Social responsibility is a critical issue facing numerous organizations in the world. In this context, IBM faces vital social responsibility issues based on the nature and range of its business and customer focus. IBM is a multinational organization. It manufactures and sells computer software, hardware, mainframe computers, as well as nanotechnology (Szymanski 34).
The company is among the leading computer and electronic organizations based in New York City, United states. It owns and operates numerous franchise companies and multinational businesses across the globe with major branches in the United Sates, India, and Australia. A critical social responsibility issue facing IBM is the environmental conservation and sustainability.
This relates to how the company can establish and embrace a sustainable development. Concurrently, the company has to “give back” to the community through philanthropic programs and supporting corporate social issues. The ultimate goal of IBM is to dominate in the global market with novel computer and consultation products.
Its toughest competitors include Microsoft, Dell, Google, Hewlett- Packard Company, and many more. The company has to structure vital social responsibility programs so as to outdo other competitors in the global market (Szymanski 65). The presence of these key players in the PC industry makes the competition intense for IBM.
This has forced the company to work out its competitive advantages so as to remain relevant and competent in the market. As a social responsibility issue, IBM has to manage a sustainable development through its strategic business programs.
IBM’s objective is to substantially address the needs of its customers. The modern marketing strategies demand organizations to create considerable business provisions and sustainable developmental prospects (Williams, 72). In fact, IBM is very good at meeting the needs of its clients despite the challenges. This is how the company has attained its competitive advantages in the global arenas.
However, as it continues to grow, IBM has to uphold suitable development through viable environmental protection initiatives. This has allowed the company to remain top in the industry. In the context of management, social responsibility is a critical provision in the business context. Lack of internal environmental protection initiatives has led to unsustainable developmental issues.
That is why several companies and organizations have adopted it to help in bringing accountability. Leadership management pattern at IBM has really contributed to its success in the contexts of social responsibility.
In IBM, ethical business provisions are critical values, principles or codes of conduct that the company embraces to ensure that its strategic decisions are virtuous in nature. Social responsibility plays a critical role in ensuring a company’s success. Currently, the organization’s culture sets standards that establish the difference between the good and the bad decisions and behaviors in regard to social responsibility.
The company’s leaders are fully responsible for the setting of standards on what should be acceptable while upholding the aspects of social responsibility. Normally, clients have associated IBM brands with standard quality, reliability, and many other intrinsic values. This is due to the fact that brands simply emphasize attributes and meanings to the clients (Williams 76).
This grants IBM a critical mandate to deal with the social responsibility issue on sustainable development. For a company dealing with electronics and computers such as IBM, there is a very big need to focus on both the micro and macro factors that can affect the global penetration of their products and environmental protection.
Since the computer industry has been expanding tremendously, it is necessary to study the changing economic trends in order to make informed decisions on sustainable development as a social responsibility issue.
Works Cited
Szymanski, Aleksander. IBM and the business ethics. London: GRIN Verlag, 2011. Print.
Williams, Chuck. Management. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.