the value of department personnel deployment and the knowledge they obtain. There will be increased buy-in from all parties and the leader can be an advocate for the practice of organizational boundary spanning. 5 Dynamic environment of business Please go to the next slide. The underemployment of persons with disabilities continues to be a societal problem; many persons with disabilities have difficulty securing and maintaining employment. This difficulty contributes to the relatively higher rates of poverty among persons with disabilities as well as their underutilization as productive members of society. Creating working relationships for persons with disabilities at an individual level may be an extension of an organization's corporate social responsibility program. Individuals with disabilities have a right to obtain and maintain successful employment opportunities; there are many factors at play in addressing this social problem. The American’s with Disability Law has added legal as well as social responsibility to corporate responsibility. The US is also plagued by corporate wrongdoing. Scandals on Wall Street and in the savings & loan industry, and illegal activities by the Fortune 500 firms, suggest that corporate illegality is a common occurrence in the business world. Research has shown US business students to be less ethical than other US students. 6 Dynamic Cultures Please go to the next slide. Nowadays, the workforce of most United States organizations looks like the United Nations. People born and educated all over the world, often in countries culturally quite different from United States, work side by side with North American-born staff. The different sets of values and the different expectations with respect to how things get done in the workplace lead to many misunderstandings. In many cases, the cross-cultural nature of these misunderstandings is not identified. From an organization's perspective, cross-cultural misunderstandings can result in significant inefficiencies. Organizations may lose highly valuable skills or miss out on significant contributors. The chance of potential culture clashes in United States workplaces might increase with the influx of highly skilled foreign workers, mainly in the technology field, entering the country on H1-B work visas. Strategies for managing a culturally diverse pool of workers are becoming increasingly key. Discretion in employment benefits can help avert culture clashes, especially if there is potential conflict around what particular religious or national holidays are recognized. An effective way for managers and employees to facilitate a friendly work environment is to offer more opportunities to communicate and get to know one another outside of the workplace. Some international technology employees might find physical approachability to be more daunting than helpful, however, because of language barriers between themselves and their managers. A no tolerance policy against racial discrimination should be written into the employee manual and articulated to all new employees. 7 Dynamic Changes Please go to the next slide. Through a constant scanning of social and political trends, the public affairs function becomes another window in the world for senior officials. And in an environment where the difference between good or bad decisions can be measured in millions of dollars, the public affairs function is one of the few resources of top management that is capable of providing detached, objective, an analytical thinking about the impact and consequences of potential corporate decisions. In the successful corporation of the future, and increasingly in corporations that wish to survive in this more complicated marketplace, the marketing process and the public affairs function go hand in hand. Public affairs can help to formulate and test new marketing concepts, predict their various impacts, and manage the effects of change. Public affairs can also provide an important tool to enhance corporate competitiveness. And with its close relations with key constituencies, it’s monitoring of policy issues and lifestyle changes, and social trends, the public affairs function is ideally positioned to help identify new markets, changing demands, and emerging growth opportunities. Slowly but perceptibly, the public affairs function is maturing as a key discipline of enlightened, progressive management. But, if there is to be any hope that the most visible symbols of the enterprise system, namely its major corporations and professional managers, will be able to achieve their full potential in society, this process must accelerate and expand. Rather than being viewed as an un-returnable cost and a burden on profit, the public affairs function needs to be seen as an investment in corporate survival and a requirement for staying in business. Only when corporate boards, CEOs, and other senior managers become fully committed to the vital role and strategic value of the public affairs function can there be real confidence in the long-term future of any major corporation. Please go to the next slide. 8 9 Check Your Understanding Summary We have reached the end of this lesson. Let’s take a look at what we have covered. First, we learned that when departments participate in organizational boundary spanning, they are encouraging crossorganizational and external collaboration. Benefits derived from leadership boundary spanning is that the leader who communicates and shares knowledge with other leaders, customers, and distributors across and external to the organization, will get a better understanding of the value of department personnel deployment and the knowledge they obtain. Finally, we determined that through a constant scanning of social and political trends, the public affairs function becomes another window on the world for senior officials. And in an environment where the difference between good or bad decisions can be measured in millions of dollars, the public affairs function is one of the few resources of top management that is capable of providing detached, objective, and analytical thinking about the impact and consequences of potential corporate decisions. This concludes this lecture.
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