History of Jets vs. Patriots

English 101 Analysis Essay NY Jets vs. NE Patriots Rivalry The rivalry between the New York Jets and the New England Patriots exists because of the volatile history amongst players, coaches and fans, past and present, and because of the extreme loyalty, and passion that the people associated with these two teams exhibit. New York City and Boston are approximately 3 1? 2 hours apart by car. This Rivalry is likely the largest in the history of the National Football League (NFL). Throughout the history of these two teams their rivalry record is 53-52-1.The 53 stands for the Patriots win`s against the Jets. This shows that the games have been very close and the Patriots have one win over the Jets. The â€Å"1† stands for a â€Å"draw†. This means the game went into double over-time and stayed a tie. This is very rare to come across and it does not even happen yearly in the NFL. These teams continue to play great games and keep one of sport’s greatest rivalry`s going. Many motives throughout the history of the NFL have helped make this rivalry exciting to watch, and helped to create some of the greatest games to ever go down in the NFL.Both of these teams are in the American Football Conference (AFC). Within this conference they are also in the same division, which is the (AFC East). The New York Jets were on top of the AFC and their rivalry against the Patriots in the early years of the NFL. New York was the first AFC team to win a Super Bowl title, dating all the way back to the 1968-1969 season. They played this game against the Indianapolis Colts, and goes down as one of the largest Super Bowl upsets in the history of the League. The whole world doubted them and the AFC was basically considered a joke during this time period.Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath, made a bold promise that the sports world has still not forgotten. This move was almost as bold and crazy as Babe Ruth calling his homerun in the World Series. He made a public promis e to his team and sports fans that he would carry the Jets to win this Super Bowl. This seemed like a ridiculous promise seeing as the projections had New York losing this game by a whopping sixteen points! This Super Bowl upset was a larger upset then the 2008 game, when the New England Patriots got upset by the New York Giants.The Giants were fourteen point underdogs and came back to beat the undefeated Patriots in the most watched sports event. These two Super bowls will never be forgotten, and they go down as two of the greatest and most memorable upsets in Super bowl history! During the time period of the late sixties when the Jets were on the rise, New England was still attempting to find their franchises identity, repeatedly getting beat by star quarterback Joe Namath and the New York Jets. Within this time period, both teams began to create fan-based families.The rivalry basically began with the fans of the two teams. They began to hate each other. Anybody representing these two teams would be welcomed by each other, and instantaneously liked. They both agreed in the fact of having a mutual dislike for each other. Being a huge fan and a part of the huge fan community games are taken very seriously. You must have respect for the opposing team’s stadium when you are a fan at the opposing stadium. To these hard-core fans walking in to the stadium with his-respect is like, walking into their house, where their families live and showing disrespect.This is all how the rivalry began between the Patriots and Jets. The cities mutual hate and family like bonding has helped to create this great rivalry. In this decade the New England Patriots have done remarkable things, achieving the ultimate goal of making it to the Super Bowl more than any other team in the National Football League. They have done this with star quarterback Tom Brady who was groomed and raised by arguably the greatest head coach in the history of football, Bill Belichick. Tom Brady and the Patriots have found there way to four Super Bowls since the year 2000.This is more super bowl appearances in this time period than any other team. Not only did they make it to those four Super Bowls, but they also won three of them, only losing that great upset against the New York Giants in the 2008 Super Bowl. In the Tom Brady and, Bill Belichick era, New England has been consistently successful. The Jets have fought hard to keep up with them as they find themselves having to take it one game at a time. The New York Jets have been successful since hiring the defensive coordinator from the Baltimore Ravens, Rex Ryan.He is a self spoken coach who loves his team and isn’t afraid to say what is on his mind. This is the kind of coach the Jets needed, someone to spark the team and never consider the team out of the play-offs. He is a defensive minded coach who loves to run the ball rather then pass it. This has helped the Jets create schemes to confuse their long time rival t he Patriots. The most important recent game these two teams have faced off against was last season. It was during the 2010-1011 playoffs in the divisional championship game. This is the second round of the play-offs, and the game took place in New England.Young quarterback Mark Sanchez from USC, and the New York Jets came out flying high and shut down the Patriots dynamic offense. The Jets defense played great and the Jets were able to make a statement to New England and the rest of the world that they are the better team, winning the three game series on the year, winning two games and losing one. The Jets won this game twenty-eight to fourteen, advancing to the AFC Conference Championship game against the Pittsburg Steelers. The Jets played a terrible first half and ended up losing their second consecutive Conference Championship, falling one game short of the Super-bowl once again.This wasn’t all bad for the New York Jets. Mark Sanchez proved he was in New York to stay and be the franchise quarterback for years to come. In his second season in the NFL he finally quieted all of the critics proving he could win in big games. Him and second year head coach Rex Ryan have a four win, two loss record in the play-offs. All of these play-off games were played on the road against very good football teams making it more impressive for the young quarter-back and new head coach. These are all prime example of how the Patriots and Jets each show loyalty.This is a huge reason the rivalry exists between these two teams. This most recent season which is still taking place, the Patriots have continued to win and amaze opponents and fans all around the nation. There almost perfect offense have continuously embarrassed teams and showed promise that they are on their way to their fifth Super Bowl since the year 2000. New faces are beginning to emerge in New England. One of the biggest is there new running-back Danny Woodhead. He runs the ball hard and is a great threat to catch it out of the back field at just five-foot- ten 185 pounds.He is a quick player with the ability to change the game at any time. What makes this player so intriguing is that he was dropped by the New York Jets and scooped up off of free agency by the Patriots. Bill Belichick took Woodhead under his wing and gave him the shot that he deserved. This makes sparks the Jets-Patriots rivalry because any time you get a player playing against his former team it is always interesting. The Patriots handled the Jets this past season easily beating them in both contests in which they played each other. In these two games Danny Woodhead had two touchdowns and touched the ball endless amounts of times.The Patriots and Jets games were once known as the Tuna Bowl; referencing former New England coach Bill Parcells who ended his famous argument with owner Robert Kraft by taking his talents back to New York to run the hated Jets. This was just one piece of the puzzle to make this rivalry gre at. There have been numerous events that have taken place since September of 1960 when these two teams faced off for the first time. This goes all the way back to when the NFL wasn’t even in tact yet. In the two clubs' very first meeting, the New York Titans hosted the Boston Patriots at New York's Polo Grounds.The Titans looked as if they were about to win the game until there punter fumbled a snap and Boston brought it back for a touchdown to seal the first win in the New York and Boston football rivalry. The Jets argued that the ball was kicked by a Boston player which is illegal, however the call stood to lead the Boston Patriots to a twenty-four to twenty-one win over the New York Titans. Six years later, the then-Boston Patriots tied the Jets twenty-four to twenty-four at Fenway Park for the only dead-heat in the rivalry's history.The Patriots led twenty-four to four-teen after three quarters but two Joe Namath touchdowns and a field goal tied the game. It would also be the last time the Patriots did not lose to the Jets until October 1971. On December 8th 1985 was the first time these two teams faced off in a play-off game. The Patriots traveled to Giants Stadium where the Jets shared a stadium with the New York Giants. The Patriots offense erupted and won the game twenty-six to four-teen. This was their first play-off win since beating the Buffalo Bills in 1963 to be named the AFL divisional champions.This was a very exciting win for the Patriots. You know it’s a great rivalry when the fans can’t be in the same stadium without causing complete chaos. Patriots and Jets fans hate each other and do not get along. This was definitely the case in October of 1976. The Patriots hosted the Jets on Monday night football, which was unofficially renamed â€Å"Monday Night Madness† when the rowdiness of drunken fans at the Patriots home field led to mass arrests by local police and the cuffing of fans to a chain-link fence when other sp ace became unavailable.On this Monday night game the patriots ran over New York with 330 yards rushing and five rushing touchdowns. They also tossed a late game touchdown to beat the Jets forty-one to seven. Perhaps one of the largest player swaps in the history of these two teams was hall of fame running back Curtis Martin. After playing three seasons in New England, the 2005 NFL rookie of the year became a free agent. The Patriots fought hard to keep Martin in New England but it just couldn’t work out for them as they were out bided. The Jets offered Martin a 6-year, $36 million contract, and the Patriots, low on salary cap space, opted to not match the offer.The Jets sent a first round draft pick to New England and took Curtis Martin for the remainder of his career. Martin became the heart and soul of the team, and remained on the team until 2007 when he blew out his knee and ended his career. In 2008 star Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady was facing the Kansas City Chiefs i n the first game of the regular season. He dropped back for a pass early in the first quarter when a freak accident happened that put the future hall of fame quarterbacks career in jeopardy. Chief’s lineman was looking to sack Tom Brady when he fell on Brady’s leg causing him to tear his ACL and MCL.This put Brady out for the season and forced the Patriots to start young quarter-back Matt Castle. This was the first year the Patriots didn’t win the American Football Conference, in almost a decade. During this season the Jets and Patriots split the regular season wins one to one. The following season which was 2009, Tom Brady was back, and so were the Patriots. The first match between these two teams in 2009 was a highly anticipated game. It was the first time fresh Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, and brand new head coach Rex Ryan would face off against Tom Brady and the Patriots.In the week prior to the game, Ryan placed a phone message to all Jets season ticket h olders asking them to â€Å"make it miserable for (Tom) Brady and company,† following up on his comments during the offseason that he would not â€Å"kiss Bill Belichick's Super Bowl rings. † He told the Jets fans that â€Å"the Patriots had a better head coach and a better quarterback,† but that the game would decide â€Å"who has a better team. The Nose Tackle for the Jets Kris Jenkins, called this New York’s version of the Super Bowl. The Jets had not beat New England since half way hrough the 2000-2001 season, but they knew with a new coach who could spark the team, anything was possible. In the end, the Jets defeated the Patriots 16-9 in the 100th overall meeting of the rivalry series. The Jets and Patriots have both exposed passion for every single game played against each other. They play their hearts out and it’s always an exciting game to watch. The rivalry goes so much deeper than just the stats and the games. The fans and communities ar e passionate believers. As you can see throughout the history of the New England and New York football rivalry there have been some memorable moments, players, and games.Both teams have been exposed to key components to have a great rivalry. These components are family, history, loyalty, and passion. The Patriots have had more success in the long run, even though the series record proves the two teams to be about equal. The patriots have made it to more Super Bowls, and Play-off games. The Patriots have quickly learned if they take the Jets lightly it will not end up in their favor. These two teams have defiantly proved they are worthy of playing great games, and this rivalry will likely never go away!

Change Management and Communication Plan Essay

Riordan Manufacturing needs to develop a formalized method for controlling all client information into one centralized client administration method. The first part of this plan will develop a modified administration plan that will include many critical elements; for example, suggestion of a plan in order to execute modifications during the coming year and an explanation of the assessment processes following the implementation of the modifications. The 2nd part of the plan will make reference to an exhaustive communication plan for the suggested modifications. A sample message communicating the plan to the company employees is also included. Riordan Manufacturing currently uses a bureaucratic structure based on formal power. This structure is designed with set rules and functions on how the business will operate daily. Their organizational chart describes how the organization is departmentalized by scope of work into functional areas. Each specialized department has a vice president a nd managers that control their operations. The major advantage of this type of functional departmentalization is efficiency gained from putting like specialists together (Robbins & Judge, 2013). The power and political structure could affect the employee behavior because all decisions must go up the ladder. For example, if a decision needs to be made about how a heart valve machine needs to be updated, the decision must be routed through proper authority, rather than being handled by the foreman. Another advantage of this structure is that there is direct communication between lower level managers and their supervisors; this provides effective leadership, vision, and communication throughout the ranks in the organization. The most appropriate and effective organizational structure for Riordan is departmentalization and formalization. With the planned change for a new customer information system, structure, organization, and good communication between departments  is necessary. This form is valuable when an organization†™s customers are widely distributed geographically and have similar needs based on their location (Robbins & Judge, 2013). Most of the positions in the organizations are standardized, so each employee is placed in the correct department according to his or her abilities. Riordan Manufacturing has a separate department for each product they make, which is an example of departmentalization. Employees in a departmentalized and formalized organization have set rules to follow and are specialized to their department. Riordan Manufacturing employees are a diverse group that offers solutions in a diverse market. Each member is part of a team where each product made grows their total portfolio. Riordan’s culture is based on organic growth with innovation, although they are a bureaucratic organization. They are constantly looking for new products to innovate and expand in new areas without looking to cut costs to gain growth. Their characteristics include: ethical standards, innovative, and team building. The corporate culture of Riordan Manufacturing influences employee behavior by innovation and risk taking with an emphasis on team building. Riordan uses good communication and team orientation to keep their employees motivated. Some workers may become unwilling to cope with modification. Possible reasons may be the lack of knowledge regarding the modification, comfort, anxiety about being unsure, personal private views, job security, pressure from peers, clashes, and lack of confidence. Even though workers are being resistive, the administrators are intending to cope with the opposition and assist workers with the modification more efficiently. Administrators may apply the modification by conveying it clearly, being straightforward, and acknowledging their worries together while respecting workers. Administrators may provide support by meeting directly in regards to the modifications or by additional co aching. Administrators might place the resistive workers with employees or another company temporarily who are already using the modification. This can allow for administrators to make certain they have set some objectives to ensure the success of the modifications was worthwhile and advantageous. Modifications need constant and continuous quality improvements. During the 12 months, administrators must be sure that the modification they put in place continues to remain effective. Administrators can perform this by assigning reaction teams to  areas which are in danger, as well as continue to make contact with their workers via phone, email, direct contact, or memo. Safety precautions will also continue to be managed and improved. Staff and administration attitudes will remain optimistic, involving workers, caring for their views, ideas, and thoughts, continuing to provide training sessions, set objectives and goals, and encourage inspiration. Administrators may assess achievement by monitoring the effectiveness of the modification, organization numbers/sales, and ensuring workers are producing great results. In case the organization is failing or hasn’t seen any growth then they must adjust the modification. Communication Plan The best way to overcome the resistance to change is timely communication to employees. Managers should have meetings with employees, as necessary to discuss the changes. The reason for the changes should be conveyed in a way so employees will understand the necessity for the changes. Managers also need to make themselves available to address any concerns and to listen to feedback from employees. It is very important to listen to their concerns, and address them in a professional and compassionate manner. The manager needs to assert themselves as being calm and professional, while conveying the change and listening to concerns of the employees. Along with meetings, regular emails and memos should be sent to all employees to inform them in a formal manner of the changes that need to take place. It may be prudent to appoint a few reactionary team members to assist the employees with the new procedures. Some employees should be selected to join the reactionary team to instill a sense of ownership into the changes. If a written communication method was to be utilized there could be physical barriers to non-verbal communication. Not being able to see the non-verbal cues, gestures, posture and general body language can make communication less effective. To counter that, our preferred communication channel will be face-to-face to discuss anything that could be considered sensitive in nature. Jargon, abbreviations, and slanged terms for what is considered common items is commonly used in corporations; this can cause confusion for some whom may be less familiar. To ensure everyone has a firm grasp on the message being relayed, the use of these terms should be minimized in all formal communications. Email and Memo Message Valued Employees of Riordan Manufacturing: The organization decided to apply a client administration method that will permit you to easily monitor our clients. The administration knows that we have put enormous accountability on you to manage client info and wish to provide you with the methods to do this job more efficiently. This info might be more effective when we keep it in a uniformed style and saved in a convenient location. By applying this method we will be allowing the info to be easily available to all workers and will streamline searching methods. We know that this info, if not saved correctly will get lost, and we don’t want to jeopardize the client associations which you have worked so hard to maintain. Formalized training will be given to all workers prior to the launch of this method. Our objective is to make sure that you are happy and capable of using the latest program before it’s put into use. We have created a formalized coaching agenda for following week to make sure everybody has had time to see, work, and know the program. We hope that this may be applied on Monday March 30th, 2015. Administration knows that understanding the latest method is a difficult task, however we believe you will notice the advantage of this latest program. We thank you all for your hard work, persistence, and assistance in this matter. Please contact your immediate supervisor with any questions or problems. Thank You, Riordan Manufacturing Administration Conclusion The document has assisted in developing a modification administration plan for Riordan Manufacturing by deciding formalized and casual power structures of the company and their influence on the conduct of workers. It has additionally determined suitable company structures for this organization which will help in achieving the modifications. The document has described the company’s tradition by identifying its features, and the possible impact of this tradition on the conduct of workers. Riordan must think about applying the specified modifications which are contained in the modification administration plan, and they must also apply the communication plan that will assist in implementing the modifications effectively. Reference Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2013). Organizational behavior (15th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Amphibians Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Amphibians - Assignment Example This paper shall attempt to assess how amphibians developed breathable skin.   Before they had breathable skin  the amphibians were four legged fish that swallowed air into their lungs. About three hundred million years back, there was a dawn tadpole that resembled more of a crocodile (Robinson, 2009). It is in the latter years that the Eryops developed stronger legs and jaws. These amphibians have a great correlation with the present day ones. The amphibians were to later look like reptiles that were more of snakes. The development saw a three foot long reptile with a developed skull. Their skin later became thicker and scalier (Robinson, 2009). In the process of adaptation, the amphibians slowly developed a waterproof skin referred to as amnion that would help them breathe (Robinson, 2009). Though this skin, they would also get protection from sunstroke, as well as allow their offspring achieve to the full development prior to hatching. Robinson (2009) also argues that the amphibians required a step forward in procreation that would allow them come up with species that would allow high chances of survival. This adaptation minimized the chances of extinction as the skin allowed for the transportation of oxygen that allowed for respiration. With the skin of the first amphibians being too scaly as opposed to moist, it is apparent that there was a requisite for the consequent amphibians to protect themselves from dehydration (Strauss, 2014). Through the skin, the amphibians could also live underwater, and the thin skins can also protect their young ones. Conclusively, it is, therefore, arguable that the breathable amphibian skin developed as a result of the need to keep out water from their bodies but still allow air to pave in (Strauss, 2014). Despite the amphibians’ skin looking frail, its role has come in handy for these

Virtues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Virtues - Essay Example Even though ‘pleasure’ and ‘happiness’ are sometimes used interchangeably, they are completely different in their meanings. Pleasure is something momentary that is achieved by doing something external, like having a good meal, having fun with friends or playing sports. Happiness on the other hand is internal unbound by the momentary pleasures. A person may have feel temporary pleasures but he can only achieve happiness if he feels internally satisfied and content with his daily life (Paul, 2006). Aristotle was one of the earliest person to define what virtues actually stand for. According to Aristotle, the virtues are actually a balance between two vices which could also be called as the extremes of those virtues. The balance point between the two vices is called the golden mean which may lie in the middle, or near to one of the extremes. There are eleven virtues as defined by Aristotle each of which is supposed to lie between two vices. According to Aristotle, courage is a virtue bound by the two extremes of rashness and cowardice (IEP, 2005) . For example, a person is a coward if he cannot stand up for his own rights or rash if he is too reckless with his effort to stand up against the authority. Courage is the virtue that lies between these two extremes and the person is courageous if he keeps his emotions in check and does not become too reckless in his

Positive Replacement Behaviors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Positive Replacement Behaviors - Essay Example 1). For reinforcements to effectively work, it was emphasized that students need to be deprived of whatever tool is planned to be used by educators as reinforcers. The crucial role of deprivation was initially thought of implied in early reinforcement theories, but as Bourbon disclosed, â€Å"if a child has all of the attention he or she needs or wants, then a teacher cannot use attention to "reinforce" the child’s behavior. No deprivation, no control of behavior. No control of behavior, no discipline program† (Bourbon: Deprivation and Positive Reinforcers, 1997, par. 6). Positive reinforcement was, therefore, defined as â€Å"a process in which a stimulus is presented following a particular behavior, thereby strengthening that behavior. The stimulus is referred to as a ‘reinforcer’ and is roughly synonymous with the word ‘reward’† (JRank Articles, 2012, par. 2). Simply put, positive reinforcement is a process that educators could implem ent in teaching students to act in a particular way and rewarding the students for manifesting correct behavior. On the other hand, negative reinforcements were described as â€Å"a process that involves the removal or reduction of a negative or unwanted stimulus after a behavior occurs, thereby strengthening that behavior. ... For example, students who are assessed to be sensitive to loud noises or instructional materials that could distract their attention could be provided with more conducive and accommodating learning environments, such as sitting them away from noisy areas, providing quiet learning spaces, and even providing some students with earphones which minimize noises and distractions and assist in focusing on the activities at hand. Plan for Students with Emotional Disabilities 1. Problem Behavior: Student A is identified to manifest "passive-aggressive" behavior by seeking attention and intermittently expressing anger indirectly through the use of manipulative behavior such as exhibiting cruelties, stubborn refusals to cooperate, being excessively loud with violent tendencies or exhibiting passive listening and being always out of the student’s seat. 2. Possible Explanations: Lack of support from members of the nuclear family; demographic profile (cultural background, income level, soci al support); history of abuse or violence; trauma from past events; academic failure; peer pressure; frustration. 3. Replacement Behavior: to appropriately deal with passive-aggressive behavior by: (1) asking assistance from a teacher or peer when he feels maladjusted behavior; (2) he will focus on clearly defined positive learning goals to assist in developing optimistic perception in life. 4. Goals: to apply positive reinforcement through (a) assessing the signs of passive-aggressive behavior together with Student A; (2) to recognize that positive behavior would be exhibited by cooperative learning, active listening and focused attention to learning activities; (3) to realize that there are support groups (teachers, peers) who she can tap in cases where maladjusted behavior tends to

Meeting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Meeting - Essay Example Conduct Meetings, what do you do if one of the people in the meeting started to talk about things which are not related to the purpose of the meeting? The â€Å"tangentially inclined individuals† are people who take off on unrelated subjects, thereby derailing the conversation and interfering with the pace of the meeting. This may happen if meeting goals/outcomes are not clearly defined, or if the level of detail or the meeting roles are not understood. To handle this scenario, the facilitator must stop and clarify the desired outcome for this particular topic. If possible, he/she must help the group agree on level of detail to discuss before the meeting even gets started. He/she can use a parking lot to record issues to be worked outside the meeting. Finally, he/she should make sure that people feel heard. The most appropriate meeting chairperson is somebody who is (1) level-headed, because meetings can get heated up sometimes, so someone who can keep the harmony in the proceeding is vital; (2) objective, because opposing views are inevitable in meetings, so someone who can weigh the pros and cons can keep things in proper perspective; (3) intelligent enough to understand everything that transpires in the meeting; and (4) sensitive to the fact that everyone’s ideas and personality differences are recognized. b.  How will you ensure that the meeting is time efficient and desired outcomes can be achieved efficiently? E.g. what may be an appropriate time limit on each speaker and how will you try to restricting discussion to agenda items? For the meeting to be time-efficient, certain guidelines must be made clear to all attendees, especially on the issue/s to be discussed so as to avoid veering away from what is relevant. Also, limits to the duration that each speaker can talk must be set, i.e., 2 minutes to present his/her main idea/concern, then ask for extension if necessary. c.  Give at least 2 examples of ethical and legal requirements for a public

Sustainability for the Future Global Supply Chain Essay

Sustainability for the Future Global Supply Chain - Essay Example iled in the activity participate actively in all facets of the business process as they strive to institute sustainable competitive advantage for their businesses or organizations. The founding of a new or existing venture requires the conceptualization of the supply chain management in the business process and the institution of the concepts entailed in the practice to facilitate successful and sustainable supply chain (Palevich, 2012, p 13). The company Coffee Warehouse is a new business established to provide high quality, full service distribution of specialty beverages and related supplies to coffee houses and espresso stands throughout London. The combined effort of the principle owners brings the management office of the business at high levels of customer engagement service and experience in managing distribution and sales. Thus, from this perspective, the business will benefit significantly in exploring the concepts entailed in facilitating sustainable global supply chain. The Coffee Warehouse business provides high quality and full service distribution of coffee in the region of its operations. The ownership, which constitutes of Steve and Jennifer Smith both combine their experience in the capacity of office management, customer service and distribution and sales management. The firm has commitments to facilitate distribution to independent retailers throughout the London market and its outskirts, as it initializes its financial arrangements and progress in the supply chains. The sales projections of the firm began at $2, 229,000 the first year and increased accordingly in the second year and third year of operation to $2, 936,000. The net profit projection extends to $406,000 at the last part of this third year of operation. Therefore, observing the progress of the firm in its existent operation structures, the development of a sustainable supply chain is key to the projection of the business accordingly to higher levels of success. The firm has

Television and family circle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Television and family circle - Essay Example This essay seeks to examine family circles in relation to humanity’s appreciation of use of the television. As a point of departure, the media, television included characterizes the modern world in every aspect. It is from this point of view, an argument on the impacts of media of the family circles is founded (Sari and Shay, 11). At the first installation of the TV waves, back in 1950s. Most families thronged at the supplier’s centers provided the services. Almost seven decades down the line, the TV plays a critical role in humanity’s life (Annie, 7). The aspect of family circles will be undertaken from two perspectives, which include relationship between parents and relationship between parents (husband and wife), and their children. This consideration is critical for this study because the family circle is based on the members of the family who include the parents and children. The aspect of unity and division along the family circles is a primary consideratio n. Family circle based on the relationship between parents Parents form the stem of the family from which otter members sprout. The family is the foundation of a society. All the societal virtual and vices are closely correlated to the virtues and vices of family members because the very members form the society. Initially, the TV was an instrument that united a family brought understanding and consequent societal harmony (Annie, 7). Over time now, that the social media instruments is playing roles as directed by those in the pedal. Programs that promoted morality, unity, dignity and other virtues have slowly declined and replaced by violent and crime oriented movies. In essence, every form of immorality is increasing each day with predetermined movies aired in our TVs. This implies that, there is a need for regulation or selection of programs to watch. As the televisions have come to absorb numerous socializing purposes of the family, they have provided us images of the family, whi ch may act as benchmarks by which we measure our own experiences. The seductively pragmatic portrayals of a family life in the wake of Television era may be the basis for our most popular and pervasive (Spigel, 75). The images such as violence, divorce, alcoholism and abuse seen in most families is a clear reflection of the mass media produced and distributed images shaped in a manner constrained by other features of the media world. They stems from the institutional needs, policies and interests of major needs. This implies that the primary media centers in a country can air what they deem moral right in their own facet, but in the real sense, they are immoral and preach division amongst the families who watch such programs (Spigel, 76). Gender based violence against women is a product of the media and the TV in particular. In the world of mass media, men exceed women by a ratio of seventy-five percentage to twenty-five percentage. This fact alone makes the world of primary media a s â€Å"man’s world† in which much action rotates around matters of power. This world is mostly governed by violent demonstrations of power characterized by the traditional emblematic platforms of authority and control, which naturally outside of home and family. Although, most of the violence occurs at homes, the familial setting does not lend itself to the societal communication of violence. Home and family

You are hired as a consultant by Alpha Omega Technical Industries ( Case Study

You are hired as a consultant by Alpha Omega Technical Industries ( TechInd) - Case Study Example The company, ΑÎ ©Ã‚  TechInd, has been enjoying huge vertical growth over the past six months, and this paper provides a network solution for satisfying these demands. First, ΑÎ ©Ã‚  TechInd must recognize, as well as understand, its vertical market segments as spread out in such cities as Miami, Rio de Janeiro, Frankfurt, Dubai, and Shanghai in addition to its Los Angeles headquarters. This will assist in targeting a specific clientele base where the company has sufficient expertize or experience. Operations in the channel of a vertical market require an understanding of that sector. ΑÎ ©Ã‚  TechInd has to understand the diverse trends, compliance and regulatory challenges, competitive tendencies, terminology, as well as other core business milieu attributes. Precisely, specializing in vertical market growth will assist ΑÎ ©Ã‚  TechInd in understanding its market and commodities, bringing additional insight towards its customers, as well as becoming an essential ingredient of its business operations. Existence of viable and logical divisions of data storage and search to enhance splitting of data remains a central idea of this system. Such a logical division could play an integral role in avoiding duplication of files on the server as staff members are left with the option of guessing where they should put their information. This paper supports the idea of saving on space via acquisition of several servers to be coordinated from the head office in order to avoid running out of space. Such servers could offer an effective platform for file sharing across the organizational spread. This would prevent staff members from storing their work information on their personal machines or lacking trust in the file server (Cyber Security, 2007). Importantly, any database can become unfeasible due to software or hardware failure, or both. Furthermore, it

Management Work and Society Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Management Work and Society - Research Paper Example But at the same time there are many factors that prevent career choice options from being achieved. These factors include age, gender, race and education etc. All these factors might restrict a person’s career choice options. We will try to shed more light on these factors in the text below. Our discussion will include differences between achieved and ascribed roles. The main theories of occupational choices will also be examined and how these theories relate to the different roles. Objective and subjective constraints on occupational choice will be elaborated upon. Our discussion will also include analysis of the possible ways to reduce barriers for exercising career choice. Finally future organization and their effects on career choices will be examined. Differences between Achieved and Ascribed Roles A role is defined as a set of behaviour that is followed by a person acting in a social situation. The concept of role is very important because they have a huge impact on the behaviour of a person observing any role. Doctors and nurses are more responsible because they have a huge responsibility (saving people’s lives) so any person who is a doctor or a nurse will try to be responsible. Roles are of two types; they can be achieved or ascribed. Ascribed roles are those that are assigned to a person from inheritance. These roles are not based on merit but are based on the traits which are beyond one’s control (Stark, R. 2007). Achieved roles on the other hand are based on merit and personal skill. A person’s personal efforts and abilities have a role to play in his or her achieved roles. Gender, age, nationality etc. are some of the ascribed roles. These roles are involuntary in nature. Achieved role include doctors, engineers, criminals, footballers etc. These roles are based on one’s personal abilities and are voluntary in nature. Both of these roles have an impact on career choice. Due to some ascribed roles like gender and a ge a person might not be able to pursue a profession like baseball. Key Theories of Occupational Choice There are two main approaches that explain how a person chooses his or her occupation. These include developmental approach of occupational choice and structural approach. There is another theory called impulse or accidental theory of occupational choice. All three of these theories attempt to explain how a person chooses profession. Accidental theory of occupational choice gives a very simple explanation of career choice. It says that people choose their profession simply because of external factors that are beyond their control. Chance plays a role in occupational choice according to this theory. If we consider this theory to be true then all people become what they are simply because of events that are not in their control. The choices are voluntary but these choices are not because of interest in a particular field or goal of personal development rather they are an outcome of uncontrollable events. The achieved roles of a person according to this theory are also because of factors that are not controlled by the person. Uncertain events determine even the achieved roles of a person. It is however important to note that a personal merit of a person still plays a role after the choice of occupation but the choice itself is characterized by accident or chance. There is some empirical evidence that supports this theory as many famous people choose the

What success has liberalism sought to emancipate individuals Essay Example for Free

What success has liberalism sought to emancipate individuals Essay Liberalism has always fought for the rights of the individual as it was one of the founding principles of the liberal ideology according to John Locke in the 17th century. As well as the rights of the individual, John Locke also saw freedom and toleration as two other key components of liberalism. This question demands, however, an examination of the success of liberal policies towards the emancipation of the individual. During the course of this essay one will examine how liberalism has freed the individual during the 19th Century under Gladstone and during the liberal reforms of 1906-1912. Finally one will conclude that in concordance with R. Rurup that, Liberalism is regarded as the truest protagonist of emancipation. Reforms enacted by liberal governments, often did provide huge improvements in both living standards and education however, they did not always fully emancipate the individual.[1: R. Rurup, Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook, (1975) 20 (1): p. 59] First and foremost, one must look at the great liberal reforms of the 19th Century, enacted during both the first and second ministry of William Gladstone. Vincent, claims that, such reforms that, Maximised individuality, were, genuinely liberal. The first reform that most clearly emancipates the individual during Gladstones premiership was the Elementary Education Act of 1870. This as Heywood argues was seen as a way out in the 19th Century form the, Spread of slums, poverty, ignorance and disease. The act established the English elementary schooling system, as children up to the age of 12 were made to attend primary school. It created a codified curriculum with six standards or ages 5-12. Strict punishments were laid upon parents who refused to send their children to school. Whilst, this bill created the provision of elementary education in the United Kingdom, it also led to many problems as the new compulsory schools were not free. A means tested scheme applied to the poorest who could not afford to send their children to school, but for many it put them in a very difficult financial position. Vincent, therefore, criticises the Elementary Education Act by deeming it, Gladstones empirical socialism. The act, however, was a success as by 1880 4000 school were taken over by school boards and nearly  2.3 million children were enrolled in compulsory education up to the age of 12. One can say therefore, despite the criticisms by Vincent, that the Elementary Education Act did successfully emancipate the individual as it lead to higher overall wages as workers were more skilled, for example they could read and take measurements, and it successfully started the primary schooling system in the United Kingdom. [2: Vincent A, A Modern Political Ideologies, (Blackwell) 1992 pg. 34][3: Vincent A, Political Ideologies, 1992 pg. 34][4: Heywood A, Political Ideologies an Introduction, (Palgrave Macmillan) 2007 pg. 56 ][5: Vin cent A, Political Ideologies, 1992 pg. 35] Secondly, Gladstones ministry continued to emancipate the individual by expanding the franchise in the United Kingdom. This bill was the third reform act in the 19th Century and continued to increase the franchise by allowing anyone who had to pay rent of 10 pounds and above to vote as well as anyone who owned land with the value of 10 pounds and above. This is equivalent to  £7,300 in 2013 using the retail pricing index. This was a huge leap forward as Goodwin describes the bill as, Progress to a better society, The bill nearly doubled the franchise in England from 2,300,000 in 1880 voters to 4,100,000 voters in 1885 and did double the franchise in the whole country from 3,000,000 voters in 1880 to 6,160,000 voters in 1892. Male suffrage varied throughout the kingdom, however, in England and Wales, 2 in 3 adult males had the vote; in Scotland, 3 in 5 did; and in Ireland, the figure was only 1 in 2. Whilst the bill was a long way off from universal suffrage and did not apply to women at all, the bill did seek to emancipate those land-owners and those who rented who were not franchised in previous voting reform legislation. Therefore, whilst this piece of legislation did not meet the liberal ideals of equality according to John Locke and John Stuart Mill, due to its exclusion of women, it did enfranchise and emancipate a large proportion of the male population from prejudice in the voting system of the United Kingdom.[6: Goodwin B, Using Political Ideas, (John Wiley Sons) 2007 pg.53][7: British Electoral Facts 1832-1987, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig ] Thirdly, one will look at the liberal reforms of the early twentieth century. The liberal reforms are the best example of the split in liberal  thinking from classical liberalism to modern liberalism. They, shifted their outlook from a _laissez-faire_ system to a more collectivist approach, Modern Liberalism was started in the early twentieth century by leaders such as Campbell-Bannerman and Asquith. Heywood claims that inception of the reforms was spawned from the belief that, the state should help people help themselves. One will first look at how the liberal reforms emancipated the workers of the early 20th Century. The Labour Exchanges Act of 1909, created state run labour exchanges with the specific role of placing people in work who were affected by the seasonal demand of shipping and other seasonally affected trade, especially in winter. Whilst, opposed by labour unions as they feared that the labour exchanges would reduce the effectiveness of collective bargaining for fair wages, the labour exchanges by 1913 were putting 3,000 people a day into work. Whilst successful in emancipating some workers from the threat of seasonal unemployment the labour exchanges did have a small impact as only 25% of the working population in the United Kingdom found employment though them. [8: Vincent Emy, H Liberals, radicals, and social politics, 1892-1914 p. 14][9: Heywood A, Political Ideologies, 2007 pg. 60][10: Watts, D Whigs, Radicals, and Liberals, 1815-1914, p.89][11: Watts, D Whigs, Radicals, and Liberals, 1815-1914, p.89] Lastly, within the liberal reforms one must look at the National Health Insurance Act of 1911, which truly emancipated members of the working class, as they would have a safety net if they fell ill. Although, Goodwin views this reform as an, interference with individual freedom, but does argue that Hobhouse, having reiterated some of T. H. Greens views, claims that this extension of public control is justified on, Humane grounds. Goodwin does also explain that any, loss of independence, should be counted against the, benefits offered by the welfare measure. The National Insurance Act of 1911, offered many benefits and emancipated every worker in the United Kingdom who earned less that  £160 a year. The scheme created a compulsory government-run insurance plan against unemployment through illness. This emancipated workers from the fear of becoming destitute though illness. All workers paid four pence a week to the scheme, the employer paid three pence and the government paid two pen ce. Whilst there was criticism of  the act, especially from the conservative part, as they argued that it was not the governments duty to be involved in such a scheme, the bill was passed and helped millions of workers. This can be seen as the most influential bill that any liberal government has passed during the liberal reforms between 1906 and 1912 as it both laid the foundations for the Welfare State but it also emancipated millions of workers from poverty as envisaged in _Life and Labour of the People_ by Rowntree and Booth, two influential liberal reformers. In conclusion, moreover, both the Labour Exchanges Act of 1909 and the National Insurance Act of 1911 were ultimately justified as they were seen to be based on, humane grounds, and they were hugely successful at emancipating the working classes of the United Kingdom from, what Heywood describes as the, Spread of slums, poverty, ignorance and disease which was driving factor for all of the liberal reforms in the 46 year period between 1870 and 1918.[12: Goodwin B, Using Political Ideas,2007 pg.54][13: Goodwin B, Using Political Ideas,2007 pg.49][14: Goodwin B, Using Political Ideas,2007 pg.50][15: Goodwin B, Using Political Ideas,2007 pg.50][16: Goodwin B, Using Political Ideas,2007 pg.49 ][17: Heywood A, Political Ideologies, 2007 pg. 56] Therefore, to conclude, during the half century of liberal governments, one did see a huge improvement of both living standards and education as well as the partial emancipation of the individual. During Gladstones first and second ministry, one saw the electorate nearly doubled, leading to huge emancipation of those who, never before could vote. Gladstones government also made education mandatory for those under the age of 10, therefore emancipating children from what Heywood calls, slums, poverty, ignorance and disease. Whereas, during the liberal government, headed by Herbert Asquith, between 1906 and 1918, the liberal government had discernibly more success in emancipating the individual as it provided both the Labour Exchanges in 1909 as well as National Insurance for those who were too sick to work. Whilst these successes in emancipating the individual were important, they were also marred by the fact that none of these reforms provided universal suffrage, a key principle of emancipation. Therefore, whilst the liberals were for the most part successful in emancipating the individual in the years between 1870 and 1918, their achievements were  hampered by the fact that they failed to provide universal suffrage and consequently, one can conclude that the liberals emancipated the individual with partial success during their period of governance. [18: Heywood A, Political Ideologies, 2007 pg. 56] Bibliography: R. Rurup, _Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook_, (1975) 20 (1) Vincent A, A _Modern Political Ideologies,_ (Blackwell) 1992 Heywood A, _Political Ideologies an Introduction,_ (Palgrave Macmillan) 2007 Goodwin B, _Using Political Ideas,_ (John Wiley Sons) 2007 Craig F.W.S, _British Electoral Facts 1832-1987_, (Politicos Publishing) 1989 Vincent-Emy, H _Liberals, radicals, and social politics, 1892-1914_ (Cambridge University Press) 2008 Watts, D _Whigs, Radicals, and Liberals, 1815-1914_ (Hodder Education) 2002

Workers Should Not Be Laid Off Essay Example for Free

Workers Should Not Be Laid Off Essay In the recent past companies have been structuring their management and production processes that has led to massive cut down of jobs. As a result many employees have had to lose their jobs. Though, the companies do this in order to improve their returns that is, reducing production cost, the impact it is creating is far much more than the company can realize. As much as the main objective of the companies is making profit, companies have a social responsibility to ensure they do not impact the society negatively. Lying off of workers leads to untold suffering to the individuals being laid off, the family and the society as a whole. My position on this issue is very clear; companies should not layoff their workers. (Williamson 1985) The issue of lying of employees is both a social and an economic issue that must be observed from several angles before being implemented. Though, the companies have to undertake new technology which leads to improved quality and low cost of production, profits should not be the only driving force of a company. As companies layoff their workers a lot of suffering in many families do occur. Many families who depend on the working member of the family are affected negatively. Many families depend on the head of the family to provide for them, in case he loses a job, then the whole family will have to go without the support of the head of the family, in this case the father. In most cases the father supports around four members of the family and that will mean that five people are going to be affected financial. It is thus, important for the companies to halt this layoff. With high unemployment levels growing, layoff of workers will further complicate the situation. The economy of the country will be affected and also the community as whole will suffer (Williamson 1985). Unemployment is said to be the major reason for high poverty level in any country. It is estimate that currently the level of unemployment is at 12%, if the companies continue lying off their workers then the level unemployment definitely will increase. This of course will increase the poverty levels in the country. As communities and the society try to fight the issue of unemployment, companies should also try and create more job opportunities rather than reduce the existing ones. Unemployment apart from being the main cause of poverty can also lead to social crimes such as prostitution, and theft. This occurs due the fact that those being laid off may not have other means to getting money thus; get themselves in social crimes in order to get money to sustain them such issues affects the community negative and leads to the community having to deal with the social crime and how it can prevent them. Losing a job is very painful and traumatic, the employees who are laid off feel as if they are useless and undergo a lot of pain when adjusting to conditions of being unemployed. Many workers who are laid off end up wasting their skills and experiences that they have gained during their time in the company. Without proper counseling of the laid off workers many end up being social misfits and thus, become a burden to the family and the society as a whole. There are cases where by, the laid off workers has a lot of unsettled debts, such a person at times may end up highly stressed and suffer psychologically, at times such people commit suicide if they can not cope with the stress. Such issues when looked at bring to question the moral issue of companies in lying off workers. It is important for the companies to consider the well being of their workers and how they will survive being implementing such measures. Many people do agree that, the issue of lying off workers do not translate to an improved economy or cost reduction on the side of the company (Williamson 1985).. The company may reduce the workers but, still will lose a lot expertise from the workers being laid off. The cost of installing machines also are high and in many occasion machine breakdowns lead to enormous lose to the companies involved. Besides the innovations and creativity that the human worker has goes with the worker upon the worker being laid off. Machines also at times fail to do the work as a human being could have done it. These limitations when put in consideration suggest that laying off of workers as a negative effect both on the company and also to the worker. In terms of career development, lying off of workers leads to career distractions and career stagnation of workers the affected persons in many occasion loses track of his/her career development when laid off. To the society, it impacts negatively as many of promising society members go to waste when laid off. As it can be seen in many cases getting a similar job is difficult and in most cases it takes a lot of time. Though, the companies are justified to take actions to reduce its production cost, and also improve its service delivery, laying off of workers is the last thing a company should do. Workers who lose their jobs in the middle of their careers end up wasting their skills and experiences and in most cases end up not getting a similar job where they can use their skills and experiences. Unemployment which is on increase is further increased by lying off of workers which leads to poverty and consequently social crimes. It is thus, clear, that companies should not lay off workers at any cost as this brings a lot of miseries to the individuals and the society as a whole. (Gerald and Oliu, 2000)

Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility

Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This dissertation discusses and undertakes an analysis of some data gathered on Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility within organizations in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry. The environmental social responsibility activities to be looked at within the selected companies are their water usage level, emissions, waste produced and total energy used with regard to being aware of environmental concerns. In this chapter, the aim and objectives of the study are outlined and a brief introduction is furnished. 1.1 BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW OF STUDY In recent times, there has been much debate about whether corporations should be socially responsible or not and also the extent to which they should be responsible. With the global recession at the moment, the future years will show if CSR has been taking on by corporations or if it is, as critics say, merely a marketing stunt designed to make their business attractive (The Independent, 2009). The phrase social responsibility is often hard to pin down because of the fact that there are several schools of thought concerning this notion. Milton Friedman questions if companies are required to take responsibility for social issues (Kok et al., 2001, p. 286). He stressed that the sole social responsibility of any organization is to boost its profits through legal ways and that donating an organizations funds to the society is harmful to the organization as this might reduce the organizations profit or cause an increase in product price or, in exceptional cases, have both effects (Pinkston and Carroll, 1996). Some researchers on the other hand are of the opinion that because of the ever changing competitive environment in which businesses are carried out, it is essential that organizations incorporate some sort of Corporate Social Responsibility standard that will help foster its sustainability in the environment. Boynton (2002) asserts that social responsibility is â€Å"a val ue that specifies that every situation from family to firm- is responsible for its members conduct and can be held accountable for its actions†. This research work supports the notion that organizations should continually engage in corporate social responsibility activities; therefore, as a conscious strategy, corporations must endeavour to incorporate environmental CSR in their diverse functions and operations. Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) also known as Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industries focus on the production of consumable goods which people require from day to day. Fast Moving Consumer Goods can be said to be â€Å"low price items that are used with a single or limited number of consumptions† (Baron et al., 1991). Examples of FMCG or CPG products are food and beverages, footwear, clothing products, tobacco and other general products. The FMCG or CPG industry is an umbrella for wholesale and retail consumer goods producing companies. A number of companies function within this industry: examples are Nestle, Procter and Gamble, Pfizer, Reckitt Benkiser, British American Tobacco, Cadbury and Smithkline just to mention a few. According to Jarvis (2003), business organizations endeavour to maximise profits as much as they can. Fast-moving consumer goods companies cannot therefore be left out in the quest for profit maximisation as the goods they produce are sold to consumers in order to make some sort of gain. FMCG companies provide humans with day to day products they require and as such one of their responsibilities is to ensure that the manufactured products meet the required quality standard. In manufacturing their products, some FMCG companies make use of some natural resources such as water, wood, soil etc., and sophisticated machineries which in some way affect the environment. Making use of the earths natural resources without any provision for replacing the resources leads to depletion, while emissions from machineries pollute the environment. Corporations implement CSR activities because they hope they will give them a competitive advantage over their rivals. Branco and Rodigues (2006) assert that CSR offers internal and external gains. The benefits are referred to as internal if engaging in social responsibility activities helps a corporation build, develop and manage its wealth and abilities, for instance: corporate culture and expertise. External benefits, on the other, are those linked to a corporations status, staff awareness and culture; these are essential indescribable assets which, though hard to easily replace or duplicate, can be developed or trashed depending on whether a corporation is socially responsible or otherwise. Moreover, because companies take from the environment directly or indirectly, it is their responsibility to ensure that the environment and society at large, and not only the stakeholders, benefit from some kind of social responsibility activities set up by the companies (Stoner and Wankel, 19 88). Speaking of the FMCG industry in United Kingdom, Bourlakis and Weightman (2004) assert that the industry, which includes the food and grocery sector, contributes immensely to the countrys economy as it provides employment to over 3.2 million people. This figure accounts for close to 17% of the countrys total workforce. The same authors also mention that the FMCG industry accounts for over  £130 billion of consumer spending yielding, representing over 9% of the GDP. 1.2 THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR The British Prime Minister, Mr. Gordon Brown, declares that â€Å"†¦for this government manufacturing not only has been, but remains and will always be, critical to the success of the British economy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (BIS, 2008). The United Kingdom is the 6th largest manufacturing country in the world (See appendix 1 for details). It provides the economy with about  £150billion per annum. The countrys productivity has increased by about 50% since 1997. The United Kingdom attracts â€Å"more foreign direct investment than any country apart from the USA† (BIS, 2009). In UK, manufacturing accounts for 13% of the GDP; also, between 1997 and 2004, the average labour productivity grew by 4% over the United States, 5% above France and also 15% over Germany. The figure below shows a graph of the growth in productivity. Sheldons study on ‘social responsibility of management indicates that industries exist with the aim of servicing the society (Sheldon, 1923). The developments which various industries have made lately show that there is a link between the society and the industry. It can therefore be said that the purpose of creating industries is so that the society can benefit from it as well as sustain it. Sen (1999) observes that â€Å"as people who live in a broad sense together, we cannot escape the thought that the terrible occurrences that we see around us are quintessentially our problems. They are our responsibility whether or not they are also anyone elses† (Sen, 1999). The manufacturing sector is very huge and includes a range of industries such as: Aerospace, Biotechnology, Chemical, Food and beverages, Pharmaceuticals etc. The FMCG industry is one of the sub industries within the manufacturing sector. They sometimes face a lot of problems and as such struggle with critic isms from stakeholders on social responsibility matters even though they have functional CSR agendas. From the size of the British manufacturing industry, it is fair to say that it uses a huge amount of energy compared to the rest of the European Union. 1.3 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM From looking at FMCG Companys website and their social responsibility/sustainability reporting materials, it will be seen that they engage in corporate social responsibility at different levels. Looking closely at FMCG companies within the United Kingdom, it will be seen that almost all of them if not all, consider corporate social responsibility and its effect on their business operations particularly as it pertains to their corporate image, competitive advantage and even their finances. Davis (1973) in his work asserts that engaging in corporate social responsibility can improve an organizations finances and image. 1.4 AIM OF PROJECT The aim of the project is to contribute to the body of empirical data in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility by gathering information that will help in the analysis of environmental corporate social responsibility within organizations in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods industry. The findings of this research should provide managers and the academic world some more information in the area of Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility. 1.5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The main objective of this study on the analysis of data gathered on environmental corporate social responsibility in some organizations in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry is to critically look at the steps the corporations take in being environmentally responsible and also how they measure the progress. Also, this dissertation will be attempt to: To analyse the data from selected FMCG companies relating to their environmental CSR practices to identify the indicator/metrics used by the companies to benchmark their performance on environmental CSR in their organizations; to determine factors that encourage environmental responsibility practices. To draw some conclusions and make some recommendations about the state of environmental CSR in the selected organizations. 1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The FMCG industry is very large and as such it may not be feasible for the researcher to report on all the companies in the industry bearing in mind the limitation of time and adequate resources. Therefore the scope of this study will be limited to environmental corporate social responsibility in selected FMCG companies. The study will take a look at the environmental corporate social activities they have embarked on with respect to water usage reduction, CO2 emission reduction, reduction of waste produced, and total energy usage of each of the companies. Owing to lack of time and resources, the researcher will not be able to conduct a survey of environment corporate social responsibility in all UK-based fast moving consumer goods companies. It is worth noting though that a lot of them carry out environmental corporate social responsibility activities and also report on them using indices to which some of them are benchmarked. 1.7 STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION This study is structured into five chapters. Chapter one provides an introduction/background to the research study, together with a brief introduction of the sector and industry. Chapter two contains the literature review; it comprehensively and critically reviews previous work done in this research area. Chapter three highlights the research design and data collection process employed by the researcher. Chapter four contains an analysis of the data gathered together. Some findings and discussions of the research area are also furnished. The final chapter, chapter five, contains some recommendations and conclusions based on the findings in the course of carrying out this dissertation. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Corporate Social Responsibility has progressed from an irrelevant and often discriminated concept to one that is today well-known and established in businesses round the globe (Lee, 2008). Corporate Social Responsibility can be thought of as an umbrella phrase that takes into consideration the various ways and means a corporation embarks on in trying to act ethically and morally. In the last couple of decades, CSR has become widely well-known (Campbell, 2007). According to some researchers, the first book on CSR was written in 1953 by Howard Bowen, with the title: Responsibilities of the Businessman (Carroll, 1979; Kantanen, 2005). Defining Corporate Social Responsibility can prove to be a complex task as it has varied meanings to different people. This is due to the fact that there is no agreed definition and as such organizations that are meticulous in their goals of incorporating CSR activities into their businesses are faced with compound problems. Because of how complex CSR is, it is hard to provide a definition. Stakeholders therefore make use of different definitions that are in line with their business operations, goals and aims. The definitions are often also related to the sizes of the corporations and how they regard their officers who are responsible for CSR activities within their organisations. Thus there is no agreed definition of CSR, because different corporations translate it to suit them depending on their state of affairs (MacLagan, 1999: Campbell, 2007: Garriga Mele, 2004). Bowen (1953) defines corporate social responsibility as â€Å"†¦ the obligations of businessmen to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society†. Manakkalathil and Rudolf (1995) explain CSR as â€Å"the duty of organizations to conduct their business in a manner that respects the rights of individuals and promotes human welfare†. It is quite a weak explanation which makes it somewhat tough to actualize. Aguilera et al. (2007) emphasize that corporations should not border their CSR activities on stipulated legislation regarding such issues but should also make provision for activities not stipulated in any legislation they adhere to. Aguilera et al. (2007) assert that â€Å"corporate social responsibility is a companys considerations of and response to issues beyond the narrow economic, technical and legal requirements of the company to accomplish social and environmental benefits along with traditional economic gains†. Carroll (1991) states that CSR consists of f our aspects: legal, economic, ethical and philanthropic (discretionary) responsibility (See Appendix 1). Carroll (1991) argued that for a corporation striving to be seen as good within the society, all four aspects should be fulfilled. Carroll (1991) cites renowned economists Milton Friedmans assertion in trying to explain the relationship of the four aspects. On Friedmans part, he was only interested in the first three parts of CSR stating that corporations exist â€Å"to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of society, both those embodied in the law and those embodied in ethical custom† (Carroll, 1991) and he totally objected to the philanthropic aspect saying â€Å"the business of business is business†. In saying this, he meant that the usual economic standpoint only acknowledges legal, ethical and economic responsibility as a crucial principle while taking part in altruistic activities do not yield incentives for corporations. Levitt ( 1958) has a different approach to the CSR issue called the functional theory which considers CSR as ethically neutral. Corporations are considered to have particular tasks or organizational codes that communicate their position in the society. Corporations are expected to fulfil their social responsibilities by conforming to existing legal frameworks, as the onus of determining social good is the responsibility of the state and not that of the corporations. The reliability and character of an organization is in its sensitivity to varying conditions and demand. Organizations that react positively to financial and other varying issues will thrive, while those that do not respond adequately will die. Consequently, if the immediate situation requires that corporations be â€Å"socially responsible† then the corporations must endeavour to be so. Davis (1960) implies that social responsibility pertains to corporations â€Å"decisions and actions taken for reasons at least partiall y beyond the firms direct economic or technical interest†. Eells and Walton (1961) debate the meaning of CSR and say that it pertains to the â€Å"problems that arise when corporate enterprise casts its shadow on the social scene, and the ethical principles that ought to govern the relationship between the corporation and society†. Deakin and Hobbs (2007) assert that corporations that go ahead and carry out CSR activities which are over the minimum legal requirements stand to benefit immensely. Margolis and Walsh (2003) in the research they conducted found that most corporations, however, only focus on particular aspects of CSR: mainly the economic aspect and try to shy away from the social and environmental aspects. 2.1.1 STAKEHOLDER THEORY OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY The most spoken about theory of corporate social responsibility is the stakeholder theory. Freeman (1984) explains the basic concepts and attributes of stakeholder management in his booked entitled Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. He defines stakeholders to be ‘‘groups and individuals who can affect, or are affected by, the achievement of an organizations mission† (Freeman, 1984) or otherwise regarded as ‘‘those groups who have a stake in or a claim on the firm (Evan and Freeman, 1988). Freeman (2004) regards stakeholders as â€Å"those groups who are vital to the survival and success of the corporation†. Freeman explains that not only the owners of a corporation have genuine concerns about it but also persons and or groups of persons that might be affected or can possibly have an effect on the corporations doings and as such these groups of people have the right to be considered in any decision making process within the corporation. Kaler (2006) on the other hand refers to the stakeholder theory that supports the notion that corporations should be socially responsible. This theory states that â€Å"the shareholders value is boosted through employee commitment, customer loyalty, contractor cooperation and immense support from the community amongst other things. Some researchers are also of the opinion that the performance of organizations can be attributed to their strategies in trade and non-trade environments† (Baron, 2000). Freeman and Evan (1990) assert that corporations that embark on social responsibility activities often times do it because they trust that their managers are capable of boosting the corporations effectiveness in taking action regarding demands from external sources by handling and meeting the requests of the diverse shareholders. Stakeholder theory can be said to be a managerial activity because it expresses and directs how managers function (Freeman et al. 2006). In analyzing stakeholder theory, Donaldson and Preston (1995) proposed ethical guidelines for considering and selecting stakeholders. They made reference to this as being â€Å"instrumental† in the sense that when corporations manage their stakeholder activities accordingly, their performance will improve tremendously in relation to their stability, growth and profitability. According to Freeman (1994), the aim of stakeholder theory is conveyed in two key questions and the first is determining what the function of the firm is. This influences managers to convey the feeling of importance built within the corporation and also display activities that pull together all the major stakeholders. This propels the corporation forward and makes it possible for it to produce outstanding performance, instituted with respect to its function and economic p erformance in the open market. The second question asked by the stakeholder theory deals with the sort of responsibility owed to the stakeholders by the managers. This motivates the managers to convey the means they take in conducting their businesses and particularly the kind of relationship they yearn for and have to build with their stakeholders in order to realize their purpose (Friedman and Miles, 2006). The stakeholder theory concept can be further broken down into: normative stakeholder theory, which hinges on theories of how managers and sometimes stakeholders are supposed to behave, and also how they are supposed to view the beliefs of the corporation as they pertain to its ethical ethos (Friedman and Miles, 2006), and the descriptive stakeholder theory which is about how managers and stakeholders actually act and the perception of their responsibilities and actions. The stakeholder theory that, in fact, relates very well with corporate social responsibility is the instrumental stakeholder theory. This theory is at times associated with a corporations strategic style: where the major concern for the corporation is how its managers perform if they are allowed to put their own interests and/or the interests of the corporation forward as it relates to profit maximization or the maximization of stockholder value (Friedman and Miles, 2006). Orlitzky et al (2003) mention that several authors are of the opinion that corporate social performance might help a corporation towards acquiring new abilities, raw materials and possibilities which are apparent in a corporations culture, expertise, business and workforce. Corporate social performance is closely related to corporate social responsibility and it is sometimes assumed that it will help advance managerial abilities that boost employee contribution, organization and harmonization together with a ground-breaking management approach (Shrivastava, 1995). The reputation perspective theory on the other hand, states that â€Å"superficially, corporate social performance might encourage the development of a positive figure with a corporations customers, its investors, banks and contractors which it can in the long run benefit from through having access to capital and also possibly draw high-quality employees towards it and also enhance the good will of its current employees towards the organization which over time the corporation might benefit from in financial terms† (Orlitzky et al, 2003). In recent times, it will be seen that so many corporations and/or establishments have planned and sustained their businesses in ways that correspond to the concept of the stakeholder theory (Collins and Porras, 1994). For example, corporations like Procter and Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, British American Tobacco, to mention a few, present an excellent example of the value managers place on the fundamentals of stakeholder theory. It is worth noting that these corporations place high importance on their stakeholders and organizational wealth but at the same time do not stress on profitability as the push factor of their business. This is because they are fully aware of the worth and relationship with stakeholders as an important factor if they are to succeed. Friedman (1970) on the other hand is of a contrary opinion. He is of the opinion that when executives take decisions it should only be for the purpose of wealth creation for its stakeholders. It is evident that Friedman does not support the concept of CSR. He holds that the principal duty of directors is towards their staff. In his opinion, a corporate executive may take decisions that directly concern himself but should never take decisions concerning, for example, price mark down of products or pollution due to carbon emission, beyond the obligations imposed on the corporation by law. Friedman states further that by doing these, the corporate executive will be spending the corporations wealth and forcing its stockholders to pay tax while at the same time taking decision on the expenditure of the corporations tax returns. Friedman (1970) asserts that governments demand taxes from corporate entities, ensuring that there are adequate governmental, legal and constitutional measures in place to force compliance. Friedman stresses that executives are selected by stockholders as representatives to protect their interest and this motivation dies gradually if the corporate executive wastes the stockholders wealth on social activities. Friedmans belief is that government instructs corporations to pay a certain amount as tax and if paid, government use the tax appropriately, thereby making it unnecessary for corporations themselves to engage in any CSR projects. In this regard, one assumes that such taxes will be adequate to ensure the effective handling by the government of CSR activities that benefit the environment and the larger society. In Friedmans perception, the corporations that pay their taxes as and when due are responsible. Jensen and Meckling (1976) assert that corporate social responsibility may have an adverse effect on corporations especially if the cost of implementing CSR projects becomes exceptionally high. There are certain contrary views that claim that many ostensibly socially responsible corporations actually benefit far more from their CSR activities than the target societies that were expected to be the main beneficiaries. For example, relying on a report by Corporate Watch (2006), more than â€Å"80% of corporate CSR decision-makers were confident in the ability of good CSR practice to deliver branding and employee benefits. To take the example of corporate philanthropy, when corporations make donations to charity, they are giving away their shareholders money, which they can only do if they see potential profit in it. This may be because they want to improve their image by associating themselves with a cause, to exploit a cheap vehicle for advertising, or to counter the claims of pressure groups, but there is always an underlying financial motive, so the company benefits more than the charity†. Paine (2002) affirms that the choice to neglect corporate social responsibility will in some way indicate the corporations disrespect for its stakeholders who include its workers, suppliers, clientele and the society at large. Quoting CIPD (2009), â€Å"When CSR is done well; it means a precious, though precarious, trust in your business. Successful CSR can bring benefits such as a distinct position in your marketplace, protecting your employer brand, and building credibility and trust with current and potential customers and employees. It can help significantly with recruitment, engagement and retention of employees†. Some academics believe that some corporations embark on corporate social responsibility projects for strategic reasons. Xueming and Bhattacharya (2008) affirm that in recent times, corporate social responsibility matches the strategic plan of many corporations. They mention that although some corporations carry out a range of socially responsible activities such as philanthropic acts, corporate responsibility and sustainability reporting, marketing and stakeholder events to mention a few, they do so not because they feel it is the â€Å"right thing to do† but regard it is a â€Å"smart thing to do†. 2.1.1 GOVERNMENT AS STAKEHOLDERS Porter and Van der Linde (1995) believe that countries impose firm directives on home organizations, and the relationship government has with organizations corporate social responsibility issues positively affects them. It encourages them to create policies pertaining to the environment, cost reduction, sustainability of their products, and also increase the organizations competitive advantage in the international marketplace. This means that the government can control organizations and ensure they adhere to its directives and policies. Even though government has great control on the way organizations operate their businesses through the use of regulatory guidelines and policies, the activities of organizations have also had a growing influence on the government. Thorne et al (2008) assert that â€Å"managing this relationship with government officials while navigating the dynamic world of politics is a major challenge for firms, both large and small†. They explain that because of the varied nature of the environment, there are several competitors and suppliers in the decision making process, and as such raising the economic risks. Being stakeholders, organizations and government are considered mutual stakeholders and as such both sides can cooperate and play a part in the decision making process. In a Questions-and-Answers session with the Chairman and CEO, Charles Holliday, of DuPont a science-based solution company, Holliday was asked on how businesses and the government can effectively collaborate on stan dards-setting and value-creation for their stakeholders. He replied as follows: â€Å"The complexities and opportunities of modern business and industry are too great to assume that regulation alone can get us where we have to go. Regulation, as we have seen historically, is not a precision tool for change. But it can overcome inertia and get things going. The landmark environmental legislation of the 1970s and 1980s set in motion the kind of change that in the U.S. has led to cleaner air and water. No one doubts that†. He further said that in regulating sustainability, â€Å"We can expect that government will identify some pressure points where regulatory instruments can advance the cause. But real progress in sustainability will come from what we build into products and services, in the way we design and operate our plants and distribution networks, in the way we think about the ultimate disposition of the things we make, even and especially in the way we direct our rese arch and development. Its hard to imagine regulatory protocols that can encompass all of that. Industry has to be imaginative and proactive and show that we can accomplish the things our stakeholders expect of us, especially those things that go beyond the letter of the law† (as cited in Freeman et al, 2006). He also mentioned that at DuPont, they have reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by 72% since 1990 and this is because it was expected of them by their stakeholders to be proactive, and that gave them the push. This further shows how corporations work on their own in accordance with government directives designed towards improving the society. Marcus (2002) and Delmas and Terlaak (2002) are quick to assert that some corporations might be discouraged if government implements regulations they consider stringent and as such corporations should be allowed to make their own decisions as they consider appropriate. 2.2 THE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY SCHOOLS OF THOUGHTS The issue of whether corporations should be socially responsible or not, the extent to which they should be responsible, to whom they should be responsible and the context in which they should be responsible, has been a major debate amongst researchers. There are two schools of thought which have differing opinions on CSR matters. They are the restrictive and expansionist opinions. The restrictive school of thought upholds the profit maximisation stand while the other school believes that corporations should be socially responsible. 2.2.1 THE EXPANSIONIST SCHOOL OF THOUGHT The expansionists believe that environmental problems are caused by businesses and for that reason they should be liable for their externalities. Stoner and Wankel (1988) maintain that corporations should take into consideration the impact of their environmental activities on the society and for that reason they should act responsibly not only for the benefit of their stakeholders but to the general populous. Davis and Blomstrom (1975) give an account of their opinion of how a model corporation should look. They assert that it should provide an opportunity for investment, a good working condition, be ethically considerate, be a good corporation to do business with, pay their tax contributions and support governments endeavours, be good to the community they work in, contribute to social endeavours and public concerns. Crowther and Rayman- Bacchus (2004) assert that â€Å"the activities of an organization impacts upon the external environment and have suggested that such an organizat ion should therefore be accountable to a wider audience than simply its shareholders†. They also mention that the â€Å"recognition of the rights of all stakeholders and the duty of a business to be accountable in this wider context therefore has been largely a relatively recent phenomenon†. In summary, corporate social responsibility should include responsibility to the owners of the business, Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This dissertation discusses and undertakes an analysis of some data gathered on Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility within organizations in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry. The environmental social responsibility activities to be looked at within the selected companies are their water usage level, emissions, waste produced and total energy used with regard to being aware of environmental concerns. In this chapter, the aim and objectives of the study are outlined and a brief introduction is furnished. 1.1 BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW OF STUDY In recent times, there has been much debate about whether corporations should be socially responsible or not and also the extent to which they should be responsible. With the global recession at the moment, the future years will show if CSR has been taking on by corporations or if it is, as critics say, merely a marketing stunt designed to make their business attractive (The Independent, 2009). The phrase social responsibility is often hard to pin down because of the fact that there are several schools of thought concerning this notion. Milton Friedman questions if companies are required to take responsibility for social issues (Kok et al., 2001, p. 286). He stressed that the sole social responsibility of any organization is to boost its profits through legal ways and that donating an organizations funds to the society is harmful to the organization as this might reduce the organizations profit or cause an increase in product price or, in exceptional cases, have both effects (Pinkston and Carroll, 1996). Some researchers on the other hand are of the opinion that because of the ever changing competitive environment in which businesses are carried out, it is essential that organizations incorporate some sort of Corporate Social Responsibility standard that will help foster its sustainability in the environment. Boynton (2002) asserts that social responsibility is â€Å"a val ue that specifies that every situation from family to firm- is responsible for its members conduct and can be held accountable for its actions†. This research work supports the notion that organizations should continually engage in corporate social responsibility activities; therefore, as a conscious strategy, corporations must endeavour to incorporate environmental CSR in their diverse functions and operations. Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) also known as Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industries focus on the production of consumable goods which people require from day to day. Fast Moving Consumer Goods can be said to be â€Å"low price items that are used with a single or limited number of consumptions† (Baron et al., 1991). Examples of FMCG or CPG products are food and beverages, footwear, clothing products, tobacco and other general products. The FMCG or CPG industry is an umbrella for wholesale and retail consumer goods producing companies. A number of companies function within this industry: examples are Nestle, Procter and Gamble, Pfizer, Reckitt Benkiser, British American Tobacco, Cadbury and Smithkline just to mention a few. According to Jarvis (2003), business organizations endeavour to maximise profits as much as they can. Fast-moving consumer goods companies cannot therefore be left out in the quest for profit maximisation as the goods they produce are sold to consumers in order to make some sort of gain. FMCG companies provide humans with day to day products they require and as such one of their responsibilities is to ensure that the manufactured products meet the required quality standard. In manufacturing their products, some FMCG companies make use of some natural resources such as water, wood, soil etc., and sophisticated machineries which in some way affect the environment. Making use of the earths natural resources without any provision for replacing the resources leads to depletion, while emissions from machineries pollute the environment. Corporations implement CSR activities because they hope they will give them a competitive advantage over their rivals. Branco and Rodigues (2006) assert that CSR offers internal and external gains. The benefits are referred to as internal if engaging in social responsibility activities helps a corporation build, develop and manage its wealth and abilities, for instance: corporate culture and expertise. External benefits, on the other, are those linked to a corporations status, staff awareness and culture; these are essential indescribable assets which, though hard to easily replace or duplicate, can be developed or trashed depending on whether a corporation is socially responsible or otherwise. Moreover, because companies take from the environment directly or indirectly, it is their responsibility to ensure that the environment and society at large, and not only the stakeholders, benefit from some kind of social responsibility activities set up by the companies (Stoner and Wankel, 19 88). Speaking of the FMCG industry in United Kingdom, Bourlakis and Weightman (2004) assert that the industry, which includes the food and grocery sector, contributes immensely to the countrys economy as it provides employment to over 3.2 million people. This figure accounts for close to 17% of the countrys total workforce. The same authors also mention that the FMCG industry accounts for over  £130 billion of consumer spending yielding, representing over 9% of the GDP. 1.2 THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR The British Prime Minister, Mr. Gordon Brown, declares that â€Å"†¦for this government manufacturing not only has been, but remains and will always be, critical to the success of the British economy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (BIS, 2008). The United Kingdom is the 6th largest manufacturing country in the world (See appendix 1 for details). It provides the economy with about  £150billion per annum. The countrys productivity has increased by about 50% since 1997. The United Kingdom attracts â€Å"more foreign direct investment than any country apart from the USA† (BIS, 2009). In UK, manufacturing accounts for 13% of the GDP; also, between 1997 and 2004, the average labour productivity grew by 4% over the United States, 5% above France and also 15% over Germany. The figure below shows a graph of the growth in productivity. Sheldons study on ‘social responsibility of management indicates that industries exist with the aim of servicing the society (Sheldon, 1923). The developments which various industries have made lately show that there is a link between the society and the industry. It can therefore be said that the purpose of creating industries is so that the society can benefit from it as well as sustain it. Sen (1999) observes that â€Å"as people who live in a broad sense together, we cannot escape the thought that the terrible occurrences that we see around us are quintessentially our problems. They are our responsibility whether or not they are also anyone elses† (Sen, 1999). The manufacturing sector is very huge and includes a range of industries such as: Aerospace, Biotechnology, Chemical, Food and beverages, Pharmaceuticals etc. The FMCG industry is one of the sub industries within the manufacturing sector. They sometimes face a lot of problems and as such struggle with critic isms from stakeholders on social responsibility matters even though they have functional CSR agendas. From the size of the British manufacturing industry, it is fair to say that it uses a huge amount of energy compared to the rest of the European Union. 1.3 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM From looking at FMCG Companys website and their social responsibility/sustainability reporting materials, it will be seen that they engage in corporate social responsibility at different levels. Looking closely at FMCG companies within the United Kingdom, it will be seen that almost all of them if not all, consider corporate social responsibility and its effect on their business operations particularly as it pertains to their corporate image, competitive advantage and even their finances. Davis (1973) in his work asserts that engaging in corporate social responsibility can improve an organizations finances and image. 1.4 AIM OF PROJECT The aim of the project is to contribute to the body of empirical data in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility by gathering information that will help in the analysis of environmental corporate social responsibility within organizations in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods industry. The findings of this research should provide managers and the academic world some more information in the area of Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility. 1.5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The main objective of this study on the analysis of data gathered on environmental corporate social responsibility in some organizations in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry is to critically look at the steps the corporations take in being environmentally responsible and also how they measure the progress. Also, this dissertation will be attempt to: To analyse the data from selected FMCG companies relating to their environmental CSR practices to identify the indicator/metrics used by the companies to benchmark their performance on environmental CSR in their organizations; to determine factors that encourage environmental responsibility practices. To draw some conclusions and make some recommendations about the state of environmental CSR in the selected organizations. 1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The FMCG industry is very large and as such it may not be feasible for the researcher to report on all the companies in the industry bearing in mind the limitation of time and adequate resources. Therefore the scope of this study will be limited to environmental corporate social responsibility in selected FMCG companies. The study will take a look at the environmental corporate social activities they have embarked on with respect to water usage reduction, CO2 emission reduction, reduction of waste produced, and total energy usage of each of the companies. Owing to lack of time and resources, the researcher will not be able to conduct a survey of environment corporate social responsibility in all UK-based fast moving consumer goods companies. It is worth noting though that a lot of them carry out environmental corporate social responsibility activities and also report on them using indices to which some of them are benchmarked. 1.7 STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION This study is structured into five chapters. Chapter one provides an introduction/background to the research study, together with a brief introduction of the sector and industry. Chapter two contains the literature review; it comprehensively and critically reviews previous work done in this research area. Chapter three highlights the research design and data collection process employed by the researcher. Chapter four contains an analysis of the data gathered together. Some findings and discussions of the research area are also furnished. The final chapter, chapter five, contains some recommendations and conclusions based on the findings in the course of carrying out this dissertation. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Corporate Social Responsibility has progressed from an irrelevant and often discriminated concept to one that is today well-known and established in businesses round the globe (Lee, 2008). Corporate Social Responsibility can be thought of as an umbrella phrase that takes into consideration the various ways and means a corporation embarks on in trying to act ethically and morally. In the last couple of decades, CSR has become widely well-known (Campbell, 2007). According to some researchers, the first book on CSR was written in 1953 by Howard Bowen, with the title: Responsibilities of the Businessman (Carroll, 1979; Kantanen, 2005). Defining Corporate Social Responsibility can prove to be a complex task as it has varied meanings to different people. This is due to the fact that there is no agreed definition and as such organizations that are meticulous in their goals of incorporating CSR activities into their businesses are faced with compound problems. Because of how complex CSR is, it is hard to provide a definition. Stakeholders therefore make use of different definitions that are in line with their business operations, goals and aims. The definitions are often also related to the sizes of the corporations and how they regard their officers who are responsible for CSR activities within their organisations. Thus there is no agreed definition of CSR, because different corporations translate it to suit them depending on their state of affairs (MacLagan, 1999: Campbell, 2007: Garriga Mele, 2004). Bowen (1953) defines corporate social responsibility as â€Å"†¦ the obligations of businessmen to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society†. Manakkalathil and Rudolf (1995) explain CSR as â€Å"the duty of organizations to conduct their business in a manner that respects the rights of individuals and promotes human welfare†. It is quite a weak explanation which makes it somewhat tough to actualize. Aguilera et al. (2007) emphasize that corporations should not border their CSR activities on stipulated legislation regarding such issues but should also make provision for activities not stipulated in any legislation they adhere to. Aguilera et al. (2007) assert that â€Å"corporate social responsibility is a companys considerations of and response to issues beyond the narrow economic, technical and legal requirements of the company to accomplish social and environmental benefits along with traditional economic gains†. Carroll (1991) states that CSR consists of f our aspects: legal, economic, ethical and philanthropic (discretionary) responsibility (See Appendix 1). Carroll (1991) argued that for a corporation striving to be seen as good within the society, all four aspects should be fulfilled. Carroll (1991) cites renowned economists Milton Friedmans assertion in trying to explain the relationship of the four aspects. On Friedmans part, he was only interested in the first three parts of CSR stating that corporations exist â€Å"to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of society, both those embodied in the law and those embodied in ethical custom† (Carroll, 1991) and he totally objected to the philanthropic aspect saying â€Å"the business of business is business†. In saying this, he meant that the usual economic standpoint only acknowledges legal, ethical and economic responsibility as a crucial principle while taking part in altruistic activities do not yield incentives for corporations. Levitt ( 1958) has a different approach to the CSR issue called the functional theory which considers CSR as ethically neutral. Corporations are considered to have particular tasks or organizational codes that communicate their position in the society. Corporations are expected to fulfil their social responsibilities by conforming to existing legal frameworks, as the onus of determining social good is the responsibility of the state and not that of the corporations. The reliability and character of an organization is in its sensitivity to varying conditions and demand. Organizations that react positively to financial and other varying issues will thrive, while those that do not respond adequately will die. Consequently, if the immediate situation requires that corporations be â€Å"socially responsible† then the corporations must endeavour to be so. Davis (1960) implies that social responsibility pertains to corporations â€Å"decisions and actions taken for reasons at least partiall y beyond the firms direct economic or technical interest†. Eells and Walton (1961) debate the meaning of CSR and say that it pertains to the â€Å"problems that arise when corporate enterprise casts its shadow on the social scene, and the ethical principles that ought to govern the relationship between the corporation and society†. Deakin and Hobbs (2007) assert that corporations that go ahead and carry out CSR activities which are over the minimum legal requirements stand to benefit immensely. Margolis and Walsh (2003) in the research they conducted found that most corporations, however, only focus on particular aspects of CSR: mainly the economic aspect and try to shy away from the social and environmental aspects. 2.1.1 STAKEHOLDER THEORY OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY The most spoken about theory of corporate social responsibility is the stakeholder theory. Freeman (1984) explains the basic concepts and attributes of stakeholder management in his booked entitled Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. He defines stakeholders to be ‘‘groups and individuals who can affect, or are affected by, the achievement of an organizations mission† (Freeman, 1984) or otherwise regarded as ‘‘those groups who have a stake in or a claim on the firm (Evan and Freeman, 1988). Freeman (2004) regards stakeholders as â€Å"those groups who are vital to the survival and success of the corporation†. Freeman explains that not only the owners of a corporation have genuine concerns about it but also persons and or groups of persons that might be affected or can possibly have an effect on the corporations doings and as such these groups of people have the right to be considered in any decision making process within the corporation. Kaler (2006) on the other hand refers to the stakeholder theory that supports the notion that corporations should be socially responsible. This theory states that â€Å"the shareholders value is boosted through employee commitment, customer loyalty, contractor cooperation and immense support from the community amongst other things. Some researchers are also of the opinion that the performance of organizations can be attributed to their strategies in trade and non-trade environments† (Baron, 2000). Freeman and Evan (1990) assert that corporations that embark on social responsibility activities often times do it because they trust that their managers are capable of boosting the corporations effectiveness in taking action regarding demands from external sources by handling and meeting the requests of the diverse shareholders. Stakeholder theory can be said to be a managerial activity because it expresses and directs how managers function (Freeman et al. 2006). In analyzing stakeholder theory, Donaldson and Preston (1995) proposed ethical guidelines for considering and selecting stakeholders. They made reference to this as being â€Å"instrumental† in the sense that when corporations manage their stakeholder activities accordingly, their performance will improve tremendously in relation to their stability, growth and profitability. According to Freeman (1994), the aim of stakeholder theory is conveyed in two key questions and the first is determining what the function of the firm is. This influences managers to convey the feeling of importance built within the corporation and also display activities that pull together all the major stakeholders. This propels the corporation forward and makes it possible for it to produce outstanding performance, instituted with respect to its function and economic p erformance in the open market. The second question asked by the stakeholder theory deals with the sort of responsibility owed to the stakeholders by the managers. This motivates the managers to convey the means they take in conducting their businesses and particularly the kind of relationship they yearn for and have to build with their stakeholders in order to realize their purpose (Friedman and Miles, 2006). The stakeholder theory concept can be further broken down into: normative stakeholder theory, which hinges on theories of how managers and sometimes stakeholders are supposed to behave, and also how they are supposed to view the beliefs of the corporation as they pertain to its ethical ethos (Friedman and Miles, 2006), and the descriptive stakeholder theory which is about how managers and stakeholders actually act and the perception of their responsibilities and actions. The stakeholder theory that, in fact, relates very well with corporate social responsibility is the instrumental stakeholder theory. This theory is at times associated with a corporations strategic style: where the major concern for the corporation is how its managers perform if they are allowed to put their own interests and/or the interests of the corporation forward as it relates to profit maximization or the maximization of stockholder value (Friedman and Miles, 2006). Orlitzky et al (2003) mention that several authors are of the opinion that corporate social performance might help a corporation towards acquiring new abilities, raw materials and possibilities which are apparent in a corporations culture, expertise, business and workforce. Corporate social performance is closely related to corporate social responsibility and it is sometimes assumed that it will help advance managerial abilities that boost employee contribution, organization and harmonization together with a ground-breaking management approach (Shrivastava, 1995). The reputation perspective theory on the other hand, states that â€Å"superficially, corporate social performance might encourage the development of a positive figure with a corporations customers, its investors, banks and contractors which it can in the long run benefit from through having access to capital and also possibly draw high-quality employees towards it and also enhance the good will of its current employees towards the organization which over time the corporation might benefit from in financial terms† (Orlitzky et al, 2003). In recent times, it will be seen that so many corporations and/or establishments have planned and sustained their businesses in ways that correspond to the concept of the stakeholder theory (Collins and Porras, 1994). For example, corporations like Procter and Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, British American Tobacco, to mention a few, present an excellent example of the value managers place on the fundamentals of stakeholder theory. It is worth noting that these corporations place high importance on their stakeholders and organizational wealth but at the same time do not stress on profitability as the push factor of their business. This is because they are fully aware of the worth and relationship with stakeholders as an important factor if they are to succeed. Friedman (1970) on the other hand is of a contrary opinion. He is of the opinion that when executives take decisions it should only be for the purpose of wealth creation for its stakeholders. It is evident that Friedman does not support the concept of CSR. He holds that the principal duty of directors is towards their staff. In his opinion, a corporate executive may take decisions that directly concern himself but should never take decisions concerning, for example, price mark down of products or pollution due to carbon emission, beyond the obligations imposed on the corporation by law. Friedman states further that by doing these, the corporate executive will be spending the corporations wealth and forcing its stockholders to pay tax while at the same time taking decision on the expenditure of the corporations tax returns. Friedman (1970) asserts that governments demand taxes from corporate entities, ensuring that there are adequate governmental, legal and constitutional measures in place to force compliance. Friedman stresses that executives are selected by stockholders as representatives to protect their interest and this motivation dies gradually if the corporate executive wastes the stockholders wealth on social activities. Friedmans belief is that government instructs corporations to pay a certain amount as tax and if paid, government use the tax appropriately, thereby making it unnecessary for corporations themselves to engage in any CSR projects. In this regard, one assumes that such taxes will be adequate to ensure the effective handling by the government of CSR activities that benefit the environment and the larger society. In Friedmans perception, the corporations that pay their taxes as and when due are responsible. Jensen and Meckling (1976) assert that corporate social responsibility may have an adverse effect on corporations especially if the cost of implementing CSR projects becomes exceptionally high. There are certain contrary views that claim that many ostensibly socially responsible corporations actually benefit far more from their CSR activities than the target societies that were expected to be the main beneficiaries. For example, relying on a report by Corporate Watch (2006), more than â€Å"80% of corporate CSR decision-makers were confident in the ability of good CSR practice to deliver branding and employee benefits. To take the example of corporate philanthropy, when corporations make donations to charity, they are giving away their shareholders money, which they can only do if they see potential profit in it. This may be because they want to improve their image by associating themselves with a cause, to exploit a cheap vehicle for advertising, or to counter the claims of pressure groups, but there is always an underlying financial motive, so the company benefits more than the charity†. Paine (2002) affirms that the choice to neglect corporate social responsibility will in some way indicate the corporations disrespect for its stakeholders who include its workers, suppliers, clientele and the society at large. Quoting CIPD (2009), â€Å"When CSR is done well; it means a precious, though precarious, trust in your business. Successful CSR can bring benefits such as a distinct position in your marketplace, protecting your employer brand, and building credibility and trust with current and potential customers and employees. It can help significantly with recruitment, engagement and retention of employees†. Some academics believe that some corporations embark on corporate social responsibility projects for strategic reasons. Xueming and Bhattacharya (2008) affirm that in recent times, corporate social responsibility matches the strategic plan of many corporations. They mention that although some corporations carry out a range of socially responsible activities such as philanthropic acts, corporate responsibility and sustainability reporting, marketing and stakeholder events to mention a few, they do so not because they feel it is the â€Å"right thing to do† but regard it is a â€Å"smart thing to do†. 2.1.1 GOVERNMENT AS STAKEHOLDERS Porter and Van der Linde (1995) believe that countries impose firm directives on home organizations, and the relationship government has with organizations corporate social responsibility issues positively affects them. It encourages them to create policies pertaining to the environment, cost reduction, sustainability of their products, and also increase the organizations competitive advantage in the international marketplace. This means that the government can control organizations and ensure they adhere to its directives and policies. Even though government has great control on the way organizations operate their businesses through the use of regulatory guidelines and policies, the activities of organizations have also had a growing influence on the government. Thorne et al (2008) assert that â€Å"managing this relationship with government officials while navigating the dynamic world of politics is a major challenge for firms, both large and small†. They explain that because of the varied nature of the environment, there are several competitors and suppliers in the decision making process, and as such raising the economic risks. Being stakeholders, organizations and government are considered mutual stakeholders and as such both sides can cooperate and play a part in the decision making process. In a Questions-and-Answers session with the Chairman and CEO, Charles Holliday, of DuPont a science-based solution company, Holliday was asked on how businesses and the government can effectively collaborate on stan dards-setting and value-creation for their stakeholders. He replied as follows: â€Å"The complexities and opportunities of modern business and industry are too great to assume that regulation alone can get us where we have to go. Regulation, as we have seen historically, is not a precision tool for change. But it can overcome inertia and get things going. The landmark environmental legislation of the 1970s and 1980s set in motion the kind of change that in the U.S. has led to cleaner air and water. No one doubts that†. He further said that in regulating sustainability, â€Å"We can expect that government will identify some pressure points where regulatory instruments can advance the cause. But real progress in sustainability will come from what we build into products and services, in the way we design and operate our plants and distribution networks, in the way we think about the ultimate disposition of the things we make, even and especially in the way we direct our rese arch and development. Its hard to imagine regulatory protocols that can encompass all of that. Industry has to be imaginative and proactive and show that we can accomplish the things our stakeholders expect of us, especially those things that go beyond the letter of the law† (as cited in Freeman et al, 2006). He also mentioned that at DuPont, they have reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by 72% since 1990 and this is because it was expected of them by their stakeholders to be proactive, and that gave them the push. This further shows how corporations work on their own in accordance with government directives designed towards improving the society. Marcus (2002) and Delmas and Terlaak (2002) are quick to assert that some corporations might be discouraged if government implements regulations they consider stringent and as such corporations should be allowed to make their own decisions as they consider appropriate. 2.2 THE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY SCHOOLS OF THOUGHTS The issue of whether corporations should be socially responsible or not, the extent to which they should be responsible, to whom they should be responsible and the context in which they should be responsible, has been a major debate amongst researchers. There are two schools of thought which have differing opinions on CSR matters. They are the restrictive and expansionist opinions. The restrictive school of thought upholds the profit maximisation stand while the other school believes that corporations should be socially responsible. 2.2.1 THE EXPANSIONIST SCHOOL OF THOUGHT The expansionists believe that environmental problems are caused by businesses and for that reason they should be liable for their externalities. Stoner and Wankel (1988) maintain that corporations should take into consideration the impact of their environmental activities on the society and for that reason they should act responsibly not only for the benefit of their stakeholders but to the general populous. Davis and Blomstrom (1975) give an account of their opinion of how a model corporation should look. They assert that it should provide an opportunity for investment, a good working condition, be ethically considerate, be a good corporation to do business with, pay their tax contributions and support governments endeavours, be good to the community they work in, contribute to social endeavours and public concerns. Crowther and Rayman- Bacchus (2004) assert that â€Å"the activities of an organization impacts upon the external environment and have suggested that such an organizat ion should therefore be accountable to a wider audience than simply its shareholders†. They also mention that the â€Å"recognition of the rights of all stakeholders and the duty of a business to be accountable in this wider context therefore has been largely a relatively recent phenomenon†. In summary, corporate social responsibility should include responsibility to the owners of the business,