Introduction
Business is an entity of society. It is the economic sector of the society. Both the society and business relate and affect each other in very significant ways. Optimum productivity from both society and business arise from those activities that cater for the needs of both the business and the correspondent society simultaneously. This is the trend historically.
Therefore, for its own success business should seek to be party to those activities that gear towards the betterment of the society in which it carries out its business. Most importantly, with the current issue of globalisation, business should not only seek to increase its profits but should also seek to extend its social responsibility network to countries previously bound by national boundaries.
The Role of Government in the Society
The government is a product of society. Historically, the government primarily meets the needs of society. It is consequently, supposed to act for the good of society.
Firstly, the government is the regulator of activities within its jurisdiction. This is to mean that it is the body, in any modern society, tasked with the mandate of making laws. Secondly, the government is responsible of securing the economy of its respective nation by ensuring the stability of the national currency and governing trade within the nation and between the nation and the rest of the world.
This as a result affects the quality of life of the public. Thirdly, the government is both a direct consumer and an investor in both the public and business. Governments all over the world have in the past provided capital to private business in order to encourage the industries in the country. The government largely consumes labour from the public and on the other hand invests in the production of such labour for instance, through education.
Role of Business in the Society
The main role of business in the society is to produce both goods and services in order to meet demand created by the public. It must, however, do so in such a way that companies also make profits so that they can continue to exist. Businesses provide goods and services that both the public and governments cannot do without having.
In addition to this, businesses also consume both products and services from both the government and the public such as labour (Kotler, Margaret and Turner 2011). Therefore, it is the responsibility of any business to give back to society. This way the company will gain acceptability in society.
The Role of the Public in Society
Both business and the government exist to serve the public. Therefore, the public is the main consumer of goods and services produced by both the government and businesses. It provides a ready market for businesses and the government. In addition to this, the public is the main producer of labour for both the government and businesses.
Stakeholders’ Framework
A business stakeholder is a party that is involved in the business of business. The activities of the business affect him directly. Business stakeholders include the following.
Internal stakeholders include the business owners (shareholders), employees and management.
External stakeholders include the consumers, suppliers, other businesses, government and the public.
Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Business to Its Internal Stakeholders
Business has the responsibility to treat its entire internal stakeholder fairly and humanly. To its employees and management it has the duty to employ them without discrimination (e.g. on gender, religion or disability basis). It also has responsibility to compensate them reasonably and without undue delays.
Moreover, it ensures safe working premises, to allow them rights to associate e.g. by allowing them freedom to join trade unions and to show each one of them their due dignity as a human being.
Once a company or organization hires employees and management, they in turn become part of business and they have the responsibility to the shareholders (owners) to protect the confidentiality of the business. In addition, it is their obligation to treat the shareholders with the respect they deserve and to be faithful in their job of earning the shareholders profits.
Social and Ethical Responsibility of Business to Its External Stakeholders
Business has the moral obligation to the consumers and the public not to produce goods and services that have the potential to cause any harm to people. In addition, it is the responsibility of business not to unreasonably over charge the consumers for its goods and services.
Recently it is has become the responsibility of business to contribute to the wellbeing of the society in which it carries out its business in the sense that a better society means a better environment for doing business. In fact, a business social dimension is a plus in the conduct of business.
It makes the very people who buy services and goods the mere existence of that business. This makes them to want to buy their products more that create customer loyalty.
Business also has the obligation to trade fairly with other businesses and its suppliers to ensure an optimal business environment and to meet its financial obligations accordingly. It also has the responsibility to obey the laws of the country/state in which it is carrying out its business.
The accounting department is under obligation to represent the true financial position of business as required by the accounting principles. The operations and production department should not produce products that can harm the consumers and/or destroy the environment.
The sales and marketing department is under obligation to exercise marketing ethics such as fairness in pricing, transparency in giving any relevant details such as risk involved in the consumption of the product etc. The finance department should at all times exercise fairness in its operations such as pricing and payment of taxes.
The human resource department should never discriminate potential employees on any basis apart from merit. In the event that there arises need to downsize, the HR department should exercise fairness when deciding who should be fired e.g. firing based on performance etc.
They should also ensure that those fired get adequate compensation for any reasonable inconveniences caused by the organisation e.g. by employing a send-off package to cover for expenses before the persons can secure another source of income etc (Hutt and Speh 2009).
Top management bears the greatest responsibility when it comes to the issues of social responsibility and ethics. This is so because they are the face of the organisation and because they make the most important strategic decisions. They must therefore ensure that at all times they make decisions that do not infringe on the social rights of individuals both in and outside the organisation.
Such decisions as what products to produce, the organisation’s policy on environmental conservation, corporate social responsibility, the organisation’s competitive advantage, and employees’ conduct policy and the organisations compliance to legal requirements should be based on research on the various stakeholders affected by each decision, failure to which may affect the organisation’s productivity (Carnal 2007).
The process of identification of stakeholders happens as day-to-day business activities take place through a process known as stakeholder analysis (the process of identifying parties that are impacted or that will affect an organisation’s course of action). This is because most of the stakeholders will be affected by (or will affect) the business of business.
For instance, a rise in the demand of organisations products affects suppliers of raw materials significantly. Employees will have to work harder to meet the demand.
On the other hand, other business will want to compete or do business with the organisation, consumers and society will be responsible for the increase in demand. At the end of the day, the shareholders/investors will enjoy the probable increase in income and the government will enjoy the taxes thereof.
An organisation may classify its stakeholders based on the following
- The level of influence: This is the significance of the stakeholders’ contribution to the organisations decision-making process. Stakeholders such as the shareholders have very high influence on the decisions made by the organisation’s management.
- Legitimacy of the relationship: This implies on how official/viable the relationship between the organisation and the stakeholder is. The more official, the more the impact the stakeholder’s decisions will have on the organisation’s business and the more the organisation’s actions will affect the stakeholder.
- The urgency of the claims: Stakeholders such as the consumers may not have a legitimate relationship with an organisation but their claims should be met first if the business wants to proceed in business. Therefore, management should accord them the necessary attention or risk being out of business.
Advantages of Stakeholder Analysis
- It helps to minimise and eliminate risks that could crop up due to misunderstanding the stakeholders e.g. breaking of environmental regulations.
- It also helps in identifying ways of influencing other stakeholders.
- A stakeholder analysis enables the organisation to incorporate the stakeholders’ wishes in the organisation’s actions.
- A well-done analysis also helps the organisation in eliminating negative stakeholders and their negative impacts on the business.
- Finally, a sound stakeholder analysis provides the organisation with a mechanism of acting efficiently.
Impacts of Environmental Forces on Business
Environmental force/factors include political factors, social-cultural factors, economic factors, technological and macro and microenvironments. All these factors determine the way organisations carry out business. Economic factors such as interest rates affect the price of money and therefore determine return on investment.
Political instability determines the rate of insecurity in a country band as a result the rate of risk in investing in such a country. Social cultural factors such as religion helps in product design e.g. on cannot start pork butchery in a Muslim dominated area and expect high sales. Technology is a requirement in any business in our time, for a business to succeed it must employ the use of the latest technologies.
Effects of Globalisation on Corporate Stakeholders
Globalisation levels out the playing field of doing business in a global scale. This is to mean that competition is no longer limited to national or regional boundaries. Investment is on a global scale.
Sourcing for labour is also on a global scale and generally, the issues faced in one country are a replica of what happens in the whole world. This may affect such factors as the cost of labourers there are labourer e.g. in third world countries who can offer the same kind of labour for a much lower price.
Government Regulation of Business
The business environment is a very volatile environment especially in the 21st century. This is mainly because of stiff competition between players in the various industries and the carrying out of business on the internet. Therefore, there is a need for regulation to create sanity in the business field (Campbell 1998).
The government must also protect the rights of the consumers. It does this through enacting laws that constrain business from unduly exploiting the consumers. In addition, the government must also protect the environment. It does this by enacting waste management laws and ensuring that businesses follow those laws (Sullivan 2003).
Importance of Business Social Responsibility in the Society
A better society creates a better environment for doing business. Business will therefore gain e.g. by contributing to the societies efforts to increase the level of security, business will also be protecting its own plant. In today’s business world, businesses are seeking to tailor their goods according to the taste and preferences of the end users who are a big part of society.
The more business is involved with society the more it is going to become aware of its end user’s needs and consequently the more it has going to able to tailor its products to fit their various needs. Good public image; social responsibility shows that the organisation cares about society and not just their money. As a result, society wants to keep doing business with the organisation.
Impacts of Business Social and Ethical Responsibility in the Society
Social responsibility has greatly affected society in different areas of life. Among the greatest beneficiaries is the environment. As more and more organisations take up the challenge of conserving the environment, it is becoming a necessity for the whole of the business fraternity in the world to engage in environmental conservation activities.
Consequently the world’s society is gaining from these efforts, for instance increase in rainfall around the world, reduced global warming etc. The funds that come from Corporate Social Responsibility are changing lives in the society. Organisations are reaching out around the globe all the way to third world countries and transforming the lives of poor members of society (Capon 2008).
Conclusion
The world has today become a global village and the business that is going to succeed is one that has a competitive advantage over the others. Therefore, any business that wants to be productive should ensure that it places itself in such a position that it is able to exploit all opportunities without infringing the social rights of society.
In fact, a business social dimension is a plus in the conduct of business. It makes the very people who buy services and goods the mere existence of that business. This makes them to want to buy their products more that create customer loyalty.
References
Campbell, D. (1998). Organizations and Business Environment. Oxford: Legoprint.
Capon, C. (2008). Understanding Strategic Management. New York: FT/Prentice Hall.
Carnal, C. (2007). Managing Change in Organizations. Essex: Pearson Education.
Hutt, M. & Speh , T. (2009). Business Management Marketing. London: Cengage Publishers.
Kotler, P., Margaret, H. &Turner, E. (2011). Marketing Management. New York: Pearson Publishers.
Sullivan, A. (2003). Economics: Principles in Action. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458: Pearson Prentice Hall.