Self-Reflection After Taking Corporate Responsibility & Governance Course; Example Of Google Inc.

Nowadays corporations have not only to take care of the innovations and competitiveness of their products but also of their reputation. It means that consumers no longer pay attention only to prices and quality but also to the position of the corporation concerning different issues such as ethics, responsibility for own policy and other moral aspects of business. However sometimes it may seem that it is difficult for a corporate entity to combine being profitable, obeying to law, being ethical and being a good corporate citizen. Even the most powerful and successful corporations in the world face such challenges. At first glance it may seem that large companies already have reached everything in their field, attracted many customers, earned a lot of money and do not have to take ethical issues into consideration. But it is not true; often there emerge business dilemmas where law contradicts with ethics, and the reputation or development of the whole company is at stake.

An example of such situation is the case when Google Inc. launched their search engine in China. To achieve that, Google needed to make an agreement with the Chinese government according to which all terms considered offensive by the Chinese government were filtered out. It was quite difficult for Google to make such decision as this approach limited Chinese users in terms of information search. However, without the agreement with the Chinese government Google would not have been able to enter the new market and provide a service of better quality to its users.

The company understood that the decision to limit search information was ethically flawed. Not long after introducing the new search engine in China Google faced numerous hacker attacks. These attacks were a very significant push for the corporation to pay attention to the issue of search terms censoring and to change their policy. Google developed new service which was not censored and free from any limitations. The example of Google Inc. illustrates that modern companies have not only to give services of high quality but also to be ethical as their customers appreciate freedom and independence.

Another example of the company which had to make choices in the sphere of corporate responsibility is Starbucks. On the one hand, the company actively encourages its employers to go to college. This means that Starbucks is interested in employees with higher education who will further advance their careers in Starbucks after graduation. In the more global sense this fact can be interpreted as the company’s support provided to well-educated and talented people.

However, despite its positive corporate responsibility actions directed towards employees, Starbucks also tried to avoid paying taxes in Europe (Hope n.d.). For instance, in the United Kingdom this issue provoked a huge scandal. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron claimed that he was going to stop unfair practices used by large corporations to avoid taxes, even though these practices were legal. During one press-conference Mr. Cameron was asked why Starbucks and Amazon were allowed not to pay full taxes despite their huge presence in the country. Mr. Cameron emphasized that the problem really existed in the UK, and corporations found ways to avoid taxes even though tax rates for businesses were already low (Hope n.d.). Mr. Cameron noted that although the ways of avoiding taxes were formally legal, such actions of large corporations were not ethical and violated the concept of corporate social responsibility (Hope n.d.).

Another company which may serve as an ambivalent example in terms of corporate social responsibility is Coca-Cola. In 2015 the company claimed that it may pay back $3.3 billion taxes to the U.S. The major issue is that in 2014 43% of the company’s revenue was earned in the United States of America, however that was translated to only 17 per cent of the revenue in the country (Gardner n.d.). According to CTJ report, Coca-Cola had at least 13 subsidiaries in foreign countries; some of these subsidiaries might have been used to avoid paying taxes (Sharife n.d.). However, Coca-Cola also demonstrates high social and environmental responsibility. For example, Coca-Cola regularly takes part in environmental initiatives such as organizing a campaign to reduce the usage of plastic bags or joining the Marine Stewardship Council to promote sustainable fishing practices. In addition, the company removed toxins from its products which is not only good for environment but also for human health.

Social responsibility should be the an integral part of business activities nowadays. Mr. Fonk, Senior Vice President of Nielsen Reputation Management and Public Affairs,  says: “It’s not just giving money; social responsibility needs to be in the DNA of your business. Actions speak more than words or money” (Vozza n.d.). Social activities pay important role in the corporate responsibility of companies. These activities allow companies to demonstrate their loyalty and citizenship. In addition, social responsibility promotes social interaction with consumers. However, unfortunately, there still exist cases of anti-social corporate activities such as tax avoidance. It seems that this is the way for companies not only to increase own revenues but also to find money for social and environmental issues. In the result, the situation is quite ambivalent as on the one hand companies make socially useful contributions; but on the other hand they divert resources that should belong to the society.

While taking the course named “Corporate Social Responsibility and Governance” I learned a lot about these concepts and identified a variety of ways that a company might use to benefit the society. Before taking the course I actually knew little about the concept of corporate social responsibility, and believed that large companies opposed such activities. Now I realized that in the long-term perspective the concepts of corporate social responsibility and corporate profitability supplement each other instead of conflicting. Indeed, if an organization contributes to the society and helps to improve the lives of its customers and employees, the community will have greater respect of such organization and will therefore choose its products or service over competing ones. Moreover, if the company’s customers have a better quality of life due to social responsibility, they will be able to afford more products and services in the future. Hence, current investments into social responsibility also contribute to business profitability.

I will be able to use the knowledge gained during the course to benefit my employer. I will be able to make the company more socially responsible, more environment-friendly and more ethical. The actions towards promoting corporate social responsibility can be done both at corporate and governmental level. For example, it would be a great idea if companies were freed from a bigger part of their taxes payment and instead directed saved money for overcoming unemployment and improving social and ecological situation. It might be possible to create laws allowing the companies to choose whether to pay taxes to government or invest the funds into environment protection projects. In terms of corporate social responsibility, it might also be possible to direct some part of corporate income into retraining people, therefore reducing unemployment and helping the company to recruit more talents.

Using the information provided in the course ” Corporate Responsibility and Governance” I will be able to develop an optimal social responsibility approach for my employer, and to suggest implementation plans for different CSR initiatives. This course has greatly expanded my vision and understanding of corporate social responsibility. More importantly, I was able to analyze a number of real cases when social responsibility was used or avoided, and now I am well-equipped to address real-life ethical challenges and social responsibility questions in the business environment.

Works Cited

Gardner, Mat, “It’s Not the Real Thing: Coca-Cola Hit with $3.3 Billion Tax Bill for Fake “Foreign Income”, Tax Justice, September 22, 2015. Web. [http://www.taxjusticeblog.org/archive/2015/09/its_not_the_real_thing_coca-co.php#.VvbWF246VjQ]

Heineman, Ben W. “The Google case: When law and ethics collide”, The Atlantic, January 13, 2010. Web. [http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/01/the-google-case-when-law-and-ethics-collide/33438/]

Hope, Christopher, “David Cameron: Tax avoiding foreign firms like Starbucks and Amazon lack ‘moral scruples”, The Telegraph, January 4, 2013. Web.

[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/9779983/David-Cameron-Tax-avoiding-foreign-firms-like-Starbucks-and-Amazon-lack-moral-scruples.html]

Pettinger, Tejvan, ” Tax Avoiding Companies in the UK”, Economics help, December 10, 2012. Web.

[http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/6491/economics/tax-avoiding-companies-in-the-uk/]

Selinger, Evan, “Inside Google’s Mysterious Ethic Board”, Forbes Tech, February 3, 2014. Web. [http://www.forbes.com/sites/privacynotice2014//02/03/inside-googles-mysterious-ethics-board/#495cfd674674]

Sharife, Khadija, “Trade secrets: Coca-Cola’s hidden formula for avoiding taxes”, December 2015. Web.

[http://mondediplo.com/openpage/trade-secrets-coca-cola-s-hidden-formula-for]

Vozza, Stephanie, “Why Amazon and Coca-Cola have the best corporate reputation”, Fast Company, December 5, 2014. Web.

[http://www.fastcompany.com/3030357/bottom-line/why-amazon-and-coca-cola-have-the-best-corporate-reputations]

Wortstall, Tim, “Starbucks is no tax avoider. It’s obeying the law of the land”, The Times Thunderer, November 20, 2012. Web. [http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/thunderer/article360552]

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

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"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

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"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

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