Between this article and our in-class discussion about fraudulent accounting, I’ve come to realize that this particular field isn’t just the black-and-white of number crunching or bookkeeping. No, it seems clear that even large industry giants like supermarket chain Tesco can fall under the trap of misrepresenting revenues (inflating profits by £250m) in an attempt to improve their competitive position. I personally feel there is a lot of ambiguity on whether these alterations were misconceived or if they were deliberate, but a journalist from The Economist does state that if Tesco’s books were in fact “deliberately cooked”, then this fraud would be the biggest scandal for a supermarket retailer since the 2003 US Food scandal.

Tesco’s immediate response to being uncovered is also interesting, as hiring new financial director Alan Stewart suggests a responsive crisis management team to help the firm mitigate losses in shares and investments. I would think reaching out to the consumers through social marketing and promotional activities initially would be more beneficial in salvaging Tesco’s corporate image and revenue streams, but then I considered: what was the root cause of this revenue reporting failure?

However, as established above, Tesco does have strong internal quality and PR systems in place, which suggests to me that even structured franchises have their human resource kinks when it comes to reporting profitability and shareholder returns.

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This article describes the efforts of Loblaw Cos Ltd. and their Presidents Choice brand adapting to new consumer tastes of the “food-savvy” individuals segment. Through launching campaign “Project Max” focusing on content marketing videos, Presidents Choice will convincingly raise brand awareness and long-term profits through initiatives such as removing artificial flavours out of their foods, and partnering with Google to build a “food pulse index” conversation tracker.

I think it’s fascinating how Presidents Choice is capitalizing on technology and the social media dominated environment to meet the “foodie culture’s” desire to learn about the derivations of the food products, not just uncovering new ones. In my view, these strategies are bound to help Loblaw Cos rejuvenate and re-diversify many products in their portfolio (regarding the product life cycle), while simultaneously increase their brand equity and corporate image.

It is evident that even the food industry must conform to the fast-paced, perpetually changing needs and wants of the food-driven consumer segments. But some real food for thought is: what does that imply about changes in these industries’ financing and operations management?

At this point though, Loblaw Cos Ltd. seems one step ahead in today’s revolutionary food game.

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After reading Dr. Friedman’s viewpoint of CSR as a mechanism that only individuals can exemplify and how generating profit should be the crux of managerial decisions, I asked myself: would it be possible for social responsibility and profitability to intertwine favourably in today’s contemporary business society?

This article delineates a new initiative by Southwest Airlines to upcycle old, undesired leather seats on their planes into products like footballs or luxury shoes, as opposed to incinerating the waste. Such a project suggests that it is feasible for businesses to operate sustainably in accordance with their ethical objectives, concurrently opening new revenue streams in the process. Ultimately, one ethical stance has allowed Southwest to reap the benefits of niche market access and improved corporate image and public perception from consumers, while altruistically supporting environmental preservation.

Ultimately what can be seen here is a mix between conforming to ethical codes of conduct and capitalizing on that to act in a socially responsible way. Innovation can happen not only through revolutionary product prototypes, but with ethical procedures as well.