The Role of Positive Social Change in Business

As the topic of discussion indicates positive social change by enterprises is a point of concern whose gravity to better humankind cannot be underemphasized. According to Dyer et al. (2016), positive social change is a crucial aspect of any business and organisational setup apart from the primary goal of profit maximization. The initiatives allow organisations to engage in activities that are beneficial to the community they operate in, which comprises of their employees, customers or the general public in the organisational, physical setup. Although positive social change is directed towards the community, the impact of integrating the same can be felt by the organization as well. One of the significant benefits is that it plays an instrumental role in improving the brand image of the firm among the members of the community (Kane et al., 2014). Also, it ensures that an organization engages in activities that are beneficial to many people in society. For instance, the organization creates employment opportunities that improve the living standards of community members, conserving the environment and the disadvantaged in the society.

Challenges

For any gain there comes a cost with it as the law of nature “action and reaction” comes into the picture. An organization faces certain risks when making efforts of integrating positive social change as part of its business strategy. The issue of finances will have to feature in the scene as a driver to the positive social change which may not be available at all times. It’s common knowledge that no organization plans or budget for such a thing meaning it is sometimes a challenging decision to make involving a lot of consultations and the risk of using enormous financial resources with no immediate returns regarding profits. Kane et al. (2014) argue that positive social change initiatives do not bear immediate benefits in the short-term, but rather in the long run. Planning and operations will have to be compromised or radical changes taken which may affect productivity. Also, there is a risk of the initiatives failing to achieve the intended goal of boosting the image of the firm among the members of the community.

Social Change Initiative

Corporations both small and large has over the years invested in positive social change. However, the venture has not been graced with success all through. An article by the Stanford Social Innovation Review Post of 2010 shows how Cory Booker, Chris Christy and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook decided to use over 200 million dollars into Newark’s educational system, only for the plan to come out as a total failure. The organisers opted for a top-bottom approach to avoid the hectic procedure of consulting community members who were left in the dark and thus the project did not serve the real issues on the ground. At the same time, a non-native to the project region was hired who could not feel the situation in the local’s sense. To avoid the failure, experienced when implementing Newark’s project the management should have engaged and consulted widely with the beneficiaries to understand the situation from the horses’ mouth and to facilitate that place a local to head the mission (Barnes & Schmitz 2016,)

References

Barnes, M., & Schmitz, P (2016, March) Community Engagement Matters Retrieved April 14, 2016, from http://ssir.org/articles/entry

Dyer, J. H., Godfrey, P., Jensen, R., & Bryce, D. (2016). Strategic management: Concepts and tools for creating a real-world strategy.Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Kane, G. C., Palmer, D., Phillips, A. N., & Kiron, D. (2014). Finding the value of social business. Retrieved from http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/finding-the-value-in-

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