Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Management - Essay Example Surely, large companies have never been the greatest evil of the society. Nevertheless, their influence over people’s behavior (buying habits), government regulations and even environment has risen drastically in the latest decades due to the expansion of globalization processes. For that reason the level of social responsibility each company overtakes in the contemporary business environment is now greatly influencing both the society and the company’s success. The given paper will present Alcoa, a manufacturer of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum, and alumina combine (Alcoa Inc. 2011), as an example of a company that tries to ensure that it is not only a good manufacturer of its products, but also a positive and contributing member of the world society. The goal of this paper is to outline the company’s achievements with regards to fulfilling social needs within society, as well as defining areas that need improvement. We will also analyse how Alcoa’ s social activities impact the society and stakeholders. Alcoa Inc. Today Alcoa is an international organization with its main headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and 31 headquarters all over the world. The history of the company started in 1886, when Charles Martin Hall, a student at that time, started working of developing a commercially aluminum extracting process (The spark of innovation (1886-1920) 2011). In the search for investment for the research Charles made contacts with several entrepreneurs who helped him with the money and, finally, created a company named The Pittsburg Reduction Company. in 1907 the name was changed to Aluminum Company of America. It was only 1999 when the firm was renamed to Alcoa. These days Alcoa operates internationally and participates in all the major aspects of the business: developing technology, performing mining, refining, smelting, fabricating, and recycling of aluminum. The major business practices of the organization are Make to Use, Eliminate Waste, People Linchpin the System and ABS and Cost Savings. The Make to Use concept involves avoiding overproduction while manufacturing with the account of customers. Alcoa tends to create good working environments for its employees and is continuously working of improving its business processes for the purpose of increased savings at all the stages of operation (Inside the Alcoa Business System (ABS) 2011). The vision statement of Alcoa claims that the company works in a safe manner in order to protect and promote â€Å"the health and well-being of the individual and the environment† (Vision & Values 2011). Identifying Stakeholders Business can be conducted in different ways. So the question here is how much the organization influences various stakeholders of its. If the company in some way enriches the lives of the stakeholders, then the company can claim that it is socially responsible (Freeman, Velamuri and Moriarty 2006). At the same time, it cannot be said t hat the only stakeholders here are the direct consumers and shareholders of the company. As Marc Triebwasser (1998) points out, free market and competition are just the games that global elite and large companies play. Being large and powerful, they have plenty of tools for keeping and maintaining their current status. Among such tools are government campaign contributions, lobbying, and captured regulatory agencies (Triebwasser, 1998). Furthermore, a