Social Performance

Posted: September 10th, 2013

Social Performance

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Social Performance

1.         Blax advertising company is a public corporation that has been in business for twenty years. It started out as a small company but has grown over the years to the entity that it is today. The company deals with all types advertising regardless of the size of the client’s company. It is located in a business park. This provides the company with adequate access to many clients. Many stakeholders have a relationship with the company. Whatever the company does directly influences these people. The primary stakeholders in Blax advertising are customers, employees, management, creditors and stockholders. All these people have a stake in the company. Customers determine whether the company will make profits or losses. Employees ensure that the customer’s needs are fulfilled. Employers’ or management’s role is to source for funds. Another role is to ensure that the daily business activities run smoothly. Creditors and stockholders ensure that the company always has funds to run the business. Stakeholders are part of the decision making process (Alexander et. al., 2006).

Secondary stakeholders are people that have an interest in Blax Advertising. They are however not directly affected by its activities. They often offer support to the company’s primary stakeholders. This support is through money and legislation. Secondary stakeholders that the company has are government, money-lending institutions and target audience. The government’s role is to ensure that the company’s working environment is conducive. Money-lending institutions provide the company with any extra funding that they might require. The target audiences are the customers that the company’s clients want to address. The primary stakeholders are dependent on the secondary stakeholders. Without the secondary stakeholders, it would be hard for the company to achieve its goals. The company’s success therefore relies on how the stakeholders interact with each other.

2.         Stakeholders have great influence in Blax Advertising. They determine how successful the firm will become. They influence the decisions that the company makes. The government, through taxes and legislation, has influenced the firm to become more socially responsible. They have changed the company’s policy of using fliers. Initially Blax used to use fliers as their main source of advertising. However, after the government passed legislation for companies to be greener, the firm changed this policy. The firm has now adopted better ways of advertising that preserve the environment (Phillips & Freeman, 2010).

Blax Advertising’s customers also influence its destiny. This is because, through its business, the firm can make profits. It is important that the company ensure that all the clients’ needs are fulfilled. Making the customer happy ensures that the company remains sustainable now and in the future. The firm will ensure that they will always make profits. They will also have repeat business, as a satisfied customer will always come back. Employees are an important asset to a company. As such, the firm treats its employees as priceless assets. Without them, nothing will be achieved. They are responsible for making the client happy. The firm thus has to ensure that they are satisfied and happy in their positions.

Other stakeholders such as creditors and money-lending institutions are also imperative to the company. This is because they assist the company with any additional funds they might need during a fiscal year. At times, the amount of money budgeted for a financial year might not be enough for all the activities the firm has set out to do. Creditors therefore come into play. They provide any extra funding that the firm might need to achieve its objectives. Had they not been there for the firm, important projects that the firm had would not be achieved. Stakeholders are key players in shaping the destiny of any business.

3.         Both stakeholders and the company have vested interested in each other. It is important that they form a bond so that both their objectives are achieved. All parties should realize that they play important roles. Kaizen philosophy will work best here as it focuses on continuous improvement of the work processes. It ensures that everyone including the stakeholders improve how they work and relate to each other. This Japanese philosophy has been used by many businesses. All stakeholders work together towards achieving the objectives of the company. It has been realized that everyone has a function in the business. All these functions contribute towards the success of the firm.

The first step towards implementing the philosophy is check where the firm is currently falling short. The firm will do an analysis to find any loopholes in the current operations. After the loopholes have been identified, the firm can come up with possible solutions for the problems. This will require the team to work together so that the solutions are long lasting. The next step is to check which solution best solves the problem that the company has. Here, trial and error might be used until the solution that appeals to most of the stakeholders is found. The company then acts upon the solution that has been recommended by all parties. This philosophy is good as it makes the stakeholders work together. They have to interact so that they can identify the issues that affect the company. In interacting, the stakeholders are able to achieve the goals of the company by sorting any other problems that they might have. All underlying issues that might have been overlooked are also addressed (Ortiz, 2009).

4.         In the implementation of the plan, there are challenges that are bound to come up. For the plan to be successful, it requires everyone’s attitude to change. In business structures, management dictates what needs to be done. Thus changing this mentality is going to be a problem. Another problem is people are not always open to change. Therefore, another problem will be retaliation by the stakeholders. They will not want to adopt the changes that are being done. Another issue is that the Kaizen philosophy views problems as opportunities that can be improved. In business, problems are viewed as obstacles. Nobody wants to be associated with problems. Since this philosophy concentrates on highlighting problems, it will be rejected initially.

To resolve these problems, the stakeholders need to adopt a positive attitude. They will need to be encouraged to see the good in change instead of viewing it as an obstacle. Management will have to adopt the attitude first so that the rest can emulate them. They will have to lead by example. For instance if they want to stop late coming at work they should not be late for work. To solve the challenge of retaliation, the stakeholders need to be enlightened about the good that will be got from adopting these changes. This will make them more receptive to the plan. Stakeholders will be taught to view the problems that they have as opportunities. They can convert the problems that they have into opportunities making them more successful. Though at first the stakeholders might have many problems, eventually they will come to appreciate that the changes will make Blax Advertising even more successful (Alexander et. al., 2006).

Reference

Alexander, J. C., Giesen, B., & Mast, J. L. (2006). Social performance: Symbolic action, cultural pragmatics, and ritual. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Ortiz, C. A. (2009). Kaizen and kaizen event implementation. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Phillips, R., & Freeman, R. E. (2010). Stakeholders. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.