Blog 8 – Corporate Social responsibility

Corporate social responsibility is a concept which gives rise to how a company should conduct itself within a society, and different views on what a business is for and how it should act. Social responsibilities arise from the interdependence of organisations, society and the environment (Mullins, 2007).

As society has become more and more interested in corporate social responsibly, organisations have taken it upon themselves to try to actively promote their actions in order to gain peoples trust and as a result their custom. This is down to the main idea of globalisation. As people are becoming more aware of businesses activities through the expansion of media, and people are becoming more growingly concerned with the activities the organisations they use are performing in.

Many organisations have been caught out with regards to acting badly when looking at their corporate social responsibility. Mainly clothing chains such as GAP and Primark have been caught using sweat shops and child labour as a result of outsourcing. Outsourcing is the act of one company contracting another company to provide services that might otherwise be performed by the company itself (Bremmer, 2012).

Gaps Child Labour Scandal (TheStar, 2007) : The discovery of children as young as 10 sewing clothes for clothing retailer Gap Inc. in a New Delhi factory has renewed concerns about child labour in India.

Primark Sweat shop scandal (McDougall, 2008) : The huge fashion store Primark sacked three of its suppliers last week after an investigation for the BBC's Panorama and The Observer uncovered children labouring in Indian refugee camps to produce some of its cheapest garments. Here we reveal the brutal reality of a supply chain that sees children as young as 11 sewing T-shirts which cost shoppers just a few pounds to buy on high streets across Britain.

The John Lewis Partnership

The John Lewis partnership is a well know and well trusted brand for the community. Being respected by its employees for its great partnership programme which allows individuals to progress though the company and receive an percentage of the organisations profits annually. They therefore have good CSR focus when looking at its employees.

Each and every one of its employees has to follow their policies regarding their CSR plans and achievements, and by this it allows the organisation to feel trustworthy towards them. Their CSR plan (Lacy, 2011) is split into three main categories, for which they create targets and state achievements to do with; the environment, Customers-products-suppliers, and the community.

The environment – John Lewis have completed the targets they set themselves last year, and currently diverted 81% of their operational waste away from land fill, and have reduced their refrigeration and cooling emissions by 20%. However, with CSR its all about getting better and doing more things, so they have created more targets that they wish to achieve. This include things such as further reduce waste from landfill, develop renewable energy generation centres and continue to improve energy efficiency, and monitor and manage water consumption

This may please consumers, making them believe that John Lewis is there to help the environment; However this also benefits the organisation itself. With rising fuel prices and the cost of clearing waste, by reducing these things they will also save themselves costs.

Customers-products-suppliers- People look for good products and they want these to come from good suppliers, John Lewis cover this by using sustainable ingredients, for example all the own brand products that contain palm oil or RSPO-certified. Also, all paper and card used for packaging are made from recycled FDC-certified materials. As with the environment, more targets have been set – this time they are based around the ideas of visions- they are “the Waitrose way” and “bringing quality to life”

This cutting down of materials and recycling are also good ways to cut costs, and by using sustainable ingredients in food etc means that the organisation gets a good reputation for working with the environment, and will have more people wanting to work for them and with them to improve and fulfil their visions.

Lastly looking at the community – From 2010-2011 John Lewis have made £8.8 million contributions to the community, and have spent over 24,000 hours with volunteers in the Golden Jubilee Trust scheme.

Although no new targets have been made to be completed, John Lewis state that they want to continue focusing on the current issues they are addressing and thus to create more opportunities for their partnership to get involved in community activities.

By helping, and actively promoting helping the community for which their shops are based, this shows the community that they care, and may cause more people to take there custom there. John Lewis uses their volunteering and charity contributions to form a strong relationship with the public, and try to create a friendship.

Therefore, to conclude I think it is clear that as we going through further globalisation, the process of corporate social responsibility has become more and more of a concern for a organisations consumers. However, with the current economic climate being poor, will people shade away from the less expensive less socially responsible organisations to buy goods and use services as they are cheaper. Is corporate social responsibility a luxury people can still afford?

Bibliography

Bremmer, I. (2012) Wise Geek [online]. What is outsourcing. Available from: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-outsourcing.htm [Accessed: 23rd Jan 2012].

Lacy, G. (2011) JohnLewisParntership - A clear view. internet report archive. John Lewis.

McDougall, D. (2008) The hidden face of Primark Fashion. Online Newspaper URL:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/22/india.humanrights. Nadu, India: The observer The guardian.

Mullins, L.J. (2007) Management and organisational behaviour. 9th ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall FT.

TheStar (2007) Gap in chuld labour scandal. Online Newspaper URL:http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/271512. London: The Star The Star.

Personality – Blog 7

The recognition of individuality

Organisations are made up of a variety of different members, and without these and organisation would struggle to function properly. The way in which different people act and the way they are means that they need effective relationship management at work, or, as a result of differing personalities and beliefs there could be an increased amount of pressure between individuals that could affect the productivity of their work, and could even cause conflict.

The ways in which people are varies from the ethnic origin, physique, gender, social/cultural, motivation, attitudes, personality traits, intelligence and perception. This therefore means that everyone is different, and leaves mangers facing certain issues when trying to get a task done, because everyone works in a different way, and certain people work better together than others. For example, by putting two very confident powerful people together it could cause conflict by the two people both wanting to be in charge.

Personality is one attribute to the differentiation of people which is a large determiner as to whether people will work well together and marks the way in which they work individually as well as in a group.

The oxford English dictionary describes a personality as a noun (plural personalities) the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s distinctive character and further the quality or fact of being a person as distinct from a thing or animal (Oxford, 2011). It is also defined academically as an individual’s set of characteristics and tendencies which shape a sense of self, and what that person does and the behaviour they exhibit (Mullins, 2007)

However neither definitions state how or why we all have different personalities and different character traits. This for many years has been a largely debateable subject. How do you gain your own personality? Do you inherit it? Is it based on the environment you’re in? Or is it based on the situation? It all comes down to two words. Nature or Nurture.

To analyse which of these are correct, it is important to explore all possibilities of each theory.

The Nature Theory (Powell, 2011)

Nature theorist follow the ideas that scientist put forward. People know that when your born you follow your genes to determine things such as looks, so hair and eye colour, and even height. Nature theorists take this idea and say that you also inherit your personality form your parents or blood line. This means that they believe if your parents are adrenaline seekers, you should be. Or if you parents are naturally quiet people you will also follow this character trait.

There are two main components that suggest that this idea is wrong, but defines them as being wrong in different ways.  A being debatable subject is the idea of “ the gay gene”. Being gay is all based around your sexual preference, and thus, if you inherit your personality, your parents would have to be gay for you to be; and if your child is gay and your not, how was this picked up – were they born that way?  Not inherited but created like that. Or is it by what they have grown up experiencing.

The second idea that us looked upon to determine nature or nurture is twins. Twins both being born into the world at the same time, having the same genes and generic make up, and experiencing the same upbringing, should in the theory of nature be exactly the same tyhpes of people, but is this always the case? No, it’s not. Many twins take completely opposite forms, with the main comparison being their sibling. Twins are often compared with each other, for example the loud one, or the shy one.

This therefore poses the alternative option of nurture.

The nurture theory

 The idea of nurture is the complete opposite of nature. It follows the idea that our personality is based on the environment of our upbringing, and although we inherit our looks from our genes, that is all we get from them.

Nature therefore poses the question of - what would I be like if I grew up in a different country, or a different area? Would you still be the same?  

Nature has very valid points which suggest that people do in fact pick up their personality from their surroundings. Children have always been very susceptible to picking up on certain character traits. Children often idolise certain people, whether it be an older sibling or a friend, and they often adapt their personality to copy that person, showing that there personality comes from there environment.  It’s how the saying regarding bad children “ in with the wrong crowd” has come around.

However, this is not always the case, some children seem to have inner character traits which make them stand out from other people, for example, why  some people take on the role of being very studious at school and others not. They ll attend the same school and are around the same people.

Parents therefore are a clear influencer as to what a child is likely to grow up like, and can have a nurture effect on their child, as they can over love their could cause very sheltered children or could cause people to rebel against the rules.

Nurture basically follows the basic idea that we learn to read, to write and to ride a bike, and in the same way nurture theorists believe that we learn each of our personality traits, picking up and developing ourselves as we grow up.

So, what’s right? (Muir, 1999)

 It is clear from all of the cases put forward by nature and nurture theorists that neither one idea is correct. In fact, you are born with certain character traits that you have inherited from your parents for example your pain threshold, or fears. However, some of these are also picked up as you grow and develop, being influenced by the people you meet and the situations you are put in. This is why it is clear there are so many debated regarding peoples personalities and how they are created/developed.

Nomothetic and idiographic approaches (Mullins, 2007)

The nomothetic approach is the basic idea that your personality can be measured by tests and observations, meaning that they take a more scientific approach, and thus tend to view nurture influences minimal to developing personalities.  This fits into the business environment when looking at managing and employing people. As by doing character trait tests , and employer can look at whether a person exhibits a more or less “average” score when looking at types of personalities, and by this can determine whether or not they fit into the overall culture of the organisation and as to whether certain people will work well together.

Idiographic approach on the other hand; believe that character trait measurements and tests are inappropriate ways in which to look at people and to judge them by. They believe that peoples personalities change depending on what environment they are in, and so are instead of being focused on the psychological aspects of an individual focus more on their ability to develop and their image of self-concept. Making the tests some organisations give too narrow in scope and depth. This management style means employees feel valued and appreciated and so takes on a soft HR approach, looking at every employee as an individual that can be developed and improved to assist both themselves and the organisation.

What’s best – Nomothetic or Idiographic? And how do they really fit into the theory of work.

I believe when looking at how to define someone’s character and to decide actions, it is important to once again split the way it is done. It is best to look at both the scientific psychological approach as well as the individualistic approach, and that way there is no way they first impressions ( or bad ones) or a poor test result can rule someone out who could be perfect for a job.

The idea of how these theories fit into the work place really depending on the person who is assessing the personality. The perfect person for the job role or task could more often than not be seen to be a different person dependent on who is assessing. It is all down to the way in which a person interprets you, and falls back on the idea of first impressions and perception.

Personality Profiles and me

Upon taking a personality test myself, the following assumptions were made with regards to my character traits. (Winston, 2012)

I scored 3.2 out of 5 for Openness

It was suggested that I have a less broad range of interests, and I stick to what I know rather than being overly enthusiastic about trying new things.

I scored 4 out of 5 for conscientiousness.

It was explained that conscientiousness describes how dependable, organised and hard-working a person is likely to be. This may be the reason why, of all the personality traits, Conscientiousness is the most consistent indicator of job success

This means I have been rated to be extremely dependable and organised and It's likely that your my is well-planned and I approach things in a thorough manner.

With regards to my work ethic it explained that at work, I probably approach tasks methodically and thoroughly, with everything in its right place.

I scored 3.4 out of 5 (medium) on Extroversion.

Extroversion is characterised by positive emotions and the tendency to seek out pleasure-stimulating or risk-taking activities. It was explained that people with scores like mine are likely to be comfortable meeting new people and will usually enjoy social occasions.

I am also likely to have a generally have positive outlook on life and may display a greater gift for leadership compared to those with low scores on this trait.

I scored 3.9 out of 5(medium) on Agreeableness

Agreeableness measures how sympathetic and considerate a person is likely to be. People with scores like mine are likely to show concern for the feelings of others and will be inclined to help those in need.

It was suggested that I probably find it easy to get along with most people, but won't be averse to speaking your mind

I scored 2.9 out of 5 (medium) for Neuroticism

This was then explained to mean in the context of the Big Five personality traits, the term 'Neuroticism' relates to a person’s response to threatening or stressful situations. People with scores like mine are likely to be comparatively level-headed about perceived threats, but may find myself worrying when faced with uncertainty or unfamiliar situations.

Some scientists have suggested that Neuroticism was beneficial in evolutionary terms. Early man may have found it advantageous to live in a population where certain individuals had a high sensitivity to threats to the group's survival.

There is evidence to suggest that Neuroticism, when combined with high scores in personality traits such as Conscientiousness, can result in a powerful work ethic and a will to succeed.

My results therefor showed that I place an equal value on many different life goals and thus, research has uncovered relationships between personality and life goals. It suggests that people with high Openness scores tend to pursue aesthetic goals, while people with high Extroversion scores tend to pursue hedonistic goals.

Bibliography

Muir, D. (1999) The Nature-Nurture Debate. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

Mullins, L.J. (2007) Management and organisational behaviour. 9th ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall FT.

Oxford (2011) Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Powell, K. (2011) Nature vs. Nurture [online]. About.com Genealogy. Available from: http://genealogy.about.com/cs/geneticgenealogy/a/nature_nurture_2.htm [Accessed: Jan 23rd 2012].

Winston, R. (2012) BBC [online]. Child of our time- big personlaity test. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/labuk/experiments/personality/feedback [Accessed: Jan 23rd 2012].

Perception and Communication Blog 6

Perception and Communication

A person’s initial impression does not always truly represent them. An initial impression is often based upon appearance and so this can be very wrong.

This can be seen in the example of the channel four television show “The Secret Millionaire”. Where a millionaire goes to live in a small house, and dresses is normal clothes, they give the impression while they are there that they have no money They volunteer in the community and say they are being recorded for a TV show about volunteering . People then interpret them to be that way. At the end of the show they admit that they are actually secret millionaires, and they give some money away. This shows a fundamental reason as to why and how interpretations matter. If the millionaire had gone and straight away admitted to being millionaires, then the charities would have acted differently around them; and thus altered their initial interpretation. (channel4, 2012)

Initial perception of people can also follow a wide spread familiarity. The colour of a person hair is a very common assumption to go by (Expert, 2010). The idea that Blonds are stupid, brunettes have more fun, and red heads are angry is something that many people adopt when talking to people.  This is why phrases such as “having a blond moment” has come around for a situation where you have forgotten something, or done something embarrassing. However this is clearly very wrong, Brunettes can be sad and boring and blonds can be very intelligent, along with red heads being very calm. Showing another example of how peoples initial interpretations can be wrong.

Many people who make bad initial interpretations, and create poor judgments often regret them. As people often act upon their judgment; treating people in different ways to adapt to who they think the person is. This for example could be talking slower to someone who you think is less intelligent.

An example of when I personally had wrongly perceived someone was with my cousin.  She was allot younger then me at the age of 7 or 8. And so when I spoke to her when they visited I tried to avoid using long words and not talking about certain subjects, and then as the conversation progressed I came to the conclusion that she was actually mature enough and old enough to understand the words as she was using them in conversation. This made me feel a bit embarrassed that I had been talking to her in that way, and that it was pointless for me to have tried to “dumb down” the convocation. If I could have done it again, I would not of adapted the way a had the conversation with her.

Can the university can improve communication with the students? (Clake, 2010)

Communication comes in many ways, below is an example of the formal and informal, internal and external forms of communication. 

In my opinion, the university communicates very well with the students.

By having a student representative system, it allows students and lectures to meet and discuss issues or successes regarding the courses. This therefore allows lectures to take on this advice and to act upon it, making sure that everyone is filling the same shared purposes of an improved end result.

The main form of communication between staff and student is through the blackboard system. This allows different departments and different modal lectures to contact students on a large scale or individual scale via e-mail. This means that there is a recordable two way communication system available for the behalf of both the staff and the students.

People can be engaged well within the university. The student union is an open advice centre, which can be contacted about issues, and they can take forward your request and let you know information.  By having someone available to physically see about an issue or an information request it mean that the chain of communication has expanded further than impersonal dissuasions over e-mail or phone.

Positions within the university such as “head of student experience” mean that people get to know the people who have control over them. This means that there is a more personal influence that people value. This is communicated strongly through the university newspaper, where in each issue there is a statement from certain people of importance, including the student editor. The newspaper is therefore another channel of communication that the university takes advantage of, by advertising events through this.

Communication between staff and students is therefore very important, not only to express students issues but staff as well. It is also crucial not only to communicate the initial problems with others, but to use the communication to measure the results of the actions taken. By the result being communicated to the public it means that they will feel satisfied that the communication that has taken place is having a result, this happen in the university by the student union questionnaires that can be filled out and acted upon.

Communication is very important and a collapse in a communication system can cause many issues. The most important form of communication is face to face, if one day there is a power cut, or you don’t have phone signal, the only way of communication if through speech. Therefore by keeping the fundamental basis of communication as speech, and by then aiding it by phone, or internet access, this means that there is a very well developed channel of communication.

Bibliography

channel4 (2012) The Secret Millionaire [online]. Channel Four. Available from: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-secret-millionaire [Accessed: 3rd Jan 2012].

Clake, R. (2010) How to imporve staff communication [online]. People Management. Available from: http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2010/07/how-to-improve-staff-communication.htm [Accessed: 6th Jan 2012].

Expert, L.P.H. (2010) Yahoo answers [online]. Does your hair colour influence your personality. Available from: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091019161801AAElO51 [Accessed: 10th Dec 2012].