Week 1/2 Flashcards
What is CSR?
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.
What is the triple bottom line?
Planet
People
Profit
Business ethics
This is the study of business situations, activities, and decisions where issues of right and wrong are addressed.
Sustainability
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
What is corporate culture?
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
Culture incorporates
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
Know to the organisation - Know to others
Arena
Not known to the organization - Know to others
Blindspot
Know to the organization - Not know to others
Facade
Not known to the organization - Not know to others
Unknown
KNOWN
Arena
Known by the organization and outsiders (e.g.:Financial Statements)
KNOWN
Façade
Know by the organization but not to outsiders (e.g. use of offshore banking)
UNKNOWN
Blind spots
Not known by the organization but known by the outsiders (weaknesses know by competitors)
UNKNOWN
unknown
Not known by the organization and not known to outsiders (untapped potentials/missed opportunities)
Sociability versus Solidarity
Sociability
friendliness
Social relations to achieve goals (university depart.)
Sociability versus Solidarity
Solidarity
Union, Fellowship
Very task-oriented to achieve goals (e.g. account/lawyers firms)
Good governance
Moral codes of behaviour
Preventing dysfunctionalities (not recurring to own personal morality)
Good governance key indicators
Policies and procedures
Manuals an internal control structures
Internal audit
Supervision and oversight functions
Tone at the top
The management’s attitudes and actions sets the tone or culture of the organization.
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’
Examples of Corporate culture
Anarchic
Informal appearance
Charismatic leadership
Anti-bureaucratic
High level of commitment to work
(Google, Apple)
Examples of Corporate culture
Dictatorial
Values of dominant individual or group
Formalized structure
Limited amount of delegation
(police, navy or Army)
Examples of Corporate culture
Bureaucratic
Rules-based
Rigid hierarchical structures
Risk-averse
(Government organizations)
Examples of Corporate culture
Democratic
Culture consensual
High level of transparency
High level of loyalty to the organization
(universities or hospitals)
