Be committed to responsible business at all levels. List your activities

All employees should be aware of your company’s responsible business activities and should be engaged in the process where possible. Working together on activities which benefit the whole community develops a sense of belonging and motivates employees, but also offers them the possibility to gain new knowledge and skills.

Identify your core stakeholders and their needs

A stakeholder is any person/group/institution etc. which affects or is affected by your operations and activities in any form (positively or negatively). Look around you and see how different people/groups are affected by your corporation, your products/services and your activities. See what their needs are and try to address these accordingly. Be open when engaging with your stakeholders. Show what you are doing and be open to discuss any issues. That helps you avoiding bad feedback. If serious criticism arises, be honest and solve the issues together with your partners.

Define your code of conduct and business principles responsibly

Your code of conduct and any policies or business principles that you might have should include directives for conducting business in a responsible way. When drafting a code of conduct and business principles for your company, take into account the expectations of your stakeholders, especially employees, and engage them in the development of your code of conduct. You should also anticipate the potential risks to your company and how they can be minimized with the help of a code of conduct and business principles. Your policies and your code of conduct should be clear, short and easily understandable.

Link your social activities to your core business

When it comes to philanthropic activities, every company can simply donate some cash for a good cause. However, a good corporate citizen links its social activities with its core business and its core competencies since this is where a company can make the most difference. Linking your projects to your products or services shows that you are really making an effort to give something back.

Responsibility starts with your products

When designing and producing products, always keep in mind the impact that they might have on society and the environment. Make a short presentation of your fresh product.

http://www.responsible-business.org/europe/responsible.html

Case study

Nike Brand SWOT

Strengths	Nike is a very competitive organization. Phil Knight (Founder and CEO) is often quoted as saying that ‘Business is war without bullets.’ Nike has a healthy dislike of its competitors. At the Atlanta Olympics, Reebok went to the expense of sponsoring the games. Nike did not. However Nike sponsored the top athletes and gained valuable coverage. Nike has no factories. It does not tie up cash in buildings and manufacturing workers. This makes a very lean organization. Nike is strong at research and development, as is evidenced by its evolving and innovative product range. They then manufacture wherever they can produce high quality product at the lowest possible price. If prices rise, and products can be made more cheaply elsewhere (to the same or better specification), Nike will move production. Nike is a global brand. It is the number one sports brand in the World. Its famous ‘Swoosh’ is instantly recognizable, and Phil Knight even has it tattooed on his ankle.
Weaknesses	The organization does have a diversified range of sports products. However, the income of the business is still heavily dependent upon its share of the footwear market. This may leave it vulnerable if for any reason its market share erodes. The retail sector is very price sensitive. Nike does have its own retailer in Nike Town. However, most of its income is derived from selling into retailers. Retailers tend to offer a very similar experience to the consumer. Can you tell one sports retailer from another? So margins tend to get squeezed as retailers try to pass some of the low price competition pressure onto Nike.
Opportunities	Product development offers Nike many opportunities. The brand is fiercely defended by its owners whom truly believe that Nike is not a fashion brand. However, like it or not, consumers that wear Nike product do not always buy it to participate in sport. Some would argue that in youth culture especially, Nike is a fashion brand. This creates its own opportunities, since product could become unfashionable before it wears out i.e. consumers need to replace shoes. There is also the opportunity to develop products such as sport wear, sunglasses and jewellery. Such high value items do tend to have associated with them, high profits. The business could also be developed internationally, building upon its strong global brand recognition. There are many markets that have the disposable income to spend on high value sports goods. For example, emerging markets such as China and India have a new richer generation of consumers. There are also global marketing events that can be utilized to support the brand such as the World Cup (soccer) and The Olympics.
Threats	Nike is exposed to the international nature of trade. It buys and sells in different currencies and so costs and margins are not stable over long periods of time. Such an exposure could mean that Nike may be manufacturing and/or selling at a loss. This is an issue that faces all global brands. The market for sports shoes and garments is very competitive. The model developed by Phil Knight in his Stamford Business School days (high value branded product manufactured at a low cost) is now commonly used and to an extent is no longer a basis for sustainable competitive advantage. Competitors are developing alternative brands to take away Nike’s market share. As discussed above in weaknesses, the retail sector is becoming price competitive. This ultimately means that consumers are shopping around for a better deal. So if one store charges a price for a pair of sports shoes, the consumer could go to the store along the street to compare prices for the exactly the same item, and buy the cheaper of the two. Such consumer price sensitivity is a potential external threat to Nike.

http://www.marketingteacher.com/SWOT/nike_swot.htm