A company or firms corporate social responsibility is seen by some people as ‘time wasting’ but infact a companies corporate social responsibility can attract lots of investors and also create positive publicity. Publicity is an intangible asset which can help create synergies. A firms leader must understand this when creating strategies and whilst decision making, a companies ethics is the backbone/‘soul’ of a business. A good leader would try and cross-reference all the companies actions against their CSR(corporate social responsibility) report. Tesco have recently decided to try and “source more local products”(Tesco Annual Report, 2007) for their supermarket branches. Similarly John Lewis Partnership the owner of Waitrose Supermarket have requested “minimum packaging to be used”(John Lewis Partnership Corporate Social Resonsibility, 2007) on their products from their suppliers and they are recycling all the excess packaging they collate in-store. This is seen as a highly ethical decision by both Tesco and John Lewis Partnership, but these decisions were suggested to them by pressure groups. Many leaders such as a company CEO receive many letters and e-mail from customers and other organisations, but only few leaders act upon these. It is seen here with Tesco and John Lewis Partnership that a good ethical stance from the company and positive leadership, has resulted in a indirect profitable decision.
Some would say a tobacco retailer is an unethical company, but below is the mission statement of the manufacturer of Marlboro, written by their CEO.
“Our goal is to be the most responsible, effective and respected developer, manufacturer and marketer of consumer products, especially products intended for adults. Our core business is manufacturing and ma ...