Ch 5, Instructor’s Manual, Business & Society, Carroll 10e
Chapter 5
Strategic Management and Corporate Public Policy
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Describe the concepts of strategic management and corporate public policy.
3. Explain the strategic management process and the role that sustainability reports and
integrated reports play in the process.
5. Describe the public affairs function today, and enumerate the different activities and
functions that comprise it.
TEACHING SUGGESTIONS
INTRODUCTION – This chapter provides a broad overview of how social, ethical, and public
issues fit into the general strategic management processes of the organization. Corporate public
policy, that part of management decision making that encompasses these issues, is discussed.
Corporate social performance reporting also is examined. Finally, the chapter covers public
affairs management as the formal organizational approach companies use to deal with these
issues. The overarching goal of the chapter is to focus on planning for the turbulent social and
ethical stakeholder environment currently existing.
KEY TALKING POINTS – After laying the groundwork and introducing concepts necessary for
the study of (1) business and society in Part 1 of the textbook and (2) corporate governance in
Part 2 of the textbook, this chapter provides the initial steps in applying those concepts to
specific issues. The authors provide an insight into how corporations currently deal with the
issues that lie at the intersection of business operations and social issues. Students should find
this chapter quite interesting as more and more companies are employing corporate public policy
as part of its strategic management process. Furthermore, it provides information about a
potentially fascinating and important career path. As the authors show by relating corporate
Ch 5, Instructor’s Manual, Business & Society, Carroll 10e
PEDAGOGICAL DEVICES – In this chapter, instructors may utilize a combination of:
Cases:
3-The Body Shop (B) – Reputation is Tarnished
4-The Body Shop (C) – Into the New Millennium
6-The Waiter Rule: What Makes for a Good CEO?
11-Family Business
15-Nike, Inc. and Sweatshops
16-Coke & Pepsi in India
17-Chiquita – An Excruciating Dilemma
20-DTCA – The Pill Pushing Debate
Ethics in Practice Cases:
DuPont and Sustainability Reporting
Spotlight on Sustainability:
Enterprise-Level Strategy in Action
Power Point slides:
LECTURE OUTLINE
I. STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND CORPORATE PUBLIC POLICY
A. Relationship of Ethics to Strategic Management
II. FOUR KEY STRATEGY LEVELS
A. Four Strategy Levels Described
1. Enterprise-Level Strategy
3. Business-Level Strategy
4. Functional-Level Strategy
B. Emphasis on Enterprise-Level Strategy
1. Social Entrepreneurship
3. Importance of Core Values
4. Other Manifestations of Enterprise-Level Strategic Thinking
III. THE STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PROCESS
Ch 5, Instructor’s Manual, Business & Society, Carroll 10e
A. Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
1. Porter and Kramer Framework
B. Measuring Sustainable Corporate Performance
1. Sustainability Reporting
3. Global Reporting Initiative
IV. PUBLIC AFFAIRS AS A PART OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
V. THE CORPORATE PUBLIC AFFAIRS FUNCTION TODAY
A. PA’s Place at the Table
B. Future of Corporate PA in the 21st Century
VI. SUMMARY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Students should recognize that their answers to these discussion questions should be well
reasoned and supported with evidence. Although some answers will be more correct than others,
students should be aware that simplistic answers to complex questions, problems, or issues such
as these will never be “good” answers.
1. Question: Which of the four strategy levels is most concerned with social, ethical., or
public issues? Discuss the characteristics of this level.
Answer: The enterprise (or societal) level of strategy is the one most directly concerned
with social, ethical, and public issues. This is the level that asks, and attempts to answer,
2. Question: Identify the steps involved in the strategic management process.
Answer: The textbook presents six steps in the strategic management process (which
3. Question: What is the difference between integrated reporting and a social performance
report?
Answer: A social performance report is a systematic attempt to identify, measure,
monitor, and evaluate the firm’s performance with respect to its social efforts, goals, and
4. Question: What is social entrepreneurship and how is it related to the bottom of the
pyramid (BOP)?
Answer: Social entrepreneurship is a cultural phenomenon, growing exponentially, but still
in search of a good definition. While traditional entrepreneurs focus on creating wealth,
5. Question: Why are integrated reports increasing in popularity?
Answer: Integrated reports are increasing in popularity because more and more people are
6. Question: Describe the corporate public affairs function today. What are the three
opportunities for PA executives in the future?
Answer: The public affairs function today is to influence public policy. Public affairs
activities would include lobbying, global public affairs, social media, corporate
Ch 5, Instructor’s Manual, Business & Society, Carroll 10e
responsibility, campaign finance, grassroots advocacy, and crisis communication, to name
a few.
GROUP ACTIVITY
Divide students into groups of four to five students. Have each group review the current social
performance report of a different company. Students should compare the current social
performance report with the most recent social performance report issued by the company prior
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT
Distribute the following instructions to each student:
Visit the Public Affairs Council’s website at http://pac.org/. Review the Council’s various areas