As the business world continues to grow at the rate it’s growing, offering only products or services that stands out is no longer enough to please customers. Us human beings as a society now also look for companies that incorporate good corporate social responsibility (CSR).

CSR can be defined as a “business approach that contributes to sustainable development by delivering economic, social and environmental benefits for all stakeholders”. Personally, I believe CSR is definitely something that all firm’s should be conscious of, as it can be considered, at least from my perspective; “the extra mile” that takes a business from just having good products or services to making them something a little more special.

Recently in a COMM101 lesson, we were told about Pizza Hut’s program called “BOOK IT!”, which is essentially, a free service offered by the pizza giants where  children are motivated to read, and are rewarded for their accomplishments with “praise, recognition and pizza”. It entails schools and classes setting goals for students to hit with rewards. I’m personally not a fan of pizza in general, but reading about how heart-warming and ethical this is, I may purchase pizza sometime soon. If this has the same effect on me as it does to others potential consumers, not only will the image of Pizza Hut enhance, but their social image will improve greatly.

Looking at other blogs, I found something one of my peer’s wrote very interesting and applicable to this very post I’m writing (https://blogs.ubc.ca/meeranamir/2016/09/11/business-ethics-walmart/). The chances are, you have almost surely heard of Pizza Hut or Walmart, especially in a country like Canada. This makes both of these respective businesses large and recognizable, hence allowing me to compare the two. What I found noteworthy is that Walmart are notoriously famous, as shown in Meeran’s blog, for mistreating employees- hence leading to poor CSR for Walmart. Now, what I find interesting is that despite this image, Walmart still have millions of consumers and tons of revenue… which makes me question if CSR is even important as there is no slowdown in Walmart’s success. Nonetheless, what Pizza Hut are doing is miraculous and it should be a boost to them.

I found a blog online (http://mallenbaker.net/article/clear-reflection/answering-the-csr-sceptics) that refutes what I just expressed above where I questioned the importance of CSR. The blog gave me a different perspective of CSR on the whole, making me realize it’s a bigger and less simple concept than I had first imagined. After this, I have realized that CSR won’t block out negative business behaviour, nor is it compulsory, which is what makes Pizza Hut’s “BOOK IT!” even more special.

Word count: 437

References:

Amir, Meeran. “Business Ethics- Walmart”. Meeran’s Blog- My take on Comm 101. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

Baker, Mallen. “Answering The CSR Sceptics”. Mallen Baker’s Respectful Business Blog. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

“Corporate Social Responsibility (Csr) Definition From Financial Times Lexicon”. Lexicon.ft.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

“Pizza Hut BOOK IT! Program | About The Program”. Bookitprogram.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

“Pizza Hut BOOK IT! Program Instills Love Of Reading”. SEEN Magazine – SouthEast Education Network. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

Personally, after several years of studying commerce, I have come to understand (at least from my perspective), that business activities are not individual activities, but a function where they are all interdependent. In my opinion, market research is one of the most fundamental activities in order for a business or product to thrive, linking back to the interdependence.

One prime example illustrating how important market research focuses on camera company Kodak. Kodak were the industry leaders back before digital photography took over. However, due to failed market research, they overlooked the importance and upcoming of digital photography, leaving them behind in the dust. They had to file for bankruptcy in the end.

Global 3D Bioprinting (the article I have selected is based on this) is a perfect depiction of the up and coming technology in the business world. Moreover, it is also a good example of the powers of market research. The article highlights that through market research, the market is expected to grow by over 35%, which is a staggering amount, especially in contemporary business society. Applying this to what we’ve been learning in class, it highlights just how essential market research is. As such a prediction can be important to technology and business in general.

Market research can be either primary or secondary, it can be obtained in many different forms. However, it is extremely important to complete it, as it helps make useful predictions, like with both the cases in Kodak and Bioprinting. Market research can vary from being simple to complex, however, the value of it is very underestimated as it could be seen as a backbone of business that helps getting it started and making it successful.

In my opinion, an early insight into the growth of Global 3D Bioprinting highlights just how important market research is, as it could help provide a lot of business help.

References:

Knowthis.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.

“Global 3D Bioprinting Market Expected To Grow At 35.9% CAGR During 2016 – 2022”. Prnewswire.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.

“Kodak Failure”. Forbes.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.