Colgate-Palmolive

Introduction

Colgate-Palmolive is one of the largest multinational corporations in the globe with a presence in many countries across all continents. Because of its presence in these countries, Colgate-Palmolive has over the years come to develop an impressive ethical record which many other companies in the same line of business cannot be able to match. This company has developed a reputation for being extremely conscious of its responsibility towards not only its employees, but also its customers as well as the environment because this is the only way through which it can be able to retain the good will of all its customers.

Customers

Colgate-Palmolive is a company which was founded for the purpose of creating the best products in the market for its consumers. It is because of this that it has often worked towards the development of those products which are not only attractive to consumers, but also highly beneficial to their health. Moreover, because of its need to retain the loyalty of its customers, Colgate-Palmolive has more often than not become involved in corporate social responsibility initiatives designed to ensure that the lives of people in those places where it has operations that directly affect them are improved. Because of such initiatives, as well as the high quality of the products that it manufactures, Colgate-Palmolive has managed to retain the loyalty of its customers throughout the decades of its existence. Furthermore, as a result of its reputation of producing only the best quality products, this company has managed to comfortably settle into new markets within a short time, unlike those companies which have a questionable reputation. In this way, Colgate is one of the most recognisable consumer brands in the world, with many individuals simply buying it products because the name Colgate gives them confidence about their quality. Consumers of Colgate-Palmolive products rarely have a problem with it and this is because of the company’s awareness that the production of inferior products will mean that it will lose out to its competitors, many of which also work hard to outpace its products in the market. Thus, Colgate-Palmolive has retained the confidence of its customers through observing their best interests as a means of making profits in the long term. This company often keeps its lines of communication with its customers open so that whenever there are any complaints about its products and services, they are taken care of swiftly and this has worked towards enhancing customer confidence in the company.

The Environment

A few years ago, Colgate-Palmolive was recognised as one of the companies that contributed to the degradation of the environment either through its attempts to acquire raw materials for its products, or through poor waste disposal practices. The result was that the company came to face a number of law suits to force it to change its ways. This lesson was taken to heart by its management and in recent years, Colgate-Palmolive has become one of the most environmentally conscious corporations in the world. This company has initiated procedures designed to reduce its degradation of the environment through the development of products which do not release too much waste as well as greenhouse emissions into the environment. Moreover, it has developed reforestation initiatives in the South East Asian countries from where it gets most of its raw material, such as palm oil, which more often than not encourage deforestation. Colgate-Palmolive, as a successor company to the Mennen Company, has been held responsible for the Superfund site in New Jersey, being a massive contributor to the degradation of a lot of land in the area through dumping of volatile organic compounds. One of the actions which this company took to remedy this situation was to provide the funding necessary to clean up the dumping site in collaboration with the state and federal governments. In this way, Colgate-Palmolive proved itself to be an avid observer of ethical issues concerning the environment as well as being a leader in the process where corporations take responsibility for their actions and making it possible to reclaim environments which have been degraded. Colgate-Palmolive has been recognised for its efforts to reduce its negative impact on the environment through the withdrawal of triclosan from most of its products. This move was inspired through the discovery that this substance had a negative impact on the environment and that if the company continued to use it in its products, it would end up further contributing to the problem of environmental degradation.

Employees

Colgate-Palmolive has been recognised as among those corporations which actively support diversity in the workplace. This company has recognised that with more diversity within it, the possibility of getting ideas for the improvement of its products from individuals from wide backgrounds will be highly increased. Therefore, within each base of operation that it has, Colgate-Palmolive has employees from many of the ethnic, religious, and social background that can be found in a particular country or region. With such a diverse workforce, Colgate-Palmolive has been able to create opportunities for individuals across the world; many of whom would not have had the opportunity to prove themselves had this company not been willing to employ them. Colgate has developed a reputation for its total lack of discrimination when promoting its employees and one will find that people from diverse backgrounds have over the years been able to attain high positions within the company. Furthermore, the company is often also willing to listen to the opinions of employees concerning the improvement of its products so that they can be more beneficial to consumers. Because of the active participation of employees in the decision making processes of the company, Colgate-Palmolive has been able to develop better products which have attracted more consumers, hence increasing its market share. In addition, Colgate-Palmolive has among the best employee packages in the industry with those employees who have been of most service to the company being given among others bonuses and stock ownership within the company. This has made the company’s employees to be highly motivated individuals who help in the furthering of its interests while at the same time ensuring that their lives are also improved.

Conclusion

Colgate-Palmolive is a company which has managed to combine a regard for consumers, the environment, as well as its employees in its code of ethics as a means of not only pursuing its social responsibility, but also as a means of enhancing its reputation. As a company which was founded for the purpose of creating the best products in the market for its consumers, it has managed to build up its reputation to such an extent that it has gained the complete confidence of its consumers across the globe. However, the discussion above has also shown that a few years ago, Colgate-Palmolive was recognised as one of the companies that contributed to the degradation of the environment either through its attempts to acquire raw materials for its products or through poor waste disposal practices. The result was that this company chose to pursue better environmental policies designed to reduce, as much as possible, the negative impact that its activities had on the environment. To achieve this, the company has invested millions of dollars to ensure that the impact of its activities on the environment are minimised through the development of better means of making its products as well as disposing of harmful waste products. Finally, Colgate-Palmolive has been recognised as among the best employers in the world through its active support for diversity in the workplace as well as the generous packages that its employees receive.

How Governmental Figures Communicate

         There are man ways through which governmental figures communicate to the public and when one observes them, or videos of them, one will notice that they not only communicate verbally, but also non verbally. It is often very necessary for a governmental figure to observe what he says and what he does when communicating with the public because these always have an impact on the way the public receives his or her message. It not only allows them to show that what they are saying is genuine, but it also ensures that the message is well received and that the public understand what it is all about. In order to effectively communicate with the public, the governmental figure must show various characteristics which are essential to do so. In this paper, we shall be analyzing a video of such a figure as an example of how they communicate as well as whether they are doing what is correct when passing their message to the public.

         The first thing that can be noted about the person who is communicating is that he shows a great deal of confidence while speaking. This serves to give the public the opinion that he is confident in what he is saying and that he actually believes it to be true. It is a known fact that the public is more appreciative of listening to a confident person than to a person without confidence because a message delivered with confidence is always better received. Confidence also gives the impression of the speaker telling the truth because all his words are said without anything that might suggest that he is lying to his audience. Furthermore, confidence ensures that the audience gives the speaker their utmost attention throughout his speech and because he has their attention, the message he is trying to communicate will be received with little or no distortion.

        The second thing which is notable in most if not all governmental officials when communicating with the public is their being well versed in the subject matter of what they are trying to communicate. It can be seen that they have studied the history of what they are communicating and have made their own personal analysis of it before coming to make their speech to the public. It seems that the public is more receptive of the speaker and what he is saying because of this and this may ensure that the speaker has the undivided attention of the public. The knowledge of the subject matter ensures that the speaker is able to communicate well with the public and that what he says is comprehensible. His understanding of the subject also ensures that the speaker is able to interpret and simplify the message for his audience so that they are better able to understand what it is he is trying to pass on to them. A result of having prior knowledge of what he is communicating is that it gives the governmental figure the necessary confidence to not only pass on the message he wishes to the public, but he is also able to add on to it his own opinions and relate them to the current situation.

      When communicating to the public, it can be noted that the speaker pauses often to let his message sink in. these pauses often occur immediately after the speaker makes an important point or when there is an ovation from the public after he has stated what has pleased them. These pauses are important not only to allow the audience to receive the message well, but it also ensures that the audience does not lose track of the speech itself while making their ovations. A good speaker should take note of where and when make these pauses in his speech so that he does not lose his audience. In addition to making pauses in his speech, the governmental figure also seems not only to be serious throughout the speech but his facial expression follows the mood of his audience. However, he does not allow the audience to completely control the process, and in fact, he is the one who controls the mood of the audience through the use of various tones in his speech. In this way, he is able to hold the audience’s attention throughout his speech because he is in total control of the situation.

         In conclusion, in the video which we have analyzed, we have noted three very important things about government figures when communicating with the public. The first is that they always show a great deal of confidence when making their speeches. The second is that they are often very well versed in the subject matter about which they are communicating. The third is that they often pause in their speeches first to acknowledge the public’s response to their speeches and also to make sure that their speech is well received. These three things are some of what are included in all governmental communications to the public.

Governance Networks

Within the last decades of the twentieth century, the concept of governance developed within political studies and the fields related to it. This concept is one that seeks to promote the idea that there is a wide variety of approaches that are required to make sure that there is an understanding of the world and the changing nature of the role of the state within the international system. Furthermore, there is the rise of the belief that governance can be used to promote the idea that the contemporary world is where individuals live in a world where there are a diversity of coexisting networks that are aimed at safeguarding the lives of individuals as well as society in general (Bush, Oosterveer, Bailey, & Mol, 2015). These networks have developed in such a way that ensures that there is the creation of a better understanding of the massive urbanization, globalization, and a diversity of other societal demands that have come about because of the considerable participation of the civil society in everyday life (Fung, 2015). This new knowledge is essential in bringing about an understanding of the way that the world is developing because it allows for the inclusion of the manner that new concepts such as the participation of the civic society has been able to establish a strong public voice in decision making. In this paper, there will be a discussion and analysis of the concept of the governance network and the manner through which it has been able to affect the world.

One of the most significant aspects of the governance network is that it has led to the argument that societies are increasingly becoming fragmented. This is mainly because of the belief that the new demands that are being made on governments has led them towards a shift from the more traditional bureaucratic order to one that is more responsive to the demands of society (Wiesel & Modell, 2014). Such interactive governments have the potential of leading towards the fragmentation of society because it involves a process where there is greater devolution of power in such a way that promotes the achievement of more efficiency when it comes to service delivery. Governance networks have also become critical when it comes to policymaking because the individuals involved in the latter tend to consult with the diverse stakeholders in society before any decisions are made (Bovaird, Stoker, Jones, Loeffler, & Pinilla Roncancio, 2016). The arbitrary decision making processes that was an essential aspect of the bureaucratic forms of government are increasingly being abandoned in favour of more open ones where there is need to seek to achieve the approval of stakeholders before policies are implemented (Denis, Ferlie, & Van Gestel, 2015; Greve, 2015). Furthermore, there has also been an increasing role of the private sector in those aspects of government that were previously the strict domain of the public sector (O'Toole, 2015). Thus, governance networks have become essential means through which to bring about a form of governmental devolution that seeks to enhance service delivery in the most efficient way possible while at the same time reducing the role of government in the process. It has also ensured that the role of government in society has essentially become blurred because the institutions involved in service delivery have their roles increasingly being taken by more specialized entities from the private sector.

The latter collaborative arrangements have made it possible for governments to undertake their tasks in a manner that is more supervisory than active. Governance networks have ensured that there is an increase in the proliferation of governance arrangements either with the private sector or other governments with the aim of bringing about a more efficient achievement of goals (Page, Stone, Bryson, & Crosby, 2015). This is especially the case considering that there are some governance networks which have developed between a local government, other governments, as well as the private sector with the aim of seeking to achieve the best possible results when it comes to undertaking their functions. These new collaborations have essentially made it possible for governance networks to become more common in the contemporary world to such an extent that they have become the norm. It is currently normal for individuals to expect that network arrangements will bring them the services that they need without a complete reliance on their governments to provide the services (Vangen, Hayes, & Cornforth, 2015). Governments have ended up becoming facilitators and guarantors rather than the actual providers of services; meaning that there has developed a necessity that there is the establishment of newer networks to increase efficiency. It has also become possible for a new layer of governance to appear within local governments, with these layers playing a significant role when it comes to the development of strong initiatives aimed at enhancing efficiency while at the same time reducing the role of government (Kapucu, Hu, & Khosa, 2017). The various stakeholders in society have also come to have a say in the management of their own governments and how services are delivered. However, despite this being the case, it is essential to approach governance networks with caution because despite their being widespread, they have not been as widely adopted as expected.

Governance networks have brought about a greater understanding of the role that networks can play in enhancing the role of governments. This is because it involves an understanding of the manner through which the complexity of the multi-governmental landscape has become a necessity in the contemporary world (De Vries, Bekkers, & Tummers, 2016). It is necessary to consider that governance networks have essentially made it possible for there to be the creation of means through which to bring about the interaction between a diversity of actors in society in such a way that promotes the interests of all involved because there is devolution of functions (Borg, Toikka, & Primmer, 2015). Furthermore, it has become possible for these actors to come to terms with each other’s capabilities in such a way that helps to bring about the achievement of means through which to promote the diversification of functions towards the achievement of common goals. Thus, it can be argued that politicians and administrators have become the main actors when it comes to the promotion of societal interests and this has been in such a way that they have come to be seen as the guarantors of public services (Bryson, Crosby, & Bloomberg, 2014; Head & Alford, 2015). However, despite the achievement of this objective, it has become essential to consider that these individuals have gained considerable power over a diversity of functions. This is especially the case considering that these individuals might end up abusing their power to ensure that they serve the interests of their respective organizations or lobbies that sponsored them towards attaining their positions (Howlett & Ramesh, 2016). Therefore, there should be a process where there is the development of awareness concerning the relationships between the actors in various governance networks so that it can be possible to bring about the achievement of greater transparency in the processes that are undertaken.

The term governance network implies that there is a convergence when it comes to a diversity of issues concerning government and the manner through which it is operated. It is necessary to consider that this convergence is one that has taken place in order to meet the needs of society while at the same time promoting a situation where there is the achievement of common goals in as efficient a manner as possible (Lecy, Mergel, & Schmitz, 2014). While there has been considerable debate concerning what exactly governance networks mean, it is pertinent to consider that it is a reality in the contemporary world and has to be understood as such. A body of knowledge and concepts concerning governance networks has grown over the years and this has led to the establishment of means through which an understanding of the term can be understood. One of the most important factors concerning governance networks is that is involves a situation where service delivery and policy are developed and implemented through networks that involve actors that are essentially interdependent. The interdependency between the various actors can be considered to be an essential aspect of promoting the development of the networks that are involved in service delivery (Bryson, Crosby, & Stone, 2015). It is also necessary to stress that it is the actors who make choices concerning the strategies that they have to use in order to find and make solutions to various problems. There are also instances where there is a complexity of interactions and negotiating partners that come about because of the interdependencies that occur between actors (Skelcher & Smith, 2015). Therefore, the different governance networks tend to be quite diverse in their make up because each of them is developed to satisfy a large number of unique needs (Van den Hurk & Verhoest, 2015). The variety of perceptions and strategies that they have to implement requires that there is the achievement of unique problem solving, service delivery and policy implementation initiatives at all times to ensure efficiency.

In conclusion, the governance network approach is one that stresses the need to consider the outcomes of the implementation of different policies and service delivery. A consideration of the outcomes ensures that there are initiatives aimed at promoting the development of the most pertinent policies possible while at the same time including the most qualified actors to undertake the diverse tasks involved in bringing about the achievement of results. The development of an understanding of needs is critical for the creation of institutionalization of the relationships that come about between the different actors. These create patterns that are necessary for the promotion of effective working relationships between actors that make it possible to bring about strong service delivery initiatives. The relationships involved are those that ensure that there is the establishment of social networks that are necessary for not only bringing about better service delivery, but also ensures that there is the establishment of a basis upon which the various actors can work together in other networks. Finally, the relationships between the various actors ensures that there is the emergence of rules that promote the regulation of the behaviour within networks; making it possible for actors to explore new content that might enhance their efficiency while at the same time helping in enhancing the quality of services being delivered.

References

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