1. Corporate Social Responsibility

2. Introduction Why do businesses exist? Are there important factors other than profit to consider? What motivates you in your purchases when you have to choose between similar products? What does it mean to be socially responsible in business?

3. TRUE / FALSE 1. The primary role of a business is to make and maximize profit. 2. A business is responsible only to the shareholders. 3. Companies can positively and negatively affect the local community where they work. 4. Obeying the labour law means that you pay a fair wage and provide decent working conditions. 5. If businesses were not outsourced into developing countries the products and brands that we buy would be much more expensive. 6. Even with the lowest wages paid to the workers, companies are helping the local economies of the poorest parts of the world. 7. Doing well is good for your public image and very profitable in the long run. 8. Consumers today are only interested in low prices and don’t care about the behaviour of the company. 9. When you are called a green business it means that you produce or sell fruits and vegetables.

4. Main areas of CSR: put these terms into 4 groups: Legal issues, ethical issues, philanthropy, green business obeying labour laws, fair trade products, charity, decent wages, global warming, bribery, tax evasion, greenhouse gases

5. Main areas of CSR Legal issues obeying labour laws bribery fraud industrial espionage tax evasion Ethical issues buying fair trade products paying decent wages providing acceptable working conditions using legal loopholes to one’s advantage

6. Main areas of CSR Philanthropy giving to charity Green business stop global warming reduce greenhouse gas emissions using renewable energy proper toxic waste disposal Risk management creating a code of conduct to aviod big problems in the company’s area of business spreading the risk: risk management

7. Inside look at Apple’s sweatshops Watch The film on the Apple’s Chinese supplier Foxconn where iPads, iPhones, iPods, Kindles, PlayStations, Wii-s, etc are manufactured. Before the film: Predict 6 words that will be mentioned in the film. What do you expect to see in the film?

8. Watch and answer these questions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKk1aHeh87o What are the working conditions like at Foxconn? Is Foxconn unique with its labour practices? Is it better or worse than others? What can consumers in the West do to change labour practices in Asia? Why did Foxconn institute some reforms? Are US firms strongly behind these reforms? Why (not)? Why is it difficult to for journalists to find out about the conditions in these factories?