Question

Meeting the expectations of stakeholders and being socially responsible are generally important goals for the modern organization. However, as stated in our text on pages 96-97, some economists argue that social responsibility should not be part of the strategic decision-making process. Do you agree or disagree?

Answer 1

Case Specifics

Over the years, economists have been able to link social responsibility as part of being inclusive to the strategic decision making within a company and have advocated for sustainable development for long term success of any economy.

Social responsibility refers to a mechanism in which the company realizes that it is part of the society and thus should contribute towards its development and engage in production of services and products in such a manner that they do not harm the society but rather provide value to it respectively.

In the pre modern era, for an example, companies were only bothered about generating profits and were least bothered about factors such as the amount of pollution which they did or social welfare of the employees.

Slowly and gradually, the concepts of Social Responsibility gained importance and allowed for profits to take place not at the cost of the society but to consider the company as part of the society and to allow it to earn profits without harming and as a matter of fact ploughing back to the society at large.

Therefore the importance of Social Responsibility in decision making is important and must be given due attention to towards development of an organization and the entire economy as a whole respectively. Any decision which has a long lasting impact on the society needs due consideration and pros and cons of it must be analyzed as part of the strategic decision making process.

This enables success to take place without harming the society but, rather considering it as an important element without which companies cannot achieve long term results respectively.

Conclusion:-

Thus, to ensure that a companies profit does not lead to long term problems in an economy which in the long run will surely impact the company itself also, and to maintain social justice and fair treatment for all, social responsibility is and should continue to remain an integral part of the strategic decision making process. Whoever advocates for the opposite has a pragmatic and small view of how a company should work and should be discouraged. Companies can continue to earn profits and contribute to the society at the same time and this phenomenon should be encouraged.

Please feel free to ask your doubts in the comments section if any.