Xavier Smith
Western Governors University
State Farm Social Responsibility
Introduction
As businesses worldwide continue to transition from production focuses to service mentalities, so has the zeitgeist of business operation. Profit-maximization goals are no longer predicated solely on selling more products or services; these goals are now also predicated on social responsibility, also called social awareness. In order to maintain its reputation as the premier insurance and financial institution in the country, State Farm can no longer hold an agnostic position about social responsibility. Concerted efforts must be made to create a synergy between the corporate culture and the culture of its consumer base.
This report will provide treatment, inclusive of recommendations, to four social-responsibility abstractions: environmental, ethical-leadership, sustainability, and legal considerations. The ideal result will be to prove a correlation between corporate social responsibility and corporate profit-maximization goals. This substantiated correlation should, then, prove that corporate flourishing cannot be possible with an interest in human flourishing.
Social-Responsibility Definition and Motivations
Before undertaking a deep discussion on this subject, it will be helpful to offer a definition of “social responsibility,” which is “the obligation corporations, organizations, and individuals have to society” (Stengel, 2010).
The principal impetus for a focus on social responsibility is found within post-Baby Boomer generations, namely so-called Millennials, which comprise individuals in their 20s and 30s. According USA TODAY, this is a generation that is socially connected and, as a result, informed about what transpires in the world. As is the case with Alex Wells of Washington, this is a group that will excoriate a company for its inattention to social issues, especially with issues that of which the company