Week 4

Question 1

what is the term anthropocene epoch?

Answer 1

a term created by Crutzen in 2000 that means we humans are, through our ever increasing desire for more growth and more wealth, influencing the climate and stability of the planet. –> The Great Acceleration
- There have been arguments of alternative economic models stating that the current rate of growth is not sustainable or viable and there is ‘a limit to growth’ – The de-growth or green growth perspectives

Question 2

what are green growth and de-growth perspectives?

Answer 2

1. Green growth means fostering economic growth and development while ensuring that natural assets continue to provide the resources and environmental services on which our well-being relies.
2. De-growth concepts which first embarked on shrinking GDP then focusing more towards an agnostic relationship with GDP: just do what is necessary and see what the GDP outcome is, -> a-growth

Question 3

give examples of firms with good CSR practices?

Answer 3

1. lego: by 2030 wants to produce environmentally friendly products that are sustainable
2. salesforce provides 1% equity, 1% product and 1% of employees time to non-profit sector
3. ben and jerrys foundation support social change
4. starbucks in 2015, verified that 99% of its supply chain is ethically sourced

Question 4

what is corporate culture?

Answer 4

‘A set of basic assumptions defines for us what to pay
attention to, what things mean, how to react
emotionally to what is going on, and what actions to
take in various kinds of situations’

Question 5

what are values?

Answer 5

Values – the principles that help you to decide what is
right and wrong, and how to act in various situations

Question 6

what are norms?

Answer 6

• Norms – Shared understanding of what is or is not
  considered acceptable behaviour in and of a group

Question 7

what are practices?

Answer 7

• Practices – Routine enactments [‘doings’ and ‘saying’]
  oriented toward a particular end goal or objective (Nicolini
  & Monteiro, 2017)

Question 8

what is identity?

Answer 8

Identity – a set of statements that organization members
perceive to be central, distinctive, and enduring to their
organization (Albert & Whetten, 1985).

Question 9

what are Schein’s levels of culture?

Answer 9

1. Artifacts: All phenomenon that one sees, hears and feels when one encounters a new group with an unfamiliar
   culture.
2. Espoused Beliefs and Values: All group learning ultimately reflects someone’s original beliefs and values, their sense of what ought to be, as distinct from what is
3. Underlying Assumptions: The implicit assumptions that actually guide behavior, that tell group members how to perceive, think about, and feel about things

Question 10

what is the link between the separation of market culture and societal culture?

Answer 10

Their co-existence has always been a matter of
compromise and dealing with paradoxes.

Question 11

what are CSR cultures?

Answer 11

CSR cultures are understood as organizational cultures underpinned by values associated with environmental and social sustainability.

Question 12

what is (Maon, 2010) stages of moving towards CSR supportive culture?

Answer 12

1. CSR reluctant phase: dismissing CSR, focused on economic gains
2. CSR cultural grasp phase: when firms begin to be sensitive to CSR issues, usually due to compliance seeking, or as a result of a CSR related scandal, or capability seeking
3. CSR cultural embedment phase: here CSR is seen to have value, firms and managers start to invest in it, adopting CSR values

Question 13

what are the strategic reasons why firms engage in CSR?

Answer 13

1. Baron, 2001: The use of CSR to attract socially responsible consumers is referred to as
   strategic CSR, in the sense that firms provide a public good in conjunction with their marketing/business strategy
2. (Jones, 1990): Firms involved in repeated transactions with stakeholders on the basis of trust and cooperation have an incentive to be honest and ethical, since such
   behaviour is beneficial to the firm
3. (Hart, 1995): For certain companies, environmental social responsibility can constitute a resource or capability that leads to a sustained competitive advantage

Question 14

what are the steps to the development of CSR strategies?

Answer 14

1. Setting Goals: Organisational culture can play a role in
   determining the key areas wherein the organisation
   wants to achieve progress
2. Designing CSR strategy – Organisational culture can a
   play a role in determining who is involved in the design
   process, the resources in place for CSR planning and
   development, length of CSR implementation
3. Implementing CSR strategy – organisational culture can
   enable/ constrain scope of CSR integration e.g.
   leadership buy in, resource allocation, artefact creation
4. Assessing Outcomes of CSR Strategy – culture
   enables/constrains resources for monitoring and
   evaluating outcomes

Question 15

what is the three modes of transparency?

Answer 15

1. transparency as a moral case: info shared with stakeholders isnt necessarily created and expressed in a way that would be favourable for the firm
2. transparency as a business case: initiatives closely linked to financial strategies of the firm means firms can do transparency reporting in a way that benefits firm
3. transparency as a process: something that is built into the firm eg with employees can scrutinise what the firm is doing.

Question 16

what is the example of strategic CSR?

Answer 16

• SeaBOS
• Collaboration between scientists and 10 of the world’s largest seafood companies across the wild capture, aquaculture and feed production sectors
• CEOs of these leading companies publicly committing to a vision and set of shared commitments to ocean stewardship.
• they engage in transparency reporting where they include areas of improvement too

Question 17

what is said about changing corporate culture towards CSR?

Answer 17

• The Financial Reporting Council 2020 Report suggests, in line with much of the CSR literature, that companies can and should change their cultures towards CSR values.
• But such cultural evolution to CSR culture if it occurs at all, will be linked to management values and beliefs about sustainability and stakeholder engagement.

Question 18

what are Trevino 1999 four approaches to business ethics management?

Answer 18

1. Compliance orientation – preventing, detecting and punishing deviations from the law
2. Values orientation – personal ethos encouraged by
   organisational values.
3. External orientation – mostly about satisfying external key stakeholders.
4. Protection orientation – perception that employees should not report up problems to management
   - they found that business ethics programs were more likely to be taken up if they’re embedded in organisational practices and values

Question 19

what is the Dr Reddy case?

Answer 19

1. they did a sense check across multiple groups to understand concerns
2. They created a frame for the issue: “Good Health Can’t Wait”
3. Leadership used this to guide their decision making processes.
4. Resources and attention were directed to support this slogan
5. A commitment to change was made at different levels – in a launch (external) to redefine their purpose and by individual employees (individual)

Question 20

what is the role of leadership in change?

Answer 20

• Leaders embed culture in their organizations.
• Schein suggests that procedures and other systems of organization, (such as codes) have a secondary role in
  firms as cultural reinforcers.

Question 21

what does Schein note that culture is created by?

Answer 21

1. What leaders pay attention to, measure and control on a regular basis.
2. How leaders react to critical incidents and crises.
3. How leaders allocate resources.
4. Deliberate role modelling, teaching and coaching.
5. How leaders allocate rewards and status.
6. How leaders recruit, select, promote and excommunicate
7. What leaders pay attention to, measure and control on a regular basis.

Question 22

what is the role of employees in CSR management?

Answer 22

• Employees carry the ‘burden of responsibility of implementing ethical corporate behaviour
• CSR activities can lead to increased employee engagement
• Employee engagement in CSR activities is constituted through and constitutes corporate culture.
• Group conformity and ethical malleability need to be taken into account when designing an ethical culture