Questions and Answers of Strategic Customer Management

What is your impression of John Lewis and W. L. Gore? Are they good firms? Are they successful firms? Are those two things (good and successful) the same? Would you like to work at a company like
Is it a good idea for companies to apply a pay scale ratio to the highest and lowest wages in the organization (such as at Whole Foods Market)? If so, what do you think that ratio should be? If not,
Where would you rather shop—Walmart or Costco? If you answered “Walmart” based on the price of its products, would you be willing to pay a higher price if you knew that the extra money would go
What is a fair wage? What does fair mean?85 What is the lowest hourly wage for which you would be willing to work? Think of some of the jobs you have done—would you have worked harder if your pay
What are some of the benefits to companies of an employee volunteer program? How can companies encourage employees to participate in such a program and avoid the suspicion that “by volunteering,
Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EseNAh9UwjI. Do you agree that business is “a moral endeavor”?
Look at Ben & Jerry’s values (http://www.benjerry.com/values/). What do you think about the company’s Product Mission, Economic Mission, and Social Mission? What about the social causes the firm
In your view, what does a values-based business look like? Think of an example that you have seen or read in the news: What do you think would be different about working for a firm like that?
What does it mean for an organization to be ethical? What is the difference between an unethical and an illegal act?
What makes one person more or less ethical than another? Where does that component of an individual’s character come from?
An important component of implementing an ethical or CSR perspective firm-wide is consistency across departments. Do you feel that the important lessons you are learning in this class are supported
What do you imagine the day-to-day work of an ethics and compliance officer (ECO) entails? Do you think it is viewed as a position of importance within companies today?
How does a firm avoid the perception that its CSR report is greenwash? Does it matter whether the reasons behind an action are genuine or cynical if the outcome is the same?
List four of the eight components of a firm’s plan of action necessary to implement CSR over the short to medium term. What examples from business can you think of where firms have performed these
Why is top-management support for CSR so critical? Can CSR be delegated? If so, why and to whom?
How can you minimize the amount of e-waste you produce? How often do you upgrade your cell phone or computer? Is it fair that workers in developing countries (including children) clean up our
What are your impressions of Marks & Spencer’s Plan A website(http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/plan-a/)? Do you get the sense that this is a genuine effort, or is it window dressing? More
What is your image of the NGO Greenpeace? Do you trust the organization to provide accurate and objective assessments of the environmental impact of business? Visit the organization’s
Have a look at this video: http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-stuff/. Does it change your answer to Question 1? How do you answer the main question posed in the video: How can we make a
Should a firm’s operations abroad be judged by the standards (legal, economic, cultural, and moral) of the country in which it is operating or by the standards of its domestic market? Is a firm
Did you know about Starbucks’ C.A.F.E. Practices and the Fairtrade products the company sells? Does knowing about these products make you more likely to shop there? Do you think this effort is
Do you know what the Fairtrade symbol looks like? Can you name a Fairtrade product that you have bought recently? Why did you buy that product?
Do you believe in the idea of fair trade? Why, or why not? What does fair mean? Are you happy to pay a premium for fair trade products?
Are shareholders investors or are they speculators? Does your answer to this question affect how you think about the stock market?
Why does greenwash present a danger to CSR? Have a look at Terrachoice’s report “The Sins of Greenwashing” (http://sinsofgreenwashing.com/index35c6.pdf). Which of the seven sins (p. 10) do you
How do structure, competencies, strategy, and the environment combine with the CSR filter to create a successful organization?
Why are large, multinational firms more likely to be concerned about CSR? Why are lifestyle brands more susceptible to CSR than companies that seek to compete with a business-level strategy of low
Why is it important to view CSR from a strategic context?
What is meant by the phrase “CSR as brand insurance”? Can you think of a firm that has benefited from CSR in this way?
Outline the industry perspective. Choose an example industry and conduct an analysis of its competitive structure using Porter’s five forces model. Is that industry a good industry in which to do
Outline the resources perspective. Identify a firm and its core competency: How does that competency meet the three tests proposed by Prahalad and Hamel that define it as a source of sustainable
Define each of these terms: vision, mission, strategy, and tactics. What is the relationship among them in relation to a firm’s strategy-planning process?
How many credit cards do you carry? What loans have you taken out? Do you think that reform of the credit-fueled economic model in the West is essential for a more equitable global economy? In
How would you recommend a mortgage lender reform its employee incentives to ensure it avoids Countrywide’s mistakes? In general, how can a firm motivate salespeople who work on commission (as many
What was the role of CSR in the Financial Crisis, and how can it help us find a solution? What do you think of Bill Gates’s speech at 2008 World Economic Forum at Davos,
Given your answer to question 1, what are the main solutions? What form of global economic system should we be striving to create?
In your view, what were the main causes of the Financial Crisis?
Have a look at the following certification logos. Do you recognize any of them? Do you know what they measure? If you wanted to buy a product and one brand had one of these logos attached and another
Why is it important that an audit of a company’s operations be conducted by an independent organization? How could a firm benefit from working with NGOs to conduct a social audit of operations?
Who benefits most from the publication of a CSR report—the firm or its stakeholders? What are the dangers of greenwashing, marketing statements that are intended to inflate or misrepresent a
Is a tobacco firm that employs tens of thousands of people and pays significant taxes a better or worse firm (in terms of CSR performance) than a supermarket that sells food but pays its employees
Do you think of CSR in terms of a dichotomy, or do you think of CSR in terms of a continuum? If it is the former, what advantages does this approach provide? If it is the latter, what implications
Compare Walmart’s current and previous logos:Which do you prefer? Why? Do you believe that Walmart is sincere in its commitment to sustainability issues, or is its public stance just an example of
Walmart argues that it provides valuable jobs to small communities and should be allowed to grow.Critics argue that these jobs are often low paying, with few benefits. What is your position? Is a
In 2003, the Norwegian government passed a law that was designed to force public companies to have 40% female directors on their boards. At the time “only 6 per cent of directors were female.”
Google the terms csr, mandatory, and voluntary. What is your reaction to how this debate is unfolding in the business world? Where do you think most firms would like the balance between coercion and
Should companies be persuaded to incorporate a CSR perspective voluntarily or forced to do so? Why?Which of these two approaches is ideal? Which is more realistic?
Have a look at Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan (http://www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/). Before reading this chapter, were you aware of this initiative? Does it change your impression of
Assuming a company found a profitable niche in serving the fourth tier (the 4 billion people at the bottom of the economic pyramid), how might such a breakthrough help the firm sell to the top of the
Outline the opportunity that exists at the bottom of the pyramid. Can you think of a firm or existing product that can be modified to become profitable in the developing world?
Is it OK for a for-profit company to profit from poverty?
How do you respond to the assertion that “the most important organization in the world is the company: [It is] the basis of the prosperity of the West and the best hope for the future of the rest
Conduct an online search of “social investment fund companies.” What is your opinion of the websites of some of these companies and their stated mission and values? Are these funds a force for
When considering an investment in a mutual fund, would you consider the CSR profiles of the companies in which the fund invested? What about SRI funds? Why, or why not?
What are your thoughts about increasing demands for firms to hold “say-on-pay” votes on executive compensation packages? Is it a good idea or unnecessary interference in the day-to-day management
Do you own any shares of a company? If so, do you vote at the company’s annual general meeting(either in person or by proxy)? Is it important for shareholders to be actively involved with the
If the idea that shareholders do not own the publicly traded corporation became widely accepted, what consequences do you think this would have for the stock market? Would this be a good thing or a
Who owns the publicly traded, limited liability corporation?
Think about a recent example of a firm that changed its behavior in response to the demands of a stakeholder. Was this an example of corporate stakeholder responsibility?
Would you report a classmate you suspected of cheating at school? Why or why not?
List three points in favor of both Friedman’s and Handy’s view of the firm and its responsibilities?Which position to you agree with? Why?
Who is responsible for CSR—firms or their stakeholders? Why?
Using a real-life firm, list its stakeholders and use the model presented in the chapter to prioritize their importance.
Of the “five steps of stakeholder prioritization,” which step, if missed, is likely to have the most adverse effect on the firm’s ability to build effective stakeholder relationships?
What criteria do you think should be used to prioritize competing stakeholder interests?
Can an individual or a group self-appoint itself as a stakeholder, or does the firm need to recognize it as a stakeholder in order for it to qualify as such?
What is your definition of a stakeholder?
Have a look at the website for the campaign “What Would Jesus Drive?”(http://www.whatwouldjesusdrive.info/). What car would Jesus drive? Why?
What is your reaction to the accusation that the Islamic finance industry is generating “interest-bearing loan[s] in all but name”? From what you have learned in this case study, do you agree
Are you interested in a career in finance? Would you have any religious or moral concerns about working in the finance industry? Are there any jobs or industries that you would avoid based on your
Have a look at photos of the Atheist Bus Campaign’s advertisements on London buses at https://humanism.org.uk/about/atheist-bus-campaign/. What is your reaction? Do you find them provocative? Why
What role does religion play in your life? Do you feel the society in which you live is becoming more or less religious? Is this good or bad? Does it matter?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a firm incorporating as a benefit corporation? Is this new organizational form necessary? If you were starting a firm and you were in a state that allowed
What is your opinion about Citizens United? Was it the correct decision by the Court? Do you think the US Constitution should be amended to read that “money is not speech, and that human beings,
Ten years from now, do you think these five forces will still be driving ever-greater CSR? Do you see any other emerging forces (e.g., religion, big data)80 that might reshape CSR in the future to
For each of the five forces, can you think of a firm that is strategically well positioned to take advantage of the changes being propelled by that force?
Of these five forces, is there one that you feel is more important than the others? Defend your choice with examples from your own experience and knowledge.
What are the five driving forces that make CSR more relevant for firms today?
What are the ethical, moral, rational, and economic arguments for CSR? Define and discuss each one briefly.
Milton Friedman argued that “few trends could so thoroughly undermine the very foundations of our free society as the acceptance by corporate officials of a social responsibility other than to make
Define corporate social responsibility. What arguments in favor of CSR seem most important to you?How is CSR different from strategic CSR?
Placed in the position of the local market leader, how would you continue to defend against the national resources represented by Peter Leslie and the Turner organization?
Do the local organizations have a real home field advantage, or is it a perception that is used to erect barriers against outside competitors?
Has Peter Leslie adopted the right approach to challenging the local market?
Put in Peter Leslie’s position, explain your initial strategy for addressing the market expansion challenge.
Technological marketing is the future of civil engineering organizations. However, the changing face of technology makes it difficult to predict where the technology future will reside. Given these
Returning to the historic lessons from military leaders such as Napoleon that state a challenger should turn a defender’s strengths into weaknesses, how can these lessons be applied by a new market
A market challenger needs to identify weaknesses in a market leader’s position. How can a civil engineering organization with a limited marketing budget develop a strategy for identifying these
A market leader spends considerable effort achieving a leadership position. However, once this position is achieved, the risk of organization complacency becomes a tangible issue. How can civil
Analyzing the competition is a fundamental component of competitive positioning. This chapter introduces several options for obtaining this knowledge. Given a limited budget, how should a civil
Placed in the position of a Fiber 2000 investor, what attributes would you look for, and what commitments would you expect from, the engineering consultant on the project?
Placed in an employee stockholder’s position, what questions would you want PB to answer prior to making a decision as to whether or not to endorse the PB investment?
Placed in Susan Kelly’s position, what recommendation would you make to the overall PB management committee, and how would you defend this decision?
Placed in Susan Kelly’s position, how would you evaluate the risks associated with the Fiber 2000 project?
At what point does a risk level exceed the potential for return in selecting projects? Under what circumstances should this risk level be exceeded?
Risk profiles provide guidelines for civil engineering organizations to identify desired levels of risk to accept in given projects. How can a civil engineering organization balance desired risk
A civil engineering organization decides to attract new customers from the private sector and identifies Super Grocers as a potential customer. Super Grocers has a strong balance sheet and
Setting a proactive response to industry forces requires organizations to reinforce current positions through market barriers or roadblocks. Given that very few barriers exist to new entrants, what
Strategic differentiation is a concept receiving an increasing degree of attention by organization strategists. Is this concept viable in a service-based industry such as civil engineering, where
The civil engineering industry is divided into traditional market sectors and regional boundaries. These divisions provide organizations with established foundations upon which to develop strategic

Showing 1 - 100 of 164