Social Responsibility - Body Shop Company - Essay Example

The Body Shop: Case Study Name Course Name and Code Instructor’s Name Date Question 1: The four components of corporate social responsibility Economic – The Body Shop Company utilised cheap ingredients in producing their products. Moreover, the Body Shop utilised a recycling program in which consumers were requested to return the bottles; in return to receive discounts (Archie and Ann, 2011). This prevented the company from purchasing more bottles and thus costs reduction. The company also encouraged the customers through utilisation of strong values to retain the customers. Legal – The Body Shop utilisation of ingredients which are natural and also avoided animal testing to avoid any lawsuits. The organisation knew the products are safe because the products have been on the sale for long without any claim. Ethical – The founder of the shop reflected her own personal ethical belief in producing and selling the products. She was against animal testing and ensured all suppliers felt the same. In addition, the employees were hired were to fit a certain image (Chris, 2009). Philanthropic responsibility – the mission statement of the shop championed philanthropic requirements. The mission statement championed for environmental and social change. In addition, the Body Shop also contributed some of its earnings towards championing environmental change (Martin and Michael, 1999). The founder of the shop, Roddick, share information regarding her products with other companies with the aim of preventing or reducing animal testing (George and John, 1993). Generally, Roddick preached environmental causes and animal right in ensuring corporate social responsibility is achieved. In the four components of social responsibility, there are some tensions that are raised. Roddick philanthropic and ethical values were evidence in the way she recruited new employees (John, 2005). Such recruitment may cause some applications file for legal actions accusing the shop of utilising unfair advantage. Moreover, philanthropic component and economic issues may also raise some tension. Question 2: Levels and spheres of power In the Body Shop analysis, Anita Roddick can be categorised as individual level of power. This is because she exerts power on business environment in an individual perspective. Anita appeared in numerous events as an individual and also worked with other organisations also in an individual capacity. Moreover, she influenced on suppliers to sign agreements asserting their suppliers have never participated in animal testing. Regarding spheres of power, environmental power is maximised by the shop. The Body Shop brought together responsibility and power in creating a positive balance. The Body Shop campaigned for numerous organisations that championed for environmental conservancy and human right campaigns. In return, these organisations supported Body Shop in its operations. Question 3: Personal Heroes The Body Shop employed numerous questionable practices while recruiting and employing employees. For example, the organisation asked questions during interviews and if these questions are answered with answers that Roddick did not appreciate, the applicant would not get a job. It is advisable during advertising for positions, the organisation recruiting should indicate conditions such as whether some one likes animal hunting or not (Archie and Ann, 2011). Roddick asked questions that based on individual belief on certain social issues. For example, she was not able to hire a retail director because the person liked hunting and this was an aspect in which Roddick did not advocate for. Therefore, The Body Shop should have informed the applicant in advance on social and environmental issues that an individual should possess before applying for a position in the company. In certain situations and positions, questions such as personal heroes and individuals beliefs should not be asked. These questions are usually subjective and thus not fair to individuals applying for positions in the company. Personal beliefs based on subjective basis is usually disadvantageous to applicants because if the answer is not acceptable to the interviewer it results in the individual not been accepted into the organisation. Personal heroes and individuals beliefs might result in the organisation facing legal issues. A prospective employee may sue the organisation stating that the organisation was not fair in refusing her the opportunity to work in the organisation. The prospective applicant may use the questions asked as evidence of illegal and unethical behaviour in recruiting employees into the organisation. Therefore, the entire process was not fair for all the applicants. Question 4: Purpose of a Business Anita’s philosophy, purpose of a business, suggests different aspect of business as day to day businesses. The purpose of day-to-day business is to make profits while at the same time create revenues for the stakeholders of the business. However, the approach in which Roddick utilised is different (Cathy, 2009). Her business championed social and environmental conservancy and this is indicated through the non-profit organisations that she supported (Chris, 2009). Roddick gave The Body Shop revenues to organisations that championed conservation and also participated in an advertisement with American Express to receive more revenues to ensure her cause succeeds. Another purpose of a business illustrated by Roddick is not causing pain to other parties (Martin and Michael, 1999). Roddick produced the products in the region where the ingredients were obtained and the workers on these factories were paid similar amounts to those employees working in European industries. This shows that she appreciated social activism in which she wanted employees in her different stores to receive similar pay. In addition to show her philosophy of purpose of a business, she was against animal testing and agreed that any organisation that wanted to do business with The Body Shop should sign agreements in which these organisations stated that they have never participated in animal testing for the past five years (Archie and Ann, 2011). Moreover, to ensure the society did not embrace consumerism, Roddick vowed never to advertise The Body Shop products. These are examples of Roddick philosophy of business in that any business should not cause any harm to the society or to the environment. Question 5: Roddick Strengths and Weakness Anita Roddick strengths: She was creative in formulating business objectives. The business started from scratch and was able to compete with developed companies. She respected and encouraged innovation. For example, because she was not able to purchase many bottles for the cosmetics, she requested customers to return the bottles so that they could receive discounts. She was unselfish because she was able to support non-profit organisations and organisations that championed social and environmental conservation. Anita’s Weaknesses Overbearing – she did not employ certain employees because of her own conditions Did not keep promises – she stated that she will never do advertisement but she played a major role in American Express ad. Lack of compromise – she did not come to an understanding with organisations that did animal testing or employees who did not have certain individual beliefs Anita should step aside and let someone who has experience in marketing to take her place. Competition and competitors are increasing meaning the organisation may loose its market position. The revenues of the organisation are on the decrease and this may be attributed to organisation policy on not advertising (Ohene, 2005). Generally, it is important for Anita to step aside to enable the organisation to compete with other organisations. For example, after participation in American Express advertisements, the number of sales increased indicating the importance of advertising (Harold and Heinz, 2006). Question 6: No Advertisement Doing advertisements remains the preserve of any organisation. The Body Shop did not advertise but the organisation operated for more than thirty years and making billions of sales claiming that they did not advertise is ludicrous. The Body Shop utilised unconventional strategy of doing business in which many business persons and marketers would not have encouraged (Archie and Ann, 2011). The unconventional method resulted in a lot of profits, which in turn, the Body Shop donated to numerous organisations that had many objectives to benefit the society. There are few organisations, if any, that can claim that they did not do any advertising and made such huge profits. Conversely, the organisation was able to make such profits without advertising but it is not the appropriate approach of doing business. The markets have become more competitive in which new products are produced daily and therefore advertisement is a requirement. It is difficult for consumers to know existence of a product without advertisement. Cases such as The Body Shop may be around but the chances of such organisations succeeding are near zero. Question 7: The Body Shop/American Express Advertising Campaign The Body Shop participation in the American Express Ad is important because it informed consumers of the presence of the product. Without advertisement, it is difficult for a product to be known by consumers and Anita’s decision to advertise increased the sales contributing to increase in revenues (Bloom, 1999). The American Express campaign implied that those customers who used the Body Shop benefited immensely through purchasing the products through the use of the members card. Participation of Roddick in the advertisement benefited both The Body Shop and other non-profit organisations that did she endorses. This is because the revenues she received from the advertisement were used to support these non-profit organisations. Roddick participating in the advertisement contrived her earlier assertions that she will never advertise; an aspect supported by The Body Shop policy (Archie and Ann, 2011). Roddick committed ethics transgression because she did not follow her decision that she had kept for around twenty years. However, Roddick should explain her self that the approach she utilised could at the end have benefited her cause. Her cause was corporate social responsibility that supported the four components and her participation in the advertisement meant she could get some additional revenues that she utilised in championing her cause. Even though the idea contravened her earlier ethical decision, participation in the American Express Advertisement helped the non-profit organisations to achieve its goals. Question 8: Profitability vs. Obsession with social causes Increase in competition and globalisation makes it difficult for any organisation to succeed without introducing certain measures that are against social causes according to standards of Anita (Chris, 2009). For example, no organisation can succeed without promotional. Good advertisement is directly associated with profitable because of increase in sales. Therefore, no organisation can succeed without having obsession with social causes. References Carroll B. Archie and Ann K. Buchholtz. 2011. Business & Society: Ethics and Stakeholder Management, 8th Ed. Cengage Learning. Charter Autor Martin and Michael Jay Autor Polonsky. 1999. Greener Marketing: A Global Perspective on Greening Marketing Practice. New York: Greenleaf Publishing. Chryssides D. George and John H. Kaler. 1993. An Introduction to Business Ethics. London: Cengage Learning EMEA. Enz, A. Enz. Hospitality Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases, 2nd Ed. 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