Corporate Community Volunteering Programs Quiz

Social Responsibility and Ethics (UGBS 207)

• Course title: Social Responsibility and Ethics
• Course code: UGBS 207
• Instructor: Professor Robert Ebo Hionson

Introduction

• CSR is central to the concepts and issues relating to businesses and their role in society.
• The term "corporate social responsibility" has gained popularity in recent years.
• It's important to examine the genesis of the term "CSR," its meaning, and its application to business activities to better understand it.
• Moral obligations in trade and commerce have existed in ancient times.
• Corporate social responsibility became a key concern for companies in the 1960s, reflecting the rising pressure on companies to correct harmful impacts of their operations.

The GAIA Principle

• The GAIA Principle posits that all life is interconnected.
• The planet Earth, the entire ecosphere, and all living matter are interconnected and interdependent.
• Each element is equally necessary to keep the Earth a planet capable of sustaining life.
• Businesses are part of this system, and their activities have consequences on society.
• Companies should be held liable for their impact on society to maintain balance.

Emergence of Corporate Social Responsibility

• Corporate social responsibility was viewed as self-regulation distinct from government legislation and managerial ethics in the 1980s.
• The increase in government legislation related to societal issues in the 1960s was a driver for companies to take on CSR.
• Discussions about how to make firm commitments to corporate social responsibility, rather than just debating whether to make them at all, are prominent.
• Interest in this topic is growing in Europe.

Defining Corporate Social Responsibility

• Corporate social responsibility is the accommodation of corporate behavior to society's values and expectations.
• According to Howard Bowen, CSR is an obligation that stems from the effects of corporate decisions and actions on people's lives.
• Davis defined CSR as the firm's consideration of and response to issues beyond the firm's core economic, technical, and legal requirements.
• Forstater et al. (2002) defines CSR as a company's actions contributing to sustainable development through core business activities, social investment, and public policy debate.
• McWilliams and Siegel (2001) define CSR as actions furthering social good beyond the law’s minimum requirements.

Approaches to Social Responsibility

• Different views on business responsibilities exist, including those of Milton Friedman, Archie Carroll, and Andrew Carnegie.

Friedman's View

• Friedman believes the social responsibility of business is to increase profits within the bounds of the law.
• Spending shareholder money on social causes is considered irresponsible by this view.

Carroll's View

• Carroll argues that managers of business organizations have four responsibilities:
• Economic: producing goods/services to repay creditors/stockholders.
• Legal: obeying government laws.
• Ethical: adhering to societal beliefs regarding conduct.
• Discretionary: purely voluntary obligations like philanthropic contributions.

Carnegie's View

• Carnegie, founder of US Steel, believed in two main principles of corporate social responsibility:
• Charity Principle: The more fortunate members of society should help the less fortunate.
• Stewardship Principle: The wealthy have a responsibility to manage their resources for the benefit of society as a whole.

The Principles of CSR

Sustainability

• Sustainability means using resources no more than they can be replaced.
• Current actions will have continuing effects on future opportunities.
• Efficient resource use, waste disposal, and environmentally friendly methods are essential for sustainability in organizations.

Accountability

• Recognizing the impact of actions on the external environment, and assuming responsibility.
• Reporting and warning potential victims of actions taken to potentially avert danger is essential.

Transparency

• All actions are obvious, or communicated to all concerned.
• Clear reports of actions and materials, whether figures or facts, must provide accurate, detailed information about relevant issues.

Prominence of CSR

• Key drivers in recent years of CSR engagements include sustainable development, globalization, governance (UN, OECD, Compacts signing), corporate sector impact, communications (technology advancements), ethical consumerism, finance (pressure from investors), strategic business tools, social awareness and education, and crises management.

Arguments For and Against CSR

Profit Maximization

• Milton Friedman argued against CSR, stating that it was a misuse of resources entrusted to companies.
• Others believe that CSR is in business's long-term interest, and that it positively impacts reputation and can attract customers and employees.

Resource Fit

• Businesses may have some valuable resources that can be used to address social problems.
• The knowledge, skills, and experience needed to deal with societal problems may be lacking.
• Communicating effectively with diverse client needs might be challenging.

Lack of Accountability

• Companies are primarily responsible to their shareholders, not to society at large.
• Unlawful or unethical corporate behavior should be addressed by government regulation rather than corporate initiatives.
• Corporate social responsibility initiatives often draw attention away from governmental roles, in this perspective.

Criticisms/Arguments against CSR

• The business of business is business
• Useless Public relations exercise - Theft
• Lack of CSR regulation
• Unfair cost to organizations

Criticisms/Arguments for CSR

• Interdependence of firms and the society
• Stakeholder interest may transcend financial benefits
• Benefits attract qualified staff
• Minimize government intervention
• Improves corporate image and goodwill
• Leads to better financial performance

Forms of CSR Issues

Consumer Concerns

• Product safety and design
• Fair pricing
• Honest advertising
• Clear credit terms
• Adequate product information
• Fair treatment by sales personnel

Employee Concerns

• Fair wages
• Safe work environment
• Fair hiring, promotion and treatment, irrespective of gender, race, color or creed
• Special training and opportunities for employees
• Rehabilitation support for employees with physical and mental health challenges

Environmental Concerns

• Protection from air and water pollution, excessive noise, and other forms of pollution.
• Biodegradability or recyclability of products and packages.
• Safe handling and disposal of harmful by-products (nuclear waste, chemicals).

Societal Concerns

• Supporting minority and community-owned enterprises.
• Donations to educational, artistic, health and community development programs.
• Considering the impacts of plant location and relocation decisions on society.

Stakeholder Management

• Stakeholder thinking emerged as a way of framing corporate behavior over the last 25 year
• Socially responsible organizations balance the interests of diverse groups such as employees, suppliers, dealers, local communities, and the nation.
• Stakeholder interests may go beyond just financial benefits, considering the needs of numerous groups.

What are Stakeholders?

• Stakeholders are organizations or individuals who impact or are impacted by the company's mission.
• Stakeholders include employees, customers, suppliers, owners (shareholders, creditors), government, and society.
• Stockholders are often primarily interested in gaining a return on their investment.
• Stakeholders have a variety of interests in an organization.
• Stakeholder relationships may be complex and interrelated.

Stakeholder Importance

• Power of a stakeholder to influence an organization depends on resources and relationships (e.g., legal/contractual agreements).
• Some stakeholders have economic power or political power to influence companies and their decisions.
• Legitimacy of a relationship with a company is based on perception and adherence to generally accepted societal values and norms.
• Urgency of a stakeholder’s claim is determined by time sensitivity (importance of timely action) and criticality (importance of the claim to the stakeholder).
• Stakeholder theory portrays relationships between diverse actors as complex, interconnected, and capable of influencing or opposing a company.
• Managers must consider the intrinsic value of all stakeholders, not just stockholders.

Responsibilities of the Business to Stakeholders

• Businesses are responsible for guaranteeing the quality and safety of products, protection of customers' information, promotion of customer relationships, hiring of no child labor, fair employment, employee safety, health, labor unions, attention to staff development and employee relationships.
• Responsibility towards the environment includes saving energy, reducing negative impacts on the environment, and promoting environmental public welfare.
• Responsibilities to communities involve making charitable donations, supporting employee volunteers, cooperating with Non-Profit Organizations, and making strategic charities.
• Businesses have policy response and pay taxes regarding the environment.

Corporate Social Initiatives

• Kotler and Lee (2005) defined corporate social initiatives as major activities undertaken by a corporation to support social causes and fulfill commitments to corporate social responsibility.
• Hess et al. (2002) defined social initiatives as any program, practice, or policy undertaken by a business firm to benefit society.

Corporate Cause Promotion

• Corporate cause promotions involve a corporation providing funds, in-kind contributions, or other resources to increase awareness about, or support fundraising, participation, and volunteer recruitment for a social cause.

• Cause promotions help raise awareness about social issues, contribute to campaigns such as HIV/AIDS education, anti-drug campaigns, and anti-robbery campaigns.

• Corporations may initiate, partner with others, or be one of multiple sponsors in cause promotions.

• Cause promotions differ from cause-related marketing (CRM) by not tying contributions to product sales, and also from social marketing by not specifically focusing on changing behavior.

Cause Related Marketing

• A cause-related marketing campaign is a commitment to contribute to or donate a specific percentage of revenues to a particular cause based on product sales.
• Provides resources and funding for social issues while also providing marketing objectives.
• Possible initiatives include donating a specific amount for every product sold, a percentage of sales, etc.

Corporate Social Marketing

• Supporting the development or implementation of a behavior change campaign intended for public health, safety, or environmental improvement.
• Differs from cause promotions by focusing on behavior change and often using concrete products.

Typical Corporate Social Marketing Campaigns

• Some campaigns address health issues (tobacco use, alcohol, drug use, etc.), injury prevention (traffic safety), environmental issues, and community involvement (volunteering).

Elements of Corporate Social Marketing

• Identifying the desired behavioral change.
• Identifying the target audience and determining ways to influence their behavior.
• Identifying the barriers to change and potential solutions.

Corporate Philanthropy

• Direct contributions to charities or causes (typically cash grants, donations, and/or in-kind services).
• Often carried out in a responsive or ad hoc way.
• More strategic and planned corporate philanthropy is now the norm.
• Philanthropic programs can include giving cash donations, offering grants, awarding scholarships, donating products, donating services, providing technical expertise, and offering the use of equipment.

Benefits of Corporate Philanthropy

• Improves reputation as a corporate citizen, strengthening the corporation and its industry. -Enhances reputation for consumer centricity and ethical conduct.
• Building a reputation for ethical conduct strengthens a brand's position.

Key Success Factors (KSFs) of Corporate Philanthropy

• Aligning corporate giving with business activities.
• Clarifying the role of officers and directors.
• Establishing independence standards for board members
• Measuring financial and social performance
• Communicating results of philanthropy efforts
• Celebrating success

Developing Philanthropic Endeavors

• The process begins by referring to existing philanthropic priorities.
• Identifying factors impacting choices.
• Determining levels of contributions.
• Establishing communication plans, monitoring and evaluating systems to track contributions.
• Developing tools for tracking and measuring the value and impacts of programs.

Community Volunteering

• Supporting local community organizations and causes by having employees volunteer time.
• Volunteer efforts may include expertise, ideas, and physical labor.
• Programs can provide paid time off, matching costs for services, recognition for service, and team organization to help employees find opportunities for volunteer work.

Typical Community Volunteering Programs

• Corporate support for volunteering can range from programs promoting community giving, to programs that represent financial investment and recognition, to programs that promote employee volunteerism in their communities and provide resources for this.

Potential Benefits of Community Volunteering

• Creates a win-win situation for employees, the company, and society.
• Opportunities for employees to contribute to societal concerns they are interested in and provide stress relief.
• Increased employee satisfaction, motivation.
• Companies can build relationships and goodwill within a community and strengthen corporate image.

Organizational Benefits

• Enhance relationships with local communities
• Contribute to business goals
• Improve Corporate Image
• Showcase products/services

Potential Concerns of Community Volunteering

• Costs associated with volunteering can be high.
• Efforts can be spread too thin and fail to make an impact.
• Tracking and evaluating volunteer efforts can be challenging.

When is Community Volunteering Ideal?

• Social initiatives that could benefit from volunteer component.
• Employees express interest in specific cause
• Community need
• Support for an organization
• Opening new markets or research opportunities.

Community Volunteering Programme Development Process

• Develop guidelines for employee involvement.
• Determine types/levels of employee support.
• Develop internal communications
• Develop a recognition plan
• Develop external communications plan
• Develop a tracking and assessment plan.

Establishing a Company's Ethical Culture

• Creating a company with ethical integrity is a challenging task that demands commitment across multiple stakeholder levels.
• Profitability alone does not guarantee ethical conduct.
• Understanding and addressing the components needed to generate an ethical corporate culture is essential.
• Companies must identify core values, which should be incorporated in all behavior and decisions.

Identifying the Company's Core Values

• A mission statement clarifies the company's purpose.
• Core values guide the company's approach to its mission.
• Examples of core values could be respecting others, honesty, fairness, and justice

All Ethical Organizations follow These Rules of Behaviour

• Managers consider the interest of all affected stakeholders in making decisions.
• The people affected by company rules/policies should be included in the decision-making process.
• No stakeholder group should be prioritized over others.
• Policies must protect the interests of minority stakeholders.
• Decisions must respect individuals and the company's role in different communities.
• Rules must reflect fairness and justice in stakeholder relationships.

Considering the Customers

• Businesses have a moral contract with customers to provide honest products/service at a fair price and to handle customer problems honestly.
• In ethical companies, customer concerns are not ignored.

Looking at the Workforce

• Treating employees ethically goes beyond the legal obligations of a company.
• Employee satisfaction and motivation are tied to companies having fair and good policies.
• Employee safety concerns are not to be ignored over financial gains.

Making Concerns of Customers A Priority

• Ethical companies prioritize customer safety and security over profits.
• The safety of consumers should be ensured by immediately addressing any identified risks.
• A good example of this would be a recall of a product if found to be unsafe.
• Encouraging good service culture
• Customer service training to deal with problematic clients
• Encouraging feedback to improve the customer experience.

Thinking About Stockholders

• Businesses have a moral obligation to treat stockholders honestly and fairly.
• Stockholders must have their interests considered when ethical issues are discussed.
• Providing necessary information

Dealing with Competitors

• Treating competitors with the same respect, honesty, fairness, and justice that other stakeholders receive
• Ethical companies avoid unethical practices against competitors.
• Information seeking related to competitors should be legal and within the appropriate bounds
• Companies must follow rules and seek to gain a competitive advantage legitimately and ethically.

Fitting In with The Community

• Ethical businesses understand they are part of a community.
• The impact that their operations have on the community should be considered.
• Relationships with other businesses in that local area can be built through shared strategies. Ethical companies prioritize community considerations, employee support for local volunteering efforts, and community concerns.

Developing an Effective Code of Ethics

• A well-crafted code of ethics applies to all employees in an understandable manner and prioritizes ethical conduct over purely financial concerns.
• Codes of ethics need to be supported and reinforced by ongoing training initiatives and feedback mechanisms.

Recognizing a Good Code of Ethics

• Codes that apply to every level and are consistently applied, even in tough times, promote trust.
• Ethical practices and transparency promote accountability.
• Codes of ethics should be up-to-date to reflect current changes and challenges.

Crafting Rules of Conduct

• Codes of ethics should outline organizational policies, consistent with the company's core values.
• Codes of conduct should also exceed legal minimum standards and demonstrate an ethical commitment.

Getting Input from All Levels of the Organization

• Including all employees, from upper management to front-line staff during the creation of a code of ethics
• Polling on personal values.
• Identifying workplace pressures.
• Using hypothetical examples to explore ethical dilemmas

Sending the Right Message

• Company management demonstrates ethical commitment by communicating the appropriate corporate culture through their words and actions.
• Company actions must support and exemplify the code of ethics principles.

Making the Code Memorable

• Ethical codes should be clear and easily remembered, following the example of the Ten Commandments.
• Excessive detail must be avoided.

Reviewing the Code Periodically

• Ethical codes of conduct must be regularly reviewed and updated to maintain relevance and effectiveness as circumstances change.
• The review should be an ongoing part of the ethics and compliance training program.

Keeping on Top of Changing Conditions

• Codes of ethics and compliance programs must be updated to meet evolving legal requirements.
• Effective programs rely on compliance officer updates, and representatives from all organizational levels to ensure policies are relevant to ongoing business.
• The company must address ethical issues as they arise with appropriate responses.

Maintaining a Strong Ethical Culture

• Strong ethical culture relates to core values.
• Ethical conduct is critical to sustaining a strong culture, and must be reinforced by leadership.
• Appropriate incentives and punishments can ensure ethical behaviour, minimizing fear.

Generating the right incentives

• People are motivated by things that benefit them and avoid things that harm them.
• Companies need to ensure that rewards and incentives support ethical standards and behaviour.
• Rewards and incentive programmes should not be poorly constructed and potentially encourage bad behaviour.

Rewarding Ethical Behaviour

• Offering praise and recognition to employees who alert superiors to problems with ethical concerns
• It strengthens ethical standards among the entire workforce

Punishing Unethical High Performers

• Unethical behavior must be addressed, even if the offender is a high performer.
• Integrity of company culture is paramount and should be maintained at all levels within the company.

Eliminating the Fear that Sometimes Impedes Ethical Decision-Making

• Employees will feel supported and empowered to do what they consider to be right if the company’s ethical standards are prioritized and given more importance than financial pressures.
• Companies need to take appropriate corrective actions for unethical conduct.
• Confidentiality and non-retaliation are essential for reporting misconduct

Sending the Message from the Top Down

• Ethical leaders model ethical behavior for their team, and prioritize their commitments while remaining accountable, even in tough times
• Provide transparency and clear communication to stakeholders.

Mastering the Art of Apology

• Companies will need to make amends when they make a mistake.
• Creating an apology strategy that may be used legally without turning the apology against the company is essential.

Ten Ethical Issues that Most Businesses Face

• A wide variety of ethical issues and dilemmas exist which often impact personal and professional lives of individuals within a business or corporations.

Cutting Costs vs. Maintaining Quality and Safety

• There is often a conflict between keeping costs down and ensuring quality (safety).
• Companies may sacrifice quality and safety to keep costs under control but it risks bankruptcy in the long run.

Overpromising and Under delivering

• Overpromising is tempting in business situations
• Disarming unrealistic expectations can be accomplished by stating that promises that cannot be kept will not be made.

Controlling the Market

• Extreme competition and pressures to improve sales can sometimes compel businesses to resort to unethical practices— this can harm the company in the long run.

Coping with Bad Publicity

• Handling bad publicity in a way that reflects well on the company's ethics, is crucial.
• Transparency, honesty, and accountability can help address any negative publicity.

Being Honest With Consumers

• Consumers prefer honesty in business dealings.
• Delivering bad news directly will avoid any accusations of dishonesty and will preserve or even improve a company's image.

Being Honest with Employees

• Open and honest communication encourages employees to be honest as well, and can minimize damage from miscommunication, or misunderstandings.
• Companies should strive to support their employees in any decision making that involves ethical considerations.

Being Honest with Stockholders

• Stockholders need to receive honest information about their investment.
• Businesses can meet expectations of transparency and accountability when it comes to dealing with stockholders.

Keeping Accounting on the Up and Up

• Accurate financial reports are important to build trust with stakeholders.
• Financial data manipulation can greatly harm the company’s image and trustworthiness and potentially cause significant damage to its overall performance and visibility.

Lobbying for and Against Regulations

• Businesses that have their interests at stake in government policy may need to influence stakeholders.
• Transparency in dealing with government officials.
• Supporting or opposing regulations, business may need to lobby to have their interests considered.

Contributing to Political Campaigns

• Companies can use financial contributions to political campaigns to improve relationships with elected officials.
• It's crucial to follow any regulations and never pressure individuals to support political parties or candidates.

Ten Common Obstacles to Ethical Business

• A large number of common issues exist that can lead to ethical issues.

Greed

• Individuals, managers, executives and employees can be affected by the temptation of being greedy.
• Actions made for profit only, without other considerations, can cause ethical concerns in the long term.
• Systems of accountability and transparency are key to keeping greed in check.

Groupthinking

• A failure to welcome different viewpoints can cause group-thinking.
• Employees may hesitate to present alternative viewpoints if they think they will be negatively received.

Tunnel Vision

• Tunnel vision is closely related to groupthinking.
• Narrow focus and lack of awareness of various stakeholder concerns are often a factor in tunnel vision.
• Failure to acknowledge alternative ideas and factors regarding potential issues, can be detrimental in the long term.

Self-Interest

• People usually tend to make choices that benefit them.
• Self-interest may create strong motivation that can cause unethical behavior in the workplace or corporate setting.

Arrogance

• Confidence is important for business leaders, but it can easily become arrogance.
• Arrogance can hinder healthy communication and collaboration between leaders and other individuals within organizations.
• To counter this tendency, leaders should encourage input from a variety of stakeholders and appreciate their different viewpoints.

Hiring Workers

• Hiring workers is costly and it is a critical factor in financial considerations of companies, especially when reducing expenses is a priority.
• Companies have a risk associated with low bidder practices that may compromise worker’s rights or ignore ethical standards.

Production Cost

• Costs of materials, equipment, and space can soar despite lowering labor costs.
• Price comparisons for needed products by companies should be conducted in a responsible way to ensure they are not overspending.

Lack of Transparency

• Lack of transparency can lead to accusations of ethical misconduct or near sightedness.
• Transparency with all stakeholders will encourage a culture of honesty and ethical behavior

Fear

• Fear, motivated by pressure to meet financial goals, may hinder employees from making ethical decisions or reporting misconducts.

Double Standards

• Leaders should have the same ethical standards as their employees
• Consistently applying the company's code of conduct to everyone, not just to those who perform poorly

Ten Ways Managers Can Keep Their Companies Ethical

• Hiring ethical leaders
• Independent board of directors
• Using a written code of ethics
• Explaining the reasoning behind the code
• Applying ethical standards to everyone
• Prioritizing ethics over performance when applicable
• Engaging stakeholders and taking their concerns seriously
• Promoting industry-wide regulations
• Creating an environment where people want to come to work
• Staying aware of ethical threats

Ethical Dilemmas in Business

• Ethical dilemmas are problems, situations, or opportunities that require an individual or group to choose among several wrong or unethical actions.

Shareholder Issues

• Core values, shareholder participation in electing directors, executive compensation, legal compliance, lobbying/political activities, and reputation management all represent potential issues.

Misuse of Company Resources

• Misuse of company resources ranges from unauthorized equipment and computer use to embezzlement and time theft.
• Misuse of company resources is harmful and unethical.

Abusive or Intimidating Behavior

• Includes physical threats, false accusations, profanity or insults, and unreasonable and harmful actions.
• Bullying can have significant ethical consequences for the workplace as it can lead to a hostile work environment
• Actions associated with bullying in the workplace include spreading rumours, blocking communication in the workplace, flaunting power and authority or status, discrediting others, and using electronic communications to denigrate or demean someone

Lying

• Acts of lying in a business setting can be intentional or unintentional.
• Types of lying could include joking without malice, commission lying, and omission lying (not reporting or hiding pertinent or otherwise important information).

Conflicts of Interest

• Conflicts of interest arise when an individual must choose between advancing personal interests, interests of the organization, or those of other groups.
• Conflict decisions involve personal interests that must be removed so as not to compromise ethical conduct in business settings.

Bribery

• Bribery involves offering something to gain an advantage.
• Different types of bribery, like active bribery (the person giving the bribe is at fault) and passive bribery (the person receiving the bribe is at fault), and facilitation payments (those that are small and considered legal).

Corporate Intelligence

• Corporate intelligence involves data collection and analysis on all relevant information (markets, technologies, customers, competitors, socio-economic and political trends).

Hacking

• Various methods of hacking (system hacking, remote hacking, physical hacking, social engineering, shoulder surfing). These are all forms of unethical action.

Discrimination

• Discrimination in hiring, employment terms, promotion or privileges, are illegal.
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and similar bodies protect individuals and act to address discrimination.
• Affirmative action programs (recruit, hire, train, and promote qualified individuals from traditionally discriminated-against groups)

Sexual Harassment

• Repeated or unwanted sexual behavior, considered a serious ethical issue with the potential for a hostile work environment, and is considered wrongful when perpetrated by one person onto another.

Dual Relationships

• Personal or romantic relationships between employees and colleagues or superiors
• These relationships can cause conflicts of interest or impair professional judgment.

To Avoid Sexual Misconduct, A Firm Needs

• Establish a policy statement
• Defining sexual harassment.
• Establishing a non-retaliation policy
• Developing procedures for preventing misconduct.
• Develop a system of procedure to report any incidents
• Develop a timely reporting system to appropriate authorities

Fraud

• Creating, distributing, promoting, or pricing products fraudulently to trick consumers.
• Types of marketing fraud include puffery (exaggerated claims), implied falsity (misleading claims), and literally false claims.
• Consumer fraud includes price tag switching, item switching or simply lying to get discounts

Financial Misconduct

• Failure to manage ethical risks in financial dealings
• Reward excessive risk taking within a company
• Government efforts to increase transparency and maintain control of financial institutions

Insider Trading

• Legal insider trading versus illegal insider trading
• The use of material that is not publicly known, to impact stock values or trade.

Intellectual Property Rights and Privacy

• Protecting intellectual property (books, movies, software)
• Addressing employee use of technology.
• Consumer privacy issues to protect consumer rights
• Identity theft concerns.

Determining Ethical Issues in Business

• Ethical issues become visible through stakeholder concerns.
• Societal standards frequently change, and companies must adapt.
• Ethical decision-making and discussions begin with the realization the issues exist.

Test your knowledge on corporate community volunteering programs and their impact on employee engagement. This quiz covers various aspects, including company support, employee recognition, and branding strategies. Discover how volunteering can benefit both employees and communities.