America Express (Amex) is an American international business Services organization headquartered in New York City, 200 Vesey Street. The corporation was founded in 1850 and is one of the constituents of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (“100 best companies to work for”, 2020). Amex is widely acknowledged for its travelers check, charge card, and credit card Dealings. In 2020, Fortune magazine ranked it at number 9 on its fortune list of the top 100 companies to work for based on a human resource survey of satisfaction (“100 best companies to work for”, 2020). This paper analyses Amex as regards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), vision, and mission statements.
CSR construct narrates the relationship between the company and the surrounding community. In line with the Amex website, the CSR statement indicates that “America Express will carry on looking for techniques to raise the bar, reinvent, and reimagine- all while remaining true to the core values that have always sustained us” (Sales, 2019). The company is committed to providing its services to its clients through novel technology (Snider et al., 2003). The CSR statement indicates that Amex, like a credit card company, not only regards its customers highly but also places them at the center of all its activities. Amex is thus declaring that it fosters a winning, innovative, and conclusive strategy by upholding the highest standards of integrity.
Woltering penned a recent article related to the future CSR activities of American Express: “American express aligns its CSR efforts toward its north star, service.” The article outlines an action plan for the company regarding sustainable projects geared towards an environment free of pollution. As stated by Woltering (2016), the current activities of America Express will contribute to its sustainability and likewise provide a favorable environment for doing business. It inspires a culture of high-performing personnel, engaged customers, satisfied stakeholders, and successful partnerships.
With the dismantling of environmental protection agencies, the customers of America Express and the entire community should expect the company to reduce its carbon footprints and offer environmentally friendly services. The company is also keen on engaging its employees in self-fulfilling activities. Employees are sustainability champions, community volunteers, brand ambassadors, citizens, and consumers (Woltering, 2016). Employees are the heart and soul of Amex: the more they are in the corporation’s CSR, vision, and mission, the better the company and the communities where they operate. Amex will also support its employees in their personal and charitable undertakings through grants to nonprofits where they volunteer, gift matching, and scholarships to acknowledge academic excellence and aid their families’ higher education levies.
The new plans will affect America Express, both internally and externally. Internally, the new program will engage employees who must be retrained to implement the new values. Externally, Amex aims at having the surrounding communities, experience the difference between business performance and CSR performance. Therefore, the organization believes that this type of “Service Effect” will create more value for its shareholders and stakeholders. The CSR strategy of American Express begins by identifying its key stakeholders and engaging them in a better understanding of the environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues regarding their impact on business activities (Snider et al., 2003). A sustained agreement between the stakeholders of America Express may help ensure that while the company is advancing its efforts to operate responsibly, it also meets the customers’ expectations.
Regarding information security and privacy, Amex will decrease the incidences of fraud and security breaches as concerns data and information of the customers by implementing a more allocated work strategy. However, this method of protection will, in turn, affect America Express, both externally and internally, by the means that every client will have the capacity to immediately report their loss of personal information through the novel and existing technologies. Owing to the pertinent issue that customer’s privacy is, America Express will implement the best protection system to avoid breaches. Protection of customer data helps prevent loss of both internal and external of the company should a catastrophic event occur.
In developing an idea for a new CSR endeavor for America Express, the focus is on employees’ impact in the surrounding communities. Based on its mission and vision, America Express should buy into the idea of food charity. For the Covid-19 pandemic period, food security for frontline responders and vulnerable communities has taken on increased importance and relevance. Through charity food, America Express will support partners, customers, and members of the city where they live and work, hence fulfilling its mission. The overall performance of America Express will increase should it respond to the crisis with food charity.
America Express provides supports to the communities where its customers, stakeholders, and competitors live and work. It aims to address social, environmental, and economic needs since it is helpful for both the business and the surrounding community. Amex aids and volunteers companies that groom the upcoming leaders. The company sustains historic sites and encourages civic participation and community service. The organization must acknowledge that its duty to customers and colleagues extends to its ecosystem. Therefore, it should preserve natural resources for future generations and limit the environmental impact of its operations. America Express must also respond to Covid-19 through the food charity program as a corporate social responsibility new idea.
References
100 best companies to work for. (2020) Fortune.
Sales, A. (2019). Corporate social responsibility and corporate change: institutional and organizational perspectives. Springer.
Snider, J., Hill, R.P., & Martin, D. (2003). Corporate social responsibility in the 21st Century: A view from the world’s most successful firms. Journal of Business Ethics, 48, 175–187
Woltering, A. American express aligns its CSR efforts toward its north star, service. The Service Effect: 2016 – 2017 CSR Report.