AWA: Academic Writing at Auckland
Title: Reflective Essay on Group Assignment
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Copyright: Jared Teo
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Description: Part A: Reflect upon your experiences working in your team this semester. Comment on what went well, and why, and also what did not go as well in your team and reflect upon what you could do differently in future team work.
Part B: One course learning outcome is: Analyse and reflect upon the challenges involved in considering corporate social responsibility when making strategic business decisions at a Senior Manager level within a large organisation. Reflect on your team assignment experiences from the perspective of this learning outcome and how, in your opinion, achieving this learning outcome might help you in your future business career. As part of this discussion link to the reading The Truth About CSR by Rangan, Chase and Karim (2015).
Warning: This paper cannot be copied and used in your own assignment; this is plagiarism. Copied sections will be identified by Turnitin and penalties will apply. Please refer to the University's Academic Integrity resource and policies on Academic Integrity and Copyright.
Reflective Essay on Group Assignment
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The time spent on this group project was an interesting experience, with a good team dynamic. However, we did have some issues regarding time management. As we chose an NGO, I learnt how difficult it was to ensure CSR was a core part of the corporate strategy and in the end, it proved to be a unique experience. A positive note regarding our team dynamic was how each member was able to assist other group members. This was done by ensuring that everyone was working on their strengths and with weaknesses covered by other group members. An example of this was during the assignment part one, where two members with prior knowledge of the Housing Foundation took charge, while the third member and I followed their lead. I felt as each member focussed on what they could do best, the best of each section was produced. However, it can be argued that this system meant that we were neglecting on improving on our own weaknesses. Though, research still did overlap and while we focussed on content that were our strengths, each person still did some research onto topics that was allocated to another group member. In future assignments, it might be better to have a greater overlap of research, to provide a more rounded expertise for all members. An issue that we did not do as well was time management, which contributed partly to each member mostly focussing on their own sections. We just did not have enough time to have each member immerse themselves in all areas of the project. All members were busy, and this resulted in minor contributions in the week prior and most of the work done in the few days leading to submission. In hindsight, this issue would be hard to solve without sacrificing other priorities, but it might be beneficial if we communicated more using online conferences, rather than relying on the few physical meetings. During those meetings, we discussed the possible strategies applicable to the Housing Foundation (HF) and as an NGO, corporate social responsibility (CSR) was naturally a core theme. Moreover, as an NGO their entire business model was geared towards benefitting society, akin to theatre three of Chase, Karim and Ragan (2015) where the incorporation of CSR results in a radical change in business model. Though it was not a challenge to incorporate CSR into the HF, the challenge was to ensure that the strategies had a focus on CSR while remaining financially viable. A key issue our team discovered was that CSR limits the options that are available. This meant that some options could not be considered, for example, the creation of a for-profit arm for the HF to subsidise their charity division. This was a solution aimed towards attaining financial independence. However, it was ruled as contrary to CSR due to the ethical issues surrounding operating a for-profit branch for the organisation, while also requesting for donations. Once we selected a strategy, we had to develop key performance indicators (KPI) to assist us in measuring the ROI. Similar to theatre three initiatives, coming up with KPIs for an NGO was a difficult task (Chase, Karim, & Ragan, 2015). This is because in both cases, we had to try to measure intangible qualitative benefits to society, not just financial ROIs. In the end, we came up with a set of observable KPIs that was linked to the less measurable societal benefits. Where the number of homes built assisted in measuring the qualitative benefits to families who now have their own home. I learnt from this experience that incorporating CSR into a strategic decision can be difficult, as it restricts the options available and requires the evaluation of metrics that are not easily measurable. However, I also understand that integrating CSR into corporate strategy is important as a business we must be able to say Yes when asked “Does our fundamental business enhance society?” (Chase, Karim & Ragan, 2015). This experience also provides practice with strategizing for an NGO where CSR is the main factor and would be a valuable experience for any future business career that I may have. The experience of strategizing for an NGO was a unique experience of placing CSR at the forefront of planning. The team learned how difficult but important it was to place society ahead of profits, especially after our research on the housing crises and its effects. Though our team had some problems such as time management, overall it was a good experience.
Reference Chase, L., Karim, S., & Rangan, K. (2015). The Truth about CSR. Harvard Business Review, 93(1), 40-49.
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