Corporate Social Responsability, New Balance

This was knows as Corporate social responsibility (CSR). World business council for sustainable development defines CSR as the continuing commitment by business to contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the community and society at large ("Corporate social responsibility," n.d.). New Balance also faced new challenges in terms of CSR as the company acquired new brands and moved to become a global footwear brand. Realizing the changing operating environment for business, New Balance engaged The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship (BCCCC), an independent and credible research organization, to conduct an assessment and provide recommendations for developing an aligned CSR strategy to the Responsible Leadership Steering Committee and senior leadership ((Veleva, 2009, p.1).

Company Q is a small local grocery store chain who has made poor decisions when it comes to social responsibility. Company Q’s business is suffering because the owners’ do not know the heart of running a business, Social responsibility. When opening a business it is not all about the money. Sure it is nice to think about growth and reaping the benefits of a bigger bank account, but the first thing that is important in business is the consumers. Who is buying what you are selling? What will make consumers buy more, comeback, or tell friends? Businesses flourish around consumers. So if it is money you are after, then consumers are who you need and want. So in business in order for Company Q to get what they want and need, they will need to give the consumer what they want and need, social responsibility. Give back, it has always been said “It is better to give than to receive.” After careful review of Company Q's business actions, this company lacks social responsibility in many areas.

This article is study of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability. It mainly speaks about the origin and the operations of CSR programs in the United States of America from the 1980’s.

New Balance (NB) had some great deeds and practices to flaunt on, specifically in the four categories of overall governance, community support, operations and products and services. New Balance was also an industry leader in many of the initiatives they took and were ranked fourth-largest footwear brand in the world. (2010, Dr. Veleva.V. “New Balance – Developing an Integrated CSR strategy.” Page 14.) However, they have been rather shy/reluctant about talking about their various initiatives they have implemented. In fact, their employees were also not completely aware of what the organization was doing from a CSR standpoint. If I headed public relations for the company, I would use tactics and strategies that targeted both internally and externally to promote the various good deeds/doings of the company. I have explained on them below:

Nowadays, many international companies take sustainable development seriously. They understand that sustainable development can enhance their quality of life and their reputation in public. Sustainable development is "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." (Brundtland, 1987) Sustainability requires monitoring and managing all the person to ensure that our economy and society can continue to exist without destroying the social and natural environment during development. The sustainability includes three pillars, which are economic, social and environment, forming a triple bottom line. The triple bottom line demands that a company 's responsibility lies

Soroptimist is an organization that does what it can to stop sex trafficking but in order for Soroptimist to fully accomplish their task they would need to expand their organization from more than just 20 countries to fully create awareness to those around.

As the CEO of a medium-sized business, my priorities are not just to help steer a profitable company but also to make it a positive and contributing member of its surrounding community. This is especially important for a company that specializes in the packaging and marketing of healthy, nutritious and convenient foods. Natural Gardens Food Products offers a wide range of pre-packaged healthy options for breakfast, lunch and dinner that are great for healthy eaters who are on-the-go. Though Natural Gardens is inherently involved in promoting various campaigns for making healthy lifestyle choices, there is a large area of opportunity for improvement in its service to the community. The discussion hereafter will consider these opportunities for better Corporate Social Performance (CSP) and the stakeholders that will be directly impacted.

Employees are a large part of what make up organizations and they play a vital role within the stakeholders of a company. In order for an company to conceive socially responsible goals, they must focus within their organizations structure and make sure their stakeholders needs are attained, specifically the employees working for them. Companies wouldn 't exist without employees who work and interact with their products, customers and suppliers on a day to day basis. David Chandler and William B. Werther, Jr. present the case study of John Lewis Partnership in their book, Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility, to illustrate an example of a company that strives to keep their employees a central priority in their organization. The John Lewis Partnership has a unique way of viewing the roles their employees play within the firm that has allowed their overall business to be a major success. The revolutionary concept has pioneered a new way that companies and other organizations strive to incorporate into their business strategy.

The company’s owners, James and Anne Davis are major contributors to philanthropic activities, which includes providing grants to charitable organizations through The New Balance Foundation. Through the Foundation, over $60 million in grants have been funded to partnering organizations working towards promoting healthy lifestyles, children’s fitness and overall community improvement (newbalancefoundation.org, 2015). The values expressed by New Balance through efforts in protecting US jobs were demonstrated when the company chose to retain a portion of its manufacturing base in the US, in order to avoid layoffs during the 2007-2009 recession. In addition, New Balance also exhibit strengths in areas of greening of US facilities, reductions in volatile organic compounds emissions domestically, and worker conditions in supplier factories (Veleva, 2010, pp. 8-9).

New Balance was founded, by William J. Riley, in 1906 as the New Balance Arch Support Company. In 1972, on the day of the Boston Marathon, New Balance was purchased by current Chairman Jim Davis. Davis’ vision of what the company could become and how it could change the industry landscape was very evident. “He

Company X’s attitude towards being socially responsible is being clouded by its desire to maintain high profits. With its current actions, Company X is catering to a select group of its primary stakeholders such as the investors and shareholders. They seem to be forgetting that the customers, employees, and the community are also primary stakeholders. We will look into the scenario and dissect the company’s actions to show how they are alienating the community that will ultimately determine their reputation and profitability.

 Though New Balances revealed a strong basic support for CSR, it did not provide enough guidance for the managers to follow. The managers didn 't know how to identify problems with business risks and opportunities. New Balance lacked a clear process on setting up CSR goals that were linked to the core business strategy. The business had six basic strategic business priorities that linked them to responsible leadership.

I chose to look into General Electric for this project because they are an energy supplier and multi-national company. Energy providers have a reputation as a money hungry companies that care about the bottom line more than people and the planet. It is easy for a person to assume that a corporation of GE’s size, money would be its only concern. What I learned was that GE has a public image problem more than a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) problem. The company has been working to make the people of the planet more Earth friendly by creating technology that has higher efficiency with fewer emissions and lower resource demands. GE has a well-established strategy for Corporate Social Responsibility. As a result of CSR the company

New Balance International was founded during the early 1990s specializing in orthopedic footware to improve the fit of their shoes. Today the company continues its founding values in a highly specialized niche business of providing athletic footware in a wide range of widths and sizes which distinguishes the product from its competitors. With the philosophy of “one size did not fit all,” New Balance expanded operation from the US and currently markets its product in 160 countries in six continents. New Balance Inc. first appeared in South Africa In 1976 when a Durban based company obtained a license to distribute the brand. Under this distribution plan the company held a very small percentage of

New Balance is the second largest athletic footwear manufacturer in the U.S. and the fourth largest in the world. The company has had a strong focus on corporate social responsibility (CSR) since its inception 100 years ago, although until recently it has not necessarily been adept at making the public aware of its “doing what’s right” culture (Veleva, 2010).