Edge Incorporated: Ethics and Social Responsibility Plan Essay

Corporate Social Responsibility

Apart from satisfying the rising demands of the population, Edge Incorporated is eager to contribute to the development of the community. In the first place, it will help the local authorities deal with unemployment by creating new jobs. Simultaneously, the company will focus on being transparent and ensure that it strictly follows the laws and jurisdiction such as FDA within its area of operation.

In turn, it will treat all of its stakeholders with respect by emphasizing equality and tolerance as the key values. For example, it will create a favorable working environment for the employees to support their professional growth and self-development. To achieve these goals, it will prioritize fair and honest attitude and gratitude, follow non-discrimination laws, and constantly increase the diversity of the workforce to reflect and support the concepts of multiculturalism.

In turn, the company was not originally established as a social venture, as its central goals were rather commercial and did not prioritize finding systematic solutions to the complex social issues (Coleman & Kariv, 2015).

Nevertheless, it can use these concepts to improve its recognition and become competitive in the market. For example, it can refer to the healthy features of its products and claim that one of the corporate goals is to promote a healthy lifestyle. Along with that, creating collaborations with local farmers will not only assist in showing its interest in health, but also it will contribute to the development and growth of national producers.

Company’s Effect on Environment

In spite of the fact that the company wants to be perceived as eco-friendly, it has a tendency to have a negative effect on the environment. When designing manufacturing and packaging processes, the company will have to face a diversity of dilemmas. For example, choosing packaging and disposal procedures can be regarded as the areas with utmost risks, and the enterprise has to cover these issues when establishing a plan to mitigate these challenges. Air and water pollutions could be viewed as the critical outcomes linked to these issues and irresponsible manufacturing activities (Simboli, Taddeo, & Morgante, 2014). In this case, the company will start using eco-friendly packaging and constantly controlling the usage of water.

Thus, to comply with its central goal of being eco-friendly, the company has to reorganize its waste management and manufacturing processes. Otherwise, it will damage its brand image and question the appropriateness of its corporate social responsibility strategy (Simboli et al., 2014). To mitigate these risks, the main steps will include

1. proposing efficient recycling procedures;
2. using indicators to control and reduce the amount of waste;
3. dealing with the outcomes of disasters by cleaning and diminishing the source of the pollution as fast as possible;
4. creating a network with local farmers for the effective waste management.

Possible Health Issues Related to Products

When referring to the mission statement, the company is believed to be nutritional and offer energy boosts while implying that the products will have a beneficial impact on the psychological and physical conditions of the customers. Unfortunately, the enterprise has to focus on debunking myths concerning its negative effects on the health of the potential consumers. For example, many scholars link issues with the cardiovascular system and heart failures to the active consumption of energy drinks (Higgins, Yarlagadda, & Yang, 2015). In turn, many studies also state that energy drinks are the primary triggers of hyperactivity and anxiety (Shwartz et al., 2015).

These aspects may have a negative effect on sales forecasts and projections while disrupting a demand. Thus, to prove its positive image, Edge Incorporated has to pay vehement attention to its presence in the social media. In this case, potential steps may include

1. getting consultation from authorized medical professionals and using interviews with them as reliable sources of information;
2. constantly responding and making posts in the social media concerning health;
3. creating and managing webpage about the positive effects of these beverages and debunking typical negatives myths.

Impact on Health of the Certain Groups of Population

As it was mentioned earlier, an energy drink may have a negative effect on health and mental condition of youth and children while being a major cause of anxiety and hyperactivity (Shwartz et al., 2015). Along with that, it may be dangerous for pregnant women due to their physical condition. In this case, it is vital to target at the right consumer groups to avoid various problems in future. For example, packaging will mark that the products may be dangerous for women and children, and it will increase the safety levels (Editors of TIME, 2016; Robertson, 2016).

At the same time, this information will be presented in social media and official website, as using these preventive measures will assist in minimizing risks and decreasing the consumption rates among the vulnerable audience. Consequently, the main stages of the plan will include

1. ensuring that the packaging contains age and medical conditions that restrict consumption (safety warnings);
2. providing this information on website and social media;
3. being interactive in the social media and responding to questions;
4. creating interesting activities online that will attract youngsters and Millennials as the major consumers.

References

Coleman, S., & Kariv, D. (2015). Creating the social venture. New York, NY: Routledge.

Editors of TIME. (2016). The secrets of a healthy heart. New York, NY: Time Inc. Books.

Higgins, J., Yarlagadda, S., & Yang, B. (2015). Cardiovascular complications of energy drinks. Beverages, 1(1), 104-126.

Robertson, G. (2016). Food packaging: Principles and practice. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Shwartz, D., Gilstad-Hayden, K., Carroll-Scott, A., Grilo, S., McCaslin, K., Shwartz, M., & Ickovics, J. (2015). Energy drinks and youth self-reported hyperactivity/inattention symptoms. Academic Pediatrics, 15(3), 297-304.

Simboli, A., Taddeo, R., & Morgante, A. (2014). Value and wastes in manufacturing. An overview and a new perspective based on eco-efficiency. Administrative Sciences, 4(1), 173-191.