Unit VII Final Project

DBA 7035, Business, Government and Society 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VII Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

2. Critique nonmarket issues affecting successful business strategies including the role of the news media. 2.1 Discuss the importance of consumer relations and philanthropic activities to businesses. 2.2 Explain the methods used by businesses to manage consumers. 2.3 Evaluate the role of technology in business strategy.

Reading Assignment Chapter 9: Community Relations and Strategic Philanthropy Chapter 10: Technology Issues

Unit Lesson Introduction The world is increasingly interconnected. Technology has been a driving force in the globalization of business, and the traditional business models are changing to adapt to the new imperatives of the 21st century. In particular, business and community leaders face new challenges as citizens, and governments, nonprofits, non-governmental organizations, and stakeholders have evolving expectations that must be addressed. In that regard, businesses have adopted a more socially responsible role, and they have become more directly involved with the communities in which they operate. As opposed to simply pursuing the profit motivation, businesses are looking to be full participants in their communities. Initially, the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) was related to a rather simple idea of philanthropy. In these situations, companies simply sponsored local charities. More recently, the concept has expanded and there are more corporations taking an active role, more generally in civic life, including issues of significance to the citizens in that community. Increasingly, the CSR concept has ensured that corporations align their profit motivations with broader economic, environmental, and social interests. To grow and prosper, companies must adapt to the changing community and cultural norms. In that regard, there has been a considerable movement to encourage companies to be more socially responsible and sustainable organizations. Over time, there have been a number of structural and organizational systems developed to frame the CSR initiatives for companies. As mentioned in a previous unit, the United Nations Global Compact, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the European Commission, and many individual countries have developed specific guidance to assist companies in the use and implementation of CSR initiatives within the organizations, broadly including businesses. Also, although most organizations do work on CSR initiatives individually, there are increasing opportunities for intercompany cooperation and synergies. As CSR has developed, there has been a considerable increase in the literature available on this topic. The business model of the 21st century is one that embraces the concepts of CSR and sustainability. These concepts have only become prominent in recent years, and companies have moved to develop products and services that are more socially responsible. Community Relations and Philanthropy As noted in Chapter 9, businesses of the 21st century are increasingly beginning to be a part of the community within which they operate. For example, Table 9.1 on pp. 291–292 of the textbook provides a list of community mission statements. In part, these illustrate that communities are important to businesses and

UNIT VII STUDY GUIDE

Community Relations, Philanthropy, and Technology

DBA 7035, Business, Government and Society 2

other organizations such as nonprofits. As these community ties are realized by companies, they are often expanded to include a community needs assessment (see Table 9.2 on p. 293 of the textbook). The needs assessment assists in aligning the business to the interests of the community. Initially, as companies became more active in community issues, the main activities included volunteerism and charitable giving. For example, charitable giving is something that includes employees conducting community-related activities or functions on company-supported time. In terms of charitable giving, Table 9.4 on p. 300 of the textbook provides examples of strategic philanthropy. In these instances, companies look to maximize a relationship with communities by leveraging their core competencies. There are also benefits to these strategic relationships. These benefits do illustrate that both the business and the philanthropic organization are building aligned interests. A specific example is a partnership between Habitat for Humanity and The Home Depot, which you can read more about in an article located in the suggested reading section of this unit. To actually develop a partnership such as the The Home Depot case, a firm needs to plan, organize, design, engage, and spend. Clearly, businesses are increasingly looking to reach out to the communities in which they operate to build mutually beneficial partnerships. Technology Technology is a huge and ever-growing part of our daily lives, and it is no different in an organization. Worldwide, there is a huge amount of technological change happening, and advances in technology facilitate innovation (Jones, 2012). In that regard, innovation is the term used when an organization uses its resources to find better ways to operate, or the organization develops new products that will fulfill the needs of their customers. Fundamentally, technology is used to streamline and improve many facets of an organization. One of those facets is communication and the speed at which it can occur. Technological advances such as video conferencing, e-mail, instant messaging, cloud computing, collaborative communications over the Internet, and data storage and management all play a part in giving an organization the ability to share ideas and improve its processes and products at lightning speed. This can lead to a greater amount of flexibility and dynamism in the organization as a whole. Of course, a key example of technology has been the Internet. The history of the Internet is illustrated in Table 10.2 on p. 329 of the textbook. Of interest is the recent introduction of this technology and the many changes and improvements to the Internet since its introduction in 1969. One key aspect of introducing technology is to ensure that all employees are trained on how to use the new systems. Indeed, many instances of the introduction of technology simply do not adequately address the training needs of employees. Technology in an organization can also reduce overall costs of operations and help an organization provide better customer service for its customers both directly and indirectly. By utilizing data management and storage electronically, organizations can have near instant access to information on every aspect of their business and customers. For example, customer relationship management (CRM) systems capture every interaction a company has with a customer that allows a company to develop a database on all customers. Of course, there are some important issues that we must be aware of as we look to apply technology in the workplace and in society. There are serious concerns about the safety and security of online systems. Also, there are concerns related to privacy as there are many instances of personal data being stored on the Internet. The top privacy concerns are illustrated in Table 10.3 on p. 332 of the textbook and these include hacking, marketing research, and location data among others. Businesses must be prepared to develop systems that are capable of securing personal and private data. An interesting case from Target that illustrates the importance of this issue is described in an article in the suggested reading section of this unit. Obviously, businesses using technology must carefully address the benefits and the risks associated with using technology. Another issue of concern is related to intellectual property (IP). The pervasive nature of technology has made the protection of IP rights more difficult. Fundamentally, technology is about improving productivity. A concern that has arisen is that technology is replacing people in the workplace. For example, in an article titled “Will Machines Eventually Take on Every Job?,” Nuwer (2015) suggests that technological breakthroughs endangers up to 47% of total employment in the United States. This is a staggering number, and it will generate considerable impacts in society and in

DBA 7035, Business, Government and Society 3

businesses. In fact, in the same article, the author notes that technology has and will continue to simply change the role of employees in the workplace—not eliminate it (Nuwer, 2015). In that regard, it is critical that employees have the correct job skills to meet the needs of the knowledge-based economy of today. Conclusion In summary, technology is a major driving factor in today’s business world by allowing an organization to be more responsive, knowledgeable, and innovative and react to its environments faster and more accurately than ever before. Fundamentally, technology has enabled firms to be more productive, which assists their competitive advantage position. A challenge for organizations is to adapt the technology to the needs of that business. It is important to align technology to our strategic needs and be fully aware of the advantages and disadvantages of the technology. In addition, with the growing pressure to be more socially responsible, the importance of community relations and philanthropy has become more important than ever before.

References Jones, G. (2012). Organizational theory, design, and change (7th ed.) [VitalSource version]. Retrieved from

http://online.vitalsource.com/books/9780133071566/page/3 Nuwer, R. (2015). Will machines eventually take on every job? Retrieved from

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150805-will-machines-eventually-take-on-every-job

Suggested Reading In order to access the following resources, click the links below: As noted in the Unit VII Lesson, Home Depot partnered with Habitat for Humanity to help provide homes to many veterans. The article below discusses that campaign. Habitat for Humanity. (2011). Volunteers to renovate 95 veteran’s homes; grant support part of the Home

Depot Foundation’s “Celebration of Service” campaign. Retrieved from http://www.habitat.org/newsroom/09-26-2011-hfh-and-home-depot-partner

The article below, which was also referenced in the Unit VII Lesson, describes a data leak experience by the retail chain Target. Riley, M., Elgin, B., Lawrence, D., & Matlack, C. (2014). Missed alarms and 40 million stolen credit card

numbers: How Target blew it. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-03- 13/target-missed-warnings-in-epic-hack-of-credit-card-data