Question

Within Baldrige criteria requirements, an emphasis on Governance and Social Responsibilities is evaluated. Please discuss your belief towards an organization’s approach to Social Responsibilities. Is it important? In your personal experience, have organizations you worked for stressed Social Responsibility? If so, please share an example. If not, then provide a plausible suggestion on how your organization could leave a better social footprint.

Please be specific and utilize your readings to substantiate your thoughts.

Discuss why you feel this way? How would you suggest recommending to senior leadership to commit resources to achieve this award and what would your recommendations be? Please be specific and utilize your readings to substantiate your thoughts. Be sure to include the key elements and keys to success in regards to total quality. Also, discuss your thoughts in regards to where you see the direction of quality management in the 21st Century.

Answer 1

An organization’s approach to social responsibilities is important to achieve sustainability, accountability, long term viability, transparency and organization success. I experienced this through ISO certification in my business school. In an educational institution, there is scope for contributing socially. The ISO 26000 – 2010 international quality standard helps organizations to assess their social responsibilities. The ISO 26000 – 2010 stresses on sustainable development (society welfare and community health), safe environment, compliance with laws applicable to the industry and international behavior norms.

I feel that the organization’s approach to social responsibility is the right way forward. People, profit and planet are the three pillars of social responsibility. An organization can achieve profits without exploiting the planet and people is the main gist of social responsibility of business. Organizations should yield a profit by taking care of the planet and the people. This can be achieved by being socially responsible through environmental sustainability by planting trees and making the campus green free of pollution. Educational institutions can reduce the release of greenhouse gases by limiting pollution (air, water and land) in their campuses. Educational institutions can limit their carbon footprint in a number of ways and become good corporate citizens benefiting the entire society. Educational institutions must indulge in direct philanthropic giving by inducting poor orphan students every year and provide them with free education transforming their lives in a positive manner. Ethical business practices in providing equal pay for equal work and ensuring fair business practices should be emphasized by the Educational institutions.

Recommendations to achieve total quality (Baldrige quality award): CSR and sustainability should be made a priority in the Educational institution. The leadership of the Educational institution should lead to community development programs. The strategies of the organization should include CSR measures. Customer management and customer relationship should be lasting a long time through customer satisfaction. The processes should support knowledge management and manage performance through metrics. The workforce and operations management should be improved through appropriate business processes. The educational institution can get the Baldrige quality award on showing results in the above criteria in terms of human resources, finance, customer satisfaction, partner performance, social responsibility, supplier performance, governance, operations and responding to competition. This indicates that quality management is moving in the direction of sustainability through social responsibility in the 21^st century.