Accounting Homework Help

Name:Course:Instructor:Date:

High demand of coffee in any company is marked as the core reason why outsourcing is opted for. The same case applies to Australian  Clean Green Coffee Production Company (ACGCP). Considering that the company does not have the capacity to serve the great demand from consumers, outsourcing from elsewhere is seen as the only way out. In this case, ACGCP does not opt for domestic outsourcing. Rather the company considers sourcing coffee from Guatemala, one of the greatest producers of coffee worldwide. For decades now, Guatemala has appeared in forefront as one of the places with high production of quality coffee. Domestic coffee outsourcing in the case of ACGCP Company was not seen as the best option. This is for the simple fact that if the company was running low on raw coffee, other competitors are likely to be in the same situation. Moreover, Guatemala has a record of high quality coffee, the more reason for ACGCP Company to import coffee from there. The entire Latin America has registered strong growth in coffee production since 1993 and this has seen the region rank high in terms of quality and any other positive aspect. For the two highlighted reasons, there was every need to source coffee from Guatemala. A perfect source is always very important especially due to the corporate social responsibility that the outsourcing company must observe. The principal ethical aspect in this case is quality. ACGCP Company owes its consumers the duty of ensuring that their products are of top quality. It is the corporate social responsibility of the company to ensure satisfaction among consumers. The type of product that the company in question intends to import should and must bear all quality characteristics . The ethical image of ACGCP Company may be compromised if they end up importing coffee whose quality is below what they produce locally. The sense of ownership is also considered as a key ethical aspect that must be checked before ACGCP Company considers importing coffee from Guatemala. Normally, local people hold much pride in products that are produced domestically, rather than those sourced from other countries. In this regard, in as much as ACGCP Company wishes to import coffee from Guatemala, the sense of ownership among consumers must be observed. There is the importance of maintaining the assurance that what the consumers are getting is indeed one of their own. The law of the country where ACGCP Company is located must be abided by as a way of upholding ethics as well as corporate social responsibility. Should any conflict with regard to the company emanate, the law will always prevail. In the same line, ACGCP Company has the ethical responsibility of ensuring that there is no form of conflict between them and other company with regard to importation of coffee from Guatemala. All activities that involve one company must not affect another company negatively. Instead, it should uphold a conducive business environment. The main point is that ACGCP Company must do all it takes to uphold ethical practices as well as Corporate Social Responsibility during the entire process of importing and selling coffee. Possible Solutions and Alternatives Coffee importation from Guatemala by ACGCP Company is certainly not the only way of curbing the great demand from consumer. In as much as importing is seen as an important move, there are key downsides connected to the same. For instance, coffee sourced from Guatemala is of high quality . This means that ACGCP Company will get the same coffee at a high price (probably higher than that of their locally produced coffee). Additionally, it might consume more time and resources to channel in coffee as an import from Guatemala. This is the main reason why it is deemed necessary for the ACGCP Company manager to seek alternatives rather than just relying on imports from Guatemala. Food security and safety is one of the reasons why the management of ACGCP Company may decide to seek alternatives. In the process of importation, the safety of products, especially consumables, may be compromised and therefore threatening the health of consumers. Other aspects are also affected hence rendering the whole process quite challenging. One of the best alternatives in this case is to encourage local production of Coffee. Encouraging local production can break dependence on imports. The level of demand does not really matter at this juncture. The prime focus is to beef up supply by engaging with the root production sources so as to beat the prevailing demand. The management of ACGCP Company may consider launching a campaign that will encourage local people to produce more coffee that will, in return, increase company output. Alternatively, the company may merge with other companies of similar interests and embark on an initiative to boost local production of coffee domestically.The benefit of local food production is that the consumers are assured of safety, unlike in the case of imports. Considering that local food is processed within common standards all across, safety for consumers is not compromised. Additionally, local food production allows for cheap market price . One of the corporate social responsibilities of any company is to ensure that consumers are supplied with products at affordable prices. It is also in the line of ethics to ensure that consumers do not receive products that are overcharged and ones that have the capacity to threaten their health. According to the law, two companies with similar interest may merge partially with the intention of achieving something common. In this regard, the management of ACGCP Company may consider it necessary to form a merger with another company that has similar interests and import coffee as one entity. This strategy will work positively in ensuring that the amount of resources used is reduced. Note that the prime corporate social responsibility in this case is safety and price reduction. Sharing the coffee importation burden from Guatemala between two or more companies is an easy way of upholding ethics and responsibility among the consumers. Forming mergers with other companies to aid in cost-effective importation of coffee is a long-term solution that will curb deficit in local production of the same commodity. Recommendation It is evident that importation of coffee by ACGCP Company from Guatemala is a process that squarely involves ethics and corporate social responsibility. As such, it is imperative to implement strategies that will uphold both the corporate social responsibility and ethics. As the manager of ACGCP Company, there is great need to take into account different things that can help in brining about a perfect solution. Strategic decision-making is very necessary for the manager of ACGCP Company. It is with the help of strategic decision-making that the company will engage in a productive importation process . Without proper decision-making, the import strategy, or otherwise, may turn futile. There is the likelihood of resource wastage in the process and this can only be brought to rest through proper decision-making. The first thing that the company manager should do is branding the imported coffee. It is possible to import coffee from another country and brand it in the name of the company in question. In other words, the company involved may decide to brand the imported coffee to rhyme the specifications of the locally produced coffee. The importance of branding is to instill the element of ownership of the product despite the fact that the coffee in question has been imported. It is an ethical move that ensures that locals have pride in their local product. Communication cannot be overlooked in a case where a company has decided to import a product from another country. Remember that a company has a corporate social responsibility of ensuring constant communication with the consumers. The importance of communication is that consumers are put in the know regarding any product improvement or upgrade. After all, communication is all about exchange of information between the involved parties, and most importantly the consumer. It is necessary to make sure that each and every development is properly communicated to the consumers as well as other involved parties in the importation process.Upholding public relations in the process of product marketing is very important. Public relations ensure that the company involved is in constant connection with other companies as well as the consumer. The importance of proper public relations is that a long-term solution to importation of products is found. Company-to-company as well as company-consumer relationships are beefed up effectively through public relations. Product labeling has a major impact in boosting the image of the selling company. Labeling is all about including critical details on the product cover. Some of the details that are considered necessary include standardization marks, quality assurance marks, and brand name among others. Consumer psychology is an added strategy of ensuring an effective flow of coffee in ACGCP Company. This is where a company aims at understanding the views of consumers with regard to a new product in the market. It is absolutely necessary to speculate the manner in which consumers will behave towards a certain product. In this case, ACGCP Company should work towards understanding the psychological behavior of the consumers with regard to the newly imported coffee from Guatemala. Having understood the consumer behavior, it becomes easy for the management of the company to implement strategies that will boost consumption of the product in question. All loopholes in the sales chain are sealed effectively when the consumer behavior is first understood . Consumer psychology aids in understanding the general market especially when new products are involved. Advertisement is something that the management of ACGCP Company must consider. It helps in boosting brand awareness among consumers. Advertisement has a very close relationship with communication and it helps in informing the consumers about all the details that they need to know about the product in question