Sunday, February 23, 2020

Why the Managing Ethics and Social Responsibility Issue Is Relevant to Essay

Why the Managing Ethics and Social Responsibility Issue Is Relevant to the BP (British Petroleum) - Essay Example Ethics are used for setting the limits in regard to the operations of MNCs in countries worldwide. In its common sense, the term ethics is used for referring to ‘a code or set of principles by which people live’ (Popkin and Stroll 1993, p.1). However, the monitoring of the alignment of organizational decisions with ethics is a difficult task; in fact, it has been proved that most decisions of MNCs may violate ethics, at least at regional level. According to Beer (2010) the decisions of organizations operating in the context of the international market are likely to oppose, more or less, to ethics. Current paper reviews the performance of a well-known multinational corporation, British Petroleum (BP), in regard to ethics. According to the company’s reports, as presented below, the firm highly emphasizes on social responsibility and ethics in regard to all its activities. However, in practice the above argument is not verified. In fact, it is proved that the organiz ation has repeatedly failed in responding to its social responsibilities, causing severe damages on its employees and people living in the areas surrounding its sites; besides, the environmental effects of the firm’s activities cannot be ignored. It is clear that the firm needs to update its operations globally promoting ethics and social responsibility. ... practices with ethics and social responsibility, can be identified by referring to the firm’s existing policies for promoting social responsibility and ethics. At the next level, events proving the violation by the company of ethics will be presented and evaluated using appropriate literature. BP operates in an industry the effects of which on the environment can be significant. For this reason, and under the influence of the accident in Mexico in 2010, the firm has tried to introduce a series of initiatives for improving its relationship with its stakeholders. Daft and Marcic (2008) explain that the organization emphasizes on the continuous increase of its performance in regard to environmental responsibility. Lord John Browne, the Group’s Chief Executive, monitors the performance of the organization in regard to the specific sector (Daft and Marcic 2008, p.149). Browne notes that the increase of the needs in oil and gas annually has led to the increase of environmenta l risks, an issue that it is difficult to be managed effectively, due to the lack of control over the global needs in oil and gas (Daft and Marcic 2008, p.149). Moreover, the firm has introduced ‘an emissions trading system’ (Daft 2007, p.761), in order to improve its performance in locating resources without set environment in risk (Daft 2007, p.761). In addition, the firm has established an Educational Service, which promotes educational schemes for informing students and teachers on the effects of industrial operations on climate change, and the impact of the latter on human life (Ferrell and Hartline 2010, p.556). In 2005 the firm developed its Code of Conduct aiming to show to its stakeholders its efforts in promoting ethics and social responsibility (Ferrell and Hartline 2010, p.556). The

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Corporate finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

Corporate finance - Essay Example The important role of SMBs is evident when the economies of the developing nations are considered. SMBs contribute greatly to the gross domestic product in a country, entrepreneurial skill development, generation of employment and innovation to many developing economies. In light of this, the paper will critically analyze the various sources of financing for small and medium scale businesses Due to the good impact of SMBs in the economy of a country, support schemes and programs have been put forth in institutions by some of the developed and developing countries so as to support them (Prasad, C. 2004). This support includes offering loans, expert counseling on the types of credit so as to avoid credit risk, advice and legal assistance on exports by the government of the United States of America through small business administration. For instance, in the late 80s the Nigerian Government established the Entrepreneur Development Programme through the National Directorate of Employment, the objective of this policy was to reduce unemployment level through providing an opportunity for individuals to acquire entrepreneur skills. Further they would be able to secure loans for themselves so that they can start their own small and medium scale enterprises (Dinesh, 2003). Another case was in Mexico whereby the Mexican Development Fund was established so as to provide an arrangem ent of finance to aid agricultural activities. Despite such efforts, investigations reveal that the SMBs are still facing major challenges. Some of the SMBs cannot easily access funds thus posing a major threat to their existence in terms of growth and survival. Ekpenyong and Nyong (1992) states that in some countries like Ghana for example, financial schemes have been launched. They include Micro-finance, venture capitalist trust, and small loan centers among others. Others are export development, Investment Funds and