Corporate Social Responsibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 3

Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example Hence, the great economist and the founder of the Chicago school of economics, Milton Friedman’s article about social responsibility (1970) and his famous statement that â€Å"The social responsibility of business is to increase profits† needs re-examining and revaluation in light of the changed circumstances under which businesses find themselves now (Friedman, 1970). The themes around which this paper is woven are the point made above as well as the fact that businesses can no longer be content with market based solutions for societal problems in view of the fact that the ongoing global economic crisis has brought into sharp focus the inability of markets to solve the pressing problems, leave alone the minor ones. Hence, this paper argues that CSR is no longer a catchphrase or a fancy slogan but something that is both necessary and required of businesses if the 21st century is to live up to the expectations of the present generation that has been called the 21C genera tion or the â€Å"transition† generation (Martin, 2007: 80). The reason why companies must look beyond profits is also due to the peculiar situation that humanity finds itself in the second decade of the 21st century. Given the political, economic, social and environmental crises that humans as a race are confronting, corporations have a role to play since they contribute the most to the economic well being of humanity and in turn influence the political and social trends (O’Riordan & Fairbrass, 2008: 752). Friedman’s article was written at a time when the world was still largely black and white and the multicoloured hues that make up the business landscape and which confront the world in all their complexity were yet to be manifest (Kennedy, 2001: 56). Hence, Friedman’s injunction about the business of businesses is to make profits seems a bit outdated given the fact that the critical problems facing humanity today

3rd Party Logistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

3rd Party Logistics - Essay Example Customer Adapter: they deal with small clients by offering all logistics functions to their clients at their request and help to improve those services without introducing new services (Dimitris, 2012). 3PL integrate with customers to provide one or more logistic related functions such as warehousing, transportation, packaging, distribution, etc. 4PL firms use the services of 3PL to offer complete supply chain solutions to other firms basing its performance on technologies, accumulation of resources and managerial capacity (Coyle et al., 2012). While 3PL targets particular functions, 4PL is involved in managing the entire logistics process. Different firms arrive at a decision on whether to hire or not to hire the services of 3PL in a variety of ways. Such decisions emanate from the corporate level, divisional level or local level. Firms learn about the services of 3PL in various ways including the â€Å"sales calls by representatives of the contract logistics firms and discussions with other logistics professionals† (Dapiran et al., 1996, p.39). Different stakeholders should discuss and come to an agreement on whether to use 3PL. If there is a mutual agreement to hire 3PL, the firm should assess various 3Pl firms in order to determine the most successful firm (Coyle et al., 2012). At this point, the organization should consider their personal knowledge of the contractor, coverage, references, prior experience, competence, expertise in project management and implementation of new system. The firm may issue a request for quotation (RFQ) in order to obtain feedback from the interested bidders upon which they can base their decision by selecting prequalified contractor. The firm receives a proposal from 3PL vendors and makes a review to match the requirements and criteria (Autry et al., 2013). The 3PL presents their company and discusses solutions and benefits. Then the firm will