Impact of Corporate Citizenship on Business Continuity Management - Paper Example

Intended title of dissertation:

The title of the paper will be: Impact of corporate citizenship on business continuity management: a comparative analysis of European countries (Switzerland and Estonia) and African countries (Mauritius and Botswana) cases

Corporate citizenshipis wide in the business world. It is the extent to which businesses respond to the social responsibilities to the people living around them. The social responsibilities relate to the economic, ethical, and legal which shareholders specify. Organizations capitalize on corporate citizenship so that they can extend their care to the communities living around their place of business. They aim to improve the quality of life as well as improve the living standards of the people living around there. Pressure comes from all sides for an organization to take care of the society living around that area. However, firms that aim to maintain a name in the industry take it as an incentive to give back to the community. Organizations strive to reach the highest stage of corporate citizenship based on their understanding of the community and their ability to bring solutions to the problems presented by the society.

On the other hand, business continuity is the prior scheduling and planning that take place in an entity or country before it can commence operations. This is after a period of experiencing disasters and incidents that may affect the conduct of business. The recovery process should take a short period so that all parties involved will do their tasks as they should. Hence, business continuity must have a laid down recovery process that managers will use to recover from the disaster, there must be a contingency plan which is the last option the business can use to adopt in case things go in the wrong direction. Further, there is need to remain committed to make the changes in the organization as some may take longer than anticipated. Business continuity measures on the reduction of risks facing an organization as well as the management of quality in all areas. Hence, every country must consider meeting the international standards and formulate policies that will work with all nations in the world.

Aim of underlying research and motivation:When carrying out the research, the aim of the underlying research is identify the how corporate citizenship affects business continuity in different continents. The four countries are of interest since the European nations represent the views of developed states while the African republics stand for the developing countries. The conduct, perception, and development of corporate citizenship on business continuity are different in both continents. Hence, this paper will provide an analysis illustrating the similarities and differences between them. Selecting Switzerland and Estonia from Europe and Mauritius and Botswana from Africa is a clear indication that business thrives in all parts of the world. Management of organizations in the countries requires the input of the community living around the business. This means that business continuity is paramount in expansion and conduct of trade activities. It is also important in the corporate citizenship decisions.

Literature Review

This part will look at what other authors have discussed in the past in regards to the topic of study. An example of what will be expanded in the paper includes but not limited to: Offshore banking has been one of the most successful business ideas Switzerland entertains which allow an account holder to operate their bank account from their country of residence. This means that Switzerland has more wealth stored in their financial institutions which helps the country maintain the economy. Organizations must remit their taxes to the governments of the country from where they operate. However, due to crises taking place in the economy, this might become hard and tax evasion may be the only solution for such firms. A country like Switzerland that encourages tax evasion through legal means as well as operation of offshore bank accounts, becomes the destination for most organizations. The offshore status of a country affects the corporate citizenship practiced by organizations. In relation to business continuity, it becomes easy and practical as organizations have enough money stored in the offshore accounts. They can access the money at any time and use it to advance their organizations even after a short or long disruption they could not avoid. This means that local and international businesses opened in the country supporting the offshore bank accounts stabilize within a short time. Business continuity becomes a strategy used by organizations to reach the firms goals and objectives. Management of business continuity becomes easy for the managers as they undergo through the transition of putting the organization back to its former glory. It is also easy to adapt to the business continuity process due to the certainty created by the availability of funds in the offshore banks. The offshore status has a positive impact on the corporate citizenship for firms operating in that country.

Switzerland is an offshore country but does not belong to the European Union as opposed to Estonia. Some of the reasons why Switzerland evades the membership from the union is that there are many bureaucracies in the organization that would limit the way the country operates. As a result, most businessmen in the world would shy away from opening the offshore bank accounts with them. Further, Switzerland offers security and does not reveal private and confidential information about the account holder to third parties irrespective of who owns the account. These are some of the areas that EU disagrees with the country as they suggest that decision contradicts the existence of accountability expected from member states. There is a deep need for independence in the decisions of nation and unions should not limit member states.

Estonia uses e-citizenship for foreigners which give everyone the chance to become a citizen after they sign up through an online portal. The digital identification is recognized by the government as legit and one can use the card to conduct business. They can also enter into official contracts using the cards as well as opening businesses in the country. However, it is important to remain accountable of all business decisions the individual signs during that period to avoid getting into frauds. Hence, an e-citizen must learn the business terms supported by Estonia as well as the activities supported in corporate citizenship activities. This is because the knowledge on this has a direct influence on the business continuity as well as the management of the same. Knowledge about Estonia as country supporting e-citizenship is important as it illustrates the motivation to do business both in the short-term and in the long-term.

Outline of research design and motivation for research methodologyResearch Design and MethodologyThis part will include the approach used to collect the information. It is the research design and methodology. The research design of the study which will assist in finding data related to the topic will come from both secondary and primary methods creating descriptive type study. The study is descriptive since it defines and dissects the corporate citizenship in two continents while majoring of four countries. This allows a deeper and extensive look at the individual countries at a time. The research design is flexible since it is not possible to quantitatively measure the effect of corporate citizenship and business continuity. The study will use statistics from both countries and information written by different authors on the performance and impact of corporate citizenship in business continuity.

Data sources and description of sample designData sources will come from a deeper examination of the countries as mentioned in the topics which include Estonia, Switzerland, Botswana, and Mauritius. Each country is highlighted on its own to allow a comparison with the rest on how corporate citizenship takes place in their country. The study will begin with an examination of the European and African continent then narrow down to the countries. The study uses businesses in each country to represent the sample design. For a concrete examination, the sample will use two countries in each continent to represent the rest of the nations in a continent.

Examination of the Continents and Country

European ContinentAs a developed continent, Europe boasts of having the best investors and strategists in the business world. Hence, the managers of organizations in the different countries consider corporate citizenship as one of the main reasons why they are still in business. One of the major reasons is that extending the care to the people communicates to the minds of the community that the business is not only focused on making profits, but also on their welfare. This helps attract a large number of customers both locally and internationally who want to identify with the firm. This indirectly contributes to the business continuity of the entire organization. Knowledge from the knowledge that corporate citizenship has a positive impact on the ability of a business to continue with its operations after a short time, most countries embraced it as the norm. Membership in different business entities creates a competitive advantage over others. For instance, countries belonging to EU have a high possibility of positively influencing their business decisions. A look at two countries in Europe will reveal this:

SwitzerlandSwitzerland offers a flexible option for businesses on how to conduct their corporate citizenship activities. As a developed country, most people have the required knowledge to understand that business continuity enables organizations become ongoing concerns. There is a high probability that firms will take care of the community living around them as they meet their needs. This means that only serious investors start projects in the country as they balance the corporate citizenship that backs up the business continuity.

EstoniaEstonia offers flexible business terms that makes it easy for investors from the country and other regional areas to make profits within a short time. The country is scarcely populated and there exists many opportunities that a business oriented individual can consider. The understanding of the role of corporate citizenship allows an organization factor on the management of continuity. There is need to incorporate the strategies as well as exit plan in case one needs to stop operating in the country. The ease of starting a business means that it is also flexible to continue after taking a break or opting to dissolve.

African ContinentAfrica has grown tremendously...