Interrelationship of Business and Society: A Comprehensive Analysis

This assignment explores the multifaceted interrelationship between business and society, examining key concepts such as stakeholder relationships, ethical considerations, and social responsibility. The analysis delves into the "performance-expectation gap" evident in Coca-Cola's water neutrality initiative, highlighting the concerns of stakeholders and the company's actions. The assignment further investigates business ethics, social responsibility, and the impact of globalization, technology, economics, and the environment on business operations. It also addresses workplace diversity, the adoption of clean cookstoves, and the implications of employing unauthorized immigrants. The student reflects on the influence of course activities on their understanding of these interrelationships, providing examples from various modules to support their analysis. The assignment underscores the importance of ethical standards, social responsibility, and the need for businesses to consider the broader societal impacts of their actions, emphasizing topics like globalization, technology, and economic factors.

Running head: INTERRELATIONSHIP OF BUSINESS AND SOCIETY
INTERRELATIONSHIP OF BUSINESS AND SOCIETY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Part A: Stakeholders and Interrelationships
Answer 1:
Business and society are interrelated to each other. It is important for businesses to keep
in mind the effects of their actions on the environment (Muratovski 2015). In the case of Coca
Cola’s “water neutrality initiative”, the company was accused of using excessive water resources
to prepare their beverages and as result of which the underground water was being depleted.
People expected that the world’s largest company would provide them with safe and secure
drinks however; they were also accused of contaminating their drinks with pesticides. This
created a performance expectation gap. In the wake of the situation, TCCC decided to take
certain necessary steps. It shut the bottling plant in Kerala and the company too decided to invest
in water conservation projects to include usage of rainwater to facilitate the irrigation process. In
another case, women in rural areas have been using wood and cow dungs for cooking. This
causes a lot of smoke that affects their health and causes harm to their eyes that can lead to
blindness. The government is planning to introduce clean gas stoves for cooking. The United
Nations had joined hands with the authorities and planned to provide 100 million gas stoves by
2020.
Workplace diversity has also become an important area of concern. Businesses should
consider people from all races and colour as it helps in getting to know people from all cultures
and increases mutual respect (Martin 2014). It also helps in promoting business. People from
different backgrounds bring in different skilled abilities that can help in promoting the products
and increase their financial power. It is also important for the companies develop ethical
standards. For example, a locally paramilitary group threatened a Cincinnati based food company

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Chiquita to pay them monthly protection payments otherwise; they would harm their banana
workers.
Answer 2:
Businesses can face many problems while facing the needs and the conflicts of the
stakeholders. The stakeholders may be resistant to face changes in the organisation and to share
information with the partners (Oni-Ojo et al. 2014). The stakeholders may show their interest in
attending the meetings and the workshops held by the employees of the organisation however,
they might not share the information and it can become an extremely difficult job to get the
information out from them. There are various reasons as to why the stakeholders become so
resistant to share information. The first reason can be their resistance to change, as they may
prefer their own working process instead of changing. There can be a problem of office politics
of which the business analyst might be unaware. They might also not share information as they
may feel the fear of being replaced. Another challenge in resolving the demands and needs of the
stakeholders can be held by the fact that they might not disclose their real needs. If the needs of
the stakeholders are not met accordingly and there is any kind of mistranslation then there can be
a fear of the projects failing. This can happen in many ways. Firstly, the stakeholders instead of
providing the real requirements of the project may describe their wish list. They may provide the
requirements on those areas in which they do not hold any kind of expertise. Another problem
that the businesses face is that the stakeholders may either accept or decline the requirements if
another stakeholder holds different views from him (Prajogo 2016). For example, when a
company hires an unauthorized immigrant in the organisation, it creates a problem for many
stakeholders in the company. The stakeholders that are majorly hurt by this employment are the
native employees. They lose their chance in getting the job and as result; they may become

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aggressive and hostile. The stakeholders who are benefitted by the hiring of these employees are
the owners of the company, the investors and the shareholders. This is because this reduces the
financial expenses of the company as the immigrants agree to work for minimum wages and also
minimizes human labour. Therefore, from the perspective of the owners, it is beneficial for the
company to hire unauthorized immigrant workers.
Answer 3:
For the proper functioning of any business organisation, there should be a proper
interaction between the stakeholders and all the people who are affected by the business. This
interaction between the stakeholders and all the people involved with the business is referred to
as the “circles of reflection”. This representation exemplifies the influence that every stakeholder
has on the organisation (Bourne 2015). The first circle or the innermost circle is the individual or
the family itself and their perspectives that of the problem at hand. The next immediate circle is
the perspective of the company on the issue. The company and the individual form the innermost
part of the circle. As one moves towards the outer and external parts of the circle, the
perspectives and the impact of the issue becomes a much broader concept and the people do no
give much importance to them until and unless they affect them in a more direct way. For
example, the natural calamity creating havoc in Asia would not be much of a global problem, as
it will not have any effect on the individuals and the family living in another country. There is a
great importance of the circle of reflection in any business organisation as it determines how the
power would be distributed among the numerous stakeholders of the company. The circle has
different intersections that include a problem definition, the planning process, the
implementation of the plans and the evaluation. All these intersection points represent the
various stakeholders of the company. An individual or the company can change their perspective

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on an issue by applying the circle of reflection. For example, the stakeholder that will enjoy more
power in the company would be the one who is closest to the center rather than the one who is
further apart. This implies that the decisions that would be made would give more importance to
the reactions of the stakeholder who is closer to the center of the circle.
Part B: Forces and Influences
Answer 1:
Ethics and social responsibility are the most important parts of any business organisation.
The goal of every business is to increase more and more revenue and productivity of the
organisation however, this does not always happen in an ethical manner. Every business should
move with their jobs in a proper ethical way. Business ethics is referred to the proper way of the
companies conducting their practices and the policies. Ethical standards refer to the rules and
regulations that the individuals have to follow strictly (Chell et al. 2016). A company that
follows proper ethical principles are bound to be successful in the years to come. The companies
that do not follow proper ethical policies have been seen to lose their customers and falling in
grave problems. For example, Coca Cola, the world’s largest company, had been accused of
contaminating their drinks with pesticides. This accusation had resulted in the maligning of the
company’s name. Many people who were offered jobs from the company, refused to work with
them. In another example of ethical principle in a business organisation, a food company in
Cincinnati was threatened by a group of paramilitary organisation. In that case, the group was
seen to be blackmailing the food company into paying them the protection fees. They threatened
that if they failed to pay the amount then they would harm their banana workers. Inspite of the
government’s influence and advice to stop any kind of transaction between them, the company

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decided to pay the group the amount. Though they did this for protecting their workers, it still
counts as an ethical way to get their way out of the problem.
Businesses should also take into consideration the social responsibility that they have.
The society has become aware of how the actions of the businesses affect the environment. There
must be an equilibrium between the economic activities and the welfare of the society (Shafer
2015). If every business achieves it then any business can reach the heights of success. However,
many businesses ignore their social responsibility. For example, in the case of the Coca Cola
Company’s “water neutrality case”, they were blamed for using excess water in preparing their
beverages and in the maintenance of their workers. This resulted in the depletion of underground
water resources that too in such areas that were already experiencing water crisis. Another
instance of companies giving importance to their social responsibility can be attributed to the
sustainable development strategies implemented by HP. Hewlett Packard (HP) has been
recognized as one of the top 65 companies in the world who have working responsibly towards
the environment since the beginning of the company. They have reduced the emission of
greenhouse gases and helped reduce air pollution.
Just like the external forces, there are certain internal forces at work that help maintain
the ethical and social responsibility of the companies. These internal forces are the customers,
employees, investors, shareholders, and influencers (Franks et al. 2014). Companies have been
focusing on modifying the structures of their buildings, using eco-friendly lights to save energy
and help reduce pollution in the environment. Thus, both the internal and external forces
determine the ethics and social responsibility of the businesses and prove to be the most
important aspects in the flourishing of the company.
Answer 2:

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According to me, business ethics and social responsibility should be given the topmost
importance in any company or business organisation. Achieving the goals of the organisation in
an ethical manner and being socially responsible increases the importance of the achievement
and improves the status of the business organisation in the market too. As various companies
have faced backlash due to their irresponsible behaviour towards the environment as seen in the
case of Coca Cola, now the companies have started developing strategies to take care of the fact
that the environment is not harmed and that their actions in no way harm the society in general.
For instance, the drug Vioxx, developed by the company Merck, was accused of causing heart
attacks and even death in certain cases. After many more investigations, it was found that the
drugs indeed posed a threat to the life of people. When Merck realized this, they acted in a
socially responsible manner. They stopped the manufacturing of the drugs altogether after they
had found that there was no way of reviving the drug business from such grave accusations. In an
instance, Kinder Morgan Pipelines had decided to expand their pipelines for the export of crude
oil. Though the expansion proved to be beneficial in some cases, it had its reverse consequences
too. The expansion of the company meant that the environment would be harmed by these
human activities and there would be an increase in the release of the greenhouse gases. There
was another problem in the form of spillage of oil through the pipes that could harm the
environment in a detrimental manner.
Answer 3:
There is an interrelationship between the external forces like globalization, technology,
economics and the environment on business and society. Globalization is a process in which
various economies of the world interact with each other through the flow of goods and services,
technology and even the exchange of cultures between them. Globalization has led to increased

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competition between the businesses and increased their awareness on the part of the customers
too (Krugman 2017). They know the quality of the products that they require in a better way.
Globalization has increased the large-scale production and therefore, in a way it has increased
the competition too. In the age of technological development, it is important that the businesses
use technology in a way that it benefits the company and does not affect the environment and the
society in a harmful way. Economies are getting closer and closer due to globalization. People
can interact with each other from different countries via technology. Environment has played a
major role in development of businesses and society. The survival of human beings depend upon
the generosity of the environment (Epstein 2018).
The internal forces like corporate citizenship, employee rights and responsibilities,
consumer protection and work place diversity also play a major role in business and society. It is
important that the stakeholders in the business take the mental and physical health of their
employees extremely seriously. This would only help in increasing the productivity of the
employees, which in turn would benefit the company. The companies should also increase
diversity in the workplace. Increasing workplace diversity enables people with different minds
and skills to make their fair share of contribution to the company (Guillaume et al. 2017). Hiring
unauthorized immigrants benefit the stakeholders as the workers agree to work for less amount
of money however, they pose a threat to the native workers and employees who miss out on their
opportunity to get a job and sustain their livelihood. Customer protection and satisfaction should
also be of the utmost importance to the companies. It is the customers that are buy the products
and the services from the companies. It is because of the customers’ needs and demands that are
making the businesses flourish, therefore taking care of the needs of the customers should be the
top priority of the companies (John, Knyazeva and Knyazeva 2015). Corporate citizenship refers

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to the contribution of the businesses and organisations to the society and the environment. These
activities affect the global and local community as a whole (Tai and Chuang 2014). If the
company engages itself more with the responsibility of corporate citizenship then it increases the
possibility of the company to fair well. This can be made possible through proper interaction
between the stakeholders, investors, shareholders, business partners, government and the
customers. It is required for the sustainability of the business. Corporate citizenship is also
referred to as corporate governance or corporate social responsibility (El Akremi et al. 2018). It
is the social responsibility of the companies to meet the legal, ethical and economic
responsibilities as established by the government. The companies should strive to achieve
corporate responsibility and give importance to the employees’ rights and responsibilities.
Answer 4:
The regulation of the government both at the federal and at the state level has impact on
the operation of the businesses (Songling et al. 2018). To manage the business activities and
meet the societal needs, the government needs to create many agencies and put regulatory acts.
The government is therefore an external influence on the business activities. The government
specifies the rules of the business. The government is also a major buyer of the products and the
services of the businesses. It can also influence the business to act on things that the government
wants them to. The government is the chief promoter as well as the subsidizer of the businesses.
It manages the huge quantities of economic growth. The government finances many businesses
and it also manages the large areas of the private businesses (Obaji and Olugu 2014). As far as
the society is concerned, the government is formed to serve the needs of the people. In certain
rural areas of the globe, the women use wood and cow dungs for cooking for their families.
These ways of cooking are extremely harmful and can cause blindness due to the smoke

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emission. The government therefore looked into this matter and arranged the availability of gas
stoves for cooking purposes. An initiative was taken by the government, which was named as
“The Global Alliance for clean cookstoves”. The United Nations had complied with many
authorities and strived to achieve the humungous task of providing 100 million gas stoves by
2020. Thus, such strategies taken by the government imply that the government is the external
force in any business and the works for the benefit of the society.
Part C: Final Reflection
Answer 1:
Biases of the stakeholders have an impact on the business. Bias is the inclination towards
something in a prejudiced manner (Cavaco and Crifo 2014). Each and every decision that is
taken by the stakeholders in the company is influenced by the biases and preferences of the
stakeholders of the company. The main objective of any company is to increase the profit and in
achieving this, the companies forget to follow the ethical principles and become biased. The
individuals should be aware of the biases and work towards minimizing it. The biases influence
the media, public opinion, and decision-making process in business and the society in various
ways. The first type of bias is the confirmation bias wherein one proactively tries to search data
that confirms our present thought processes and the individuals who have the same thought
processes like us. For example, the mangers and other stakeholders overlook early signs of
possible dangers when they think about the success of any new project. Another type of bias is
the correlative bias wherein one mixes the selection factors with the results (Blumenthal-Barby
2016). For example, the professional swimmers do not have the perfect bodies; they train
extensively and build the perfect physique to be successful in their jobs.

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Answer 2:
The most important lesson that was learnt during this whole course was that there the
stakeholders and the society are equally responsible for the development of any business. For a
successful business, the companies need to take care of the employees who work for the benefit
of the company. In the course of making the business a profitable organisation, the stakeholders
should not ignore the ethical and social responsibility that they have. Adopting the proper
strategies and then moving forward with their goals and objectives is the best way to work
(Unruh et al. 2016). The society has become aware of their responsibility towards the
environment and is now ever ready to protest against any deed that goes against the well-being of
the society and the environment. From rejecting job offers proposed by the biggest company
Coca Cola to criticizing the move of expansion of the pipelines by Kinder Morgan, the people
are getting more responsible. Therefore, it becomes the duty of the companies and the various
business organizations to hold themselves responsible for their actions and work towards
sustainable development. This will help in developing and meeting the needs of both the present
and the future generations to come.

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