What Is the Demand for Virtue? Book Review Example

This chapter mainly describes and outlines the main foundations and drives for virtue in business activities. Pressure from consumers, workers as well as investors form some of the main driving forces for business virtues according to this chapter. In that sense, companies should base their market virtues, policies and practices on individual’s values and principles in order to retain and attract various customers and investors.

Corporate social responsibility practices rarely attract customers in the firm thus do not affect sales to a large degree.  However, provision of civil regulations and policies especially based on the needs and interest of the firm stakeholders can promote the company reputation and brand image globally.  This is mainly because good, and proper reputation and virtue usually attract customers as well as employees and social investors in the firm.  Recent research studies also indicate that consumers purchasing decision is highly influenced by both the firm social responsibility and environmental performance thus quality and price determine purchasing rate of the consumers.  In that sense, companies should aim at working at environmental friendly environments, provide high ethical standards and provide cost effective products using socially responsible procedures.

Marketing CSR is a limited opportunity that can help companies to improve and promote the global brand image of their products and services. Consumers usually boycott products that they believed are produced in an irresponsible way.

What I have learnt from this chapter include the importance and benefits of providing market virtue and provision of SCR by global firms. This includes providing the firm with good reputation, high global brand image and attraction of more customers thus more profitability to the firm.  Despite this, employees, customers as well as social investors and shareholders values and beliefs usually affect the corporate social behaviors and practices in global firms.

Chapter 4-Corporate Responsibility for Working Conditions in Developing Countries

According to this chapter, promotion of working conditions of factories and agricultural firms has been the main focus of promoting CSR in developing countries. These firms have also developed ethical standards in terms of wages, market labor force, working conditions and freedom of association.

The major gains of promoting market virtue and CSR include the provision of good wages to workers, improved working conditions and reduced child labor practices.  However, failure to monitor the socially responsible practices of firms in developing countries is a big challenge.  Therefore, this firms should work under international labor and ethical standards such as the ILO policies. This will improve labor policies and reduce workers’ rights violation in developing countries.

Firms should also work under both voluntary and compulsory codes in order to improve the working conditions of agricultural and industrial workers in developing countries. Inspection and monitoring programs are also imperative towards the promotion of SCR behaviors in developing countries. This will reduce and prevent violations of global labor standards and results improvement of working conditions of global firms.

What I have learnt from this chapter include various ways of improving working conditions of firms in developing countries. This includes the provision of voluntary codes, adoption of international labor standards and monitoring of firm’s practices.