,TOPIC 1: SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
The meaning/definition of SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
• An ethical view point that says every individual/organization has an obligation to
benefit society as a whole.
• The responsibility of every citizen individual/organization to contribute towards the
well-being of the community and the environment in which they live.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY/CSR
MEANING of CSR
• The continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to
economic development while improving the quality of life of the local community and
society at large.
• Corporate Social Responsibility/CSR is the way a business conducts its operations
ethically and morally, regarding the use of human, physical and financial resources.
• Corporate Social Responsibility is an obligation required by law and benefits both
business and society.
Recommend / Suggest initiatives / strategies BUSINESSES can take to address socio-
economic issues.
Initiatives/STRATEGIES to deal with HIV/AIDS
• Train counsellors to provide counselling to infected and affected employees.
• Develop counselling programmes for infected and affected employees.
• Conduct workshops on HIV/Aids programmes or campaigns.
• Roll out anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment programmes for the infected employees.
• Encourage employees to join HIV/Aids support groups.
• Develop strategies to deal with stigma and discrimination.
• Participate in the HIV/Aids prevention programmes implemented in the community.
• Support community based organisation’s HIV/Aids initiatives.
Initiatives/STRATEGIES to deal with UNEMPLOYMENT
• Provide skills development programmes through learnerships.
• Offer bursaries to the community to improve the level of education.
• Create jobs for members of the community.
• Provide entrepreneurial programmes that can promote self-employment.
• Support existing small businesses to create more employment opportunities.
Initiatives/STRATEGIES to deal with POVERTY
• Invest in a young starting SME that can be a business competitor, buyer or supplier.
• Attract the best employees by being socially responsible and offering the best
volunteering programs.
• Support poverty alleviation programmes that are offered by the government.
• Donate money or food parcels to local NGO’s.
2
,TOPIC 2: CREATIVE THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING
Explain the meaning of CREATIVE THINKING.
The ability to think of original, varied new ideas or new approaches
Discuss/Describe/Explain the ADVANTAGES/BENEFITS of creative thinking in the workplace.
• Better ideas are generated.
• Improves motivation amongst staff members.
• May give the business a competitive advantage if unique strategies are implemented.
• Complex business problems may be solved.
• Creativity may lead to new inventions which improves the general standard of living.
• Productivity increases as management or employees may quickly generate multiple
ideas which utilises time and money more effectively.
• Managers and employees have more confidence as they can live up to their full
potential.
• Managers will be better leaders as they will be able to manage change(s) positively
and creatively.
• Managers and employees can develop a completely new outlook, which may be
applied to any task(s) they may do.
• Leads to more positive attitudes as managers and employees feel that they have
contributed towards problem solving.
• Managers and Employees have a feeling of great accomplishment and they will not
resist the process once they contributed towards the success of the business.
• Management and employees may keep up with fast changing technology.
• Stimulates initiative from employees and managers, as they are continuously pushed
out of their comfort zone.
Explain how businesses can use creative thinking to GENERATE ENTREPRENEURIAL
OPPORTUNITIES, e.g. designing environments that stimulate creative thinking.
• Encourage staff to come up with new ideas/opinions/solutions.
• Encourage alternative ways of working/doing things.
• Respond enthusiastically to all ideas and never let anyone feel less important.
• Make time for brainstorming sessions to generate new ideas, e.g. regular workshops
• Place suggestion boxes around the workplace and keep communication channels
open for new ideas.
• Train staff in innovative techniques, creative problem-solving skills, mind-mapping and
lateral thinking.
• Emphasise the importance of creative thinking to ensure that all staff know that
management want to hear their ideas.
• Encourage job swops within the organisation and studying how other businesses are
doing things.
3
, Discuss how businesses can use creative thinking to SOLVE BUSINESS PROBLEMS.
• Products and services can be marketed creatively.
• Managers can come up with creative strategies for the business.
• Managers can motivate and manage staff creatively.
• Employees can come up with creative solutions to all kinds of problems.
• Creative public relations strategies can be designed and implemented.
• New products or services can be designed to meet changing needs.
• Existing products can be adapted creatively to meet changing preferences and
demands.
RESEARCH SKILLS to assist with problem solving
• To be able to solve any problem, it is important that your research skills are used to find
the facts that you need to understand the problem.
• Research skills include knowing:
o What information you need
o Where to find that information
o How to choose relevant information
• Research involves:
o Speaking to someone who has experience in the area that is a problem for you
o Going to the library and finding books, magazines or newspaper articles on the
topic
o Looking for information on the internet
STEPS in research for problem solving
• The following FIVE steps are involved in research for problem solving:
o Be very clear on what you are researching
o Looking for different sources of information
o Analyse the information
o Reflect on the usefulness of the research
o Consider the useful elements of the research
Elaborate on the MEANING of PROBLEM SOLVING.
• Gathering facts that include problem findings and problem shaping.
Explain the DIFFERENCES between DECISION MAKING and PROBLEM SOLVING.
DECISION MAKING PROBLEM SOLVING
• It is often done by ONE PERSON / a • Problems can be solved by a GROUP /
member of senior management who team or an individual team member.
makes it authoritarian.
• Various alternatives are considered • Alternative solutions are generated/
before deciding on the best one. identified and critically evaluated.
• It is part of the problem-solving cycle as • Process of analysing a situation to identify
decisions need to be taken in each step. strategies to bring about change.
4
The meaning/definition of SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
• An ethical view point that says every individual/organization has an obligation to
benefit society as a whole.
• The responsibility of every citizen individual/organization to contribute towards the
well-being of the community and the environment in which they live.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY/CSR
MEANING of CSR
• The continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to
economic development while improving the quality of life of the local community and
society at large.
• Corporate Social Responsibility/CSR is the way a business conducts its operations
ethically and morally, regarding the use of human, physical and financial resources.
• Corporate Social Responsibility is an obligation required by law and benefits both
business and society.
Recommend / Suggest initiatives / strategies BUSINESSES can take to address socio-
economic issues.
Initiatives/STRATEGIES to deal with HIV/AIDS
• Train counsellors to provide counselling to infected and affected employees.
• Develop counselling programmes for infected and affected employees.
• Conduct workshops on HIV/Aids programmes or campaigns.
• Roll out anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment programmes for the infected employees.
• Encourage employees to join HIV/Aids support groups.
• Develop strategies to deal with stigma and discrimination.
• Participate in the HIV/Aids prevention programmes implemented in the community.
• Support community based organisation’s HIV/Aids initiatives.
Initiatives/STRATEGIES to deal with UNEMPLOYMENT
• Provide skills development programmes through learnerships.
• Offer bursaries to the community to improve the level of education.
• Create jobs for members of the community.
• Provide entrepreneurial programmes that can promote self-employment.
• Support existing small businesses to create more employment opportunities.
Initiatives/STRATEGIES to deal with POVERTY
• Invest in a young starting SME that can be a business competitor, buyer or supplier.
• Attract the best employees by being socially responsible and offering the best
volunteering programs.
• Support poverty alleviation programmes that are offered by the government.
• Donate money or food parcels to local NGO’s.
2
,TOPIC 2: CREATIVE THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING
Explain the meaning of CREATIVE THINKING.
The ability to think of original, varied new ideas or new approaches
Discuss/Describe/Explain the ADVANTAGES/BENEFITS of creative thinking in the workplace.
• Better ideas are generated.
• Improves motivation amongst staff members.
• May give the business a competitive advantage if unique strategies are implemented.
• Complex business problems may be solved.
• Creativity may lead to new inventions which improves the general standard of living.
• Productivity increases as management or employees may quickly generate multiple
ideas which utilises time and money more effectively.
• Managers and employees have more confidence as they can live up to their full
potential.
• Managers will be better leaders as they will be able to manage change(s) positively
and creatively.
• Managers and employees can develop a completely new outlook, which may be
applied to any task(s) they may do.
• Leads to more positive attitudes as managers and employees feel that they have
contributed towards problem solving.
• Managers and Employees have a feeling of great accomplishment and they will not
resist the process once they contributed towards the success of the business.
• Management and employees may keep up with fast changing technology.
• Stimulates initiative from employees and managers, as they are continuously pushed
out of their comfort zone.
Explain how businesses can use creative thinking to GENERATE ENTREPRENEURIAL
OPPORTUNITIES, e.g. designing environments that stimulate creative thinking.
• Encourage staff to come up with new ideas/opinions/solutions.
• Encourage alternative ways of working/doing things.
• Respond enthusiastically to all ideas and never let anyone feel less important.
• Make time for brainstorming sessions to generate new ideas, e.g. regular workshops
• Place suggestion boxes around the workplace and keep communication channels
open for new ideas.
• Train staff in innovative techniques, creative problem-solving skills, mind-mapping and
lateral thinking.
• Emphasise the importance of creative thinking to ensure that all staff know that
management want to hear their ideas.
• Encourage job swops within the organisation and studying how other businesses are
doing things.
3
, Discuss how businesses can use creative thinking to SOLVE BUSINESS PROBLEMS.
• Products and services can be marketed creatively.
• Managers can come up with creative strategies for the business.
• Managers can motivate and manage staff creatively.
• Employees can come up with creative solutions to all kinds of problems.
• Creative public relations strategies can be designed and implemented.
• New products or services can be designed to meet changing needs.
• Existing products can be adapted creatively to meet changing preferences and
demands.
RESEARCH SKILLS to assist with problem solving
• To be able to solve any problem, it is important that your research skills are used to find
the facts that you need to understand the problem.
• Research skills include knowing:
o What information you need
o Where to find that information
o How to choose relevant information
• Research involves:
o Speaking to someone who has experience in the area that is a problem for you
o Going to the library and finding books, magazines or newspaper articles on the
topic
o Looking for information on the internet
STEPS in research for problem solving
• The following FIVE steps are involved in research for problem solving:
o Be very clear on what you are researching
o Looking for different sources of information
o Analyse the information
o Reflect on the usefulness of the research
o Consider the useful elements of the research
Elaborate on the MEANING of PROBLEM SOLVING.
• Gathering facts that include problem findings and problem shaping.
Explain the DIFFERENCES between DECISION MAKING and PROBLEM SOLVING.
DECISION MAKING PROBLEM SOLVING
• It is often done by ONE PERSON / a • Problems can be solved by a GROUP /
member of senior management who team or an individual team member.
makes it authoritarian.
• Various alternatives are considered • Alternative solutions are generated/
before deciding on the best one. identified and critically evaluated.
• It is part of the problem-solving cycle as • Process of analysing a situation to identify
decisions need to be taken in each step. strategies to bring about change.
4
