Challenges in the Business Environment

Overview

Changing, or even stating, a company’s values can be a long and arduous process, but it often pales in comparison to the effort it takes to make sure they are honored, implemented and projected. In this assignment, you evaluate how well your chosen company from the first assignment has done in “walking the talk” and responding to a social issue.

Preparation

Review your chosen company’s mission and values statements as well as other sources that provide insight into the company’s values with regard to social responsibility. Pick two of their primary values and research how the company manifests those values. Simple examples might be the commitment to workplace diversity or ecological sustainability. 

Instructions

Create a 3–5-minute (approximately 6–8 slides) PowerPoint presentation that evaluates how well the company embodies its issue-related values. Your presentation should contain detailed speaker’s notes that flesh out and support main points, ideas, or conclusions and have supporting citations.

1. Summarize your chosen company’s Supplier Responsibility information.
2. In your own words, explain how each aspect of your Supplier Code of Conduct is committed to ethical business practices and social responsibility.
3. Discuss your company’s stance on each of the following areas:

   Empowering Workers.
   Labor and Human Rights.
   Health and Safety.
   The Environment.
   Accountability.

4. Identify the key ways that your company’s Code of Conduct has changed since last year.
5. Examine the manner in which your company’s Supplier Code of Conduct helps the organization operate as a socially responsible organization.
6. In this week’s discussion, you consider assembling a team to write a supplier code of conduct. Recommend the stakeholders roles (4–5) needed on the team and how each supports the project.

EVALUATING A CORPORATE-SOCIETAL RELATIONSHIP 1

Evaluating a Corporate-Societal Relationship

Joanne Beavers

BUS 475

Professor Aristotle Mante

01.29.2021

Evaluating a Corporate-Societal Relationship

EVALUATING A CORPORATE-SOCIETAL RELATIONSHIP 2

The world economy’s environment is interconnected in many ways, owing to increasing

globalization and technological progress. Therefore, commercial ventures and primary

stakeholders’ relationships should be sincere for growth and wealth (Putra & Muzakir, 2020).

That is mainly why successful worldwide corporations, like Wal-Mart Inc., aim to display ethical

and liable conduct against dominant stakeholders, for instance, the community, suppliers, and

consumers as a group, for a mutually beneficial result. Frankly, today’s high-profile companies,

including Wal-Mart Inc., owe their excellence to the connections they maintain with their critical

stakeholders.

Wal-Mart Inc. is a public limited company active in the retail industry, where it operates

worldwide through its subsidiaries headquartered in a small country town Bentonville, Arkansas

(Resche, 2020). Walmart offers a wide range of products and services to meet market

requirements. Another way to put it merely, Walmart is a respected retail chain company with a

global presence and a relatively broad product portfolio for its broad customer base. In addition to

cosmetics, jewelry, alcohol, and automotive, the essential products and services offered and sold to

customers include household items such as dishes, food, and health. Walmart sells fresh-cut meat,

dairy products, deli & bakery products, confectionery, and a great deal to the general public.

The renowned retail chain also offers various customer-centric retail services through the

internet. It provides vital online retail services, including streaming digital content on demand

(Resche, 2020). Also, the organization offers its clients essential services like private party labels.

The diversity of products and services, tailored to customers’ needs, enables the giant company to

grow again and again and expand into new market areas while achieving success.

Walmart has various products or services, particularly for the spending customers. While

customers increase purchase items, whether in-store or online, Walmart has a higher sales volume,

EVALUATING A CORPORATE-SOCIETAL RELATIONSHIP 3

significantly increased revenue, and growth. Walmart would not be as successful without

customers continually purchasing products. The company would probably not be one of America’s

top leading retails with the top spot of twenty-twenty the Fortune five hundred. Walmart Inc.’s

sturdy growth and recent performance demonstrate the critical influence of customers.

In addition to customers, suppliers are the leading players that heavily influence Wal-Mart

Inc. “s financial business. It usually purchases various products alongside raw materials from

different suppliers and profitability. It typically buys other products in addition to raw materials

from different suppliers and profitability. One could say, without dependent, reliable suppliers,

Walmart could not provide the necessary goods, services to customers, or what the market needs

(Kaplan, 2020). It would result in a decline in sales, customer base, sales, and profitability,

necessary for sustainability, growth, development, and subsequent prosperity.

Besides suppliers are, the government is a significant primary stakeholder worth

considering, which considerably influences Wal-Mart Inc.’s financial activities and ultimate

profitability. In addition to suppliers, the state is a significant primary stakeholder, significantly

impacting Wal-Mart Inc.’s financial operations and eventual profitability. Governments act legally

on guidelines and enforce laws that monitor the ethical behavior of companies and interest groups.

However, governments usually implement corporate accountability and ethics to other stakeholders

(Resche, 2020). For example, borrowed-related laws and ethical issues are important issues, along

with environmental concerns, which generally attract the sensitivity of almost all governments

around the world.

Therefore, compliance with various existing provisions is crucial, as a violation of them

entails criminal and sometimes costly consequences of possible trials. For example, failure to

EVALUATING A CORPORATE-SOCIETAL RELATIONSHIP 4

observe ethical and labor-related laws, including those related to occupational health and safety,

may prove expensive concerning the litigation.

Many external environmental factors determine how this organization conducts its

commercial activities in the competitive sector. These include political, economic, social,

technological, and legal aspects, often required for success. The overruling economic environment

plays an important role or affects the success of the company. The recessionary or harsh financial

measures around a corporation involve customers and suppliers’ purchasing power and critical

stakeholders. Hence, this also lessens production and has a blunt effect on profits on transactions,

which alters the sustainability, expansion of companies. In 2007 and 2009, the company

experienced a decline in economic production and profitability due to insufficient demand and

inadequate purchasing power (Resche, 2020). Businesses worldwide are witnessing an economic

boost in turnover, returns, and profits as the economy experiences a boom in the liquid funds

needed for the growth that comes with an expansion.

Thus, technological aspects are another external environmental aspect that markedly affects

the organization’s wealth in a competitive industry. When a new technological invention emerges,

simplifying productivity, performance, and after-sales services, it is necessary to adopt it

immediately to improve competition. For example, in technological developments, it had to take e-

commerce, on-demand streaming of digital content, and much more into account to stay ahead of

the competition inefficient and effective after-sales services. It improves sales and allots the

competitive to remain in the industry, creating competitors to be jealous.

Walmart and other corporations have many social and economic issues that frequently

emerge, which requires CSR awareness (Kaplan, 2020). In recent years it was Hurricane Katrina;

now, the most significant catastrophe is the COVID-19, which is going on for twelve months. This

EVALUATING A CORPORATE-SOCIETAL RELATIONSHIP 5

multinational response to current issues that demand something back to society is commendable,

hence the tremendous development and ultimate success. The outbreak of the infectious disease

Hurricane Katrina, a deadly coronavirus, has led to the company quickly reacting to donating

various valuables in cash and humanitarian aid. Therefore, this has formed a significant growth and

demand for the competitive industry.

In conclusion, Walmart has the privilege to have some top decision-makers in the world

who have experienced corporate decisions. The most important stakeholders have a high impact on

the business because they make important decisions about the companies’ failures and successes.

Stakeholder manages the company culture changes, and other companies can learn from the

process. Responsible, ethical, and professional behavior by organizations is necessary for growth

and wealth. As I stated above, Walmart owes its success to its customers and suppliers. If Walmart

remained true to its purpose and consistently offered low daily prices, they would have a

harmonious relationship with their customers.

EVALUATING A CORPORATE-SOCIETAL RELATIONSHIP 6

Source

Z Putra & M Muzakir. 2020. Competitive Environment Analysis in Global Retail

Companies Operation Strategy. p. 5(01), 16-36. A Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) Based

Approach. AFEBI Management and Business Review.

C Resche. 2020. Walmart’s communication techniques for sustaining stakeholder trust. p. 20(1),

93-107.: How CEOs answer critics and reassure stakeholders in their annual and CSR

report letters. Studies in Communication Sciences.

S Kaplan. 2020. Why Social Responsibility Produces More Resilient Organizations. p. 62(1), 85-

90. MIT Sloan Management Review.

No author. No date. Corporations and their Social

Responsibility. https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/good-corporation-bad-corporation/

chapter/1-corporations-and-their-social-responsibility/.

1. Corporations and their Social Responsibility

1. Corporations and their Social Responsibility