Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

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Company and Society --- bitter lessons

The goal of company is not only to increase the divident to stockholders at most but also to have responsibility for consumers, to grapple with the human right issue, environmental issue and social contribution as a citizen. This idea is called Corporates' Social Responsibility(CSR).

And it is Social Responsible Investment(SRI) to chose companies which are eager with CSR and to invest them concentratedly. It supports the companies which have a sense of social responsibility through the investment and makes efforts to pave the way for the society basing on the ethics of citizens.

CSR and SRI are sorts of experiments to prove that capitalism/market based economy and citizen's ethics can coexist. Not a few Japanese companies are positive for it. In order to gain a support from foreign investers, it is becoming unavoidable. There are about 10 SRI fund in Japan.

And there is unti-globalizm movements which are against WTO,IMF and World Bank. They insist that economic globalization purposes to oblige the world to obey to the US style capitalism which put the top priority on the stockholder's benefit and that the economic globalization has widen the difference between the rich and the poor in the world and that the extreme freedomization which destroy the local tradition and stability should be suspended and so on.

CSR and SRI are also the refutation against the anti-globalism. After the corporate crime by Enron and Worldcom came to the surface in US, CSR and SRI are getting more important than before.

An American jeans maker is a famous company, which was with *beep* laude for CSR and SRI. Everytime to explain CSR and SRI, its measures were introduced.

It is going to close all of its five factories in North America by the end of the next March and to lay off about 2000 employee. This is because other american cloth makers and shops are buying lower costed clothes from China and in the result the company cannot put up with the cost race. It closed six North American factories. It is going to stop its manufacturing in North America and move all of its production line to abroad.

The CSR and SRI ,which are refutations against the anti-globalizm from companies , cannot help changing its course due to the rise of China, which can be said to be a child of globalism. This is nothing but a contradiction. CSR/SRI was probably a idea which based on the market economy with same level of labour condition between each country. But companies have not to give up their social responsibility. CSR/SRI should be promoted. In order that, stronger management basis is necessary.

[Corey]

There are now also "green funds" - investment funds (mutual funds) that only invest money in environmentally safe companies. This type of concept has a long way to go. People everyone, especially in the developed world need to change their mentality.

PS I just heard Sony is going to fire 20,000 employees. I wonder how many of those jobs will reappear in China.

Corey
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I guess SONY wants to move its manufacturing sites to other cost effective sites such as China. 20000 layoff is mainly in Japan. But in 10 years,when the personel cost in China skyrockets, SONY will move them India next. Anyway, I hope SONY and other Japanese companies are getting greener in develpment countries more.