Csr Final Paper

UNIVERSITY of SAN CARLOS

College of Commerce

Executive Masters in Business Administration

NO MAN IS AN ISLAND

Reflections on the Social Initiatives of Businesses (Corporate Social Responsibility)

In partial fulfilment of the course requirements in

EMBA 213(Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility)

Submitted By:

SHERANILE A. YLANAN

Student

Submitted To:

DR. RENE PAQUIBOT

Facilitator

No Man Is an Island Lyrics

Artist(Band):Joan Baez

No man is an island,

No man stands alone,

Each man's joy is joy to me,

Each man's grief is my own.

We need one another,

So I will defend,

Each man as my brother,

Each man as my friend.

I saw the people gather,

I heard the music start,

The song that they were singing,

Is ringing in my heart.

No man is an island,

Way out in the blue,

We all look to the one above,

For our strength to renew.

When I help my brother,

Then I know that I,

Plant the seed of friendship,

That will never die.

INTRODUCTION:

The final trimester of my stay in the University of San Carlos as a student of the Executive Masters in Business Administration (EMBA) program gave a lot of insights and open new perspectives on the way I look things and on the manner I perceive life. It validated the adage: No Man is an Island. Hence, the title of my final requirement in EMBA 213.

LEARNINGS:

A. The purpose of business is to provide goods and services that benefit society and that Profit is the reward for producing goods and services that contribute to human development (Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility).I used to believe that business exist primarily to gain profit and businessmen do not have the obligation to society. I came to realize that businessmen are duty-bound to produce goods and services that will improve the life of its consumers and the environment. The businessmen should therefore put into consideration what benefits it can bring to the society rather than maximize profit for own selfish motive. What flashed in my mind is the proliferation of many Chinese products in the market today. Although the Chinese products are cheaper as compared to branded products but the quality is questionable. We have heard in the news that it contains lead that is toxic and it caused devastation to some of their patrons. Manufacturers should in the first place prioritize the welfare of their consumers by having quality products. They have the moral obligation to look after the safety of their products and not only to mass produce to reap profits. The manufacturer is liable even after the product is purchased if the product being sold is defective.

B. Rights and duties are like two sides of a coin. No one can demand for his right without being bound to the duty attached to it (Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility).This statement is very reflective on the practice of micro-lending. Yes, the government has the responsibility in uplifting poverty in the countryside. One of the means to address poverty is through microfinance. But history will show us that all microfinance initiated projects of government only resulted to dole-outs and therefore failed. This is primarily because poor people think that they are not obligated to pay-back to the government the amount being loaned out for them. This alone defeats the purpose of the vision of eradicating poverty. In as much as the government has the social responsibility to make this nation a better place to live in, let us also not forget that as a citizen we have also the prime duty to help ourselves to break away from the bondage of poverty. This is done through using the loaned money for starting ones own business in order to be able to pay in full and on time.

C. Good habits may be difficult in the beginning but the difficulty would soon dissolve as the person becomes comfortable (Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility).This is usually the case particularly when a person wishes to change for the better. His strong will and determination to implement change is at stake. For it is a human instinct to experience difficulty in the first stage when one will separate from the usual comfort zone and adopt changes. The person needs to be motivated in order to be able to form good habits. For example, we all know for the fact that smoking is not good for health reasons. For the certified smokers it is not easy on their side to quit their habit. They will experience various side effects and worst they failed to quit smoking and that made them frustrated. So it is therefore important for the concerned person to be encouraged in order for him to succeed in his quest to break away his acquired bad habits. Another example, during our company's annual physical examination (APE), the doctor found out in my medical history that both my parents died in hypertension. After he took my blood pressure, he advised me to lose weight since I am in threshold to being hypertensive. Afraid to experience the same fate as my parents, I tried to go on a diet and some sort of exercise in order to lose weight. At first I succeed to do it but was not able to sustain. I have the difficulty in doing what I am not used of doing. It gave me a hard time. Also, I expected instant result and was disappointed when I did not get what I anticipated. That made me to stop since I was discouraged on the result. Looking back on that experience, even though that it is for my own sake, it did not flourish as a habit since I was