Social responsibility refers to a firm’s capability to respond to issues beyond economic, technical and legal requirements to achieve social advantage coupled with the profit that the firm seeks. Corporate social responsibility has been the back of senior managers, but this has since changed to the firm’s agenda a whole. Corporate social responsibility is not an individual action because the manager alone cannot be entrusted to ensure the integration of the firm with the society in which it operates.
The concept of corporate social responsibility is majorly on the concept of stakeholder. This refers to any group or individual or group whose action can directly affect or is affected by the achievement of the organization’s goals and objectives (Ritzer, 117). These stakeholders include employees, suppliers, communities, government, and social and environmental groups. Firms grapple with how to strategize with corporate social responsibility in their attempts to ensure that they remain top of the rest in the market.
Mc Donald Corporation has effectively the concept of corporate social responsibility to beat the rest of its competitors, and maintain its top performance. This corporation serves over fifty million customers daily, thus being the leading world foodservice seller. Mc Donald Corporation has to continue improving its profitability, and above all its performance environmentally and socially. The corporation has managed to have tailor made products to suit the demands of its ever increasing client base.
Global sustainability is the ability of a firm to effectively meet the present demands while ensuring that the ability of future generations to meet their demands is not compromised. Global sustainability applies across social, economics, and environmental sustenance. Mc Donald Corporation has maintained its ability to meet the demands currently while ensuring that future demands can be met with ease. It has ensured that poverty levels of the populace it serves are not severe, and also keeps the increase of the population at a close check. Stakeholders are either primary or secondary. Primary stakeholders are mainly the constituents that the firm relies upon for its survival. They include employees, shareholders, suppliers, customers, communities, managers and government. Secondary stakeholders do not have direct relation with the corporation, but they influence or affect, or are influenced or affected by the corporation. Such groups are environmental groups or social groups.
Mc Donald Corporation keeps the production cost relatively low every time it enters into new markets. However, the corporation swiftly adapts to the practices of the host country. It was the first corporation to place significantly the application of cultural diversity in its operations thus performing invariably well on new ground. Mc Donald has managed to adapt to local food preferences so as to win the confidence of customers. Mc Donald developed McLobster, a lobster sandwich on the Canadian Coast where lobster is readily available. Mc Donald responded to local food preferences of food in Egypt, and McLuks salmon burger has a higher preference over beef burgers in Finland.
Mc Donald has strict regulations to its suppliers to provide consistent and safe products to each of its clients in restaurants. Mc Donald uses a very specific process in Russia to purchase their meat since local regulations are not compliant with Mc Donald’s standard processes. Mc Donald Corporation was among the first firms to implement the new technology of computerized point of sale that, and touch-screen computers for entering orders. Their restaurants have been modeled to improve customer experience, and attract as many customers as possible. Their leather chairs, wireless internet, video game play stations, and laptop outlets add to MC Donald’s growing list of reasons behind their perfect performance.
Conclusion
Corporate social responsibility is a tool that can help reduce a lot of competition at the top. The firm that learns and practices it well will always soar above the rest. Rivalry amongst competitors is reduced as well as threat of new entries in the market if corporate social responsibility is well adapted by firms in the market. Suppliers who supply goods that meet all the requirements are likely to get a good bargain for their products. Substitutes which perform better than the existing one are likely to be preferred to others in the market. Wind power, for instance, is considered environmentally friendly thus preferred as opposed to fossil-fuel sources of power.
Works Cited
Ritzer, G. The McDonaldization of Society 6. New York: Pine Forge Press. Print.
