No Universally Agreed Definition Of Corporate Social Responsibility Management Essay

No Universally Agreed Definition Of Corporate Social Responsibility Management Essay With no universally agreed definition of Corporate Social Responsibility, myriad of terms Corporate accountability, Corporate sustainability, Corporate citizenship or Sustainable responsible business have been used interchangeably to describe the practice of CSR. Basically, CSR is a discharge of duty towards society. Business and society are interrelated rather than being distinct entities and therefore, society has certain expectations for appropriate business behaviour and outcomes (Wood, 1991). According to Mallen Baker (2004), CSR is about how companies manage business operations to produce positive impact on society. Consequently, companies need to account for the quality of their management (both in terms of people and process) and the nature of and quantity of their impact on society in various areas.1 In the 1950s, Howard Bowen first published a seminal book Social responsibilities of businessman in which he famously posed the question What responsibilities to society may businessman reasonably be expected to assume. This publication evidently marked the beginning of a modern era of CSR as it we know it today (Carroll, 1999). Since then, the notion of CSR has come to dominate the society-business interface and various theories and concepts have been proposed. According to Bowen (1953), social responsibilities refer to the obligation of businessman to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of objectives and values of our society. The most applied definition of CSR comes from Archie Carroll (1979) who argues that the social responsibility of business encompasses economic, legal, ethical and discretionary expectations that society has of organisations at a given point in time. This approach encompasses a whole range of responsibilities of a firm. In the same vein, Lichtenstein et al. (2004) and Lindgreen et al. (2008) consider that an organisation needs to define its role within the society and implement the necessary ethical, responsible, legal and social standards to their firm. Conversely, GÓssling and Vocht (2007) described CSR from a different viewpoint as an obligation of the business world to be accountable to its entire stakeholder customers, employees, shareholders, communities and ecological consideration in all aspects of their operations (Gokulsing, 2001). 2.1.1 Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Social Performance The current globalisation trend and growing demand from stakeholders towards companies to adopt CSR practices within their business strategy have indeed encouraged companies involvement in such practices (Chapple and Moon, 2005). Therefore, companies that are considered as socially responsible are experiencing triple bottom line benefits associated with such social initiatives. Additionally, companies are not only assessed via traditional performance indicators but also by the way they interact with broad set of social demands. However, CSR being impossible to measure (Van Beurden Gossling, 2008), an observable and measurable outcome of CSR term Corporate Social Performance (CSP) is used to capture the performance of CSR strategies within the society. Carroll (1979) vaguely defines CSP construct as a three dimensional model that consisted of social responsibility categories, social issues and philosophies of social responsiveness. Building on Carrolls attempt to define CSP, Wartick and Cochran (1985) offer a general framework of CSP by defining CSP model as the underlying interaction among the principle of social responsibility, the process of social responsiveness and the policies developed to address social issues and show how several competing perspectives (economic responsibility, public responsibility, social responsiveness) can be incorporated into his framework. Nevertheless, Wood (1991) argues that although Wartick and Cochran (1985) model is innovative, it is still incomplete. Wood (1991) asserts that the term performance relates to actions and outcomes and not interaction and integration. Consequently, Wood (1991) refine Wartick and Cochrans (1985) model to integrate various theoretical perspectives into a coherent CSP model and as such, he defines CSP as a business organisations configuration of principles of social responsibility, process of social responsiveness and policies, programs and observable outcomes as they relate to the firms societal relationships. Wood (1991) affirms that the principles of social responsibility operates at three levels specifically; institutional, organizational and individuals. Conversely, Gond and Crane (2010) define CSP as an umbrella concept which includes organisational process of environmental assessment, stakeholder management and various measures of its external output and societal manifestations (Orlitzky, 2008). 2.1.2 Forms of CSR initiatives Basically, CSR includes a variety of socially responsible activities. Kotler and Lee (2005) identified six major initiatives under which most CSR related activities fall generating a positive impact on the company. The six different forms of CSR initiatives are as follows: 2.1.3 Main approaches of CSR In response to the question to whom an organisation has a responsibility, Marrewijk (2003) presents a sequence review of three corporate responsibility approaches Shareholder approach, Stakeholder approach and Societal approach. 2.1.4 Factors influencing level of CSR activities Review of prior literature indicates that companies actually differ in how they implement their CSR strategies. This can normally be explained using a range of company level attributes that influence the companys CSR participation. These attributes entail: Company size Waddock and Graves (1997) and Itkonen (2003) provide that company size is related to CSP since bigger companies have been found to be more socially responsible than smaller ones. Type of industry McGuire et al. (2003) argues that the type of industry plays an important role in identifying the level of CSR activities. For instance, the CSR activities differ from manufacturing sector to service sector (Kolk, 2003). Financial risk Orlitzky and Benjamin (2001) assert that a company with low CSP shall consider and manage its social responsibility since such a company will have an adverse impact in terms of risk. 2.1.5 Social Responsibility Models The Pyramid of CSR The professor Archie Carroll is one of the first academics to make a distinction between different kinds of organisational responsibilities. This distinction is referred to as a firms pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility. The pyramid implies a hierarchy of responsibilities moving from economic and legal through more socially oriented ones of ethical and philanthropic responsibilities (Carroll, 1979; 1991). http://www.witszen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/carrollCSR.jpg Source: (http://www.witszen.com/how-companies-should-use-social-media-for-better-corporate-social-responsibility/) Economic Responsibilities Carroll (1979) argues that business institutions are basic economic unit in society and have a responsibility that is economic in nature or kind. The economic responsibility is the most fundamental responsibility of a company which reflects the essence of a company as a profit-making business organisation. The remaining three kinds of social responsibility are based on the economic responsibilities. The economic responsibility implies that society expects business to produce those goods and services demanded and make a profit as an incentive or reward for the business efficiency and effectiveness. Legal Responsibilities The legal responsibilities entail expectations of legal compliance and playing the rules of the games. From this perspective, society expects business to fulfill its economic mission within the framework set forth by the societys legal system (Jamali, 2008). Crane and Matten (2004) further adds that all companies attempting to be socially responsible are required to follow the law. Ethical Responsibilities According to Schwartz (2011), the ethical responsibilities embody those standards, norms or expectations that reflect a concern for what consumers, employees, shareholders and the community regards as fair, just or in keeping with the respect or protection of stakeholders moral rights. Therefore, society expects corporations to act ethically towards its stakeholders (Crane and Matten, 2004). Philanthropic Responsibilities These responsibilities which represents the smallest layer of the pyramid, involves the corporations willingness to enhance the quality of living of their stakeholders through charitable donations and organisational support that are entirely voluntary and seen as desirable by society. The philanthropic responsibilities are sometimes on the same level as ethical. However, the difference is that it is not seen as unethical behaviour if business does not contribute their money to humanitarian programmes (Carroll, 1991). Carrolls CSR Pyramid in Developing Countries In a review of CSR in developing countries, Visser (2006) bases himself on the empirical studies undertaken by Pinkston and Carroll (1994), Edmondson and Carroll (1999) and Burton et al. (2000) to underline the fact that culture may have an important influence on perceived CSR priorities. As such, the widely accepted Carrolls pyramid is revisited in the context of developing countries as shown below: Source: Visser, W. (2006)  Revisiting Carrolls CSR Pyramid: An African Perspective, In E.R. Pedersen M. Huniche (eds.),  Corporate Citizenship in Developing Countries, Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press Visser (2006) contends that the order of CSR layers in developing countries taken as relative emphasis assigned to various responsibilities differs from Carrolls classic pyramid. Hence, in developing countries, even if economic responsibilities still get the most emphasis, philanthropy is given the second highest priority followed by legal and then ethical responsibilities. This is explained partly by the traditional attachment to philanthropy by the fact that it is most direct way to improve living conditions in their immediate surroundings and also by a traditional culture of fatalism, dependence and assistance in developing countries (Ragodoo, 2009). Conversely, the pressure to comply with existing legislation is less as compared to the developed countries. Three Domain Model of CSR Schwartz and Carroll (2003) highlight certain limitations in Carrolls CSR pyramid. Firstly, the pyramid suggests a hierarchy of CSR domains whereby one may conclude that the domain at the top is more important than the domain at the base. This is clearly not the kind of CSR priorities that Carroll intended in his CSR pyramid. Secondly, the pyramid framework cannot fully capture the overlapping nature of CSR domains. Hence, extrapolating from Carrolls model, Schwartz and Carroll (2003) proposed an alternative approach to conceptualise CSR a three-domain model. The three-domain model is presented with three core domains of economic, legal and ethical responsibilities that are depicted in a venn model framework. Initially, it suggests that none of the CSR domains is prima facie more important or significant relative to the others. The venn model framework actually yields seven CSR categories from an overlap of the three core domains. However, the exception with this model is that the philanthropic category, if exist, is subsumed under the ethical and/or economic domains. The figure below illustrates the venn model framework originated from Schwartz and Carroll (2003) research: Source: Management for Social Enterprise, Bob Doherty,  George Foster,  Chris Mason,  John Meehan,  Karon Meehan,  Neil Rotheroe,  Maureen Royce 2.2 CSR Reporting Based on their research on CSR disclosure, Holder-Webb et al. (2009) assert that it is not enough for corporations to simply engage in CSR activities but it is also important and desirable to make information about these activities available to stakeholders. Additionally, the call for disclosure of non-financial information has grown in response to the awareness that financial statement omits salient information about the company (Adams et al. 2011). The financial statement actually portrays a limited picture of the company through providing merely financial metrics. Therefore, the relevance of non-financial information has increased markedly over the years. The emergence of non-financial reporting can be seen as an attempt to increase transparency with respect to corporate actions concerning social and environmental issues (Nielsen Thomsen, 2007). Further, it is acknowledged that the disclosure of non-financial information is essential to reduce information asymmetry that exists be tween management and key stakeholders (Narayanan et al. 2000) as well as to allow investors to better assess key areas of performance and support a broader view of corporate performance that encompasses society at large (Holder-Webb et al. 2009). 2.2.1 Motivation for CSR Reporting Along with the increased interest to engage in CSR activities, today corporations across the world are more voluntarily disclosing information about their CSR performance. Undeniably, numerous motivational bases can explain companies involvement in CSR reporting practices. Threat to the organisations legitimacy The legitimacy theory posits that there is a social contract between companies and the society in which they operate (Deegan 2002; Mathew 1993; Patten 1992). Therefore, corporation try to legitimise their corporate actions by engaging in CSR reporting to get the approval from society and thus, ensuring their continuing existence (Belal, 2008). Increase access to capital and shareholder value Roberts (1992) assert that one way that firms consider CSR disclosure is to increase access to capital and shareholder value by satisfying stakeholders expectation. Investors are choosing to invest in organisation that is demonstrating a high level of CSR (Baron, 2008). Enhance corporate reputation Branco and Rodrigues (2008) argue that CSR disclosure (CSRD) is an important mechanism to enhance the effect of CSR on corporate reputation as well as representing a signal of improved social and environmental conduct. In their research on CSRD and corporate reputation, Bayoud et al. (2012) confirms that a high level of CSRD is strongly associated with corporate reputation for stakeholder group. Risk Management According to Kytle et al. (2005), reporting practices have become a key management tool to the growing complexity to multinational business management. He further argues that reporting helps to integrate CSR activities into companies strategic risk management so that the impact of CSR activities can be maximised. Employee attraction, motivation and retention Waddock et al (2002) argue that employees perceptions about how a corporation accepts and manages its responsibilities are often part of the employees decision about where to work. Therefore, publication of sustainability related information can play a role of positioning a company as an employer of choice and as such, this status can enhance loyalty, reduce staff turnover and increase a companys ability to attract and retain high quality employees (Group of 100 KPMG, 2008). Financial performance Margolis and Walsh (2003) claim that corporations engagement in CSR activities and its disclosure can foster corporate performance and as such their research conclude a positive relationship between CSR performance and financial performance. Similarly, Balbanis, Philips and Lyall (1998) find that economic performance is related to both CSR performance and disclosure although having a weak relationship and lack of overall consistency. 2.3 Theories on CSR Various theories have been used over the years to demonstrate the behavior of economic units related to CSR issues. The relevant theories are: Agency theory Proponents of economic theories are among the first to write about corporate social involvement although considering it as a flaw in corporate thinking. Stewardship theory Social contract theory The social contract theory begins in the classic period of history and takes its modern form in the 16th and 18th centuries with best known philosophers like Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau. Legitimacy theory Deegan and Unerman (2006) assert that the legitimacy theory relies upon the notion that there is a social contract between an organisation and the society in which it operates. The social contract as explained by Deegan (2000), represents myriad of expectations that society has about how an organisation should conduct its operations. Stakeholder theory Freeman (1984) argues that managers should not just focus on stockholders need, but rather must satisfy a variety of stakeholders. As such, the stakeholder theory is used to analyse those groups to whom a firm should be responsible (Moir, 2001). 2.4 Corporate Financial Performance Price and Mueller (1986) assert that corporate financial performance (CFP) depicts the financial viability of an organisation. Therefore, corporations need to disseminate information about their financial performance as an account of managements stewardship as well as a means of assessing the entitys capacity to generate cashflows (Stein, 2000). Additionally, the financial performance is a subjective measure of the effectiveness with which an organisation makes use of its resources to attain its economic or financial goals. Basically, an organisations financial performance can be measured using three alternative approaches market-based measure, accounting-based measure and perceptual-based measure (Orlitzky, 2003). The market measure focuses on the firms stock price to evaluate its financial performance. McGuire et al (1998) argue that the market measure represents investors evaluation of the ability of a firm to generate future economic earnings. Alternatively, the accounting-based measure captures the firms competitive effectiveness and internal efficiency as well as optimal utilisation of assets. This measure represents financial performance using three divisions: (i) Return on Asset (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) (Waddock and Graves, 1997); (ii) profitability in absolute terms (Stanwick and Stanwick, 1998) and (iii) multiple accounting based measure with the overall index score of 0-10 (Moore, 2001). Finally, the perceptual measure uses subjective judgment about the firms financial performance wh ich is provided by survey respondents (Wartick, 1988). 2.4.1 Relationship between CSP and CFP The nature of the relationship between a firms socially responsible behaviour and its financial performance has extensively been debated till today and yet it remains unsolved (Margolis and Walsh, 2003). Preston and OBannon (1997) actually highlights two important issues in the relationship between CSP and CFP: Direction and Causality of the relationship. The direction of the relationship can be positive, neutral or even negative. The positive direction of the relationship can be explained using the instrumental stakeholder theory. This theory suggests that the satisfaction of various stakeholder groups is instrumental for the organisational financial performance (Donaldson and Preston, 1995). Conversely, the negative relationship is based on the neoclassical economic theory which argues that a socially responsible firms costs are considered unnecessary and thus can lead to a competitive disadvantage such that a decrease in firms profit and shareholder wealth (Preston and OBannon, 1997). Finally, the neutral relationship between the two constructs, as provided by Waddock and Graves (1997) exists by coincidence. McWilliam and Siegel (2001) further explain that a company acting responsibly to customers can have different demand curve as compared to a less responsible one. Therefore, the CSR activities are only a way to attain differentiation and thus, do not impact on companys profit. The causality of the relationship as pointed out by Preston and OBannon (1997) actually denotes whether CSP or CFP is an independent or dependent variable. Therefore, in such a case, if CSP is an independent variable, it comes first to affect CFP while if CSP is a dependent variable, CFP comes first to affect CSP. Such an argument is also raised by Griffin and Mahon (1997) who question whether a company is better off focusing on CSP or CFP first. In view of explaining the causality of the relationship, Waddock and Graves (1997) and Dean (1999) proposes two theories such as the slack resource theory and good management theory. The slack resource theory explains that a firm shall have good financial performance to contribute to the corporate social performance. It further posits that a company conducting social performance requires some funds that may result from the success of financial performance. Therefore, this theory argues that financial performance comes first and is an indepen dent variable to affect CSP. Conversely, the good management theory argues that social performance actually comes first. This theory provides that CSP is an independent variable resulting in CFP and companies having good reputation achieve good financial position through market mechanism. 2.5 Empirical review

Household Behavior and Demand Essay

Household behavior is one of the any basic concepts in economics which has an effect on market trends. Household demand, for instance, can be seen as related to consumer choices in terms of which products are mostly bought in the market and which products need more supplies in terms of item production and its corresponding allocation. One of the many essential features of household demand is its corresponding effect on what is being provided in the market and, more importantly, the quantities or stock that is being allocated in the market. It seems quite obvious that the quantities of certain products in the market—for instance, in a certain area or a certain supermarket—are patterned according to the existing demand and the foreseen demands a some point in the future, say within a frame of a few weeks time. Household behavior, for its effects on market trends to be realized and understood, must be taken from a general and collective standpoint since a single specific household behavior cannot entirely be taken into account as the precise and sole measure in determining the overall household behavior true for all o most instances with regard to market trends. For example, it has been observed that Chinese people rely largely on the prices of products in determining which ones are the best buys. Paul French notes that â€Å"for pragmatic Chinese shoppers, price remains the bottom-line† which translates to the idea that â€Å"win on price and you win† (French, 2007). Hence, in the context of Chinese households, producers of certain goods should greatly consider the fact that Chinese households will most likely prefer goods which are relatively lower in price as compared to other products in the market in order stay atop the competition. To be able to gain control of the price index of a certain product in the market means to be able to win the market competition if the Chinese household behavior is the primary basis to be used. The perception appears simple enough: household behavior determines household demand which, in consequence, affects a large portion of certain market trends. Thus, to analyze a specific market trend for a specific product entails the analysis and understanding of certain trends in household demand caused by household behavior. An existing household demand, say, for breakfast cereals can be looked upon the collective household behavior in terms of cereal consumption for the past six months for the locality of Chicago, for example. Given a relatively high consumption rate for breakfast cereals with the price not exceeding $4 per box among families, companies producing breakfast cereals may have the corresponding decision to pattern their product according to the existing demand. Although it may not essentially be the case that companies will sacrifice prices of their products in order to meet the demand for the value of the products, being able to adjust product prices in accordance to the existing market prices will most likely lead to favorable results on the part of the companies since market demand is met. Quite on the contrary, there are still other related factors which hinder the feat of lowering prices according to the budget and income of households which determine their capacity to buy and consume certain products. More recently, several instant-noodle corporations in China have difficulties in lowering the prices of their products due to escalating prices in wheat and other farm commodities (Zhu, 2007). With prices in instant-noodles—a popular product among individuals with meager budget—soaring, even the household demand or low-cost instant-noodles may hardly deter companies from lowering the prices of their goods just to meet the existing demand in the market. On the part of households, proper allocation of income can be one remedy in order to curb unnecessary spending so as to be able to allocate budget on goods which the households deem as a dire part of their income-spending. In this case, household behavior and demand appears to be patterned according to the existing market trends which is the opposite or reverse case of what has been provided earlier. Hence, it is also possible to have a household behavior or consumer choice that is based on existing market trends apart from the possibility that market trends may also be based on existing consumer choice and household behavior. Allocating income to maximize utility is one household behavior that determines consumer choice in the long run. For instance, there is the observation that â€Å"household expenditure patterns are affected by the share of household income accruing to women† (Hopkins, Levin, & Haddad, 1994). Given this perception, the choices of consumers over a vast array of products competing in the market is not only affected by external elements determined by companies but also by internal elements sprouting from household consumption patterns of certain goods in relation to the household’s budget allocation. In terms of income and substitution effects, the changes in the prices of certain goods are proposed to alter the demands for such goods. Changes in relative prices as well as changes in the purchasing power of the money income can greatly alter the existing demands for, say, a breakfast cereal. Even if the prices for breakfast cereals remain the same for a given period, alterations in the income will result to an equal change in the budget constraint (Hamermesh, 1977). On the other hand, if the price of breakfast cereals changes, the budget constraint will change accordingly. One concrete way in further understanding the situation is that in order to maximize the utility with the decreased budget constraint, the household will tend to have shifts in their patterns of consumption. For instance, with the budget constraint arising from the decrease in the money’s purchasing power, households will tend to maximize the utility of money by increasing the segregation of purchases of goods based on low-cost preference. An example to this is when households purchase goods with relatively lower prices given a budget of $20 which results to more purchases of various goods while on the other hand households purchasing goods with relatively higher prices will result to lesser maximization of the utility or lesser goods purchased with the $20 budget. Hence, wage rates also share a crucial part in determining household behavior and demand as well as consumer choice. It has been seen that the rates of wages of certain groups of people have corresponding implications on the purchasing power of households. To arrive at the observation that the wage of a household is decreased corresponds to the observation that the purchasing capacity of the same household proportionally, if not significantly, decreases. A higher wage, then, will translate to a higher capacity to purchase goods in the market. In the larger scheme, a group of households with a high rate of wage will most likely have higher purchasing capacity thereby inducing the household behavior of increased spending assuming the household has lesser tendencies to save their income. In effect, a certain market demand will be conjured in such a way that a certain good, for instance, will experience an increase in demand which calls for a corresponding increase in goods being supplied. Thus, it can be noted that the overall rate in household demand will relatively increase given the increase in wages. On the other hand, interest rates may greatly alter or shift the persisting demand from households towards a certain good. For instance, a higher interest rates for purchased loans by households will certainly result to a higher real cost of purchase in the fulfillment of all payments made for the loan. It is quite apparent that an increase of 2% in interest rates from 4% to 6% will most certainly have a corresponding effect on the actual cost of the good purchased. For the most part, higher interest rates translate to higher cost of purchases, decreased household spending given a fixed rate of wages, and a lesser spending on other goods which result to a corresponding decrease in the demand for those other goods. The price of leisure also has a significant role in comprehending the patterns in household demand and consumer choices. For instance, higher prices in the cost of airplane travels would entail that the consumer will opt for the airline provider with the least cost. A decline in the preference for airlines with comparatively higher airline prices will most likely be felt assuming that a given set of consumers have fixed income. Budget constraints in an environment of increasing prices in leisure enable one to view the household demand for existing leisure. Indeed, it has been observed that several market trends can be viewed and analyzed using the perceptions on household behavior and demand for certain goods and products. The interrelationships existing between the market trend and the household behavior is clear although at some point several exceptions would have to be made. Essential to this understanding is the view that there may or may not be actual budget constraints and that prices of commodities may actually shift even without the presence of the shift such as a decline or incline in the demand from households. Nevertheless, there are many cases in which household behavior has its implications on the existing market trends. References French, P. (2007). When the Best Buy Is No Buy. The Wall Street Journal(August 7). Hamermesh, D. S. (1977). A Note on Income and Substitution Effects in Search Unemployment. The Economic Journal, 87(346), 312. Hopkins, J. , Levin, C. , & Haddad, L. (1994). Women’s Income and Household Expenditure Patterns: Gender or Flow? Evidence from Niger. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 76(5), 1219. Zhu, E. (2007). China’s Battle Against Inflation Puts Noodle Makers in Hot Water. The Wall Street Journal(August 29), B11.

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Contributions of Augustus to the founding of the Roman Empire

With the research of the modern world, it has become quite clear that Rome was a massive military power in the Ancient World. They conquered all, and were unstoppable. Though, this only came to be through the change from a Roman Republic to the Roman Empire, and only one man could change this. Augustus. Augustus was the first Roman Emperor, and quite frankly the founder of the Roman Empire. Augustus commanded legions of Roman Soldiers, reformed the populous to run more efficiently and started the long reign of Emperors in Rome. Augustus was the sole reason the Roman Empire rose from the ashes of the republic. Augustus was born into an equestrian family as Gaius Octavius at Rome on 23 September 63 BC. His father, also Gaius Octavius,†¦show more content†¦The conspirators meant to drag his body into the Tiber as soon as they had killed him; to confiscate his estate, and rescind all his enactments; but they were deterred by fear of Mark Antony, and Lepidus, Caesar s master of the horse, and abandoned their intentions.† (Graves, 1979) After Julius Caesar was assassinated, Octavius was motivated to pursue Caesar’s ways and reforms, but at the same time correct Caesar’s mistakes and befriend both the senate and the people. During this period of turmoil, the senate consisted of 1000 members, and the senate’s power was greater than it had ever been. This is how the Senate was able to organise such a plot to assassinate Caesar It is written in an account of Suetonius in his, The Twelve Caesars writings. 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Build-a-Bear Free Essays

1. Give examples of needs, wants, and demand that Build-A-Bear customers demonstrate, differentiating each of these three concepts. What are the implications of each on Build-A-Bear’s actions? Needs are defined as a basic part of the human makeup. We will write a custom essay sample on Build-a-Bear or any similar topic only for you Order Now According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the need for toys belong to the third level or the social needs for love and belonging level. The primary target market of Build-A-Bear are children. A toy can provide the friend or social belonging a child needs. Build-A-Bear provides for the natural need of a child of a toy. Wants is defined as the form taken by human needs as they are shaped by culture and individual personality. As a child grows, his or her need for toys develops into wants or desires. A child needs a toy but may want a doll, a toy car, or a stuffed animal. This certain want may be influenced by the environment or the people in their surroundings. Build-A-Bear offers stuffed animals that are usually desired by younger children, most especially girls. Furthermore, Build-A-Bear have created a â€Å"want† for toys that are personalized. Demand is defined as a want backed up by buying power of the customers. In the case of Build-A-Bear, the buying power or money is provided by the parents of the children. And since they will be paying for the satisfaction of the â€Å"wants† of their children, customers or parents would want to get the toys, particularly the stuffed animals, with the best benefits. Build-A-Bear increases their toys’ benefits by promising that they would provide more than just a toy but the joyful experience of creating the toy. By offering more than just a toy, they have created a remarkable edge over other toys that would make their products more appealing to buying customers. 2. Detail all facets of Build-A-Bear’s product. What is being exchanged in a Build-A-Bear transaction? A Build-A-Bear Workshop’s primary products are personalized stuffed animals. But they promise to offer more than just a toy since these stuffed animals are created by the customers through different stations positioned in the store. To make the actual stuffed animal, the customers are provided the raw materials and they must then go through the child-friendly stations (Choose Me, Stuff Me, Hear Me, Stitch Me, Fluff Me, Dress Me, and Name Me) in the Build-A-Bear Workshop and do the necessary processes in the stations. Thus, what is actually exchanged is the toy plus the playful experience of creating the toy. From the perspective of a child or even adults, this will be a very unique experience since most of toys currently available in the market are all factory-produced. This unique experience shall become a creative memory and is also an added feature of the said exchange. 3. Which of the five marketing management concepts best describes Build-A-Bear Workshop? The marketing management concept that is best apt for the Build-A-Bear Workshop is the Marketing Concept. The marketing concept is defined as the concept that conducts various researches first regarding the needs, wants and demands of the customers before producing the actual product. The marketing concept also introduces the concept of customer-driving market or offering a new product that the customer may want based on their research and market studies. In the case of Build-A-Bear, the company is a pioneer in their kind of business. Maxine Clark, the owner, has determined that customers need products that are customized or personalized and will give them a sense of creativity and uniqueness. They have created a toy that is more than just a toy. They have integrated a product and service and they are continuously improving their services to offer more to loyal customers. 4. Discuss the value that Build-A-Bear creates for its customers. Customer value is defined as the difference between the values the customer gains from owning and using a product and the costs of obtaining the product. Build-A-Bear not only offers a toy but rather the â€Å"experience of participating in the creation of personalized entertainment†. This experience satisfies the growing demand for products that are inclined towards customization. This is what separates Build-A-Bear Workshop from a regular toy store. This gives them the edge and competitive advantage from all other stuffed animals in the market. 5. Is Build-A-Bear likely to be successful in continuing to build customer relationships? Why or why not? Yes, because as what has been described in the text, the owner of the company is very much customer oriented. As demonstrated by the marketing concept, they look first at what is outside before going in. In her goal of going to 2 to 3 stores per month, the owner can get a personal first-hand experience of getting to know what the customer wants. She keeps their products updated by continuously asking the customers what they want. If the customers knew that the owner is very much concerned with what they want, this can develop their loyalty to the company. Furthermore, products that continuously answer to customer’s desires can also develop customer loyalty and leads to customers buying more from the company. Moreover, they can also share their experience with the company and encourage potential customers to try their products as well. How to cite Build-a-Bear, Papers

Code of Ethics Analysis free essay sample

Analysis on a â€Å"Code of Ethics† A code of ethics is a set of written or unwritten rules that are established and followed by a formed establishment. Different professions have varying codes of ethics based of their relationship with the public and how their line of work could have direct consequences on the said â€Å"public†, whose very definition is up for debate. Why is a code of ethics put into place if people are expected to always do the right thing considering they are rational and moral people capable of making life altering decisions?Davis’ first argument to defend the lethal decision of Lund is that Lund was not trained to think like a manager. His background was in engineering. He then goes on the state that Engineers are typically in charge of things, while managers are in charge of people. In essence, he states that Lund was ill prepared to make a decision of that magnitude without proper training in management. We will write a custom essay sample on Code of Ethics Analysis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page But why is there even a difference in a code of ethics between professions? Why are people not expected to be ethical as a whole population?Davis then begins to talk about the process by which an occupation or a collaboration of workers becomes a profession. Then, once the occupation becomes a profession, they (out of conventionality) establish a code of ethics that is mutually agreed upon, meaning that engineers as a whole should be ethical people. Davis then argues that following a code of ethics is supposedly rational, thus, Lund being a rational person should prevent him from being an exception to the rules. Although he was asked to think like a manager, he is still an engineer.A code of ethics is necessary in order to be a guiding hand into the morally right direction. Another argument that Davis makes to defend Lund’s blatant ignorance of a code of ethics is that the code of ethics itself is entirely up for interpretation. One canon that is pointed out is that enginee rs should â€Å"hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public†. This is relevant in that the word public could include or neglect anyone, which would mean that Lund was still following a code of ethics.Davis states that the astronauts are not a part of the public because they are paid an exceptionally large income to be fully aware of the risks they are taking. Thus, they are not innocent bystanders because they have previous knowledge of the dangers that may lie in their immediate future. However, he also states that being directly unaware of the possibly defective O-ring makes them innocent and therefore in the branch of â€Å"public† by another definition.The Challenger explosion that occurred in 1986 was the direct result of Robert Lund’s inability to merge an engineering code of ethics with his own personal morals. To protect himself from shame and scalding, he obliviously neglected the engineering code of ethics. When asked to think like a manager, why wasn’t his conscience and responsibility as an engineer to â€Å"p ut safety first† enough to prevent the loss of seven lives? Lund’s conscience weighed his job and the reputation of Thiokol over the lives of seven astronauts because a code of ethics was physically absent. Although he initially felt that the launch should be postponed and had scientific data to justify his feelings, he was pressured into a decision without reflecting upon the engineering code of ethics. Conscience was not enough to save the astronauts lives, but if Lund had gazed over a code of ethics, his immediate reaction would have most likely been to ignore the advice of Mason, and make an ethical decision for the safety and welfare of the public.