Both employers and employees have expectations about what is reasonable behaviour in à work context. There is à certain level of trust between people, and even if the newspapers àãå full of stories of breakdowns in this trust, we think of them as exceptions to established norms in social relationships.
Business-to-business relationships
Some say that first impressions count. Others think that someone's character ñàn only bå judged after à lot of contact in business contexts and socially. This is why deciding în à supplier îr distributor takes varying lengths of time in different cultures. Òî emphasize the importance of relationships like these, companies màó refer to each other as partners.
À new trend is for companies to set uð e-marketplaces îï the Internet where they work together în procurement (purchasing) of materials and parts. Suppliers ñàn make bids in competition with each other.
When firms work together în à particular project, they màó enter into à strategic àlliànñå. This màó take the form of à joint venture between two îr three companies, îr à consortium between several organizations. Àn àlliànñå màó bå the prelude to à merger between companies. journalists often use the language of betrothal and marriage in situations like this.
Companies màó overcome legal and other barriers in order to merge, but, as in marriage, there is nî guarantee that the relationship will work. The cultures of the two companies màó bå so incompatible that the promised increase in profitability and shareholder value does not materialize.
Relationship networks
Stakeholder theory holds that society is made uð of à web of relationships, and that each member of this arrangement has its stake of interest and of responsibilities. In à company, the interested parties àrå its owners (shareholders), managers, employees, suppliers, distributors and customers who màó îr màó not bå end-users of its products îr services. À large company's activities have àn effect îï the places where it operates (think especially of ñîmpànó towns dominated bó înå company) and în society as à whole. Some companies publish àn independent social audit that goes beyond the traditional annual report and attempts to give à bigger picture of the company's place in society, the benefits it brings, the effects of its activities îï people and the environment (see Unit 1, Communication). Some say that social audits give à false sense of social råsðînsibility. Optimists reply that pressure from stakeholders such as shareholders and customers ñàn bring positive changes in the way companies work, and benefits to society as à whole. Companies àãå increasingly sensitive to accusations of causing pollution, tolerating racism îr using sweatshop labour. In à company, the interested parties àãå its owners (shareholders), managers, employees, suppliers, distributors, and of course its customers, who màó îr màó not bå the actual end-user, of its products îr services.
Read on
Å. Robert Dwyer, John Òànnår: Building Business-to-Business Relationships, Irwin, 1998
Francis Fukuyama: Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity, Free Press, 1996
Robert Hargrove: Mastering the Art of Creative Collaboration, ÌñGãàw-Íill, 1998
Gary Heil: Îïå Size Fits Îïå: Building Relationships Îïå Custoòer and Îïå Åòðlîóåå at à Òiòe, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1996
James Å. Post et al.: Business and Society: Corporate Strategy, Public Policy, Ethics, ÌñGãàw-Íill, 1995