Week 1/2

Question 1

What is CSR?

Answer 1

Corporate Social Responsibility is a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interactions with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis.

Question 2

What is the triple bottom line?

Answer 2

Planet
People
Profit

Question 3

Business ethics

Answer 3

This is the study of business situations, activities, and decisions where issues of right and wrong are addressed.

Question 4

Sustainability

Answer 4

This is the capacity to support, maintain or endure.

Within the business environment, this relates to good business practice in terms of social, environmental and economic factors

Question 5

What is corporate culture?

Answer 5

Three definitions :

Shared meanings and, values, attitudes and beliefs that are created and communicated within an organization

Ashkensary, Wilderson and Peterson, 2000

The set of shared taken for granted implicit assumptions that members of an organization hold and that determine how they perceive, think about and react to their various environments

Shein , 1992

Culture is the best way we do things around here

Browers and Seashore, 1966

Question 6

Culture incorporates

Answer 6

Unwritten rules
Assumptions about expected behaviour
Styles and attitudes formed from national culture; and
Prevailing orthodoxies or moralities in the society ( where most employees come from) surrounding the organization

Question 7

Know to the organisation - Know to others

Answer 7

Arena

Question 8

Not known to the organization - Know to others

Answer 8

Blindspot

Question 9

Know to the organization - Not know to others

Answer 9

Facade

Question 10

Not known to the organization - Not know to others

Answer 10

Unknown

Question 11

KNOWN

Arena

Answer 11

Known by the organization and outsiders (e.g.:Financial Statements)

Question 12

KNOWN

Façade

Answer 12

Know by the organization but not to outsiders (e.g. use of offshore banking)

Question 13

UNKNOWN

Blind spots

Answer 13

Not known by the organization but known by the outsiders (weaknesses know by competitors)

Question 14

UNKNOWN

unknown

Answer 14

Not known by the organization and not known to outsiders (untapped potentials/missed opportunities)

Question 15

Sociability versus Solidarity

Sociability

Answer 15

friendliness

Social relations to achieve goals (university depart.)

Question 16

Sociability versus Solidarity

Solidarity

Answer 16

Union, Fellowship

Very task-oriented to achieve goals (e.g. account/lawyers firms)

Question 17

Good governance

Answer 17

Moral codes of behaviour

Preventing dysfunctionalities (not recurring to own personal morality)

Question 18

Good governance key indicators

Answer 18

Policies and procedures
Manuals an internal control structures
Internal audit
Supervision and oversight functions

Question 19

Tone at the top

The management’s attitudes and actions sets the tone or culture of the organization.

Answer 19

Consistent and visible ethics behaviour is mandatory
managers must understand what prevailing culture is
Leaders must always ‘ do as they say, not what they want to do ‘
Good behaviour must be rewarded and recognized
Must embed systems/processes to support tone at the top as ‘business as usual’

Question 20

Examples of Corporate culture

Anarchic

Answer 20

Informal appearance
Charismatic leadership
Anti-bureaucratic
High level of commitment to work

(Google, Apple)

Question 21

Examples of Corporate culture

Dictatorial

Answer 21

Values of dominant individual or group
Formalized structure
Limited amount of delegation

(police, navy or Army)

Question 22

Examples of Corporate culture

Bureaucratic

Answer 22

Rules-based
Rigid hierarchical structures
Risk-averse

(Government organizations)

Question 23

Examples of Corporate culture

Democratic

Answer 23

Culture consensual
High level of transparency
High level of loyalty to the organization

(universities or hospitals)