purpose and value of Corporate Social Responsibility
Carroll’s Corporate Social Responsibility pyramid
shareholder vs stakeholder approach
CSR vs PR (eg Greenwashing, Bluewashing)
Environmental, social and governance (ESG)
measures of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance including health and safety, emissions, resource usage, community investment and philanthropy, composition of governing body
value of ESG reporting
value of improving ESG performance
value of code of ethics/ethical conduct
Triple Bottom Line (Profit, People, Planet)
Content
Additional information
Competitive environment
impact of, and how to influence Porter’s five forces
Political/legal environment
The opportunities and threats, and the impact on the functional areas of business, created by changes in the political and legal environment.
trade agreements
protectionism: tariffs, quotas, trade regulations
consumer protection
employee protection (including The Equality Act)
competition policy
environmental protection
Economic environment
The opportunities and threats, and the impact on the functional areas of business, created by changes in the economic environment:
economic growth (GDP)
taxation (direct and indirect)
inflation
interest rates
exchange rates
unemployment
Social environment
The opportunities and threats, and the impact on the functional areas of business, created by changes in the social environment:
demographic factors
consumer lifestyle/behaviour
activism
Technological change
The opportunities and threats, and the impact on the functional areas of business, created by changes in the technological environment including:
disruptive technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Content
Additional information
Strategy
purpose and value of strategy
Influences on strategy
mission, vision and objectives
SWOT analysis
stakeholder mapping: stakeholder power and interest
actions of stakeholders and impact on business decisions
Selecting a strategy
the Ansoff Matrix (market development, market penetration, new product development, diversification)
positioning in terms of benefits and price including low-cost vs differentiation strategies
Implementation of strategic decisions
factors affecting the successful implementation of strategy
the difficulties of maintaining a competitive advantage
reasons why strategies fail, including strategic drift
Strategic investment decisions
purpose and value of investment/capital expenditure
factors influencing investment including non-financial factors and risk
the calculation, interpretation and analysis of data relating to payback, average rate of return and net present value
Business growth
advantages and disadvantages of being a small or medium sized enterprise (SME)
reasons why business grow
internal growth and external growth
methods of growth including mergers, acquisitions and franchising
forms of integration: vertical (backward and forward), horizontal and conglomerate
digital growth
retrenchment
impact of growth and retrenchment on functional areas
Globalisation strategy
opportunities and threats of globalisation for a business
benefits and drawbacks of being a multinational
attractiveness of different countries as a market
entering international markets: exporting, licensing, joint ventures, direct investment
factors affecting the degree of globalisation
reasons for, and challenges of, producing abroad
attractiveness of different countries as a production base
impact of global strategy on functional areas
Digital strategy
benefits and challenges of a digital strategy
impact of a digital strategy on functional areas
Content
Additional information
Change
types of change: internal, external, transformational
drivers of change
benefits of change
problems of change including Kotter and Schlesinger’s reasons for resistance to change
management of change including Lewin’s Force Field analysis
developing an agile organisation
Risk and uncertainty
types of risk: financial, operational (eg cyber security), reputational and strategic
importance of risk management – assessing and planning for risk
methods of mitigating risk including contingency planning and crisis management
methods of reducing uncertainty including scenario planning and forecasting
benefits and challenges of reducing risk and uncertainty
