Business social & environmental problem. Business & Marketing Essay

Social Responsibility
Author’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Assessment 1 – Choosing a Social or Environmental Problem
Background
New Zealand (NZ) is considered one of the most progressive countries in the world. The citizens in NZ (Kiwis) are recognised as progressive, particularly after being ranked at 14th position on Human Development Index (HDI) in 2019. However, NZ is encountering a social and environmental threat. Currently, rising obesity among children is threatening to conceive diabetes and overweight challenges in the future (UNICEF, 2019). The rate of obese children in NZ is 30.9% with malnutrition deprivation of 1.6 times (NZ Ministry, 2019). Simultaneously, NZ is encountering lack of freshwater availability due to polluted aquamarine life. The polluted water in NZ causes diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid among children, resulting in an early fatality (Trowbridge & Donovan, 2020). Freshwater supply is disturbed by plastic components and poor recycling by industrial organisations in NZ (NZ Ministry, 2020). The two identified challenges are threatening nutritional growth and ecology of NZ collectively, questioning future HDI ranking.
Discussion
The impact of social and environmental problems in NZ is increasing nationwide broadly, particularly by popular carbonated drink manufacturers. According to Tahmassebi and BaniHani (2020), Pepsi has the most significant contribution to causing obesity worldwide. The company sells 1 billion litres worldwide during each fiscal period. As a result, the contribution of Pepsi in causing obesity worldwide, including NZ, is unmatchable. On the contrary, Coca-Cola (Coke) is accused of contaminating the water in NZ due to imperfect recycling process. In NZ, Coke is reportedly having a significant share in 45% of freshwater pollution. As a result, NZ took the national initiative of becoming the first country to ban plastic (Woolf, 2020). The two leading brands in the foods and beverage industry are the source of causing social and environmental challenge experienced by Kiwis today. It is necessarily required that the two companies should take appropriate initiatives to overcome the problem.
Arguably, Pepsi and Coke should demonstrate better corporate citizenship while operating in NZ by taking strategic initiatives. Pepsi is a source of causing rising health issues, such as obesity and diabetes, in NZ and various countries. For Pepsi, diversifying the product portfolio is essential, especially in the age of health consciousness and consumer empowerment (Nooyi & Govindarajan, 2020). Pepsi should discontinue the sugary variants to demonstrate corporate citizenship. The company should introduce zero-sugar product variants by improvising the formula. It would allow Pepsi to acknowledge the rising health challenge among Kiwi children while retaining the potential customer base simultaneously. It is to notify that Pepsi could experience attrition of the customer base in the initial phases. However, diversification of the portfolio would resolve the rising social challenge in NZ from the core. Pepsi is the source of rising obesity among children in NZ and worldwide, requiring necessary response measures as resolution.
On the contrary, Coke is accused of causing disruptions in the flow of freshwater in NZ. The poor recycling techniques and irresponsible attitude towards environmental protection are the prime causes of ecological disturbance in the country. Coke must understand the sensitivity and redesign the bottle packaging for the beverages. The company should adopt bio-plastic packaging to overcome environmental concern. The bio-plastic would break into minute components and self-recycle after a limited timeframe. The inclusion of bioplastics in packaging materials would allow Coke to address the environmental accusation on the company. Besides, Coke could become a pioneer in embracing the bio-plastic packaging throughout NZ and worldwide. NZ is on the verge of banning plastic. The transformation towards bio-plastic would serve as a responsible response measure by Coke towards the rising ecological problem in NZ. Hence, a strict consideration is required by the Coke management for improvising the environmental and social responsibility.
Conclusion/Recommendation
The analysis suggests that NZ is experiencing a social and environmental challenge. The rising rate of obesity and disturbance in the availability of freshwater is influencing quality growth of children. Due to the identified problems, Kiwi children are suffering from malnutrition and abnormal distribution of bodyweight. Globally reputed brands, namely Pepsi and Coke, are the two companies that have a strong contribution towards the social and environmental challenge in NZ, respectively. Both companies failed in becoming a good corporate citizen, which is harmful to sustainable growth. Besides, a total ban on plastic packaging would influence the sustainability of the company in the future.
It is recommended that Coke and Pepsi should collaborate towards the identified social and environmental problem in NZ to propose a solution. Both companies are the market leaders with strong brand heritage. A collaborated corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative would allow the companies to respond to the identified problems while investing shared resources. The collaboration between Pepsi and Coke would benefit NZ unprecedentedly in the latter stages since the two companies are powerful, and the risk of failure would be shared among the market leaders from the beginning.
References
Nooyi, I. K. & Govindarajan, V. (2020). Becoming a better corporate citizen. Harvard Business Review (HBR). https://hbr.org/2020/03/becoming-a-better-corporate-citizen.
NZ Ministry (2019). Obesity statistics. Ministry of Health. /nz-health-statistics/health-statistics-and-data-sets/obesity-statistics.
NZ Ministry (2020). Overview of our fresh...