Measuring Sources of Brand Equity
For any marketers, it is of supreme importance to understand a consumer mind and also current level of brand knowledge among consumers because this understanding lays foundation for formulation of marketing communication strategies. Hypothetically, marketers should be able to construct such mind print; but as this knowledge resides in consumer mind, task become difficult. Marketers […]
Corporate Governance in the West and the Rest of the World
The previous articles discussed how good corporate governance is imperative to the existence of a structured and functioning economy. In this article, we look at the ways in corporate governance is practiced in the developed economies of the West and in the developing economies in the rest of the world. To start with, the ongoing […]
Sales Management Strategies
The art of meeting the sales targets effectively through meticulous planning and budgeting refers to sales management. Sales Management helps to extract the best out of employees and achieve the sales goals of the organization in the most effective ways. Let us go through some sales management strategies: Identify goals and objectives of the sales […]
Corporate Governance – Definition, Scope and Benefits
What is Corporate Governance? Corporate Governance refers to the way a corporation is governed. It is the technique by which companies are directed and managed. It means carrying the business as per the stakeholders’ desires. It is actually conducted by the board of Directors and the concerned committees for the company’s stakeholder’s benefit. It is […]
International Sourcing is the Backbone of International Retailing
In the current times International Retailing industry is largely characterised by international sourcing. Though one might argue that for centuries countries have been engaged in sourcing materials from different countries, international sourcing as in the retail trade has grown and changed over a period of time. In the initial stages, the impetus for retailing of […]
The world is changing before our eyes and whether one actively participates in that or is a bystander, the changes affect all of us. This is true in the business world as well where resource crunch, power outages and labor unrest means that companies have to take extra precautions to survive the present times.
When one looks at the worldwide scenario, it is full of economic gloom and forecasts of things getting worse. In this scenario, it is no longer the case that sustainability and corporate responsibility are just catchphrases or things that the companies can do at their leisure. Instead, they have become paradigms in their own right which must be followed if the companies and the environment that sustains them have to transition to a new paradigm.
The point here is that corporate behavior must change with the changing times and hence excessive exploitation of resources along with causing environmental damage would be severely punished. In this context, it is worth noting that companies around the world have adopted corporate responsibility into their business strategies.
Further, the United Nations has made several corporations around the world signatories to their Global Compact. This Global Compact is a set of principles that bind companies to social responsibility and encourage them to adopt sustainable business practices. With the Global Compact and the Millennium Development Goals set by the UN, corporates around the world have incentives to participate in creating a better world.
The ongoing global economic crisis has made sustainability a key parameter as the excesses of the capitalist era precipitated the crisis and catalyzed the movement towards sustainability. Hence, the WTO (World Trade Organization) as well as the IMF and World Bank have incorporated sustainability into their mandates and are actively encouraging and goading the corporations around the world to adopt corporate social responsibility.
In China and India, the severe power shortages and labor unrest has forced many companies to address social responsibility which along with the cost to the environment because of pollution has led to severe penalties from the regulators.
Taking all these factors into account, there is now a widespread acceptance of the fact that corporate social responsibility is no longer an extra business practice but a necessity. The winds of change are sweeping across the world and it is high time the corporations realized the inevitability of change and transition to a new paradigm.
Unless companies learn to do with less and do not cause damage to the environment, there is no way in which humanity is going to survive. This message must be sent loud and clear by bodies like the UN, WTO, IMF and World Bank and it is only when there is a realization of this aspect that effective and deep actions can be taken. We have to realize that change takes time and so there must be patience with the change process.
Finally, this is a time for visionary leadership and sagacious wisdom from the top CEO’s and management of corporations.
Without the mandate coming from the top, it is difficult to actualize change and create an environment where the future generations have something to look forward to instead of being pessimistic. This is the central challenge of our times and it needs to be seen how far the present leadership of major corporations follows the Global Compact and the Sustainability Principles set out by the UN.
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