2. WEEK 2 INSTRUCTOR GUIDANCE
BUS 250: Corporate &
Social Responsibility
BUS 250
Week 2
3. BUS 250 COURSE LEARNING MAP
Week 1: Introduction to CSR & Stakeholder
Analysis
Week 2: Equity, Ethics & the Role of
Government in CSR, Global Concerns of CSR
Week 3: Environmental Issues, Government
Policy
Week 4: Internal Stakeholders, Privacy
Concerns, Insider Trading, CSR Reporting
Week 5: Leadership Challenges, Free Speech,
Strategic Giving
4. WEEK 2 LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Task Description Due
Discussion #1: Ethical Leadership Thurs, Day 3
Discussion #2: Globalization Thurs, Day 3
Written
Assignment
Alcoa’s Core Values in Practice Mon, Day 7
Assigned Reading Description Source
Text: Chapter 4 Expanding Outward: Local & Global Communities (Hammond &
Christensen, 2016)
Text : Chapter 7 Equity, Ethics & the Role of Government in CSR (Hammond &
Christensen, 2016)
Website Alcoa.com/global/en/home.asp
5. WEEK 2: IMPORTANT NOTES
Discussions:
Review week one feedback and make adjustments as
needed
Written Assignment:
Review rubric to see how your work will be graded.
Headings that match the topics in the directions make
for an easier read and a more clear way for students to
be sure they are covering all the topics as directed.
Don’t forget to address two of the questions from the
text section 4.3
6. This week you will learn to:
Analyze the core elements of ethical character
Identify the costs and benefits of globalization in
business
WEEK 2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
7. WEEK 2 INSTRUCTOR GUIDANCE
We base theory on entire cultures, individuals
may not comply with the cultural norms
Culture is fluid and changing
All cultures have a minority of radial extremes
on either end of the spectrum
Every rule has an exception!
(Hammond & Christensen, Chapter 4, 2016)
Image: Pinterest.com
8. COMMUNITY
Shared physical location (geography)
Social network infused with common interests (identity)
Shared organizations – formal or informal, examples
family, alumni, employer based, membership based, etc
Socialization – communal learning with patterns of
behavior emerging
(Hammond & Christensen, Chapter 4, 2016)
9. GLOBAL COMMUNITIES
Assimilation – convert the smaller groups to
the bigger group
Transcendence – finding a third way
Avoidance – denial / rejection
11. CULTURAL DIMENSIONS
Status
Ascription Based Cultures
Achievement Based Cultures
(Hammond & Christensen, Chapter 4, 2016)
Focus
• Diffuse
• Specific
Emotions
• Affective Emotional Expression
Neutral Emotional Expression
12. CROSS CULTURAL
CONVERSATIONS
Listen & ask non-judgmental questions
Acknowledge your ignorance
State values in non-moralist tone
Suspend judgement and action
Be clear about mutual outcomes and the
importance of the relationship.
(Hammond & Christensen, Chapter 4, 2016)
13. COMPETITION OR COLLABORATION
Argument found in politics, social settings
and economics
Gain advantage (Adam Smith – the
invisible hand of free markets)
Gain equity (Game theory – more
sustainable solutions for the long term)
(Hammond & Christensen, Chapter 7, 2016)
14. EQUITY THEORY
Fair distribution of resources
Political Equity
Everyone receives the same treatment
Social Contract (John Locke, 1690 & Rousseau, 1762)
Economic Equity
Equal access to the factors of production (Marx)
Philosophical Equity
Deontological - duty based (Kant)
Psychological Equity
Inputs = outputs
(Hammond & Christensen, Chapter 7, 2016)
15. RIGHTS
Free speech
Discrimination as a CSR Issue
Freedom from bias
• Race
• Gender
• Age
• Disability
• Sexual Orientation
(Hammond & Christensen, Chapter 7, 2016)
16. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
From Ashford’s Library – Films on Demand
The new CSR: Collaborative social responsibility [Video file]. (2010). Retrieved
http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=100753&xtid=47308
18. REFERENCES
18
Hammond, S. C., & Christensen, L. J. (2016).
Corporate and social responsibility: Road
map for a sustainable future. San Diego,
CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Editor's Notes
Corporate Social Responsibility explores the Triple Bottom Line – Profit, People and the Planet.
Week 1: Introduction to CSR & Stakeholder Analysis – who’s involved and how to reconcile the competing interests of various stakeholders
Week 2: Equity, Ethics & the Role of Government in CSR, Global Concerns of CSR – how laws reflect ethics but there are distinguishable differences, and when factoring in cultural differences internationally there are additional complications
Week 3: Environmental Issues, Government Policy - Global warming, waste management and recycling are concerns about the public is interested in. Greenwashing is the appearance of being environmentally concerned but it may be insincere.
Week 4: Internal Stakeholders, Privacy Concerns, Insider Trading, CSR Reporting – Employees and employers have a social contract and must respect one another’s privacy and right to confidentiality. Investments must be legally compliant.
Week 5: Leadership Challenges, Free Speech, Strategic Giving – Managers are charged with protecting the reputation of the organization and making decisions that are consistent with the mission.
Discussions Please follow the instructions very carefully for each of the discussions. In your discussion forum postings, make sure you respond to your peers in a timely and substantive manner. You will be evaluated on the depth of your responses as well as the applications of your readings to the various discussion forum questions. Please be sure to cite any outside sources of data or information as well. Although APA formatting is not required in discussion forums, APA guidelines for citations and references must be followed. Note that a link to the APA Style Standards for Ashford University can be found in the Course Home section.
Discussion 1 & 2 : Post an initial response by Day 3 and reply substantively to at least two classmates by Day 7.
Assignment
Case Study: Alcoa’s Core Values in Practice. Due by Day 7. Review Alcoa’s website. In a two-page paper (not including the title and reference pages) you must:
Describe how you would classify Alcoa’s ethical work climate. In your description, address which type of community it is (see Section 4.2): geography-based, identity-based, organizationally-based, and/or virtually based.
Explain the role top management commitment plays in developing the ethical work climate and organizational performance seen at Alcoa.
Define and discuss any two of the six cultural questions as they apply to Alcoa (see Section 4.3).
You must use at least one scholarly source in addition to the text and your paper must be formatted according to APA style guidelines as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Note: Title must appear on the first page of text; headings must be used in all APA essays; and, the final heading of your paper must be the word: Conclusion. Contact your instructor if you have any questions regarding proper formatting.
Chapter two highlights the three primary types of community. Growing up I would have simply defined my community as where I lived based on geography. But most of us are members of several communities beyond an easily drawn border. We are engaging in a community of learners at Ashford so this is a form of a professional “organizational” community. We may belong to a religious community, which is an “identity” community. Other types of identity community could be based on hobbies, sexual orientation or a host of others. This is who we are.
As we explore interactions across global borders it is important to note that there will some surprising similarities and differences to contend with across communities. Just as we are not all the same as the individuals that live in our given neighborhood, we are members of a variety of communities, all with unique perspectives. If you have traveled internationally you probably have had the pleasure of experiencing some commonalities and some differences in cultures. I simply LOVE to travel and experience new cultures. However WORKING in a different culture is not the same as vacationing. Organizations that can tolerate and embrace diversity in thoughts and processes are usually more adaptive, which is a much needed skill in today’s business environment.
Tips to avoid parochialism and having an ethnocentric approach to leadership.
Chapter seven presents us with the collaboration / competition conundrum. In most actions we have to choose which of these actions will produce the “best” result.
Equity should be a goal, but some confuse equity with entitlement which is a very different beast. Equity is about access, not necessarily about guaranteed outcomes. For example, if I work harder and produce better results than a co-worker my outcomes (if paid on a commission basis) would be higher than my co-worker. He might not view this as “equal” but our access to the system was the same. I just managed to do more with it. There are various types of equity explored, and my simple example was just a teaser.
While our world is “shrinking” with technology and speed of communication and travel we still see some issues differently and this is quite evident in the business world. What is “normal” in the USA is not necessarily normal everywhere and vice versa. While taking a graduate accounting class at a university on the Texas/Mexico border I quickly understood how complicated international business could become. A classmate who worked as an accountant for a maquiladora (a “twin” system with locations on both sides of the border, usually an office in the US and manufacturing in Mexico). He asked the professor how she would recommend accounting for the “mordida”. This loosely translates to a bribe. :-) You see, when semi-trucks loaded from manufacturing facilities in Mexico were coming across the International Bridge to the US Customs inspection stations there were often long wait times to enter the USA. On the Mexico side there were ways to expedite the process (think of an “express lane” open only to those willing to pay the mordida). In Mexico this could be considered a cost of doing business, more like a gratuity than a bribe. But it boils down to paying “extra” to get a little better service – no receipts provided. If a company doesn't pay then their trucks sit there a LOT longer, increasing payroll and decreasing competitiveness. So.... considering our global economy, is this an ethical payment? Does it matter if everyone else is doing it? Does this meet the criteria for a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act?
Historical theories that have influenced our modern day views of what is fair and equitable in our capitalistic society.
