The Role of Activists in Achieving Social and Environmental Sustainability - Assignment Example

Business and Society Reflective journal Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code & Name: Date of Submission Business and Society Reflective journal Entry 1 Topic: The role of activists in achieving social and environmental sustainability When I commenced with the task of exploring the role of activists in the attainment of social and environmental sustainability, little did I know the massive role played by this collective in achieving the aforementioned ends. Nonetheless, as I embarked on reading and reflecting on the work by Swartz (2010), I eventually gained a comprehensive insight into the fundamental task that is undertaken by the activists in achieving social and environmental stability in any nation. Personally, the role of activists seemed insignificant in the efforts towards environmental conservation when compared to other bigger players like governments and international NGOs like United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The insight into the article Timberland CEO on standing up to 65,000 angry activists just revealed how this collective form a formidable force in addressing environmental and social issues both at the national and international spectrum. Firstly, Timberland was initially non-concerned about the source of its hides, whether from the deforested areas or not. Secondly, the company had previously been none committed to forging alliances and collaborations aimed at addressing elevating deforestation in the hides’ sources countries. Against this background, I understood that the angry intervention and signs of reprisal crystalizing, forced the company into action, a step that was eventually followed by other players in the industry. On further reading, the activists proceeded to exert pressure on the entire hides supply chain and governments to portray their support for environmental sustainability through swift actions to curtail deforestation. This culminated in widespread success with various stakeholders and law enforcement agencies stepping up to mitigate deforestation which is a fundamental step towards environmental sustainability. On the completion of this reading, I was really marveled by the paramount role played by the activists in achieving environmental sustainability. This was followed by a probe into the role of this collective in the achievement of social sustainability which culminated in the exploration of Sandhu (2010) whereby I understood that it was only through heightened pressure emanating from public awareness coupled with pressure from the fledging green movements and institutions, for instance, World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace that the instigation of widespread environmental legislations in North America and Europe was realized (290). Sandhu (2010, 302) inferred that in the future, the societal pressure will be robust in obliging businesses at the global level to go beyond the rudimentary level of regulatory compliance towards the adoption of strategic proactive strategies to environmental challenges. This is similar to social stability whereby I concurred with Sandhu (2010) whereby the reaction of the activists in responding to social disaster is a prudent mechanism of instilling a sense of social responsibility into corporate bodies whereby their decision will be founded on profound consideration of the social impacts of their undertakings. After completing these readings, I was completely marveled with the role that activists play in achieving both social and environmental sustainability which I had previously ignored. This module really made me aware of the fact that it is not only the independent governmental policies that shape the tide of environmental conservation and social sustainability in a nation but the activists groups, despite their size play an integral role in achieving both of the above objectives in any nation. Entry 2 Topic: Why it is important to think about career planning in your first year at university At a personal level, I always presumed that the basic goals for any student entering the university studies is to achieving a point of economic self-sufficiency through the attainment of a job that earns enough to pay the regular bills, have some little money for recreation and pursue of hobbies and at the same time save for retirement. In this regard, I thought it imperative to engage career planning to not only make these objectives achievable but also be well niched to confront any dynamics that can come up in the course of career development. When I first engaged in the process of filling in my career planning workbook as a freshman in the university, I had little knowledge how this process will inform my course of career development and to some extent, I underestimated it. It was not until I actually settled in undertaking the activities in the workbook that I comprehended the extent to which I would acquire from this task. Going the workbook, it instantly hit me that the main point of entering into a certain career is not primarily to get employed (aimed at creating wealth) but rather to focus more on the aspect of employability. This is in line with the inference by WMRC (2006, 3) who cited that the focus in the career planning process should be on employability rather than being employed. This is more profound in the contemporary labor market whereby being employed does not guarantee prolonged livelihood, mostly with most companies functioning under the 3Rs tenet-restructuring, reorganization and retrenchment. As I forged on in the workbook, I was obliged to reflect on my long-term career path. This is paradoxical when juxtaposed with my previous presumption that the only formula of entering into a successful career is sheer hard work which will be rewarded by gradual accumulation of wealth. Nonetheless, it dawned on me that planning for a career goes beyond that. It boils down to other aspects like job fulfillment, flexibility of career switch (maybe from accounting to finance or vice-versa), and the future of that career based on contemporary market dynamics. This is parallel to the inference by Baruch (2003, 1) that businesses, non-profit institutions, private and public organizations are all confronted by diverse dynamics in multiple areas like socio-economic and technological perspectives. All these has extended repercussions on managing people in the workplaces and specifically in the planning and managing of careers. In this regard, I found out that this workbook was starting to challenge my initial presumptions about my career In addition, going through the career workbook made me realize that there are multiple fundamental tenets that a student in their first year of university life ought to consider when deliberating on a career, for instance, which organizations that they want to work for in future, is it private or public? Some of these things had never dawned on me before this process. Lastly, the eventual questions in this workbook made me ask myself more long-term questions like, how is my future career going to affect my attachment to family and friends circle?. All these questions got me thinking about the long-term objectives of my career and the means through which I will get there. From this experience, I thought it is imperative for the students entering in their first year in the university to engage in-depth career planning using any available channels, for instance, career guidance forums in order to avoid last minute rush while making their career choices which in many cases, can be miscalculated and founded on mere panicking and influence. Entry 3 Topic: Link between ethical and being professional This has been an ongoing discourse in diverse realms of academia whereby different schools of thought have in many cases been engaged in arguments which are often antagonistic on whether there exists a link between being ethical and being professional. This prompted a profound analysis into this realm, which was primarily centered in the work by Cowton (2009). In a very early stage, the author raises two basic questions, does being ethical pay or in a different dimension, what are the monetary corollaries of engaging an ethical stance? Secondly, are the codes in a workplace an efficient mechanism in the promotion of ethical behavior? (177). As I moved further through this work, I came to the realization that indeed, a robust link exists between the two variables in question, i.e. being ethical and being professional and their eventual impact on the larger society. Perhaps the most epitomized instance ethics in the professional realm in in medicine whereby the practices being undertaken by doctors need to embedded in ethics rather than the doctors being in the profession just for the sake of it and taking advantage of vulnerable patients in their hour of need. I also came to the realization that the practice of other professions like law ought to be embedded in ethics whereby the lawyers ought to be concerned with the welfare of the clients and not just the money. This is parallel to the inference by Miller and Knight (1999, 3) that a lawyer is under the obligation to notify the client when in receipt of funds or property. In this regard, the lawyer ought to provide complete and timely accounting to the client, while at the same time promptly disbursing all the funds and property that the client is entitled to which trickles in the concept of ethics in a profession. This made me realize that a very strong link exists between ethics and being professional. It also insinuates that even above the rules and regulations that are embedded in a particular profession, self-regulation which is founded on personal ethics plays a vital role in defining the professionalism of a particular individual. It thus dawned on me that despite the fact that scandals in any organization come and go but on the contrary, ethics remains a robust challenge to professions. In this regard, there is a necessity for the professions to put into consideration the most rudimentary tenets of professional ethics not only in the times of moral panic in the organization but also in other times characterized by relative calm. On the question of whether being ethical pay in a profession, I realized that sound ethics in the organizational set-up is imperative in elevating the trust of the clients which not only benefits the institution reputational capital but the economy as a whole. This is supported by Cowton (2009, 182) who determined that issues of trust and reputation are imperative at the level of the profession, which is based on the fact that reputation is key to the overall rewards that an organization receives and the trust that is integral to the self-regulation that it enjoys. This realization came as a revelation to me in the sense that initially I had perceived ethics as merely being founded on morality foundation in an organization but posing no direct link to the professionalism level in the organization. I found myself in deep reflection of the role that profound ethics will play in my current and future professional life. Works cited Baruch Y. Transforming careers: From linear to multidirectional career paths. Career Development International 9.1 (2003): 58-73. Cowton C.J. Accounting and the Ethics Challenge: Re-membering the Professional Body. International Accounting Policy Forum 39.3 (2009): 177-189. Miller, Frederick and Knight, Michael. Ethics and Professionalism: Attorney Trust Accounts and Law Office Record Keeping for New York Lawyers. New York, NY: New York Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection, 1999. Sandhu S. “Shifting Paradigms in Corporate Environmentalism: From Poachers to Gamekeepers.” Business and Society Review 115.3 (2010): 285–310. Swartz, J. “Timberland’s CEO on standing up to 65,000 angry activists.” Harvard business review 88.9 (2010): 39-43. WMRC. Career Planning Advice. 2006. 18th May. 2012. . Read More