Type:
Solution Manual
Business and Society Resource: Stakeholders, Ethics, Public Policy Edition:
17th Edition
Author(s):
Anne T. Lawrence James Weber
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CHAPTER 1 THE CORPORATION AND ITS STAKEHOLDERS INTRODUCTION Business corporations have complex relationships with many individuals and organizations in society. The term stakeholder refers to all those that affect, or are affected by, the actions of the firm. An important part of management’s role is to identify a firm’s relevant stakeholders and understand the nature of their interests, power, and alliances with one another. Building positive and mutually beneficial relationships across organizational boundaries can help enhance a company’s reputation and address critical social and ethical challenges. In a world of fast-paced globalization, shifting public expectations and government policies, growing ecological concerns, and new technologies, managers face the difficult challenge of achieving economic results while simultaneously creating value for all of their diverse stakeholders. PREVIEW CASE Amazon.com Teaching Tip: Preview Case Video The Amazon example that opens the chapter illustrates the challenges of managing successfully in a complex global network of stakeholders. It may also be used to illustrate how different stakeholders may perceive a corporation differently, depending on their vantage point. Instructors may wish to introduce a discussion of the opening example with a short video profile of the company: “How Big Is Amazon?” (WCDaily, March18, 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWjpbc-FJII&t=18 (4:06 minutes). This can be followed by prompts, such as: • Do you personally like or dislike Amazon? Why? • What groups have been helped by Amazon, and what groups have been hurt? The instructor can then build on student comments on groups that have been helped or hurt when introducing the concept of stakeholder later in the session.
CHAPTER OUTLINE I.
BUSINESS AND SOCIETY
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A. A Systems Perspective II.
THE STAKEHOLDER THEORY OF THE FIRM A. The Stakeholder Concept B. Different Kinds of Stakeholders
III.
STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS A. Stakeholder Interests B. Stakeholder Power C. Stakeholder Coalitions D. Stakeholder Mapping
IV.
THE CORPORATION’S BOUNDARY-SPANNING DEPARTMENTS
V.
THE DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS
VI.
CREATING VALUE IN A DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT
GETTING STARTED KEY LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 1-1: Understanding the relationship between business and society and the ways in which business and society are part of an interactive system. (pp. 4-5) Business firms are organizations that are engaged in making a product or providing a service for a profit. Society, in its broadest sense, refers to human beings and to the social structures they collectively create. Business is part of society and engages in ongoing exchanges with its external environment. Together, business and society form an interactive social system in which the actions of each profoundly influence the other. LO 1-2: Considering the purpose of the modern corporation. (pp. 5-6) According to the stakeholder theory of the firm, the purpose of the modern corporation is to create value for all of its stakeholders. To survive, all companies must make a profit for their owners. However, they also create many other kinds of value as well for their employees, customers, suppliers, communities, and others. For both practical and ethical reasons, corporations must take all stakeholders’ interests into account. Copyright © MCGRAW HILL LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO REPRODUCTION OR DISTRIBUTION WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT OF MCGRAW HILL LLC.
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LO 1-3: Knowing what a stakeholder is and who a corporation’s market and nonmarket and internal and external stakeholders are. (pp. 6-11) Every business firm has economic and social relationships with others in society. Some are intended, some unintended; some are positive, others negative. Stakeholders are all those who affect, or are affected by, the actions of the firm. Some have a market relationship with the company, and others have a nonmarket relationship with it; some stakeholders are internal, and others are external. LO 1-4: Conducting a stakeholder analysis and understanding the basis of stakeholder interests and power. (pp. 11-18) Stakeholders often have multiple interests and can exercise their economic, political, and other powers in ways that benefit or challenge the organization. Stakeholders may also act independently or create coalitions to influence the company. Stakeholder mapping is a technique for graphically representing stakeholders’ relationship to an issue facing a firm. LO 1-5: Recognizing the diverse ways in which modern corporations organize internally to interact with various stakeholders. (pp. 19-20) Modern corporations have developed a range of boundary-crossing departments and offices to manage interactions with market and nonmarket stakeholders. The organization of the corporation’s boundary-spanning functions is complex. Most companies have many departments specifically charged with interacting with stakeholders. LO 1-6: Analyzing the forces of change that continually reshape the business and society relationship. (pp. 20-22) A number of broad forces shape the relationship between business and society. These include changing societal and ethical expectations; a dynamic global economy; redefinition of the role of government; ecological and natural resource concerns; and the transformational role of technology and innovation. To deal effectively with these changes, corporate strategy must address the expectations of all of the company’s stakeholders.
KEY TERMS boundary-spanning departments business external stakeholder focal organization
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general systems theory interactive social system internal stakeholder shareholder theory of the firm society stakeholder stakeholder analysis stakeholder coalitions stakeholder interests stakeholder (market) stakeholder (nonmarket) stakeholder map stakeholder power stakeholder salience stakeholder theory of the firm
INTERNET RESOURCES www.economist.com
The Economist
www.fortune.com
Fortune
www.nytimes.com
The New York Times
www.wsj.com
The Wall Street Journal
www.bloomberg.com
Bloomberg
www.ft.com
Financial Times (London)
www.cnnmoney.com
CNN Money
Copyright © MCGRAW HILL LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO REPRODUCTION OR DISTRIBUTION WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT OF MCGRAW HILL LLC.