3.7.6 Analysing the external environment to assess opportunities and threats: social and technological

Question 1

What are key features of demographic information?

Answer 1

• Population growth
• Age of population
• Migration
• Gender
• Household composition
• Race

Question 2

State examples of new tech that has come out since the growth of technology

Answer 2

Internet
E-commerce
Email
Robotics
Software robotics
Health
Cars
Security
Wearable technology
Gaming industry
Audio visual technology
Drones

Question 3

State social problems plaguing the world today.

Answer 3

Lack of education
Poverty
Climate change
Public health
Homelessness
Water and food security
Unemployment
High morbidity (rate of disease in a population)
Pollution

Question 4

State how the government combats social problems

Answer 4

• Investing money into public services
• Tax and regulate products and the amount of pollution
• Nationalisation to reduce unemployment
• Regional grants and aid to encourage business startup
• Minimum wage

Question 5

Explain ways that businesses solve social problems.

Answer 5

• Businesses are more aware of problems and introduce many policies to help solve them and create more social awareness amongst the public
• Many believe NGOs have the solutions for these social problems (true that these organisations have had a growth through the years) – but this growth is too slow, thus, the solutions that they are achieving and their impact are small because of lack of resources
• Business generate the resources to make a large scale impact because of the amount of revenue they receive due to making products/services to meet the needs and demands of customers
• Profits allow for solutions to become self-sustaining
• Firms should analyse social problems that can be related with their business activities and make changes relating to this
• Creating shared value – a business strategy designed to solve social issues profitably. It does this by leveraging the resources and innovation of the private sector to create new solutions to some of society’s most pressing issues

Question 6

What is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)?

Answer 6

the duties a business has towards its stakeholders

Question 7

What are the advantages of upholding CSR?

Answer 7

• Improved financial performance
• Reduced operating costs
• Enhanced brand image and reputation
• Increased sales and customer loyalty
• Attracts and retains employees
• Access to capital

Question 8

What are the disadvantages of upholding CSR?

Answer 8

• May decrease efficiency
• Can be costly
• Stakeholders tend to have differing views/opinions
• Goes to the back of the queue in terms of priority when the economy is struggling
• Not legally binding
• May only be done to meet changing consumer tastes instead of real commitment

Question 9

What is Carroll’s CSR Pyramid?

Answer 9

a simple framework that helps argue how and why organisations should meet their social responsibilities

Question 10

What does the CSR Pyramid look like?

Answer 10

Question 11

What are the key features of the CSR pyramid?

Answer 11

• CSR is built on the foundation of profit – profit must come first
• Then comes the need for a business to ensure it complies with all laws & regulations
• Before a business considers its philanthropic options, it also needs to meet its ethical duties

Question 12

What are the advantages of the CSR pyramid?

Answer 12

• The model is easy to understand and so evaluation can be simple
• Simple message – CSR has more than one element
• Emphasises importance of profit

Question 13

What are the disadvantages of the CSR pyramid?

Answer 13

• Too simplistic so evaluation isn’t in depth and can’t be done extensively
• Weak/no relationship between each stage of the CSR activities involves and so it is have to link and therefore make a valid evaluation
• Businesses don’t always do what they claim when it comes to CSR