COLLAPSE SUBDISCUSSION Victor...

Question

COLLAPSE SUBDISCUSSION

Victor Rodriguez

Victor Rodriguez

Dec 8 at 2:44pm

Social Distancing

The organizational change that had social/cultural implications is “social distancing.” Businesses that were able to operate had to implement “social distancing” in order to keep their customers safe from the coronavirus. Neuwirth, & Gruber, 2022, state, “Following the global spread of the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, most governments have decided to impose restrictions on the population1 with the objective of reducing social contacts and preventing epidemic peaks with the potential to overwhelm national health-care systems. These restrictions have involved social distancing by, for example, banning large gatherings, closing schools and shops, restricting international travel, and limiting internal mobility. Understanding whether or not the social contact reduction has had the desired effect is critical not only in view of the large societal and economic costs but also because of the predicted negative impacts on mental health.”

The internal pressure of social distance change had determined that a person is less likely to be sick if they were to conform to social distancing protocols. The external pressure created by social distance change provided the benefit that a person is less likely to get other people sick during the pandemic.

Palmer, Dunford & Buchanan, 2022, state,

“An extreme example of external environmental pressure is the COVID-19 pandemic (2019–2020), which has driven major organizational changes across most sectors of the economy" ( pg. 67).

Besley & Dray, 2022, state, “Changes in risks associated with infections—such as the emergence of new variants—will also influence compliance with social distancing. Though governments play a role by regulating behaviors with stay-at-home orders and the closure of public places, private compliance with these measures remains critical. Knowledge of the groups most susceptible to follow health recommendations and to respond to changes in risk is therefore essential for the effectiveness of public health interventions” (pg. 1). For businesses to survive, there were multiple rationales as they had to change their strategy to determine how they would stay in business to go remotely and convert employees to work from home. The other option would be to consider downsizing their organization to remain in existence. Before the pandemic, I worked from home for 5 years and when companies had to convert to implement remote technology, there were organizations who had solicited help from the company I worked for.

References:

Besley, T. & Dray, S., (2022). Pandemic responsiveness: Evidence from social distancing and lockdown policy during COVID-19

Neuwirth, C. & Gruber, C. (2022). Investigation of turning points in the effectiveness of Covid‑19 social distancing

Palmer, I., Dunford, R., & Buchanan, D. (2022).

Managing organizational change: A multiple perspectives approach

(4th ed.)

Dawn Deporter

Thursday

Dec 8 at 2:58pm

Manage Discussion Entry

Lego’s Sustainable Supply Chain

Lego, along other toy companies, was targeted by a Greenpeace social media campaign highlighting the sourcing of their packaging materials, fibers from endangered rainforests (Stine, 2011), and their partnership with Shell Oil (Mainwaring, 2016). Lego executives have stated that children are their most important stakeholders and changing operations to protect the environment for them is critical (Mainwaring, 2016). The company ended its partnership with Shell Oil when the contract term expired (Mainwaring, 2016), and Lego now uses less packaging and makes that packaging out of recycled materials whenever possible (Stine, 2011). When it is not possible to use recycled materials the virgin materials used are all Forest Stewardship Council certified (Stine, 2011). Lego also enforces these policies with the vendors in their supply chain (Mainwaring, 2016). Lego’s Sustainable Materials Center is working to discover and replace existing materials with sustainable alternatives by 2030, a task that will include both packaging and end of use situations for the toys themselves (Mainwaring, 2016).

The rationale Lego presented for the change was that the company’s mission is to inspire future builders (Mainwaring, 2016). The initiative does support the stated mission in that the company is working towards leaving a better world for those future builders to build in. It also provides those future builders with an example for using sustainable materials instead of materials that are bad for the environment.

The external pressures included pressures from environmentalist groups like Greenpeace, and letters from customers (Mainwaring, 2016). There may have been political pressure as well since packaging materials were being made from fibers taken from endangered rainforests in Indonesia (Stine, 2011). Internal pressures were potential loss of revenue from socially conscious consumers, and reevaluation of how existing practices supported the company’s mission and values.

Multiple rationales were utilized in this change initiative. Lego understood that loss of reputation resulting from the environmentalist groups targeting them could result in decreased revenues. They also probably understood that the ability to market themselves as a sustainable company would increase both their reputation and revenues. Corporate social responsibility measures also contribute to employee morale and buy-in regarding the change initiative (Gonzalez-Padron, 2015).

References:

Gonzalez-Padron, T. (2015).Business Ethics and Social Responsibility for Managers. Bridgepoint Education.

Mainwaring, S. (2016, Aug 11). How Lego Rebuilt Itself As A Purposeful And Sustainable Brand.Forbes.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonmainwaring/2016/08/11/how-lego-rebuilt-itself-as-a-purposeful-and-sustainable-brand/?sh=5af277a6f3c4Links to an external site.

Stine, R. (2011, Sept 1). Lego’s quick action to smarten up its packaging supply chain is a model some competitors should copy.Reuters Events.https://www.reutersevents.com/sustainability/supply-chains/analysis-toy-manufacturing-lego-builds-sustainable-supply-chain

Asif · Accepted Answer

Human Resource Management 4
Human Resource Management
Name and Number of Student
Date of Submission 
Social Distancing 
Social distancing is the term that was mostly used during COVID-19 pandemic. It is a practice of staying home and away from other people as much as possible to help prevent spread of COVID-19. This COVID-19 pandemic had affected business organizations and their operation in number of ways. They were required to execute social distancing policy to keep their customer safe from COVID-19. This was considered organizational change which had social and cultural implications. Moreover, business was also needed to follow and use policies related to social distancing proposed by the governments. For instance, the local and state administration of the counties has imposed strict restrictions on the people to overcome the social contact (Besley & Dray, 2022).  During the COVID-19, there were restrictions on gathering of people, traveling, closing of shops and schools. This pandemic had affected business growth, success, revenue, business operations and profitability negatively. Along with this, there were both internal and external pressures on the business organizations. For example, due to the external pressures of COVID-19, there were significant organizational changes across the different business sectors.

COLLAPSE SUBDISCUSSIONVictor RodriguezVictor RodriguezDec 8 at 2:44pmManage Discussion...