How Social Demands and Social Responsibility Has Affected the Way in Which a Multi-National Organisation Operates

The past decades have seen a dramatic change in how companies operate with firms becoming more responsible in response to media pressure. Since businesses are a group in the society, it is of interest that they become socially responsible for their products from genuine feelings of moral compulsion, fear of legislative consequences and the belief that acting in this way is a good business (Inkson & Kolb, 2002, p.93). Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the concept which describes as an obligation of the organisation to act in ways that serve both its own interests and the interests of its many external stakeholders (Schermerhorn, Campling, Poole & Wiesner, 2004, p.158). In simple terms, it means distinguishing right from wrong and doing it right (2008, p.89). A company focuses on these issues as this is most critical in polishing its reputation. In recent years, the fast food industry has faced two major threats from the environment, namely social and political. Social causes pointed to social responsibility in being ethical, while political pressure arose from issues of obesity and trans-fat products. In applying examples of a multi-national organisation in McDonald's, we will examine the social demands of its stakeholders and how the responses to their social responsibilities have affected the corporation's operations in being the largest fast food chain stores with having over 300,000 local branches offering service to more than 50 million customers daily in over 100 countries.

If corporations and managers are to become socially responsible, to whom they are to be responsible is important. These groups of people are termed as a company's social stakeholders, as its affairs can be affected by them for better or worse (Bartol, Tein, Matthews & Martin, 2005, p.99) and the primary stakeholders in a business are identified as shareholders, employees, customers, the community, the society and the international community.