BUSN104 WEEK 1 NOTES

BUSN104 - WEEK 1 (CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, SUSTAINABILITY, AND INTRODUCTION) ORGANISATIONAL LEVELS o Direct setting questions are asked at three organisational levels: CORPORATE DIVISION DIVISION DIVISION BUSINESS BUSINESS BUSINESS BUSINESS BUSINESS BUSINESS o Some examples of direction setting questions: o What influences their expectations? o What are their interests? o Who are our stakeholders? SETTING DIRECTION o Setting direction can be a difficult and complicated strategic task o The essential question "what do we stand for?" must be answered for an organisation to truly understand the environment in which it exists VISION o An organisation's vision is usually long term and somewhat philosophical goal expressing the desired future state of the organisation o The purpose of the vision is to set the final goal for the organisation MISSION o An organisation's mission should clarify the main intentions and aspirations of the organisation at that time o It should indicate why the organisation exists, its main activities and its future anticipated position within the industry VALUES o An organisation's values are the operating philosophies or principles that guide the organisations internal conduct as well as its relationship with stakeholders o It can set an organisation apart from its competitors by clarifying its identity and serving as a rallying point for all team members DEVELOPING VALUES o Is about imposing a set of fundamental, strategically sound beliefs on a broad group of people o It then needs to be integrated into every team related process ACCOUNTING FOR SOCIETY o Businesses should work for all stakeholders but not just for owners. This forms the basis for CSR o The long-term sustainability of a business depends on its financial and non-financial performance o Financial performance can be measured with net profit o Non-financial performance includes social and environmental performance

GLOBAL REPORTING INITIATIVE STANDARDS o The GRI standards encourage the reporting of sustainability practices. Sustainability reporting promotes the transparency and accountability of an entity's operations. GRI standards contain four parts : o Universal standards o Economic standards o Environmental standards o Social standards TRIPLE BOTTOM LINING REPORTING o Firms use triple bottom line as a tool to assess and then report their sustainability practices to demonstrate their values WHAT TYPE OF ORGANISATIONS ARE THERE? o Michael Porter initially suggested there are two types of strategies : o Low cost o Product differentiation o Since then, there have been three more added o Low cost - strategy o Best value - strategy o Product differentiation o Focus - low cost o Focus - best value TO COMPETE/SURVIVE o Porter also contended that business is not isolated and organisations should be most concerned with the intensity of competition within its industry: o The level of this intensity is determined by five competitive forces: o Threat of new entrants o Rivalry among existing firms o Threat of substitute products or services o Bargaining power of buyers o Bargaining power of suppliers