Strategic Planning – Incorporating a Focus on Corporate Social Responsibility
For your final capstone assignment, you will create an organizational social responsibility initiative using knowledge gained from the course to connect CSR as a strategic initiative.
Porter and Kramer (2006) argued that strategic investment in sustainability must serve for more than improving public image, and should instead lead to innovation, opportunity, and competitive advantage, and, ultimately, sustainable development in the long term.
Successful corporations need a healthy society. Education, health care, and equal opportunity are essential to a productive workforce. Safe products and working conditions not only attract customers but lower the internal costs of accidents. Efficient utilization of land, water, energy, and other natural resources makes business more productive. Good government, the rule of law, and property rights are essential for efficiency and innovation. Strong regulatory standards protect both consumers and competitive companies from exploitation. Ultimately, a healthy society creates expanding demand for business, as more human needs are met and aspirations grow. Any business that pursues its ends at the expense of the society in which it operates will find its success to be illusory and ultimately temporary. (Porter & Kramer, 2006, p. 83).
CSR is about purposely and intentionally taking action that benefits communities and the environment from a symbiotic perspective that benefits society and the organization. The CSR strategic initiative should include the achievement of goals that create financial, societal, and environmental benefits, as well as sustainability for the organization’s long-term success by contributing to the organization’s competitive advantage within the industry. Concerns for communities and resources and the organization’s profitability allow you to demonstrate your managerial acumen in decision-making and apply the four functions of management (planning, organizing, leading, and controlling).
For your final capstone assignment, you will select a CSR strategic initiative and recommendations to support the successful implementation of the initiative. You may select an organization where you are currently employed, have worked in the past, or aspire to work in the future. Or you may choose from another organization with which you are familiar; however, your selection may not include Starbucks, Walmart, Microsoft, HP, Apple, or Tesla. If you have any questions about your company choice, please reach out to your instructor.
Capstone Project Overview
Your company has asked you to identify a CSR strategic initiative and recommended actions to support the successful implementation of this initiative. Your first action is to identify your CSR drivers- identification of opportunities and challenges regarding natural resources, current areas that cause harm to stakeholders, produce unnecessary waste, and harm the planet, as well as opportunities to leverage organizational resources to create inclusive capitalism or stakeholder capitalism. You are assessing the risks your organization faces from an environmental sustainability perspective as well as identifying a strategic CSR initiative that positions the organization for future success. The next action is to develop and prioritize goals and key performance indicators. These initiatives will become part of your organization’s strategic plan. The next action is developing an action plan after creating and prioritizing your goals and KPIs. Your action plan should include the expected benefits and impact of each goal and KPI, implementation costs (materials, and other resources). The next section should include your Implementation Plan.
The final project includes the following expectations:
Introduction (from Module Four Milestone)
Describe the organization you selected for the final project. Include the name of the organization, the approximate size of the organization, the source of revenue generated by the organization (products and or service-the value that the organization provides to the end user), and the organization’s target market.
Body of the Paper
Sustainability drivers: Identify your sustainability drivers-what are the opportunities and challenges regarding natural resources, current areas that cause harm to stakeholders, produce unnecessary waste or harm the planet, as well as opportunities to leverage organizational resources to create inclusive capitalism or stakeholder capitalism.
Corporate Social Responsibility initiative:
Identify a CSR initiative that you would like to propose for this organization. Explain how this CSR initiative aligns with the organization’s corporate or business-level strategy, the corporation’s revenue source, and the organization’s community (from Module Four Milestone).
Identify three benefits that could be realized by completing this CSR initiative (From Module Four Milestone).
Describe how this CSR initiative fits as a disruptive or non-disruptive innovation (From Module Four Milestone).
Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative Implementation Plan
Identify and prioritize goals and key performance indicators to develop an action plan. Your action plan should include the expected benefits and impact of each goal and KPI, and an estimate of implementation costs (based on material, and other resources).
Recommendations for the successful implementation of your CSR initiative. Suggested areas for consideration depending on the CSR initiative that you selected might include these areas, employee training, internal and external communication, culture development, and policy requirements or simple rules. Consider including the strategy story you created in Module Five, and simple rules developed in Module Six.
Conclusion: Create a conclusion that briefly describes your CSR strategic initiative, one significant benefit to the organization and one significant societal benefit, and how this CSR strategic initiative inspires the organization’s workforce.
Your paper should be 5-6 pages in length and conform to APA guidelines in the CSU Global Writing Center. Include at least 3 credible references. The CSU Global Library is a good place to find these references. The Library and Writing Center can be accessed from the course navigation menu.
Reference
Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R., (2006). Strategy and society: the link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibilityLinks to an external site.. Harvard Business Review, 84(12), pp. 78-92.
