My Career Plan for the Next 10 Years - Article Example

Business and Society: Reflective Journal Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code & Name: Date of Submission: Entry 1 Corporate Social And Environmental Responsibilities Are Not Merely Philanthropy, But Instead, They Are Strategic Business Issues. After reading the article by Michael E Porter titled ‘A Strategic Approach to Climate’, I found my mind lost in the corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability practices in the modern business world. As opposed to the former years where social responsibility and environmental sustainability practices were mere philanthropy, the two practices are as at today strategic business issues. In today’s business world, the objectives of business organizations it is not just to make profit, but to ensure that they give value to the customers and the society at large. Corporate social responsibility is a business strategy which aims at ensuring that a business organization is gives back to the community. Social responsibility practices are meant to create a smooth coexistence of a business organization with the society in which it is based. In so doing, a good business environment is created. On the other hand environmental responsibilities involve all business practices which uphold environmental conservation. Such practices involves environmental conservation practices for instance forestation, reduction of the emission of carbon gases, the use of green energy, efficient waste management, efficient water use and eco –friendly packaging amongst other eco- friendly practices. The following reflection paper will give an insight into the two issues identified above. Environmental degradation is a major problem facing the world today. This is due to the severe effects of environmental degradation. In order to counter this, the world leaders in association with the corporate leaders have embarked on sustainability campaigns which are aimed at reversing the trend which is at not proving to be a threat to human existence. In his article, Porter talks about climate change and the need for environment sustainability in details. Climate change is a result of the large amount of carbon emissions in the atmosphere. The carbon gases trap heat energy on the earth’s surface and as a result of this, global warming occurs. The major sources of the carbon gases are business organizations; industries and factories which are consistently emitting large amounts of carbon gases into the environment. The burning of fossil fuels in automobiles and industries is also a major source of carbon gases. Other sources of carbon gases includes bad waste management practices and in appropriate farming methods. Other environmental concerns in the world include the use of green energy and efficient water use. Due to the negative effects of environment degradation such as climate change, it has become important that business organization embrace environmental sustainable practices ( Porter, 2007, p.26). Some of the sustainability measures includes: reduction of carbon emissions, efficient water use, the use of green energy such as solar and wind energy, the use of green logistics and appropriate waste management strategies. It is important for a business to be environmentally sustainable for it to survive in the market. For this reason, business organizations have no option but to be environmentally responsible. Another issue which goes hand in hand with environmental responsibility is corporate social, responsibility. As indicated earlier, cooperate social responsibility (CSR) involves all the activities and practices which aims at giving back to the society. In the modern business world, it is almost impossible for a business organization too remain competitive in the market if it does not have a health relationship with the society on which it is located. For this reason CSR is an important business strategy which ensures that an organization is able to establish a good relationship with its customers in addition to creating a good image of itself in the market; hence attracting more customers (Jeff, 2010, p.39). As I was thinking about corporate social responsibility, I remembered that I had once benefited from a free medical checkup that was offered by a local hospital. With this, I was able to identify that CSR is all about an organization tending to the pertinent issues affecting an organization. Some of the forms in which organizations are engaged in CSR include foundations which meet society needs for instance education foundations, environmental conservation, community cleaning, giving to charity and community empowerment amongst other strategies. As indicated earlier, CSR is an important business strategy in today’s competitive environment and failure of a business to integrate it in its practices renders it unsustainable in the long run. Entry 2 My Career plan For the Next 10 Years A career plan is very important in ensuring that an individual is happy with what he/ she is doing. I have a strong affection to may business career, and as a result of this, I was very interested in completing the careers workbook. In addition to this, I found myself reading in between the lines in the textbook chapter titled life after work. As I read the text, I kept looking at a newspaper excerpt which had a cartoon on it. The cartoon illustrates two the life of tow friends. One of them had planned on his career and the cartoon shows a good flow of his career development. On the other hand, the friend to this fellow was unplanned. In layman’s terms, he was a jerk of all trades but a master of none. His career development did not have any specific flow and unsurprisingly at the age of 60, he was still trying to discover himself, as his friend enjoyed the fruits of his rich career. Therefore, as I read through the text and complete the career’s workbook, I had a lot of enthusiasm, as I visualized the act as ‘putting my career life on paper’. The following section is a reflection of what I got from the experience, and what it means to me. Personally, I acknowledge the fact that the education and knowledge that I have is not for my personal use but instead, it is supposed to be used for the benefit of the society in addition to myself. I am an entrepreneur hence have a lot of interest in managing and running my own business in the future. In fact, I have already started with a small home based manufacturing plant which processes dairy products. However, on the other hand, I would like to use my skills in a big organization and consequently transform it into a dream organization. As I filled the career workbooks, I could vividly see an illusion of the organization which I would work for and also my individual business enterprises. In all the two illusions, one fact that stood up was that I would like to work for an organization which upholds the same values as I do. The values include the following, competitiveness, freedom, ethics, growth, diversification, innovation, social responsibility, sustainability, flexibility and customer satisfaction (UNISA, 2012, p.4). As I was reading between the lines in the textbook’s text, I conquered with the writer that happiness is a major factor to consider while choosing ones career path (Svendsen, 2008, p.124). Ideally, one should be involved in an occupation that makes him/ her happy. This is the reason as to why I sought out to ensure that I chose an organization which upholds the values which I do. Just as a reflection of some of the values which I hold in my career plan, I do value the personal being of an individual. I uphold that fact that every individual is unique in his/ her own way. However, I believe that there are fundamental factors that every professional should uphold. However, just to explain my career course, I do value freedom and growth. This is the reason as to why I would like to use my entrepreneurial and professional skills in a private business enterprise. I happy to see things grow, and would like to see my business develop to a giant organization. On the other hand, I value the fact that I have to use the skills and knowledge I have in the society, hence my desire to work in a bigger organization. From my experience in completing my worksheets and reading the course texts, I have acknowledged the importance of putting down ones career on paper. The career plan which I set out had really rejuvenated my energy towards going for my career goals and objectives. Entry 3 The Importance of Integrity and Ethics in My Professional Life As I was reading through the article ‘Developing Competence and Trust: Maintaining The Heart’ by Jim Platts, my mind was giving me a vivid picture of the professional me. A recurrent question that was constantly ringing in my head was ‘who is a profession and what is expected of him / her?’ However, while reading the article, I was able to relate my knowledge of a professional with what Platts was saying in the article. Altogether, I defined a professional as a person who has an in-depth knowledge about a specific area and uses it with the best interests of the society at heart. For instance, I count myself as a business professional due to my vast knowledge in the business field. Two things that did come up in my reading were integrity and ethics. Integrity is a character which alludes to honesty and transparency. On the other hand, ethics are values which are upheld by an individual. Integrity and ethics are two characteristic which are intertwined. In fact, one cannot have integrity is he/ she is unethical in the first place. With respect to a professional, one cannot claim to be one if he/ she lack ethics and integrity. The following reflection paper gives an insight into integrity and ethics in my professional life. As Platts was talking about professional integrity, my mind was thinking about the professional codes of conducts which are associated with almost every profession. These professional codes of conduct are meant to ensure that the players in that specific profession /field abide by the laws and regulations governing it (Cowton, 2009, p.177). For instance, the Hippocratic Oath by the doctors is meant to ensure that they always uphold human life and always do all that pertains to ensuring that it is saved. Looking at my professional line, I reflected on the the professional conduct of the accountants and auditors. Taking a look at my professional line, I cannot help but see the importance which integrity has on a profession and also an organization. Integrity dictates the level of performance of an individual. The main objective of a professional or an organization is to create utility. Therefore, it is important that the professionals in that organization satisfy the customers’ wants, within the confinement of the professional code of conduct and the national legislation. As I was thinking about this, I was thinking of an auditor who was giving unauthorized access of financial books to outsiders. Generally, integrity ensures that a professional upholds what is right, hence what needs to be done. And as Platts put it, integrity is about transparency and upholding professional conduct. The importance of professional integrity cannot be downplayed. In fact, it is a basic pillar of the success of an individual. The more a profession upholds integrity, the more profession he/ she is. For this reason integrity should be at the heart of every professional, including me. Taking a look at ethics, I cannot fail to see the close relationship between it and integrity. As I had indicated earlier, the two are intertwined. Integrity is a key element of ethics. Ethics are a values which an organization or individual upholds (Jim, 2003, p.3). As I was reading through Platts, article, I would switch off from the reading to reflect on the ethical issues surrounding the business world today. The role of ethics in professionalism is great. Ethics dictates what we say, what we think and consequently what we do. Over the recent years, business organizations and professional have been made answerable to their actions. Organizations which are unethical have slowly lost their competitiveness in the market, and so are unethical professionals. According to my opinion, ethical practices should be upheld by every professional. It is important that I cultivate good values in me which will ensure that I am an ethical profession. According to me, professional ethics is comprised of many elements. As pointed out earlier, integrity is one element of ethics. Other elements includes upholding human rights, being environmentally friendly, encouraging sustainability among other issues which uphold the values of an organization and the society at large. References Cowton, C., (2009). Accounting and the ethics challenge: re-membering the professional body, Accounting and Business Research, Vol. 39, no. 3; pp.177-189 Jeff, S., 2010. Timberland's CEO on Standing up To 65,000 Angry Activists, Harvard Business Review, Vol.8, no. 9, pp.39-43 Jim, P. 2003, Developing Competence and Trust: Maintaining the Heart Of A Profession, Professional Ethics, Vol.11, no.1; 3-18 Svendsen, L 2008, Chapter 9. Life and Work, Work, Acumen 119-127, Stocks field UK. Poter, M. 2007. A strategic Approach to Climate, Harvard Business Review, Vol.85, no. 10; pp.22-26 UNISA, 2012. Career Planning Work Book, p. 1-23 Read More