Chapter Name : Business and Society

1. Chapter Name:Business and Society

2. In this chapter we will discuss about the social responsibility, namely, business’s responsibility to society. • Responsibility of business towards society includes such broad areas as concern for ecology, consumerism; improving the lot of women; rural development; new projects; physically handi-caped people and fighting AIDS. Lecture: Business Environment by Md. ShakhawatHossain

3. Ecology and Business: • Women and Business Opportunities • Child Labor • Consumerism • Rural Development • Projects and People • Physically Handicapped Lecture: Business Environment by Md. Shakhawat Hossain

4. Ecology and Business: • -The eminent humanist-biologist, Paul Ehrlich, The Population Bomb listed seven inalienable rights of mankind: • -The right to eat well, • -The right to drink pure water, • -The right to decent, un-crowded shelter, • -The right to enjoy natural beauty, • -The right to avoid pesticide poisoning, • -The right to freedom from thermo nuclear war and • -The right to limit families. Lecture: Business Environment by Md. Shakhawat Hossain

5. -Pollution of air, water and soil is caused by several agents. The main among them are: • -Natural Pollution, • -Population explosion, • -High standard of living of people, • -Deforestation, • -Vehicular traffic, • -Agriculture, • -Dams and canals • -Industrial establishments. Lecture: Business Environment by Md. Shakhawat Hossain

6. Women and Business Opportunities • Historically, women have been discriminated against in the male dominated society. Especially in rural and small towns, were deliberately undernourished and denied access to the outside world; and women were considered to be fit to cook food but not to work in business establishments. • As we go into the future, discrimination against women will go and they will occupy equal status along with their male counterparts. Seeds for better tomorrow have already been sown. Today’s girls are better educated, more assertive and more bold. • -the women’s liberation movement • -to protect and improve the lot of women, • -the government uplifting the status of women, • -participating in business development Lecture: Business Environment by Md. Shakhawat Hossain

7. a) Women in Business • Women occupying top positions are few and far between. Reasons are not difficult to seek. The main reasons are : • -lower attachment • -they don’t think themselves as primary earners • -Lack of education and training • -Legal and other problems Lecture: Business Environment by Md. Shakhawat Hossain

8. Child Labor • Child labor refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labor. Of the estimated 16 million children in Bangladesh aged 10 to 14, over 6.8 million are working children. Forty-one(41%) percent of this group is girls. Children are engaged in over 300 different types of work activities of which 49 are considered harmful to their physical and/or mental well being. Child labor is a long-term development problem that will not be resolved with short-term activities. Lecture: Business Environment by Md. Shakhawat Hossain

9. Consumerism • -The term "consumerism" was first used in 1915 to refer to "advocacy of the rights and interests of consumers" (Oxford English Dictionary) but in this article the term "consumerism" refers to the sense first used in 1960, "emphasis on or preoccupation with the acquisition of consumer goods" (Oxford English Dictionary). • -In economics, consumerism refers to economic policies placing emphasis on consumption. Lecture: Business Environment by Md. Shakhawat Hossain

10. Consumerism • -The term "consumerism" is also used to refer to the consumerist movement, consumer protection or consumer activism, which seeks to protect and inform consumers by requiring such practices as honest packaging and advertising, product guarantees, and improved safety standards. • -Consumerism is a movement to inform consumers and protect them from business malpractices. The movement focuses on inferior and dangerous merchandise, unfair business practices and false or misleading advertisements. Business has additional responsibilities such as: • -Truth in Ads an Labels • -Advertising code • -Best product Lecture: Business Environment by Md. Shakhawat Hossain

11. Rural Development • Majority of people in our country, as is well known, live in village. The living conditions of villages are far from satisfactory. • There are many urgent and important facilities to be provided such as : • -roads, • -drinking water, • -employment, • -medical and family planning, • -housing, • -schools and nutrition programs Lecture: Business Environment by Md. Shakhawat Hossain

12. Projects and People • Citing a project in a particular area is not always welcome. The project once completed will result in, among other things, displacement, or even death of people who hitherto (until now) inhabited the area. It is the responsibility of the business to rehabilitate such displaced persons. Lecture: Business Environment by Md. Shakhawat Hossain

13. Physically Handicapped • Yet another social action of business houses is the rehabilitation of physically handicapped people. Lecture: Business Environment by Md. Shakhawat Hossain

14. Figure: Business primary interactions with society Lecture: Business Environment by Md. ShakhawatHossain

15. Employees (Union): Sell labor • Stockholders: Invest capital • Creditors: Lend money • Suppliers: Sell materials • Customers: Buy product • Competitors: Compete • Wholesalers, Retailers: Distribute Products Lecture: Business Environment by Md. Shakhawat Hossain

16. Example: General motors corporation is in business to produce and sell automobiles, trucks, buses and other specialized vehicle. To do so, it borrows money from dozens of banks, sells stock and gets capital funds from hundreds of thousands of stockholders, employees over 7,00,000 workers and managers, franchises thousands of auto dealers who sell the cars, sells GM products to 3 to 5 million customers a year, and competes with several domestic and foreign automakers. If GM is to carry out its primary mission in society, it must interact with all these groups. Lecture: Business Environment by Md. Shakhawat Hossain

17. Figure: Business secondary interactions with society Lecture: Business Environment by Md. Shakhawat Hossain

18. Local Communities: Jobs, environment • Federal ,state and government: Regulation, taxes • Foreign governments: Friendly, hostile • Social activist groups: social demands • Media: Image, publicity • Business support groups: Advice, research • Public opinion: Positive, negative Lecture: Business Environment by Md. Shakhawat Hossain

19. Example: Some GM cars and trucks contribute to air pollution in urban areas. In that case, public health is affected. GM did not intend to create this effect when it sold cars; pollution was only an unintended result of its fundamental drive to make and sell cars at a profit. Lecture: Business Environment by Md. Shakhawat Hossain

20. Questions? Lecture: Business Environment by Md. Shakhawat Hossain