Ethics And Social Responsibility In Strategic Planning

ethics And Social Responsibility In Strategic Planning morals and neighborly office occupy an significant place in our personal nurse system. Customer confidence in how business operates has been severely shaken by recent corporate scandals and collapses, such(prenominal) as Enron and bank failures. Hence it is important for companies to consider incorporating ethics and social responsibility into their strategicalal planning. This applies whether a club is involved with customers one-on-one, such as a Taco Bell or Dell, Inc., or their involvement is indirect, through their dealinghip with their clients, such as news report publisher distributor Pogo Distribution Company, or wholesale food seller, Del Monte. This paper analyzes what are ethics and social responsibility, how to each one applies to a companys strategic planning, and the boilersuit tinge on stakeholders when ethics and social responsibility is considered in strategic planning. The paper pull up stakes conc lude with how my estimable perspective has evolved throughout the chopine.The Role of morality and Social Responsibility in Strategic PlanningTo be their intimately successful, companies must consider ethics and social responsibility as circumstantial parts, inherent components of strategic plan. Ethical and social responsibility criteria must be included as part of the strategic process in before-profit decisions sort of than after-profit decisions in order to receive the maximum benefit, i.e. corporate profits.The Role of morality in Strategic PlanningReflecting critically and actively on ethical issues is an obligation of every professional. Reflecting such ethical content or implications in ones decisions and actions must be salient in every aspect of how companies operate. ethics ensure that a company achieves its mission, vision, goals, and objectives in such a style that they give a company a sense of direction and framework. Ethics ensure guidelines are created that bind the entire organization into one prevalent thread, govern the action of the organizational employees, and avoid deviation from the desired strategic path. Ethics ensure that strategic plan is prepared as per the stovepipe interest of all a companys stakeholders, whether employees, vendors, customers or even the society in which the organization operates.What is ethics? According to authors Andre and Velasquez, ethics has two parts. First, it refers to easily found standards of right and wrong behavior. What individuals ought to do, usually in term of rights, obligations, and benefits to society, fairness, or special virtues. Second, it refers to continually examining our moral beliefs and moral conduct, and striving to live up to these well up based standards (Andre, C, Velesquez, M., 1987).Recent corporate scandals such as Enron ( demarcation Wire, 2002), and the collapse of a major Wall Street banking house, Lehman Bros. (Jaffe, 2009), have scarred the business indust ry. passing(a) poor customer service, such as from Dell, Inc. has brought high levels of frustration to customers (Gizmodo, 2010). each(prenominal) have left customers with levels of distrust in our businesses, resulting in more test from regulatory authorities, government and the populace.Adhering to the highest possible ethical standards, and integrating these ethics into their strategic planning, can build a good corporate image in front of all the stakeholders of the organization. Integrating and planning must go beyond compliance issues and reactive disciplinary policies to actually manage oneness.Five slipway a company can ensure ethics is included in their strategic planning areEstablish explicit ethical goals and criteria, instal commitment to ethical goals and criteria,Communicate ethical expectations and train workforce to order ethical goals and criteria,Assess and monitor employee behavior and decisions, andMaintain on-going proactive integrity continuity manageme nt (Valentino, 2007)Such a strong focus on ethics will ensure that each set of stakeholders will be happy and assured that strategic plan will address their of necessity and wants and the organization will act in the best interest of each stakeholder.The Role of Social Responsibility in Strategic Planning other major element of todays strategic planning is corporate social responsibility (CSR) where managers face a varied and increasing demand from stakeholders (McWilliams and Siegel, 2001). This demand has been attach by numerous claims linking corporate social responsibility to a firms profits, particularly in professional publications (Kanter, 1999), in the media, and by emerging international CSR organizations such as the United Nations Global Compact. The motivation is laudable if a appointed CSR financial execution of instrument relationship can be demonstrated, and then firms will be motivated to increase spending on CSR activities. However, academic seek to date has b een inconclusive, finding positive, negative and curvilinear relationships between CSR and financial performance (McWilliam and Siegel Margolis and Walsh, 2001). Nevertheless, for those companies who include social responsibility as one of their criteria, companies are exit no stone unturned to ensure that they contribute to the improvement and well being of the society, while minimizing any negative impact of their operations on the society.Thus CSR focuses on two areas Internal behaviors, which refers to the way a alliance conducts the day-to-day operations of its core business functions, and External behaviors, which refers to a corporations interlocking outside of its direct business interest (Jones, 2004). It goes beyond good public relations tactics or being nice to have. (Valentino, 2007).Internal behavior planning generally starts in the Human Resource Department. It can be an aid to recruitment and retention. (Lingham, 2009). Examples are going green, matching employee c haritable contributions creating tending the community programs, and sponsoring community events.While external behaviors can include the last mentioned three internal behaviors, they differ from internal CSR because management and public relations will consider the financial impact of their decisions because of their stakeholders, such as owners and shareholders. Business exists for many reasons but survival ultimately depends on profits.My Ethical berthMy ethical perspective has broadened via this program as I have silent the linkage between ethics and its implications on the organization from strategic perspective. I have understood the strategic importance of ethics in terms of benefiting all the stakeholders of an organization and its importance in the organizations day to day operations. The program has taught me the relationship between ethics and the different components of the strategic plan of the organization. The early of our organizations, the people they represent , and the wider community can only be strengthened by embedding ethics into the strategic planning process. Ethics should be central, not peripheral, to the overall management of the firm.