Transcript ADMS1000D – Lecture 10

Session 3
Societal Context & Labour Context
What is the importance of corporate social
responsibility (CSR)?
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WHAT IS BUSINESS & SOCIETY?
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Business: private, commercially oriented
organizations
Society: a community/national or group of people
with common values, traditions, institutions,
activities & interests
Community
Government
Business
Owners
Employees
Consumers
THE BUSINESS-SOCIETY RELATIONSHIP
Assuming a relationship between business
and society connects to notions of
‘embeddedness’ and organizations as
‘open systems’
SHOULD BUSINESS HAVE ANY
RESPONSIBILITIES TO
SOCIETY? AND IF SO, WHAT
IS THE NATURE OF THOSE
REPSONSIBILITIES?
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
CSR is: The obligation of decision makers to
take actions which protect and improve the
welfare of society as a whole along with
their own interests.
IE….
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
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obligations that involve going beyond:
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the production of goods/services at a
profit
the requirement of competition, law
or custom
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
 To create policies, make decisions &
engage in actions that are desirable in
terms of the values & objectives of
society.
i.e. ethical responsibilities to
society
BUSINESS & SOCIETY:
CONTEMPORARY CONCERNS
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Business helping
society
Example: Levi’s
THE ROLE OF BUSINESS IN SOCIETY:
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Examples of CSR:
• 3M & health of employees
• Merck Pharmaceutical & River Blindness
Can you think of examples of companies
that have recently demonstrated CSR?
THE ROLE OF BUSINESS IN SOCIETY:
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
• The social responsibility of business
encompasses the economic, legal, ethical
and discretionary (philanthropic)
expectations that society has of
organizations at a given point in time
(Carroll, 1979).
• A PYRAMID OF RESPONSIBILITIES!
THE CSR PYRAMID
Philanthropic Responsibilities
Be a good corporate citizen
Ethical Responsibilities
Be Ethical
Legal Responsibilities
Obey the Law
Economic Responsibilities
Be Profitable
(Adapted from Karakowsky, Carroll, Bucholtz, 2007)
THE CSR PYRAMID
• Components can be interdependent
rather than mutually exclusive.
e.g., serving ethical responsibilities does
not necessarily mean that profit
(economic responsibilities) will be
sacrificed – or vice versa.
THE CSR PYRAMID
• However, there may also be tensions
between the components –
e.g., “profits versus ethics”.
THE CSR PYRAMID
• Our discussion of this pyramid has already
implied that business is responsible to more
than simply its owners or shareholders!
• Rather there exists a network of
STAKEHOLDERS FOR WHICH THESE
REPSONSIBILITIES EXITS
• What or who are the stakeholders of business?
Find out in our next module!
THE STAKEHOLDERS OF
BUSINESS
STAKEHOLDERS, BUSINESS &
SOCIETY
WHAT IS A STAKE?
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An Interest or share in an activity
A Right - a legal right e.g. to fair
treatment or a moral right, e.g. to
expect satisfactory service
Ownership – a legal title to an asset/
property
STAKEHOLDERS, BUSINESS & SOCIETY
A stakeholder is any individual or group who can
affect or is affected by the actions, decisions,
policies, practices or goals of the organization
STAKEHOLDER VIEW OF THE FIRM: Primary &
Secondary Stakeholders
Suppliers etc
Employees
Soc. Pressure
Groups
Media &
Academics
Local
Communities
FIRM
Competitors
Government
& Regulators
Trade Bodies
Shareholders/ Customers/
owners etc
consumers
Adapted from KCB, 2007
Should business have some
kind of moral obligation to
society?
Is CSR a desirable goal?
DEBATING CORPORATE SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY
AGAINST CSR
FOR CSR
Sole responsibility of business Business should conform to
is to make a profit
social rules
Business is not equipped to
manage CSR
Business talent, capital &
expertise could ensure CSR
Business has enough power – Could use its power for CSR,
i.e. using its power positively
shouldn’t dictate morality
Costs of CSR would be
CSR provides long term
passed on to consumers &
benefits by enhancing
limit national competitiveness business environment
OTHER ARGUMENTS…?
THE LABOUR CONTEXT
EMPLOYEES ARE IMPORTANT STAKEHOLDERS
IN ANY BUSINESS.
WHAT OBLIGATIONS DOES BUSINESS HAVE
TOWARD LABOUR?
HOW DO UNIONS HELP ADDRES
LABOUR ISSUES?
THE EMPLOYEE STAKEHOLDER
EMPLOYEE RIGHTS
Guarantees of fair treatment in the workplace
granted by courts, legislatures or employers.
Provide workers with:
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Desired outcomes
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Protection from unwanted outcomes
Women
Aboriginals
DESIGNATED EMPLOYEE GROUPS
Visible
minorities
Persons with
Disabilities
WOMEN
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Segregated
Lower status occupations
Under-representation in many areas
Career barriers
Gender-stereotyping
First Nations/Aboriginals
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Vastly underrepresented in the
workforce
Education & employment gaps
Educational, geographical and
perceptual barriers
INDIVIDUALS WITH
DISABILITIES
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Higher unemployment rate compared
to national average
Access, physical and attitudinal
barriers
Economic barriers and social
discrimination
VISIBLE MINORITIES
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Account for most of the growth in the
labour force
Barriers include: cultural difference
issues, foreign credential issues,
language issues
Highest unemployment rates
THE EMPLOYEE STAKEHOLDER
PROTECTING EMPLOYEE RIGHTS
The Case of: Women, Aboriginal people, people
with disabilities, members of visible minorities
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Legal Protection Against Discrimination
Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms
The Canadian Human Rights Act
THE EMPLOYEE STAKEHOLDER
EMPLOYMENT EQUITY
Treating people fairly by recognizing
individual differences
“treating people fairly by
recognizing that different
individuals and groups require
different measures to ensure fair
and comparable results”
THE EMPLOYEE STAKEHOLDER
EMPLOYMENT EQUITY
Deal with systemic discrimination &
inequality at work
THE EMPLOYEE STAKEHOLDER
EMPLOYMENT EQUITY
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Eliminates employment
barriers for specified groups
THE EMPLOYEE STAKEHOLDER
EMPLOYMENT EQUITY
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Redresses past discrimination
THE EMPLOYEE STAKEHOLDER
EMPLOYMENT EQUITY
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Improve access and foster
equity
UNIONS
Unions are the organizations most
directly responsible for
representing the interests of
Canadian working people.
- workers’ associations formed to
enhance their power in
dealings with employees
Union membership
Why have unions
membership rates
fallen?
- Manufacturing decline
- Part time work
- Focus on public sector
UNION ACTIONS
The mutual insurance function of
unions
Collective bargaining
Legal enactment
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
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Negotiated outcomes
Increasing issues reflect
increasing diversity of
workforce
Political action and
expanded scope
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Social unionism
- economic development,
human and labour rights
overseas
UNION IMPACTS
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Impact on productivity
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Impact on management
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Impact on society
ARE UNIONS STILL
NEEDED?
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What would society look like
without unions?
Workplace representation
-balancing interests of big business
with labour interests
KEY LEARNING POINTS
 CSR: Responsibilities extend beyond
just those to the owners or
Shareholders of the business
• Stakeholders
• CSR Debate
• Labour context/employee Stakeholder:
Designated employee groups
Labour unions