In Depth SWOT Analysis

Chapter 10 – Ethics and Corporate Responsibility

This chapter looks at both ethics and corporate social responsibility. First let’s define the two. According to Abraham (2012), “ethics is the art and discipline of applying principles and frameworks to analyze and resolve complex moral dilemmas” (p. 278). In understanding this definition one needs to know where these principles and frameworks originate in order to know how to analyze and resolve complex moral dilemmas. The basis for these principles is the individual values. Values come down to what is important to people that help them make decisions in terms of how they will live their life (Abraham, 2012). So when one looks at the principles and the frameworks that help make moral decisions, it really comes down to the values that person holds both professionally and personally. One could argue that our value system is developed based on our culture, upbringing, education, etc. All of these things do impact what people value as adults and will impact how adults make complex decisions.  What if one has poor values? This can lead to unethical behavior. Throughout history there have been examples of individuals with unethical behavior.  The textbook provides many examples such as Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Another might be the decisions the leaders made with Enron.  According to Victoria Duff (2014) there are five ways to demonstrate unethical behavior.

1. Deliberate deception

2. Violation of conscience

3. Failure to honor commitments

4. Unlawful conduct

5. Disregard of company policy (2014)

The second focus of this chapter looks at corporate responsibility. According to HEC Paris (n.d.) “a company has an economic responsibility: it must earn a return for its stockholders within the confines of the law. However, corporate social responsibility means that organizations have also ethical and societal responsibilities that go beyond their economic responsibilities” (para. 1). As our textbook illustrates in Figure 10.1, there is a corporate social responsibility (CSR) pyramid that illustrates all the areas that are impacted by CSR. The bottom of the pyramid is economic responsibility, then comes legal responsibility, followed by ethical responsibility and at the top, philanthropic responsibility Abraham, 2012).

Chapter 11 – Diversified, Global and Other Types of Organizations

Throughout this chapter the evaluation of diversified, global and other types of organizations are reviewed. In looking at these types of organizations it is important to understand the various strategies and their differences. Two strategies that are important to understand include deliberate and emergent strategies. Let’s break this down. As cited by Mintzberg and Waters (1985), “a strategy can be described as deliberate where the collective vision, goals and / or intention(s) of an organization is articulated as broadly and in as much detail as possible, communicated to the employees  within that organization in order to realize a given outcome” (Manuwa, 2014, para. 1). However, another strategy could be described as emergent, which is “where consistencies arise in the actions / behavior of an organization over a period of time, even though the adoption of such behavior / actions was never explicitly intended; an example of this can occur “when an environment directly imposes a pattern of action on an organization” (Manuwa, 2014, para. 1). In reviewing the different types of corporations in this chapter we are looking at both global and international corporations. What is the difference between each of these? According to Iwan (2007), “global companies have invested and are present in many countries. They market their products through the use of the same coordinated image/brand in all markets. Generally one corporate office that is responsible for global strategy. Emphasis on volume, cost management and efficiency” (para. 5). Additionally, “international companies are importers and exporters, they have no investment outside of their home country” (Iwan, 2007, para. 3).   Forbes School of Business Faculty

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