Using the Weber & Marley article how do the characteristics of power, legitimacy and urgency attributed to stakeholders influence the business-stakeholder relationships? 

What is the role of Corporate Social and Sustainability Reports and sustainability goals like Walmarts?

Sample Answers:(Please dont Copy Paste the same)

Example 1:

 Using the Weber & Marley article how do the characteristics of power, legitimacy and urgency attributed to stakeholders influence the business-stakeholder relationships? 

            Power, legitimacy, and urgency are the three salience terms described within the Mitchell Stakeholder model. Each of these characteristics exerts a unique force when considering them in the context of the business-stakeholder relationship.

We are currently experiencing a time within the business community when stakeholders are asking for more out of the worlds corporations. The various legitimate stakeholders, whether they be stockholders, customers, employees, or suppliers, are exerting their power on the corporation to do more. Without stakeholders a corporation is unable to function, which places power on the stakeholders values. That is why over the twenty years there has been a rapidly increasing number of corporations publishing CSR reports. The corporation became more conscious of its obligation to the stakeholders and realized that they need more from the entity. Stakeholder urgency is also illustrated by how the corporation addresses issues that the stakeholders find to be critical, whether they be environmental, social, or operational. Each of these characteristics help stakeholders exert a different type of force onto a corporation.

Source: Weber & Marley Article

What is the role of Corporate Social and Sustainability Reports and sustainability goals like Walmarts? 

            The purpose of CSR and Sustainability reports are to give an update to a corporations shareholders on the good things that the firm is doing. The good being created can either be environmental or social. A few topics that these reports can address are environmental impact, social effect, and corporate governance.

It summarizes what has already been done to show actioned results from the companys previous period being disclosed. This helps stakeholders to see what the company has already to meet their power, legitimacy, and urgency needs. The corporation lays out their higher purpose and reason for continuing business within these reports. The reports also create a set of goals that the company is hoping to meet within the next x amount of time. It creates a sort of contract between the stakeholders expectations and what the corporation believes to be its upcoming goals.

Example 2:

Using the Weber & Marley article how do the characteristics of power, legitimacy and urgency attributed to stakeholders influence the business-stakeholder relationships?

Many companies and especially large corporations are often subject to high scrutiny from being in the public spotlight. One of the biggest impacts that a company can do to influence stakeholders is to openly communicate their intentions. This shows that they are truly following through with their values and being fourth coming with disclosing their intent. I think this is the best way to show their power, legitimacy, and urgency. This is the best way to show shareholders why they should support their company.

What is the role of Corporate Social and Sustainability Reports and sustainability goals like Walmarts?

Corporate Social and Sustainability Reports and sustainability goals allow re-assurance and optimism for shareholders. All of these things create line of site into the companys goals and initiatives that they are striving for which allows them to feel comfortable with investing into a companys future. I think that this is a very key component for any company to embrace and this shows not only the stakeholders where they stand, but also creates meaningful goals for the employees as well. These things show where the company currently is and where they want to go.

Example 3:

Using the Weber & Marley article how do the characteristics of power, legitimacy and urgency attributed to stakeholders influence the business-stakeholder relationships? 

From the research provided, it seems that the larger the business, the greater importance of the business-stakeholder relationship. The research also seemed to suggest that the higher the consumer exposure, the greater effect on a business-stakeholder relationship. In other words, as visibility for a company increases, so do the demands and actions by stakeholders from that company. To me, the research overall suggests that the more eyes isn’t always a good thing. If you are Nike and your company is found to be using child labor in sweatshops, there is going to be great urgency for the company to change that. The power that stakeholders has becomes legitimate when stakeholders stop purchasing Nike products until Nike makes the changes necessary for stakeholders to be satisfied with their business practices. However, you could have a lesser-known company right down the street from the Nike facility doing the exact same deplorable practices. The difference is that there is no voice for action because the visibility of the company is significantly smaller. You could even apply this to local restaurants. Think about the cleanliness and standards that McDonalds must produce because they are who they are. Now think about your local diner that serves the same type of food. Think about their cleanliness and their standards. They are most likely different. This is exactly the point that Weber and Marley are making in their research; the greater the visibility, the greater the importance and effect of stakeholder power, legitimacy and urgency on the businesses’ actions. 

Source: In Search of Stakeholder Salience: Exploring Corporate Social and Sustainability Reports (James Weber and Kathryn A. Marley)

What is the role of Corporate Social and Sustainability Reports and sustainability goals like Walmarts? 

CSR reports are a great way to attract visibility and transparency to goals that your company has. They can also be good guideposts and reminders of what your company set out to do and how much work is left. But at the end of the day, these are nothing more than reports. The action is what really counts here. Trying to obtain zero net waste after five years is a good plan and companies would obviously like this plan to be known to the public. But, if zero net waste isn’t obtained after five years, what then? Is it enough for stakeholders to continue to read updated CSR reports that the goal of zero net waste hasn’t changed? Again, these are good guideposts and should be followed as such. But the real importance comes from action. As the old adage goes, actions speak louder than words. Or, in this case, actions speak louder than reports. 

Source:

Example 4:

Using the Weber & Marley article how do the characteristics of power, legitimacy and urgency attributed to stakeholders influence the business-stakeholder relationships? 

Depending on relationship one is trying to define, each relationship could give more weight to power, legitimacy or urgancy. Today organizations understand that all relationships they manage link to their economic performance. By sharing their CSR reports publicly with potential stockholders, current business partners and community it allows for an open understanding of how their organization is or could benefit them. There are certain organizations who focus on certain business-stakeholder relationships than others such as energy and gas and oil organizations will focus more on a sustainability relationships because they deal with limited resources and those resources need to be available as long as possible. 

What is the role of Corporate Social and Sustainability Reports and sustainability goals like Walmarts? 

As stated in WalMart’s website for CSR “Shared value addressing societal issues in ways that create value for our business and stakeholders lies at the heart of Walmarts enterprise strategy and our approach to ESG issues.” It seems that WalMart is looking towards how they can better the lives of everyone within their serving community, their business model is being designed with CSR in mind as to how they believe it will affect their future state. Walmart is using these reports to communicate what path they will be taking and why. The reports appear to be a future model as to how Walmart will be operating in the future however these models are based on today’s knowledge and current regulations. Regulations will affect the goals for companies like Walmart since introducing a new regulation could require a current goal to be modified. 

WalMart website:

Example 5:

eber & Marley article how do the characteristics of power, legitimacy, and urgency attributed to stakeholders, influence the business-stakeholder relationships? 

Stakeholder power, legitimacy, and urgency influence the business-stakeholder relationship differently depending on geography and sector the business resides. Depending on where a company operates and the type of service/good they provide they must prioritize due to finite resources. The article accurately described the company I work for, a U.S. based company that is in the Utility Sector. Our Corporate Social Responsibility reports and strategies focus largely on community development as well as environmental concerns. We are in the people business; most people cant go without electricity in their day to day lives, so building trust within our communities is paramount. The environment also directly affects our business. Higher temperatures mean increased load on the system and an increased likelihood of equipment failure.

What is the role of Corporate Social and Sustainability Reports and sustainability goals like Walmarts? 

Corporate Social and Sustainability Reports and sustainability goals like Walmarts are a good way for a business to show what targets they are aiming to hit. In the case of Walmart I think it was a good change of pace for them because as the article eluded to they have a reputation for not being transparent. Its also a good way to drum up support from stakeholders and stockholders to show them that its not just business as usual and that they are taking steps in the right direction. Companies that fail to innovate and adapt end up going out of business. As was the case with Toys R Us, instead of developing their own ecommerce system they relied on Amazon to do the work for them. Consumers found they could find similar or cheaper alternatives on Amazon which further fueled their rise and contributed to the decline for Toys R Us.