Scope and aim
Looking after the social issues in the organization as well as outside the organization should be the duty of every company (Werbach, 2013). The actions that are being taken into account by the organizations should also be communicated with the people outside the organization (Schaltegger, Hansen & Lüdeke-Freund, 2016). To let the people know about the actions taken in the organization, the organizations should publish the actions in their social reports so that the people know the exact areas that are being taken into consideration by the organizations to maintain sustainability (Beckmann, Hielscher & Pies, 2014). However, the way the report is being presented helps the company as the readers will gave an in-depth idea about the actions taken into consideration by the companies (Buxel, Esenduran & Griffin, 2015). The more information will be there in the report, the better will be the action be highlighted.
The following report will look into the social reports Samsung Korea and Apple US and the way they have included the social issues in the context. The way they have included the issues will help them the popularity in the market. Even though the business of Samsung and apple is almost similar, the difference in the countries will make a difference the business. The social accounting approach by Zadek et al. will be related to the actions by the organizations. Finally, the things included in the social report will be related to the actions of the organization.
The main aim of the report is to look into the way the organizations are presenting their social reports. The report will throw light on the future scope regarding the way the social report of the organization should be prepared so that it helps the readers in understanding the criteria that should be incorporated in the social report.
The social reports of both Samsung Korea and Apple US are descriptive enough so that the readers will have an idea about the actions that are being taken into consideration while they are preparing the social reports of the company. The readers will get a detailed idea about the ways of the company and the way they deal with the social issues.
However, Samsung Korea has mentioned the social issues that are looked after by the company in Korea as well as in other countries (Samsung, 2016). On the contrary, the social report of Apple US is mainly concentrated on the operations of the company in that particular country (Apple, 2017). In this context, the social report of apple be said to be better than the presentation of the reports by apple is better than the presentation of the reports by Samsung (Wagner & Svensson, 2014). If readers want to know the operations of Samsung in Korea, they have to look for the operations in Korea in the report that has been published. On the other hand, when the report of apple will be looked at, there will be no need to search for the country, as the report will be entirely based on the country and hence, it will be easily relatable.
Way of dealing social reports
Apple mentioned the issues in their reports by evaluating the aspects that are being taken into consideration by the organization to maintain a sustainable business (Crane & Matten, 2016). They mentioned their ways to deal with the suppliers, the people, education, sourcing. Samsung on the other hand, talked about the business that they carry out along with the sustainability approach used by the company. Samsung in the starting of the report has talked about the areas where they mainly concentrate when they think about sustainability. The areas are
- Indentifying the threats and opportunities while managing the business sustainably
- Participate in the international initiatives taken to maintain sustainability
- Connect the business with issues of social responsibility
They then mentioned their business that they mainly take into consideration. After they have mentioned about the business, they specifically talked about the issues that they look after in the sustainability report.
Both the organizations, Apple and Samsung have talked about the issues in detail and the way they look after the social issues and the way they deal with them.
The main differences in the report of the two companies rise from the fact that they work in different types of industries (Sharma & Hart, 2014). The common device between two organizations is the mobile phone and the laptops. However, the range of products for Samsung is more than the range of products that are being offered by apple. The report presented by Samsung is much more detailed as they offer a huge range of products. Samsung has talked about the devices that they have launched in the market and the way each product has been developed and the social issues that have been kept in mind while they are carrying out the business. The difference in the country has not been visible in the report, as the issues that are looked into by the organizations have been almost the same. In spite of Korea and the United States being developing and developed country, the dealing with social issues have been the same for both the countries (Gupta, Rudd & Lee, 2014).
Zadek’s approach is quite helpful assessing the social accounting report of an organization. Moreover, this approach has some specific criteria based on which an organization is assessed for its social accounting. While measuring the social accounting report of Samsung South Korea, Tweedie and Hazelton, (2015) opined that provide equal rights to the employee from different background. Moreover, the women often get higher priorities in getting top organizational position. In this way, the organization strives for women empowerment in the society and includes inclusivity in the business approach. Furthermore, Dillard and Brown, (2015) opined that management policies of the organization are quite transparent with the organizational stakeholders. Moreover, they disclose only true information to the shareholders and provide them fair return on investment (Painter-Morland et al. 2016). Furthermore, the quality team of the organization is on continuous effort towards improving the product quality of the organization. Apart from that, the completeness of the organization is highly reflected on its continuous effort towards environmental protection. Samsung South Korea has started to manufacture eco-conscious products for saving the energy and protect environment.
Differences based on country
While measuring the social accounting report of Apple USA, Hall et al., (2015) stated that the organization has holistic approach towards inclusion of diversity. Moreover, the employees get equal priority in the workplace regardless of their cultural background. It proves the inclusivity of the organization towards the employees. On the other hand, the organization provides grants for the educational development of the country. Furthermore, Bebbington and Larrinaga (2014) opined that the organization maintains fair transparency with the shareholders and disclose everything regarding the organizational profit. In this way, the organization is quite able maintain long term relationship with the shareholders. The organization also maintain fair standard on their product quality towards comparability. Apart from that, Apple USA has policies for allowing employee volunteering time for improving the quality of social life. This management policy actually satisfies the employees for getting some volunteering time beyond their typical daily jobs. On the other hand, this policy also improves the social life of the country. The organization involves customer feedbacks for improving the product quality and customizes them as per the customers (Gneezy et al., 2014). On the other hand, the completeness of Apple USA is also reflected on it environment protection initiatives. Moreover, the organization has taken the initiatives of recycling of its electronic products and saves the energy of the environment.
According to Dillard and Brown (2015), the value of Samsung South Korea lies in the level of excellence towards providing something unique to the customers. All the activities of this organizational are actually driven by an underlying passion of excellence. Moreover, the organization has unfaltering commitment towards providing best quality product in the market. On the other hand, Tweedie and Hazelton (2015) opined that social report of Samsung primarily indicates the maintaining standard in the quality of the products. In this way, the social report of the organization reflects on the organizational value of Samsung. The value of Samsung is also reflected on its level of integrity in the operation of business. Operating ethical business is the foundation of this organization. The organizational activities are guided by moral compass for ensuring transparency and fairness with all the stakeholders. On the other hand, the social report of Samsung also highlights that the organization maintains high level of transparency with the shareholders and provide fair return on investment. Therefore, the social report of this organization really reflects on the organizational value.
According to Bebbington and Larrinaga (2014), the organizational value is highly reflected on its empathy for the customers. In this regards, the organization always offers the products, which provide to the real needs of the customers and provide lasting value. Moreover, the organization genuinely solves the customer problems without compromising the ethics and maintaining integrity. On the other hand, Gneezy et al., (2014) opined that Apple always maintains transparent relationship with all of its stakeholders for marinating fairness in business. In this way, the social report of Apple reflects on its organizational value. On the other hand, the organizational value of Apple USA is also reflected on its positive social contribution. As a corporate citizen, the organization wishes to be an economical, social and intellectual asset in the communities towards the community development. On the other hand, social report of the Apple also highlights the charity program towards developing the community. In this way, the social report of Apple is reflected on its organizational value.
Conclusion
After going through the social report of Samsung Korea and Apple US, it can be concluded that both the organizations provided a detailed report for the people of the country. However, the report of Samsung, it can be said to be more detailed as it has to cover all the devices and the way they are looking with the issues of sustainability. Zadek et al’s approach has been found to helpful to identify the sustainability approach. Samsung maintain equality among the employees and the high positions in the office are being kept for both men and women. Apple maintains a standard product quality while they are doing the business. As far as the value of the companies are concerned, it aims at giving something unique to the people while Samsung ensures product quality. The social report of Samsung clearly talks about the shared values of Samsung. On the other hand, apple always try maintain a transparent relationship with its stakeholders, which is also been taken care of in the social report.
References
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Samsung, (2016). GLOBAL HARMONY with PEOPLE, SOCIETY & ENVIRONMENT. 1st ed. [ebook] Available at: https://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/sustainability/sustainabilityreports/download/2016/2016-samsung-sustainability-report-eng.pdf [Accessed 12 May 2017].
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