I.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority is a brand in the United States transport industry, it is a public corporation that was created to benefit the public by implementing and developing unified transportation policies in the areas that it serves. This responsibility is carried out directly by the authority or through its affiliates and also its subsidiaries. As mentioned, the transit system in New York is huge and the ridership cannot be compared to any other in the world. This market of New York having many players, but MTA has been able to build the brand by providing the commuter service from 1965 when the authority was founded to date (“Metropolitan Transportation Authority,” n.d.).

The authority prides itself with a daily average carriage of approximately 8 million commuters. It also operates in an area that has approximately 14.6 million people and the majority of them rely on public transport. The reliability of the services has been one of the aspects that have helped build the brand and also the commitment to the vision and the mission. The mission of the authority is to enhance the lives of the people of New York and the other counties that it operates in (“Metropolitan Transportation Authority,” n.d.). Most of the decisions made by the business are meant to enhance the people’s economic health mostly by providing affordable and safe transportation services. The plan for the new cars is in line with this mission and also it is the best measure to take considering how popular this transportation service is. Being able to provide commuter services at a pocket-friendly price is also another aspect that makes the brand popular among the people of New York, therefore, introducing new subway cars that maintains the low charge is a way of fulfilling its commitment to the people.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is in the process of planning out one of its biggest projects ever in the provision of public transportation services. The project which is focused on targeting their customers in New York City is one of the greatest changes that the New Yorkers have never experienced in the transportation sector. The project involves the introduction of the new generation subway cars that are referred to as “open gangway” subway cars (Plitt & Lynch, 2017). This new service is being provided in collaboration with the MTA’s New York subsidiary that provides commuter transportation services to the people in New York City and the surrounding counties.

The main target of the company are the middle-class and low-income earners. . For this reason, Metropolitan Transportation Authority takes it upon itself, as a public corporation, to meet this need of the people. The open gangway subway car will be an affordable service to the people of New York. The target market for the subway service is not tied to a specific age bracket, gender or social status. The people of all ages, the rich and the poor all are part of the MTA’s target market. This is why in order to satisfy the demands of each category, it is important to be able to provide a service that the young, the old, the rich, and the poor can all appreciate. The plan for the new subway cars is that to provide a service that meets the common needs of all the people.

II.

A properly managed organization should take advantage of the trends in the market that it is operating in. A well-governed institution should be flexible and adaptable to change. The management of an institution should steer the organization through the various changes in the market. Further, a company’s decision-making process should not be rigid and bureaucratic as that curtails the company’s ability to adapt to its environment properly. Both internal and external factors influence a company’s environment. The internal environment factors of a business enterprise are those factors that are within the control of the organization while the business entity cannot control external environmental factors.

2.1. Internal and External factors that affect Business Operations

An organization’s business environment comprises of various elements that are within the organization, and the organization has control over. One of the internal environmental factors of a company is the company human resource. Human resource is a crucial factor of production as it defines the efficacy and effectiveness of the entire business operations of the organization. A highly qualified and motivated labor force is more likely to produce better results than an incompetent and poorly motivated labor force. Employees are human hence must be appropriately managed to meet the organization’s goals (Eccles, Ioannou & Serafeim, 2012).

Additionally, the internal environment of a business entity is shaped by the organization’s mission statement, policies, values, and objectives. The mission statement of a company highlights the reason why the organization exists and what it aims to achieve in the society. A properly written mission statement should reveal the organization’s purpose, and this is instructive to employees when undertaking the organization’s duties. Further, the organization’s policies provide a guideline on how certain situations should be addressed within the organization. These policies help managers in making decisions in line with the organization’s values. On the other hand, the organization’s objectives are a set of goals that the organization has set for itself to achieve within a particular framework (Galbreath, 2010). Therefore, the internal workings of an organization significantly influence its internal environment. Other components of an organization’s internal environment are infrastructure, facilities, machinery and equipment, supplies, and finances.

With regards to the external environment of a business, it comprises of factors that are not within the organization hence beyond their control. Companies must adapt to external environment changes and put in various strategies to enable them to cope up with external trends. Organizations must adopt strategic planning in dealing with the various external environmental factors that the business is exposed to since they may impede the organization in realizing its objectives within the expected time framework. The external environment of a corporation may include competition, legal and regulatory structure, technological changes, social factors, the economic climate of the organization’s area of jurisdiction among others (Werther Jr, & Chandler, 2010).

2.2. How changing trends/environment influence a business’s operations

Due to the highly competitive nature of business in the 21st Century, companies may need to change regularly to maintain or gain their competitive edge in their particular industry. This continuous need for change is propagated by a high rate of technological advancement that has the potential of changing the landscape of a specific sector. Therefore, for any business to remain relevant in the marketplace, it must be in touch with the changing trends in the industry. In essence, the Metropolitan Transport Authority should be abreast of the changing nature of its market and plan to respond to the said change efficiently. Besides, the growing global competition may necessitate a change in an organization’s business since new global players continue to join a particular market hence the need to adjust to these developments (Tellis, Prabhu & Chandy, 2009). Due to these changes, an organization needs a change agent to assist in the business’ transformation. With regards to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, different new players have entered into the transportation business in the United States of America hence the company must adequately respond to the emerging completion from various global players.

2.3. Impact of Market Trends on the Business Operations and How Businesses Can Prepare for Change

The management of a company plays a vital role in preparing an organization in facing different market trends. The effectiveness of a responsive management is intricately intertwined with a company’s preparedness in managing change, market trends, and other kinds of challenges. Further, the management not only comes up with the effective market strategies needed to overcome the challenging external environment changes that affect business operations but also oversees the implementation process of the said strategies. Notably, business professionals may apply various business metrics and principles to address the changes that the business is experiencing (Werther Jr, & Chandler, 2010). Therefore, the management of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority should develop and implement effective strategies that may make the organization to take advantage of its changed environment of operation. The management should consider professional’s input in developing a change management plan which should be incorporated into the Authority’s business plan.

III.

3.1. Potential Business Ethics and Regulatory Issues

Ethics refers to the fundamental moral principles of an individual or organization that guides that particular organization’s or individual’s conduct in business. On the other hand, social responsibility refers to the manner an organization performs its activities with the aim of meeting its broader obligations towards the society and environment. Ethics and social responsibility guides the undertakings of an organization and informs its decision of not performing unethical or socially wrong practices (Galbreath, 2010). Additionally, strategic planning directs an organization’s management to set its priorities in tune with the organization’s objectives. Strategic planning leads to strengthened and focused business operations aimed towards achieving similar objectives and goals.

In strategic planning, an organization must factor in the probable impact of a particular decision on various stakeholders. Strategic decision making should be cognizance of the social responsibility of the organization to its stakeholders. An organization’s stakeholders include any person who is affected by the operations of the organization. An organization that is socially responsible should treat its stakeholders equitably by applying the business principles of equity. Equity seeks to remedy the challenges that equality consideration may bring on board. A socially responsible business must be considerate of the environmental and social impact of its activities. An organization that does not highly regard environmental pollution risks being a potential danger to the society (Epstein & Buhovac, 2014).

3.2. Aligning Corporate Strategy, Brand Development, and Decision-making to Processes to Ethics

Ethics significantly impact the development of an effective strategic plan. An organization’s strategic planning should encompass the principle of transparency which is a primary element of ethics. An organization should promote honesty and transparency in the organization’s dealings leading to better decision-making and sharing of information. Honesty allows the business to assess potential risks and find practical solutions to the organization’s weaknesses and challenges (Tellis, Prabhu & Chandy, 2009). With regards to social responsibility, transparency in an organization’s dealings enhances that organizations credibility towards its external stakeholders. This enhanced credibility gives an organization an excellent reputation in its particular industry.

Ethics and social responsibility ensure that a business engages in its profit-making activities but with due regard to legal and ethical standards. In developing a corporate social responsibility in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s business plan, the organization should seek to promote the ethical standards of respect and fairness to all. An organization ought to foster an environment that encourages respect for divergent opinions because it is through constructive comments that intellectual discussions thrive. Divergent opinions make it possible for a business to have different enriched points of view on a particular issue (Werther Jr, & Chandler, 2010). Besides, respect strengthens strategic planning process by improving the relationship among employees hence better decision-making. Additionally, the ethical attribute of fairness is crucial especially when strategically planning on the remuneration and terms of service of employees.

Preventing ethical violations and encouraging social responsibility can be achieved by having a robust code of ethics that is firmly embraced by the organization’s corporate culture. The code of ethics should not only aim at meeting ethical obligations but also should foster social responsibility and improve relationships with the neighboring communities. When ethical violations occur within an organization, the management should move with haste in taking the appropriate disciplinary action. It is crucial for an organization to apply a consistent disciplinary code across the organization and eliminate any preferential treatment to employees. This will set the tone for all employees to abide by the organization’s code of ethics. Besides, an organization should develop proactive social responsibility strategies such as being involved in various community-based projects for the benefit of the society (Galbreath, 2010).

With regards to the regulatory framework, companies such as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority-do not operate in a vacuum. They operate in society and industry that is governed by various rules and regulations. Therefore, the corporate social responsibility addendum in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s business plan should take cognizance of the various regulatory frameworks. The business plan should encourage compliance with the various rules and regulations that govern the industry and society that the organization operates in. Additionally, if an organization adheres to all the rules and regulations expected of it, then it creates a good corporate image for the company.

IV.

4.1. Decisions in Response to Potential Business Ethics and Regulatory Issues

In any given business, be it small or large scale business, there are several ethical and regulatory issues if not properly handled may lead to unproductivity and work inefficiency. Potential ethical issues may range from discrimination, inequality and even conflict of interest. Conversely, regulatory issues can include such factors as environmental pollution and degradation, healthcare and data security (MTA, n.d). Strategic planning is an essential ingredient which can be useful in the decision-making process in the MTA.

4.2. Equity and Conflict of Interest

From the highlighted business ethics and regulatory major business decisions can be found. The principal business of equity must be enforced in the work environment. Equity makes sure that all the employees of the MTA are at par concerning treatment and work distribution. The EEOC has strict regulations which forbid work discrimination by gender, race or sex (MTA, n.d). An efficient business decision would entail a description of the discrimination and equity guidelines in the organization among all the relevant stakeholders. Conflict of interest can downgrade the prosperity of the business. A guiding business decision which can be made from this is that to establish sounding guidelines and policies which at any time would avoid instances of conflict of interest.

4.3. Healthcare

Healthcare entails providing medical insurance for all the employees in the company. The decision to come up with healthcare policies is a provision mandated by law. This is a decision which ensures that MTA employees do not make legal accusations regarding their well-being and safety. America is among the best-industrialized country with proper healthcare coverage. Recent legislation in the U.S has ensured that almost every person living in America gets a healthcare coverage. By 2014, around 283.2 million people of the entire U.S population had some form of medical insurance. 66% of these people were workers working in various sectors in the U.S who were covered by private health insurance. Some needy families and children received medical coverage from the U.S government. Therefore, it is a sound and practical business decision to have workers covered health care wise. MTA is a big business establishment which needs to have all their employees covered by healthcare insurances. It is smart and ethically correct to make sure that all the employees are well covered. This will contribute to the success and reputability of the company.

4.4. Destruction of Environment

The American courts are very sensitive to the destruction of the environment and public safety. Environmental and air pollution is as a result of discharged environmental effluents from different industries. Harsh penalties are given to any perpetrator of such uncalled for acts. The MTA management need not lag behind in ensuring the safety of the people, and the environment is guaranteed. As such, a wise business decision can entail having waste recycling policies which would ensure that the released waste is wholly purified (Jingjinga, 2013). Lawsuits are the freight of any business and to avoid such cooperation with the existing laws of the courts is a necessity.

The most efficient process MTA can use to make the above-stated business decision may include holding regular conferences and meetings with all stakeholders. Through organized workshops and conferences, the different idea can be generated and these, in turn, are channeled towards the decision making process. Stakeholders, the management of the MTA, related experts and other relevant parties are the most efficient team to outline the decisions which can be used to govern the business entity effectively. Employees are at often in direct contact with the clients, and this makes them the best source to give business insights that align with the interests of the different groups of clients.

4.5. Culture: How MTA Business Decisions and Processes Impact Sustainability and Elements of Corporate Culture

Business culture is an essential component as it impacts positively on the success of MTA on the strategic direction of an organization like the MTA. Corporate culture results in public trust and financial stability of MTA (Jingjinga, 2013). The decision of establishing guidelines which advocate against work discrimination and inequalities affects the corporate culture. Such an arrangement will influence how the employees will be treated while at work, the hiring decisions, employee benefits as well as clients’ satisfaction. When the decision is received positively, then the likelihood of them impacting profoundly on the corporate culture is pretty high, and the opposite is true. An ethical corporate culture framework saves a company a lot of money (Newmark, 2014). Litigation cases, fines, and regulatory issues can be reduced with the use of corporate culture. An effective business culture should be reflective of the outcomes which support community development and other projects in society.

Corporate citizenship is a right way which makes use of social responsibility to meet a business’ ethical, legal and economic responsibilities as outlined by the stakeholders (Newmark, 2014). Making use of strategic planning and ethics as described in the organizational framework of MTA ensures that the company adheres to its efforts geared towards fostering corporate citizenship. The sustainability of the MTA is highly dependent on the decisions instituted by the stakeholders and management of the organization. Sound and essential choices steer forward the organization in trying to achieve sustainability. Corporate culture can be influenced by the business decisions made. Therefore there is a greater need of ensuring that the business decisions are in cooperation with the corporate culture as this not only impacts profoundly on the business sustainability but it also enforces the use of the organizational culture elements. Community involvement in business is sometimes considered as vital as well.

4.6. Stakeholders

A stakeholder is a person who or a group of individuals associated with a certain organization and who have stakes in the company’s output. Stakeholders include customers, employees, society, investors and even the government. Employees, shareholders and customers are the three major stakeholders according to MTA. The performance of MTA has direct impacts on the stakeholders in the company (MTA, n.d). In a business establishment, every decision made influences various stakeholders differently. Companies like MTA have embraced the idea of social responsibility to bring positive changes to the lives of the stakeholders. Decisions regarding certain regulations, products and services will be received differently by the stakeholders. When MTA fail to participate in the community’s events, offer a clean environment or make charitable donations the society and some clients may feel alienated.

Protection of data in MTA is a necessity. Potential investors may shy away from investing with MTA if there are instances of breach of security. There are specific pieces of information about the shareholders and the investors which need to be kept private. If their linens are aired in public, then they will pull out their investments because they feel alienated. Alienation of stakeholders depending on the decisions made by a business takes different forms depending on the way the organization is structured (Ramos-Santiago & Brown, 2016). Investors and customers love the quality, and if the goods and services are not satisfactory and of good quality then alienation manifests itself.

The decision to use the business principle of equity ensures that all stakeholders are on board with any actions to be made. Alienating some of the stakeholders only disrupts the smooth operation of MTA (MTA, n.d). However, bringing all stakeholders on board without bias or discriminations ensures the aversion of incidents like a collision of interest. For a business to function well there is a great need to incorporate all the stakeholders. To avoid any reluctance of stakeholders in agreeing to the decisions, inquiries need to be made from every one of them. Stakeholders include people from both genders, and therefore some of the choices like equity may generate a heated debate amongst them

V.

5.1. Community Evaluation of Business Ethics, Regulatory Issues and Best Practices in CSR

MTA’s ethical decisions, as well as responses concerning regulatory issues, are most likely to have a positive outcome not only to the community but the entire members of the public. In the recent years, transportation services have been under considerable pressure to create ethically sound and socially responsible decisions, while at the same time remaining in compliance with the industry’s regulations (Derrible, 2012). All these are done with the goal of generating profits for the company. At this stage, CSR strategies are highly beneficial because they maximize the chances of increasing the company’s profits and at the same time establish mechanisms which will result in positive outcomes in the society. Firstly, MTA’s strategies must be viable enough to come up with the best possible approaches to solving the issues in the MTA society and the surrounding society. Secondly, MTA needs to meet its legal and regulatory commitments to stakeholders, investors and government entities. Lastly, MTA must meet all the needs of the transport sector and those of the community within which it operates from. The above are the best practices which provide a firm basis for maintaining and retaining the reputation of MTA as the leading public transportation sector in North America and the world at large.

5.2. Inequalities, healthcare, Conflict of Interest and the Destruction of the Environment and Its Impact on the Community

Regulations that safeguard stakeholders from discrimination lead to positive impacts to the business of MTA and the community at large. In the U.S there are several cases of various forms of racial discrimination of employees in the workplace. For instance, in 1999, former and current employees of Coca-Cola Company filed a class action lawsuit against the company (Derrible, 2012). Under the US Civil Rights Acts, discrimination of any form in the workplace is prohibited, and severe consequences follow actors of such actions. The former employees alleged that they had suffered performance evaluation, promotions and even pay rise. In 2000, Coca-Cola Company agreed to a $192 million settlement (Murphy & Levinson, 2017).

Degradation of the environment as a result of untreated effluents from the company impacts the community negatively. The community loves a firm which puts their needs into considerations. Pollution of the environment results in health complication among the members of the business and the society. In May 2015, Duke Energy Subsidiaries were sentenced in the federal court in violation of the Clean Water Act. Exxon Mobile Corporation and West Virginia Oil and Gas are among the most notable companies which have experienced lawsuits as a result of environmental pollution (Murphy & Levinson, 2017).

5.3. Global Environment: MTA’s Business Ethics and Regulatory Issues’ Impact on Global Environment and Best Practices in CSR

To be a successful global business, MTA needs to improve and strengthen the relationship with the communities they serve and operate in. For this to happen, MTA needs to address any challenges related CSR activities, regulatory issues, and business ethics. A few decades ago in the U.S transport sector, the efforts of the global environment were widely undermined and overlooked (Pasha, & Edwards, 2013). Availability of foreign investments has made it easier for foreign investors to invest in the public transportation sector of the US. Globalization has had immense impacts on the job markets in America. Globalization efforts have facilitated MTA to come with modernized public transport infrastructures. As a result, Americans especially public transit riders spent less amount of money on transportation services.

The global environment has led to the expansion of transport sectors within the MTA transport sector. MTA has structures projects which will enhance the transportation of the public. The anticipated project is expected to lessen the public travel. The use of modern subways and gangway cars is set to diversify the transport sector across different regions in the U.S. (Pasha, & Edwards, 2013). Contractors from different parts of the globe make it easy for foreign investors to invest in financial assets in the US. Ethical issues resulting from this may include good working relationships and ethics relating to low wages.

VI.

6.1. The vision, mission, and values of Metropolitan Transport Authority

The mission of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is to enhance the economic health as well as the quality of life of the region they serve through provision of on time, clean, safe, and reliable transportation services. On the other hand, MTAs vision is to ensure that they are the number one carrier in innovation, operations advancement, as well as empowerment of its clients. Their main values include integrity, accountability, timeliness, cleanliness, reliability, and safety.

6.2. MTA’s Efforts towards cultural awareness and civic engagement

Incorporating cultural awareness in Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA) is important in creating advanced social responsibility within the business enterprise. MTA business strategy should adopt civic engagement and cultural awareness principles with the sole aim of boosting community advancement (Bloomberg Inc., n.d.). The first activity that will add towards cultural awareness is getting involved in cultural celebrations carried out in the New York City. Such activities include participation is the American cultural celebration events, the Chinese cultural celebrations, the Chicano cultural celebration events and many other cultural celebration events from the major ethnicities in the New York area. This will ultimately help the corporation to know the cultures around the area.

6.3. Alignment

The corporate mission, vision, and values of Metropolitan Transport Authority are to provide advanced subway public transportation systems within the U.S states of New York. Their values aim at increasing the efficiency of the transport access and enabling the community to attain development through easing their public transport access. The objective of the subway public transportation systems is to ease their transport access to transportation mechanism. Cultural awareness and civic engagement approaches increase the business efforts of solving the community problems of public transport systems. Aligning the Metropolitan Transport Authority increases the profit margins and alleviates the economic projections of the associated community. Furthermore, advanced cultural and civic engagement practices enable attainment of the corporate mission, vision, and …