With reference to your own research, do you think that the ability of Essay - 2

With reference to your own research, do you think that the ability of a business to act successfully in a socially responsible manner is mainly determined by the products it produces - Essay Example e the growing significance of Corporate Social Responsibility and issues of sustainability for consumers, a study by Reputation Institute (2014) indicated that about 60% of consumer perceptions othe companys reputationon determine the consumers’ willingness to work for, invest, or recommend a company while 40% is due to the consumers’ perception of the product or services sold by that company. For this study, the major considerations are the main benefits of CSR in relation to costs for the business; the significance of CSR in relation to other objectives; the major determinants of responsibilities that are accepted by a business and those that are not; the factors that determine the extent to which business is socially responsible, and the extent of government influence on CSR,. At Microsoft, there is a continuing commitment to work to fulfil public responsibilities and to serve the needs of people in communities worldwide. However, for Microsoft, the fundamental obligation is the role Microsoft serves as an accountable universal corporate citizen (Smith, 2012). In addition, Microsoft earned the best CSR reputation through initiatives such as Citizenship Leads throughout the world working every day in collaboration to with a huge stakeholder’s base and with regards to numerous issues crucial to local communities. Microsoft Green is also another CSR initiative aimed at emphasizing Microsoft’s Environmental Sustainability Team. In order to implement its CSR initiatives, Microsoft works with investors, non-profits, governments, and other organizations, including the Boston College Center, CSR Europe, Net Impact, World Economic Forum, and Clinton Global Initiative. For more than 51% of Google consumers across the 15 universal markets, working at Google is great (Smith, 2013). With such perceptions, Google has managed to successfully establish a caring perception around the world to ensure that they are a company that not only treats people well, but one that

Colombian Drug MulesDrug Trade and Trafficking Essay

Colombian Drug MulesDrug Trade and Trafficking - Essay Example 39). Jerry Speziale, an undercover narcotics agent who infiltrated one of the most powerful of the Colombian drug cartels, however, disagrees with this assessment. Insisting that government weakness, not complicity is at the source of the problem, Speziale contends that poverty and lack of economic options are the primary reasons for the survival and growth of the Colombian drug trade (p. 76). Indeed, this appears to be the suggestion forwarded in the film "Maria Full of Grace." In this film, a pregnant teenager becomes a drug mule, despite all that it involves in terms of danger to life, health and freedom, because she has no other option for supporting herself and her family. Poverty and economic necessity drive her to become a drug mule ("Maria Full of Grace"). This points to governmental weakness, not complicity because it evidences the failure of the government to provide the population with economic options outside of the drug trade. Quite simply stated, as long as the governme nt cannot furnish its populace with economic opportunities and the drug cartels can, the trade will flourish. Both the Colombian and the US governments have poured substantial financial, military and human resources into the war on drugs with very little effect because of the political and economic power enjoyed by the cartels versus the weakness of the government. Over tOver the past two decades, the Colombian government has sought to eliminate the production and transit of illicit narcotics in its national territory. Working closely with the U.S. and other members of the inter-American narcotics control regime, the Colombian government has implemented "supply-reduction" programs that eradicate drug plantings, destroy drug processing laboratories, intercept the transportation of narcotics and the chemicals used to make them, and apprehend suspected drug traffickers and confiscate their illicit profits (Linton, p. 89). The costs of these programs, in terms of budget allocations and human personnel, are significant. Since the early 1980s, the Colombian government has spent several billion US dollars to implement supply-reduction initiatives within its national territory. While the Colombian government has received considerable anti-narcotics assistance from the U.S. and other foreign governments over the years, it has also invested a substantia l portion of its own resources in the "war on drugs" (Linton, pp. 88-90). Moreover, in recent years, the Colombian government's anti-drug expenditures have increased significantly. In the 1980s, Colombia's anti-narcotics budget varied between US$20 and 25 million per year, with the U.S. providing half this amount. In 1995 the Colombian government devoted US$900 million of its own funds to anti-drug efforts, and in 1996 this amount increased to over US$ 1.3 billion. In 1997, the Colombian government allocated US$ 1.1 billion for counter-narcotics efforts, which represented 4.8% of the government's budget for that year (Lee, p. 202; CNN, 1998a, n.p.). The financial resources which are poured into the war on drugs is constantly spiralling and, it seems, with hardly any lasting effect on the trade. The human costs of the Colombian government's counter-narcotics efforts are even greater. Every year thousands of Colombian civilian and military officials participate in various phases of planning and/or implementing supply-reduction policies. The danger inherent in this