This article discusses the relationship between corporate governance and social responsibility using Coca-Cola as a case study. It covers issues such as reduction of carbon footprint and giving back to the community, and applies stakeholder theory and agency theory to analyze the company's actions.
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Running Head: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY1 Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Authorâs Name Institutional Affiliation Date
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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY2 Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Introduction The multinational company selected for the assignment is Coca-Cola Company. It is an American corporation, with subsidiaries around the world. As a beverage company, Coca-Cola has been able to serve the global consumers with over 500 sparkling brands. However, the media report of interest here is the sustainability report of 2017. The Sustainability Report of Coca-Cola generally tells its story holistically. The report looks into the social and environmental impact of the company and their interconnectedness. There is interconnectedness between the environmental and social implications of the activities of Coca-Cola. This points out that the annual review cover reflects the diverse beverages the company produces for its customers around the world (The Coca-Cola Company, 2017).Most importantly, the report cover shows its packaging that is centered on reuse and recycling. Ideally, this sustainability statement raises significant items that concern corporate governance. It was found that there is a relationship between corporate governance and the triple bottom line sustainability performance (Ferrero- Ferrero et al, 2015). This research looked into this relationship through stakeholder theory and agency theory. From this research, it is without a doubt that corporate governance is linked to the triple bottom line which includes economic, social and environmental functions of a business to the society. Thus, the sustainability paper of the company is one that aims to improve the organizationâs corporate governance and social responsibility. Corporate governance or CSR issues
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY3 The first thing raised in its sustainability report is a reduction of carbon footprint. Secondly, this paper would investigate as addressed in the article is giving back. The giving back is equivalent to philanthropy (The Coca-Cola Company, 2017). These two issues are two- pronged in the sense that they feature corporate governance commitment to SR and at the same time its organizational approach to gain a competitive advantage. Businesses do not just engage in corporate social responsibility, but they do so to increase their competitiveness. Coca-Cola believes that it has a social responsibility to the environment. It is aware that climate change is real and as a business it has to commit its resources and time to curb it. To reduce carbon footprint, the company collaborates with its suppliers. Its supply chain is determined to reduce emissions. In the supply chain, the packaging, ingredients, distributing and manufacturing are some of the areas that the company is focused on lowering its carbon footprint. (Ghosh, & Shah,2015), inform that addressing green supply chain initiatives and sharing contracts with the supply chain team that undertake green initiatives is essential to a business dedicated to eliminating carbon footprint. Besides, these authors assert that to eradicate carbon footprint, the organization has to redesign its products. This is precisely, what Coca-Cola is doing. It is engaging suppliers that are practicing sustainable agriculture and able to provide them with raw material that is environmentally friendly (The Coca-Cola Company 2017 Climate Update, 2018).In details, the company asserts that they are increasing their climate resilience and dedicated to mitigating impacts on climate change on their business. In essence, the focus on reducing carbon footprint is both environmental and economic problem. As a business it believes that it has an environmental SR and this actualized through reducing environmental footprint. This is also an economic issue that is of concern to the corporate governance because it
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY4 determines competitiveness. In essence, the entity is leveraging its carbon footprint reduction to boost its sales and corporate image. Giving back is a social responsibility of Coca-Cola to the community. Since its founding in 1886, we are told that they have built a giving back legacy. Though, its foundation was formed in 1984, the company started a global philanthropic arm (The Coca-Cola Company 2017 Climate Update, 2018). Since the inception of the foundation, the organization has continued to participate in charitable activities without any discrimination. The company spends one percent of its annual operating income on philanthropic programs. In its philanthropic grants, it prioritizes water, community and women well-being.The Giving Back program is an extensive one, and it plays a crucial role in changing the lives of the communities. In areas hit by disasters like hurricane, Coca-Cola has been chipping in to meet its charitable obligations to communities in need. According to Powell, (2018) corporate philanthropy is not just done by business blindly, but it is a business strategy that aims at improving the financial interests of stakeholders. Giving back program is, therefore, one that aims at influencing policymakers and builds trust with communities or public. For instance, empowering women and supporting other charitable activities create an impression that firm is consumer-centric. Besides, through corporate philanthropy, this multinational industry is boosting its brand across all its market segments. It is on this basis that this paper argues that Coca-Cola is one company that understands that social responsibility is strength and one way to maintain profits through competitiveness. Herrera, (2015) believes that organizations that institutionalize sustainability, and social responsibility
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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY5 gain competitive advantage. Thus the organization has a competitive advantage, because, since its founding in 1884, it has believed that SR is core to its operations. Application of theory Stakeholder theory applies to the several actions the industry is taking to meet its environmental and social obligation. The stakeholder theory addresses the morals as well as values that the organization needs in its management (Jones et al, 2017). The theory is pegged on organizational management and business ethics, where it asserts that the organization needs to act morally and ethically in all its activities. The theory explains that the company has a social responsibility to all its stakeholders like customers, community, employees among others. Based on this principle, it is plausible that Coca-Cola runs its giving back and reduction in carbon footprint because that is what is ethically required of it. By supporting women and creating charitable programs the company is merely meeting its obligation to the external stakeholders like the community. According to (Jensen, 2017), it is a corporate function to meet its social responsibility, objectively to change the behaviors of stakeholders toward the organization. This is to mention that the firm is responsible to the communities it serves and the environment in which it operates, to maximize value or competitive advantage. Besides, (Hörisch et al, 2014), found that there is a relationship between the business ownersâ theory and sustainability management in that it helps the organization through their shareholders engagement in sustainable activities. Hence, Coca-Colaâs commitment to the reduction of carbon footprints is one that engages stakeholders to focus on sustainable activities to keep the environment safe and healthy.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY6 The actions of the firm can also be linked to agency theory. This theory looks into the problems a business is likely to face with its agents (Shi et al, 2017). The business has principals, who are executives and business agents. Agency relationship is likely to be problematic, and it is upon the executives of the company to see how to resolve differences. For instance, it is expected to have a frosty relationship with its shareholders, if it fails to make profits for them shareholders. Shareholders feel comfortable and confident of businesses that are profitable. Since the shareholders are interested in profits, it has been a responsibility of Coca-Cola to strike a balance between its investor interests and other external stakeholders like the community. (Bosse, & Phillips, 2016) noted that agency theory has bounded self-interests, but the business has to balance them. Thus, this industry has been able to adjust the interests of its shareholders and those of communities or customers, to stay competitive and more profitable. It was indicated by (Jensen, 2017), that businesses use social responsibility to expand its market. Due to that, it is apparent that Coca-Cola has been pursuing its social responsibility to gain a competitive advantage, which boosts its profits and return on investments, which are extended to the investors. Hence, the agency relationship of the organization is sustainable, because of the strong strategies. Personal Opinion In my view, Coca-Cola has been able to reduce carbon footprint and its giving back initiative is effective. Across the world, there is no any other beverage company that is developed and successful to such a level. This could be attributable to its commitment to leveraging social responsibility. However, the company has not achieved significantly in
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY7 reducing carbon footprint, but according to its sustainability report of 2017, it would have improved its packaging and further made its bottles recyclable. Conclusion The commitment of Coca-Cola to its social responsibility is proof that the company is not just investor-centric, but looks at its duties from a broader perspective. From its 2017 sustainability article, is focused on ensuring that it fulfills its social responsibilities, because failure to do so, affects their business performance. In essence, today the businesses rely on the social responsibility to boost competitive advantage. All in all, social responsibility is an issue of concern in corporate governance. Managers are in a realization that to be profitable and competitive; they must make a significant contribution to the community through social responsibility.
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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY8 References Bosse, D. A., & Phillips, R. A. (2016). Agency theory and bounded self-interest. Academy of Management Review, 41(2), 276-297. FerreroâFerrero, I., FernĂĄndezâIzquierdo, M. Ă., & MuñozâTorres, M. J. (2015). Integrating sustainability into corporate governance: an empirical study on board diversity. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 22(4), 193-207. Ghosh, D., & Shah, J. (2015). Supply chain analysis under green sensitive consumer demand and cost sharing contract. International Journal of Production Economics, 164, 319-329. Herrera, M. E. B. (2015). Creating competitive advantage by institutionalizing corporate social innovation. Journal of Business Research, 68(7), 1468-1474. Hörisch, J., Freeman, R. E., & Schaltegger, S. (2014). Applying stakeholder theory in sustainability management: Links, similarities, dissimilarities, and a conceptual framework. Organization & Environment, 27(4), 328-346. Jensen, M. C. (2017). Value maximisation, stakeholder theory and the corporate objective function. In Unfolding stakeholder thinking (pp. 65-84). Routledge. Jones, T. M., Wicks, A. C., & Freeman, R. E. (2017). Stakeholder theory: The state of the art. The Blackwell guide to business ethics, 17-37.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY9 Powell, D. (2018). The âwill to giveâ: corporations, philanthropy and schools. Journal of Education Policy, 1-20. Shi, W., Connelly, B. L., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2017). External corporate governance and financial fraud: Cognitive evaluation theory insights on agency theory prescriptions. Strategic Management Journal, 38(6), 1268-1286. The Coca-Cola Company 2017 Climate Update: (2018).Doing Business the Right Way and Driving Collaboration on Climate. Retrieved from: https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/2017-climate The Coca-Cola Company. 2017 Sustainability Report (2017). Retrieved from: https://www.coca-colacompany.com/content/dam/journey/us/en/private/fileassets/pdf/ 2018/2017-Sustainability-Report-The-Coca-Cola-Company.pdf The Coca-Cola Company (2017). 2016 Sustainability Report: Giving Back. Retrieved from: https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/2016-giving-back