Voluntary Codes of Practice in Achieving Corporately Responsible Behavior - Assignment Example

Questions in Business Essay Q 7 How useful are voluntary s of practice in achieving corporately responsible behavior? Use examples in relation to labor markets and/or the environment. Voluntary codes or codes of conduct are codes that influence the behavioral practices in the market place. They do so by encouraging organizations and companies behave in many ways which are beneficial to the community as well as the companies themselves. In this regard, the consumer is assured that the organization or companys product or service has achieved and attained certain beach marks in terms of quality and standard. (PHILP, 2011, p92). These codes of practice are voluntary initiatives and guidelines which have certain attributes that make them more inclined to responsible behavior. For instance they are not set legislatively and so the commitment is non-legislative making them voluntary and in doing so they produce results which are self enforcing however they are agreed to basically by one or more organizations and certain bench marks to behavior and standard, they can thus be applied to produce consistent results or outcomes. These qualities are useful because: They help the public actively participate in the setting of these said bench marks of standards They have been known to advance and grow public interests, in these way they help in the dissemination of information between the organizations and the public in areas such as production, manufacturing and delivery of goods and services Concerns about issues such as quality and price are addressed as well as Labor standards, health environment age requirement human rights and overall decency are addressed which help to protect the public. In these ways organizations are stimulated to create operation practices that are more efficient and equally effective that produce minimum negative effects but maximum social economic and environmental results. (HEVIA, 2013, p 2197). They also help in the creation and usage technologies which are new and that use better management practices which in turn makes an industry become more public criticism They are also quite instrumental in complementing existing laws and providing a bridge between consumer and governmental institutions and regulatory agencies If codes are developed openly and also include public participation (like the workers, consumers, NGOs Competitors, public interest groups etc.) they gain more respect and reception increase effectiveness and credibility of both participants and proponents (HAUGAARD & CLEGG, 2012, p103) Q 8: CSR – this is an obligation by a business towards the society whereby the law alone is not sufficient and in this way an organization is bound by its own internal mechanisms to give to society back, this responsibility could take on various forms and could focus on social, economic or legal responsibilities. Social responsibility helps in reducing negative impacts of the company while also maximizing its positive impact. While addressing the issue of CSR with regards to issues affecting local water supply, corporate bodies have to look at certain areas that have been seen by past experiences like the Coke debacle in Kerala India, which cause anxiety and discomfort. (OWEN, 2000, p87). One of these areas is in the area of exhausting the water supplies themselves. This often leads to build up of tension between the corporate body and the local community living in the area done by the over use of water hence depleting the water for the locals in the area for farming and irrigation. This however can be remedied by corporate engaging in activities such as bore hole drilling and acquisition of pumps and other related appliances. This ensures that both corporate and locals are satisfactorily supplied with the commodity. Further than that corporate bodies are known to increase pollution of the waters through the manufacturing process, i.e. by dumping waste products irresponsibly into the supply and also increasing the contamination levels through toxic pesticides. A company can remedy the situation by implementing certain policies that improve the value of life for the locals like: Assuming an approach of total efficiency while using water. This include recycling of water during the manufacturing process and conservative general usage A corporation can introduce or engage in local initiatives geared towards the replenishing of the precious commodity, e.g. Activities such as tree planting, building dams and encouraging water conservation methods through education. Providing infrastructure that aids in waste management and waste water treatment through the construction of sewer systems. In short providing equipment and the materials. (DESS, 2012, p63) Q 9: Make the case for OR against an emerging energy crisis. Energy is important because it is a resource that is needed to be able to harness any other resource; the macroeconomic implications of an energy crisis are very huge. First lets understand how an energy crisis comes about. A crisis emerges due to various factors which lead to a shortage in energy, they range from, overconsumption of energy, blockages in oil refineries or choke point disruption, aging infrastructure, industrial action( strikes and go slows) and government embargos. Other causes are acts of God e.g. extreme cold winters lead to complications in pipelines while some other causes are attacks by militia and terrorists who target important infrastructure. In California during the 90s, there was massive immigration which resulted to 95% population growth thus per capita consumption was affected. Some non-renewable energy sources such as oil, natural gas and coal are depleting due to over usage. A big part of the world is already engage in alleviating the poor from advent poverty and thus urban centers are expanding which inevitably means that energy use in urban populations is on the rise hence more energy use.( KING, 2009, p13). Combating energy crisis can be done on different fronts By increasing the capacity produced, so that the net production of energy in the next decade shall be sure to battle with the increase in population this will be achieved by exploiting non traditional sources of oil e.g. Tar sands (Canadian oil sands), and oil deposits in the very deep seas which a diesel quantity that is high. If people convert to nuclear energy which is eventually much cheaper in the long run because the material used is less than the output. (KING, 2009, p96). There is potential in renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, this however though very attractive is considered powerless because various factors such as capital and use of large tracks of land and solar generation is still very expensive Another way of combating this crisis is by employing energy conservation, this can be done by encouraging developed countries to minimize the consumption of oil and gas while developing countries are encouraged to look for other sustainable solutions towards exiting poverty. Question 10: Assess the likelihood and desirability of the WTO taking on a greater governance role in the field of competition regulation. Around 80 member countries of WTO some developed some transitioning, have already adopted antitrust or anti monopoly laws. They (laws) are in place to provide some remedies for what is known as anti competitive practices. These range from price fixing and other arrangements with cartels, monopolization and exploitation of dominant position, agreements between distributors and suppliers, known as vertical arrangements which discourage new competitors in the markets. Introduction of competition policies help to curb this anti competition practices, the concept includes competition laws and other measures that promote rivalry and other market distortion by the government and state monopolies. These help in lowering prices and more choices are provided for the consumer and increasing opportunities for new and existing businesses. WTO has basic principles that can improve greater governance in competition regulation this are National treatment, which is the cornerstone of the WTO as expressed in Art 3(4) of the GATT 1994. Its requirement is in the treatment of all laws and regulations, requirements of internal sales, purchase, offerings for sale, use of imported goods, distribution and transportation. This helps to maintain equality in competition between domestic products and enterprise vis-à-vis those of the members/signatories of WTO. This helps to level the playing ground between the domestic and the foreign enterprises and products Most favored-nation treatment (MFN) requires that any member of WTO accords the goods& enterprises of one state equally as those of another state. In this way there is equal competitive conditions guaranteed to goods & services of the different members. Transparency, this takes form in two ways, (i) an obligation to publish and make available publicly all regulations and impartial administration of such regulations (ii) members should give notice of any action a government wants to make to WTO and member states, this will help ensure a rule based foreign policy and maintain stability and predictability of the foreign laws regulating members. The WTO provides guarantee that due process will be followed to provide fair outcomes in adjudications. There is the agreement to treat all cartels as serious competition law breach. Quite desirable would be to have a multilateral agreement on the competition policy but with the divergent views being as sharp as they are, the prospect of having almost all 150+ WTO member states is quite remote, the best bet would be to have multi agreements which would be reached by a sub group of WTO member states, which would include the developing countries. This way the WTO would have a better hold on the governance on competitive policy. (WTO, 2011, p23). REFERENCES CRYSTAL, J. (1990). Oil and politics in the Gulf: rulers and merchants in Kuwait and Qatar. Cambridge [England], Cambridge University Press. DESS, G. G. (2012). Strategic management: text and cases. New York, McGraw-Hill/Irwin. HAUGAARD, M., & CLEGG, S. (2012). Power and politics. London, SAGE. HEVIA, M. (2013). Reasonableness and responsibility a theory of contract law. Dordrecht, Springer. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4605-3. KING, J. (2006). Oil in the Middle East. Chicago, Ill, Raintree. OWEN, R. (2000). State, power, and politics in the making of the modern Middle East. London, Routledge. PHILP, B. (2011). Consumer republic: using brands to get what you want, make corporations behave, and maybe even save the world. Toronto, McClelland & Stewart. WTO. (2001). Overview of developments in the international trading environment: annual report by the Director-General. Geneva, World Trade Organization. Read More