Introduction Corporate strategy is a broad topic that any company cannot afford not to have if success has to be assured. The modalities that an organization puts in place to include corporate strategy or as part of corporate strategy also have a great contribution to the profitability of that organization. In this research paper, the learner will focus on Essex Fire Authority and the strategy that the authority has adopted for success in its service delivery to the community. Corporate strategy calls for consideration of corporate social responsibility, profitability, customer satisfaction, sustainability and application of technology in its service delivery . Corporate social responsibility It has been said that laws are not enough to help corporations to fulfill their social responsibilities . The main reason this is so is because the legal system makes most policies that are in the category of ‘Thou shalt not’ without necessarily explaining what should actually be done. However, corporate social responsibility demands that an organization make structures that cater for the welfare of the society. For example, in this case study, the Essex Fire Authority has designed its approach in such a way that since from its inception, the customers have always been at the center of the operation . It has been argued that there are two commonly used approaches as far as corporate social responsibility is concerned. The first is an organization that treats all its customers in an equal manner such that all customers feel valued at the same level regardless of their social status . Being a fire and emergency response department, the Essex Fire Authority does not prioritize where to go in case of multiple emergencies but rather gives equa... ... middle of paper ... ...nal of Business Strategy, vol. 32, no. 5, 2011, pp. 43-50, Retrieved 12 November 2011, Ebscohost Database Essex Fire Authority, Corporate strategy: what and why 2011-2015, Essex Fire Authority, 2011, Retrieved 16 November 2011, IFAC, Sustainability framework, Retrieved 31 January 2010, Kocmanová, A, Hřebíček, J, Dočekalová, M, ‘Corporate governance and sustainability’, Economics and Management, vol. 16, 2011, pp. 543-550, Retrieved 16 November 2011, Ebscohost Database Kreng VB, & Huang, M-Y, ‘Corporate social responsibility: consumer behavior, corporate strategy, and public policy’, Social Behavior and Personality, vol. 39, no. 4, 2011, pp. 529-542. Retrieved 15 November 2011, Ebscohost Database
The strategic recommendations provided will improve and enable the business to cope with the competitors, while the implementation of the strategy section will outline the way to go about achieving these alternatives in the business setting. Lastly, we put up a discussion on the evaluation procedures and necessary controls for the business. In the case study, it was discovered that there were sources of opportunities in which the company would invest.
Lantos, GP, 2001, ‘The boundaries of strategic corporate social responsibility’, The Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 18, no. 7, pp. 595-639.
Arthur, A., Thompson, Margaret, A., Peteraf, John, E. Gamble, A., J., Strickland III. (2014). Crafting & Executing Strategy: The Quest for Competitive Advantage 19e: Concepts & Cases. C6-C25.
middle of paper ... ... ml?printversion=yes http://www.informationweek.com/701/01iucul2.htm http://www.primesmoked.com/tim/writing/hdepot.html http://www.auxillium.com/culture.shtml http://www.ituedu.ca/emba/materials/strategic_management_and_busines.htm http://www.multexinvestor.com http://www.broadvision.com http://www.google.com http://www.homedepot.com http://www.lowes.com http://www.businessweek.com http://www.financialtimes.com http://www.actionpoint.com/services/support/hd.asp http://technidigm.org/essays/jhu/tech/strategic.ppt Case Study: Home Depot; The Home Depot Team Case 24: The Home Depot, Inc: Growing the professional Market (Revised) Essentials of Strategic Management, by J. David Hunger and Thomas L. Wheelen Organisational Behaviour by Stephan P. Robbins 9th edition
An organization’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) drives them to look out for the different interests of society. Most business corporations undertake responsibility for the impact of their organizational pursuits and various activities on their customers, employees, shareholders, communities and the environment. With the high volume of general competition between different companies and organizations in varied fields, CSR has become a morally imperative commitment, more than one enforced by the law. Most organizations in the modern world willingly try to improve the general well-being of not only their employees, but also their families and the society as a whole.
Business strategy is the means by which firm’s plans to achieve its goals and objectives. It can also be termed as organization long-term planning. The strategy covers periods between 3-5 years and sometimes longer. Businesses use two major types of strategy, general or generic and competitive strategies. The overall strategy involves strategies of growth, globalization and retrenchment. The competitive advantage includes low pricing, product and customer differentiation. We will look at the business strategy used by Marks and Spenser (Cole, 1997). The company is a British multinational located at Westminster London and specializes in clothes and luxurious food products.
Maignan, I. (2001). "Consumers' perceptions of corporate social responsibilities: a cross-cultural comparison." Journal of Business Ethics 30(1): 57-72.
The strategy book by Max McKeown is an excellent book for managers or leaders in general to read and follow in order to create a unique strategy for their business. The strategy book includes examples of strategies that were previously constructed and followed by small, medium and large companies. The book gives readers the chance to know the strategies that were employed by different types and sizes of business and how successful they were. These real life cases are what make the book so interesting and informative. The book is divided into different parts that inform the readers about formulating and then following the appropriate strategy.
In recent years, companies are becoming socially responsible and now stakeholders almost expect a company to have CSR policies. Therefore, in twentieth century, corporate social responsibility (CSR) became an important development in public life (Barnett, ND).Corporate social responsibility is defined as “the ways in which an organisation exceeds the minimum obligations to stakeholders specified through regulation and corporate governance” (Johnson, Schools and Whittington, N.D cited in March, 2012). Stakeholders can be defined as “those individuals or groups who depend on the organisation to fulfil their own goals and on whom, in turn, the organisation depends” (Johnson, Schools and Whittington, N.D cited in March, 2012). There are many purposes for this essay, the first purpose is to descried the key principles of corporate social responsibility and explain their importance for stakeholders. Secondly, is to show how far this company follows those principles in order to be accountable to at least three of its stakeholders. In this essay, three stakeholders, environment, customers and employees will be evaluated respectively and the key principles of the stakeholders will be examined.
Strategic implementation is a critical factor when making decisions regarding issues that affect the vision, mission, or objectives of an organization. Strategies are often implemented in accordance to the culture of the organization, the nature of control systems, the stakeholders, and the nature of the organizational design. In order to achieve success in the implementation of strategies, the structure of these factors must work in coordination with one another. For instance, the strategic vision of CPK lies in the creation of a globally recognized brand name and therefore, all of the goals and objectives of CPK must be directed in realizing that the company achieves this objective (California Pizza Kitchen 2011). Furthermore, the vision statement is inclusive in itself in that it communicates the message in a directional, flexible, and focused manner.
Pohle, G (2008, Feb, 12) IBM Study: Corporate Social Responsibility. retrieved May 6 2014, from YouTube Web Site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdkYieDuVvY
While the concept of an individual having responsibility is commonly recognized, modern views have lead to the emerging issue of corporate responsibility. Business Directory.com defines corporate social responsibility as, “A company’s sense of responsibility towards the community and environment (both ecological and social) in which it operates. Companies express this citizenship (1) through their waste and pollution reduction processes, (2) by contributing educational and social programs, and (3) by earning adequate returns on the employed resources.” But such a concept has been much disputed since at least the 1970’s.
Corporations that place an importance on corporate social responsibility usually have an easier experience when dealing with politicians and government regulators. In compare, businesses that present an irresponsible disregard for social responsibility tend to find themselves fending off various reviews and probes, often brought on at the assertion of public service organizations. The more positive the public insight is that a corporation takes social responsibility seriously; the less likely it is that innovative groups will launch public campaigns and claim government inquiries against it.
It has been shown that there are many different areas in which a company may choose to focus its corporate social responsibility. The top area of focus in corporate social responsibility is on environment. Other areas that should be considered in the development of corporate social responsibility programs are education, health, nutrition and employment. “Social responsibility investment combines investors’ financial goals with their obligation and dedication to factors that ensure the well being of society such as environmental friendly practices, economic growth and justice in society” (Anderson 9). These elements not only epic corporate social responsibility, but also represent ethical standards of a company. It is unethical for some individuals to own so much and earn so much, at the expense of other suffering members of society. It is also unethical for companies to damage environmentally that result in illnesses and loss of life. It can be concluded that Social corporate responsibility and the maintenance of high ethical standards is not an option but an obligation for all
Corporate Social Responsibility is an organisation’s obligation to serve the company’s own interest and the one’s of the society. Moreover, Corporate Social Responsibility has a definition of a concept where the companies integrate social and the environmental concerns into their own business operation and also on a basis of voluntary with their interactions they have with the stakeholders. Corporate Social Resp...