Alternatives from Fish Waste and Algae for Corporate Social Responsibility

Question 1

Finding alternatives to non-biodegradable, oil-based single use plastic items. Discussion on one alternative being developed is the use of fish waste and algae to make a biodegradable film, however some groups of people might find this an unacceptable alternative since it uses animal waste as part of its manufacturing process.

In the recent era of globalisation, the organisations are efficient to manage sustainable solutions to the business in order to secure future development and in this regard, finding alternatives to non-biodegradable, oil-based single use plastic items would be the great initiative by the corporate firms to make the business sustainable and mitigate the problem of environmental pollution. In this regard, one alternative is being developed by using fish waste and algae to make a biodegradable film, which can be sustainable in long run and it is also possible to recycle the product for further usage, as it is biodegradable. As per the Carroll’s pyramid of corporate social responsibility, the layers of the pyramid are such as economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic (Wang and Sarkis, 2017). For students who are delving into environmental studies dissertation help, exploring such sustainable initiatives within corporate social responsibility frameworks can offer the most valuable insights into contemporary environmental management practices.

As per the pyramid, the organisations must focus on economic responsibility by maximising their profitability in long run, so that the corporate leaders can give high return on the investment of the stakeholders in the firm. Additional, legal and ethical standard of the business are the other layers of the pyramid, where the organisations are able to obey the business rules as well as be ethical for managing the organisational operations. It is important for the organisation to manage their activities ethically, by maintaining transparency and accountability, equality and diversity as well as respecting others (Wang and Sarkis, 2017). The legal structure of copyright and intellectual property rights, licensing and others are also beneficial to handle the stakeholders. As per the theory, the philanthropic responsibility refers to investment in the social developmental projects for better management of the corporate citizens by maintaining their business operations sustainably. Hence, alternatives of no-biodegradable products must be developed in order to help the organisation for better management. The new product would be fish waste and algae to make a biodegradable film, which can be utilised for packaging system in the company. It reduces the waste and increases the scope of recycling the materials further. Hence, the strategy of developing biodegradable film by using fish waste and algae are beneficial to the society for mitigating pollution. As per the carols pyramid of CSR, the new alternative to plastic would be beneficial to improve ethical standard of the business and manage the social communities by being corporate citizens, where the new products would be biodegradable and it reduces environmental pollution (Maqbool and Zameer, 2018).

On the other hand, there is another issue of using biodegradable film which is produced by fish waste and algae for some of the social communities, who are vegans, vegetarians or from certain religions. Hence, as per the triple bottom line theory, the factors contributing in managing corporate social responsibility are economic sustainability, social sustainability and environmental sustainability (Maqbool and Zameer, 2018). For economic sustainability, the business firms focus on maximising profitability and sales volume of the organisations to ensure financial stability. Environmental sustainability is also necessary to be maintained for protecting natural resources and providing healthy environment to stay safely. Hence, it is thee responsibility of the corporate leaders to manage their activities sustainably in long run. The practice of recycling, using renewable resources, waste management, utilising biodegradable products for packaging and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions are the major practices of the firms to enhance sustainable solutions. Hence, the strategy of exploring alternative solutions of plastic use is mandatory to maintain green environmental footprint.

However, as per the triple bottom line theory of CSR, the social responsibility is also necessary to be met. The organisations are concerned about balancing peoples live and the maximising their wellbeing. The organisations also focus on creating values for the social communities by resecting theory choices and preferences. Hence, using bio-degradable products which is reduced by fish waste and algae would be the sustainable solutions, as there are some customers group who do not prefer this type of products due to fish waste and algae, such as them vegetarians and some social groups. Hence, as per the triple bottom line theory, it is sustainable to utilise plastic for packaging system or others as some of the customers do not refer the sustainable products made of fish waste and algae (Adnan, Hay and van Staden, 2018). Hence, it is necessary to develop alternative solutions to plastic as well as implement the best method of recycling the plastic for maintaining organisational sustainability. For example, using paper packaging system, wooden materials, glass, stainless steel packaging system, platinum silicon, wooden and bamboo packaging system as well as cardboard are sustainable solutions for reducing the use of plastic packaging system further. The organisations must focus on restructuring the business strategy for maintaining long run sustainability so that it would be possible to manage green environmental footprint and enhance livelihood of the people by providing safer world.

Question 2

Briefly comparing the similarities and differences between the good ethics in the organisation by discussing different theoretical models and exploring the actions that organisation providing single use plastic products to help them meet these levels more regularly

Good Business level in the Chryssides and Kaler model suggested that business ethics is important to manage the corporate social responsibility where good ethics translates the organisations to good business, the organisations are concerned about fulfilling the needs and preferences of the clients and enhance personnel loyalty and satisfaction in long run. The business ethical code of conduct is mandatory to improve ethical standard of the organisations and manage good corporate structure at the firm in order to enhance their operations successfully (Galant and Cadez, 2017). As per the Chryssides and Kaler model, there is economic responsibility as well as ethical and philanthropic responsibility which are necessary to be maximised. As per the model, the organisations must focus on mitigating the plastic usage in order to make the business sustainable. As per the model, the good business ethics make the good organisation and hence, maximising the values for the social communities is mandatory for the companies through mitigating the greenhouse gas emissions, waste management techniques and creating safer world by reducing environmental pollution (Galant and Cadez, 2017).

On the other hand, Emergent Ethical level in the Reidenbach & Robin model creating moral values and ethical structure are effective for the organisations for better management and strengthening the client base of the company in long run. Client satisfaction as well as managing the stakeholders of the business is possible through the ethical code of conduct and this model is effective to create moral values through managing the stakeholders. As per the model, there are five stages which are the amoral, the legalistic organisation, the responsive organisation, emerging ethical organisation and ethical organisation. The companies try to become ethical organisation by managing their stakeholders including the customer’s employees, suppliers, managers, government, CEO and social communities as a whole. In this regard the environmental sustainability is a crucial factor contributing positively in the organisation to run their business sustainably (Galant and Cadez, 2017). On the other hand, the companies are also beneficial to manage ethical code of conduct including managing transparency and accountability, equality and diversity, respecting others, creating values of all the stakeholders and enhancing internal communication and cooperation to work cooperatively.

Hence, both the models are similar where the organisations try to manage the social responsibility for running their business ethically. Both the models provide ethical code of conduct for improving the organisational activities and manage all the stakeholders strategically. The models differ due to different stages of maintaining ethical standard and code of business ethics and in this regard the business firms try to manage the ethics of integrity and responsibility towards each stakeholder (Abbas, 2020). The practice of green environmental footprint is also efficient for the business to manage their activities and secure future sustainable development. The companies follow the legal structure to manage the business legally. Hence, the models are beneficial to follow suitable steps of creating moral values for the stakeholders. For managing regularity of the business ethical code of conduct, it is necessary for the firm to manage the ethical standard to utilise plastic usage and implement recycling techniques for reducing waste. In addition to this, it is necessary for the firms to develop alternative strategy for packaging and reducing the plastic usage in long run, so that they can secure future sustainable development. For single used plastic products, it is necessary to follow the ethical rules and also implement recycle technique. The firms must follow zero waste strategy and utilise bio-degradable products for the organisational operations.

Question 3

Single use plastics are often used in applications (windows in sandwich boxes, straws, sachets) which make them hard to collect and additionally are made from types of plastics which are almost impossible to recycle. Discussing the stakeholders engaged with the whole system

Stakeholders making is effective for identifying the stakeholders that are engaged with the organisational activities. The corporate firms in the recent years focus on developing sustainable solutions in order to run their business creatively and manage the company activity strategically. In the recent years, the issue related to plastic use in the company for packaging system as well as other plastic products for customers service is raising at a rapid rate and it becomes serious concern for the corporate firms to handle the issue and mitigate it with creative strategic planning. It is the role of the corporate leader to manage the problem of plastic usage and run the business sustainably. The plastics are utilised windows in sandwich boxes, straws fork and sachets where the collection of the plastic for waste management becomes difficult for the organisations and it further raises the issue of corporate social responsibility. The organisations are hereby concerned about managing the issues and identifying the stakeholders engaged with recycling process of plastic, so that it would be possible for the organisation to secure future sustainable development (He and Harris, 2020).

The major stakeholders engaged with the system of plastic usage and organisational activities are such as the retailers, customers, social communities, industry representatives, CEO of the organisations, manufacturer, local government and tourism association and environmental groups. The stakeholder making is hereby important to analyse the needs and preferences of the stakeholders and identify their expectations in the organisation. As per the stakeholder’s mapping, the major factors are such as keeping completely satisfied, managing the stakeholder’s thoroughly regular minimal impacts and anticipating and meeting the needs and preferences of the stakeholders.

As per the stakeholders including the directors, shareholders, managers, board members as well as environmental agency are playing crucial role to strategies the business activities and develop creative sustainable solution to run the operations strategically. Hereby, it is important to share all the necessary information with this stakeholder group and keep them satisfied by providing high return on their investment. Additionally, the colleagues, employees at the workplace, suppliers, tourism associations and government are also important stakeholders where the CEO of the company tries to handle them thoroughly through providing sustainable solutions (Agudelo, Jóhannsdóttir and Davídsdóttir, 2019). The organisational management team is also concerned about anticipating and fulfilling the needs and preferences of the stakeholders group including customers and social communities as a whole, by providing good quality products and services, managing safety and security in the society as well as providing safe environment to stay healthily. They are the major stakeholders related to the business sustainable solutions, where the organisations in the recent years try to reduce the use of plastic and implement recycling process for better waste management.

The social communities and customers are highly affected for using plastics, as this raise the issue of environmental pollution, soil and water pollution and increasing the greenhouse gas emissions. Hence, it is mandatory for the organisational leader to develop suitable strategic planning for meeting the stakeholder’s needs and providing them safer world to stay healthily, so that the organisation would be able to manage sustainable practice and maximise ethical standard of the business. another stakeholder group that are affected for unsustainable practice at the organisation are the employees, where they are not getting good incentives and compensation of their work, as well as they fail to protect natural resources and environment due to lack of organisational sustainable solutions. Hence, the employees and the customers group are the major stakeholders group which are affected mostly due to unsustainable practices of the organisation (Sroka and Szántó, 2018). It is necessary for the companies to take initiatives for the business to run the operations sustainably and create values for all the stakeholders, who are engaged with the business. As per the recent trend of corporate social responsibility, the corporate leaders are concerned about environmental protection and follow the ethical practice to protect natural resources of earth and this practice further provides a scope to the organisations to run their business legal and maximise ethical standard.

Question 4

Identify one type of single use plastic. Discussing the future CSR trends that might affect management decisions made in relation to the continuing use of this single use plastic product

In the recent years there is high demand for the sing use plastic products and the demand for the plastic products is also increasing over the period of time. It becomes a high concern for the organisations to manage the sustainability of the business in order to run their operations efficiently and thus it is necessary for the corporate firms to choose their products and develop recycling ways to manage their business sustainability. Without sustainable solution, it is not possible for the organisations to manage their operations and secure future development and thus it is necessary to identify the critical business issues related to corporate sustainability and develop strategic planning for mitigating the issues and make the business sustainable. The single used plastics are the goods that are made primarily from the fossil fuel based chemicals or petrochemicals which are meant to disposed of right after in use and it is commonly utilized for the packaging and service ware, such as bottles, straws, bag and wrappers (White, and Lockyer, 2020). The major examples of single used plastics are such as plastic forks, shopping bags and water bottles as well as coffee cu lids and plastic straws. The use of these products is increasing rapidly across the globe and the customers also prefer to utilise one use plastic products for safety.

There is rapid growth in the restaurant and leisure market where the customer’s preferences towards ready food and fast food items is high. The use of plastic in this industry is also growing at an increasing rate due to several products such as straws, fork, coffee leads and other service ware, which are helpful for the organisations to manage waste after just one use. Single use plastics are not expensive and it is light weight and durable material for the organisations. There are wide ranges of products used of sing plastic which are oil based and its application is also high. As consequences, the production of the plastic is increasing at a rapid rate over the past 60 years and recently the level of plastic usage and disposal generate environmental issues. It becomes a high concern for the business organisations to tackle the issue of environmental pollution due to non-biodegradable products. The amount of waste leading to landfills is also increasing and plastic raise the soil and water pollution in the society. It is hereby not suitable for the environmental protection and organisational sustainability, as per the corporate social responsibility practices of the firms (Landon-Lane, 2018).

As per the recent market trend and organisational activities, recycling is the important action correctly available to reduce the waste and develop alternative solutions to plastic usage. The recycling activities of plastic provide a scope to reduce oil usage, carbon dioxide emissions and the quantity of waste disposal. These are the major benefits of plastic recycling techniques and it is important for all the organisations to manage the recycling strategies to sustain in the business and secure future sustainable development (Bhardwaj et al., 2018). Recycling method for waste reduction strategies as well as the material use through recycling or product reuse, the use of alternative biodegradable materials and energy recovery as fuel is sustainable practice for the business firms to run their operations successfully. The recent trend of managing corporate social responsibility and plastic ban has crucial impacts on the organisational decision making practice.

The recent trend of maintaining ethical standard and developing creative and sustainable solutions, the organisations focus on innovative strategic planning to run their business operations in such a way that there would be low greenhouse gas emissions, waste management practice and recycling options (Freeman and Dmytriyev, 2017). There are several alternative solutions to plastic use and the organisations try to strategies their business sustainably to secure future development. Hence, the alternative use of plastics are such as glass, paper packaging system, stainless steel packaging system, platinum silicon, wooden and bamboo packaging system as well as cardboard. These are the major alternative solutions to plastic usage, which can be degradable in the environment and also can be reused for further organisational operations. Hence, as per the new market trend and organisational activities of managing corporate social responsibility further influence the corporate leaders to make creative solutions and improve packaging system through sustainable materials which would be recycled and reutilised. Through the sustainable practices, the organisations in the recent era of globalisation aim at maximising their market share and gaining high competitive advantage by ensuring values creation for the social communities as a whole.

Reference List

Abbas, J., 2020. Impact of total quality management on corporate green performance through the mediating role of corporate social responsibility. Journal of Cleaner Production, 242, p.118458.

Adnan, S.M., Hay, D. and van Staden, C.J., 2018. The influence of culture and corporate governance on corporate social responsibility disclosure: A cross country analysis. Journal of Cleaner Production, 198, pp.820-832.

Agudelo, M.A.L., Jóhannsdóttir, L. and Davídsdóttir, B., 2019. A literature review of the history and evolution of corporate social responsibility. International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, 4(1), pp.1-23.

Bhardwaj, P., Chatterjee, P., Demir, K.D. and Turut, O., 2018. When and how is corporate social responsibility profitable?. Journal of Business Research, 84, pp.206-219.

Freeman, R.E. and Dmytriyev, S., 2017. Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder theory: Learning from each other. Symphonya. Emerging Issues in Management, (1), pp.7-15.

Galant, A. and Cadez, S., 2017. Corporate social responsibility and financial performance relationship: a review of measurement approaches. Economic research-Ekonomska istraživanja, 30(1), pp.676-693.

He, H. and Harris, L., 2020. The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on corporate social responsibility and marketing philosophy. Journal of Business Research, 116, pp.176-182.

Landon-Lane, M., 2018. Corporate social responsibility in marine plastic debris governance. Marine pollution bulletin, 127, pp.310-319.

Sroka, W. and Szántó, R., 2018. Corporate social responsibility and business ethics in controversial sectors: Analysis of research results. Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, 14(3), pp.111-126.

Wang, Z. and Sarkis, J., 2017. Corporate social responsibility governance, outcomes, and financial performance. Journal of Cleaner Production, 162, pp.1607-1616.

White, A. and Lockyer, S., 2020. Removing plastic packaging from fresh produce–what’s the impact?. Nutrition Bulletin, 45(1), pp.35-50.