In today’s world corporations feel a very big obligation to show their constituents that they care about something other than their own personal gain. People want to see corporations giving back to communities, employees, and even shareholders through philanthropic activities. This will in turn create a positive image for the company that will help them in the future. The book states that a 2004 Cone Corporate Citizenship study showed 77 percent of Americans believe companies have the responsibility to support causes. It also states that employees are 40 percent more likely to report pride in their company’s values if they support social causes.
I have experienced this type of corporate responsibility during my time being involved in Penn State’s yearly dance marathon. The marathon helps raise money for kids with pediatric cancer. Every year, companies such as Red Lobster, Nike, Subway, and Dell donate money, food, and equipment which drastically help out with the cause.
Another organization that has shown a good example of what their social responsibility is would be the NBA. The NBA has their NBA Cares program in which basketball stars go around and do things to help out communities. This could include helping to build a house, volunteering at a soup kitchen, or hanging out with kids at school.
Here are links to the NBA Cares website, a youtube video to show some of the activities they are involved in, and a youtube video of the dance marathon that corporations help by donating to every year.
http://www.nba.com/nba_cares/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4k48Yvkxfc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tszO2fs1fYU&feature=related
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I would like to talk about corporate responsibility of a company I've been working for: McDonald's.
ReplyDeleteAfter doing some research I found out that they're doing a different thing about corporate responsibility in the US and in France.
The Ronald McDonald Foundation was created in France in 1994. The foundation works for the well-being of hospitalized children and their families. To do this, it has created in over ten years the "Homes of Ronald McDonald Parents" who allow children to be surrounded by loved ones (family, classmates). According to its creator, these houses give children an emotional balance which is crucial for their healing process.
In 1998 the Foundation created the "Heart Families" prizes, granted to the most affective family.
Today there are several houses in France, including Lille, one in Marseilles, in Villejuif, a Bordeaux, one in Strasbourg, one in Toulouse, one in Paris, one in Limoges, Nantes and a soon to Grenoble. But worldwide, there are now more than 250 McDonald houses who receive more than 5 000 relatives.
Without the support of McDonald's France, the Foundation for Children Ronald McDonald could not fulfill its mission for seriously ill children. The social commitment of McDonald's is marked by a long tradition and is firmly rooted in the philosophy of the company. McDonald's has supported the Foundation by giving him every year around 400.000€. Moreover, in each McDonald's restaurant in France there is a small money box to collect donations located close to the register. The money collected is given in full at the Foundation for Ronald McDonald Children. But the restaurants also commit themselves actively by organizing various charitable activities, such as during the World Day for Children. The revenues of these activities are entirely donated to the Foundation.
Its kind of a way for McDonald's to change their slogan from "I'm loving it" to "We're loving you"
Here is a link of the Ronald McDonald House charities
http://rmhc.org/
And here is the McDonald's foundation website (in french)
http://www.mcdonalds.fr/fondation/qui-sommes-nous/fondation-mcdonald.html
I want to share an experience with you, in relation with my job in the marketing department at the society Viessmann. The company is the N°1 producer in Europe for photovoltaic module. A photovoltaic module or photovoltaic panel is a packaged interconnected assembly of photovoltaic cells, also known as solar cells. The photovoltaic module, known more commonly as the solar panel, is then used as a component in a larger photovoltaic system to offer electricity for commercial and residential applications.
ReplyDeleteIn Europe, the concern on finding new sources of Energy is very high since many years, and becoming even higher with the new technologies available. And it’s true that the government is helping private and professionals to install these solar panels, by cutting 50% of the tax of the material costs. But in facts, more and more companies are investing in solar panels, even if it is a big investment, it is a long term investment, and especially, it is against global warming. I think these actions should be done every where, in countries where companies can afford it, like in the USA. Corporate responsibilities are very important, American companies are doing a lot for association, but they should also think on long term investment, and take into account Global Warming.
If you don’t know how solar panel is working, here is a video I found on Youtube, it is a good explanation how the whole system is working.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyiPbiPLmoM&feature=player_embedded
As many companies develop an awareness for the damage we are doing to our planet and the need to make necessary changes, pressure is being put on other companies to follow suit or look bad to the public.
ReplyDeleteEat n Park has decided to follow the path of making changes now too. For many years, Eat n Park has had their christmas fundraiser. The proceeds from each store went to support the local children's hospital. Since the company consists of "family" restaurants, it made sense to support the children.
Last year the chain began efforts to "go green". They no longer set out placemats on the tables and water is available only on request.
With the current health problems in the world, the restaurant chain has teamed up with Disney and the world health organization to make every effort to provide a safer enviroment for it's customers. A new allergen program has been put into action to help ensure that any food allergies will be avoided for the customers and their food is personally looked over by a manager.
While most companies make small efforts to appease the public, the bottom line tends to be the financial repercussions of the changes. Many more changes need to be put in place. I believe that if a company is going to use the phrase "going green", they need to take a firm stand and make many more changes then they do.
For more imformation on the changes Eat n Park and implementing, look at their blog.
http://blog.eatnpark.com/
Corporate Responsibility is the voluntary approach that a business enterprise takes to meet or exceed stakeholder expectations by integrating social, ethical, and environmental concerns together with the usual measures of revenue, profit, and legal obligation.
ReplyDeleteMy Real Life Example
In my High School days, my school organized a camp where in voluantary basis you can donate your blood to the red cross society and the donated blood was supposed to go in for the blood bank which can be utilized by personals who need it, which influenced me and finally made me donate my blood for the same.
I think these services should be a part and parcel of every organizations. Moreover I think these voluantary services also play the marketing role of the campany, thus if done in proper way it can boost the company reputation in the eyes of the stakeholders and the public as a whole.
http://www.indianredcross.org/program.htm
http://content.msn.co.in/MSNContribute/Story.aspx?PageID=961edf3a-3bd9-48ab-813c-36aca2ae3c67
I want to talk about Corporate Responsibility and the company I mentioned in class this past week. I talked about the company called Patagonia. This is an outdoors company that sells outdoor clothing and apparel. The company was started in 1972 by Yvon Chouinard. He started the company because he didn't want to work a regular job and loved to be outdoors and do a lot of climbing.
ReplyDeleteThe more Yvon got involved with his company, he loved the outdoors even more. Yvon witnessed the destruction of everything going on the in world today and decided to start a 1% for the planet. This means that the company every year, donates at least 1% of their sales to the environment. Since 1985 when the program was started, Patagonia has donated over $25 million to different organizations.
In addition, Patagonia has bought land and promised to keep it preserved and maintained. They also have supported causes, such as their most recent ones, "Oceans as a Wilderness" and "Don't Dam Patagonia". These are campaigns to prevent oil drilling in Alaska. n early 2008, Patagonia won the 'Eco Brand of the Year' award at the Volvo Ecodesign Forum during the ISPO Trade Show in Munich.
What's interesting with Patagonia that's different from other companies is that once, financially stable, Patagonia has been giving back and supporting different causes. Patagonia almost started the trend of being socially and corporately responsible. They have been donating money as well as time to causes well before other companies decided it should be a requirement. They have been doing things that today most companies are just starting to get involved in, and because it looks better for the company as a whole.
I personally think that this is really neat to have a company give back and even help groups. In some cases, active groups have wrote to Patagonia and asked for money or time and they have helped out. I know that a lot of companies do this today and do this without notice, but I think from Patagonia as a company and Yvon Chouindard, I think the company as well as the employees have a really nice story.
http://www.patagonia.com/web/us/home/index.jsp?OPTION=HOME_PAGE&assetid=1704
As a society we continue to expect companies to provide more and more of their time and money to charities and other relief organizations. To me personally I don't think that the pressure should be so intense. Do not get me wrong there is nothing wrong with a company offering to the help or support a cause. I just believe that if they should only help if it is within there means to do so. This I feel is especially true with the global economy in the state that it is in. Consumers are spending less and less money in efforts to save for an uncertain future.
ReplyDeleteAnother concern that troubles me with this issue is that many people judge the quality and stature of a company by how charities or foundations it supports. To me personally the first responsibility that any company has above all others is to serve its employees and customers. I believe that the pressures to be socially responsible have taken away from this focus in today's business world.