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BlogComm
COMM 3030 - Communication and Social Responsibility
Green Versus Green
Posted posted by Sawyer Pangborn @ 3:51 PM
As our class has been discussing corporate responsibility and the example of Wal-Mart, I've been thinking about the balance a company must maintain in order to be considered both responsible and profitable. There must be a fine balance between these two items in order to maintain their favorable status in both the eyes of investors, customers, and society. The balance essentially depends on the willingness of a corporation to spend more money to be responsible, thus making them less profitable. It's a tradeoff that many companies and corporations are willing to accept, due to the fact that customers and investors will prefer to put their money into a company that is socially and environmentally responsible. On the other hand, if a company puts too much money into being responsible, it may become less profitable and will look less attractive to investors. This type of balance seems to be quite easy for some companies to attain, yet difficult for others. Some examples of responsible companies come to mind like Starbucks. Starbucks obtains a huge percentage of their coffee through free trade, thus deemed "free-trade coffee." This coffee prevents coffee growers from being ripped of by corporations that aren't willing to play the cost decided by the growers. Other companies, like local grocery stores in Salt Lake City, use recycled materials for their bags and other packaging. On the other side of the coin, corporations like Wal-Mart cut corners to gain profits, leaving corporate responsibility completely out of their policies. Consumers need to notice corporations such as these and refuse to spend their money there. Doing this is a much more powerful message than to protest/boycott vocally against these companies. Vote with your wallet.
