Strategic Overview, Ethics, and Legal Environment

Strategic Overview, Ethics, and Legal Environment

University of Phoenix

1. What legal issues do companies face when creating a strategic plan?

In a strategic plan there are many aspects to consider such as focusing on building a solid underlying structure for an organization as well as understanding the goals and mission of that organization. To be able to do this an organization and its managers must chose the best methods of achieving those objectives and put into place a strategic plan to obtain those such goals. During this process the organization and its managers must consider all aspects of the plan which include the legal issues such as Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Other such legal issues include tax litigation and legal disputes with competitors and contractors. Other issues might be customer or employee related such as harassment lawsuits or faulty products, services or promises lawsuits. Finally there is the issue of patents and copyrights, during the products development phase an organization must conduct intensive research to avoid any litigation problems of patent and copyright infringements.

2. Why is an understanding in ethics important to the overall strategy process and how does an understanding of ethics effect the strategy process as it pertains to the organization's stakeholders?

In this situation an understanding of ethics is important to establish the fundamental principles of an organization and its individuals with a clear understanding of its social responsibilities as well. Social responsibility of a corporation and its management is its ability to meet their obligations to their society around them. The corporation needs to avoid any and all activities which may be harmful to the organizations image. During the strategy process the corporation needs to take into account any ethical violations as well as maintaining an understanding of their duties to environmental sustainability. The stakeholders have an interest in how the organization is affected by its decisions and the practices on reducing the impact on the environment and how the public preserves the organization on those actions.