Community Service Is a Service

Community Service is a service generally performed by volunteers for the benefit of the local community. Such a service is provided without monetary compensation, it can be performed by a variety of persons and institutions for differing reasons, and can take many different forms. The main reasons behind community service are either altruistic, a requirement for joining a program or association, or a punishment for certain offenses.

Community service can be provided by youth organizations, businesses, or corrective associations. Youth organizations include such associations as the Boy Scouts, girl Scouts, or high schools. It is also a good way for young people to learn responsibility, learn the nature of a professional direction they are interested in, or to add to their CV as a boost for a job applications. Businesses provide community service as part of their social responsibility programs. These are implemented to connect with the community in order to promote the business as well as to create an image of caring and interpersonal connection for the business. Corrective facilities can demand a number of community service hours as a sentence for certain offenses. Aspiring members of certain associations could be required to provide a number of community service hours as part of their loyalty to the new association. Or indeed, membership itself could also require certain types of community service.

Community service can include projects such as cleaning the environment such as parks or streets, collecting needed items such as clothes, food or blankets for the poor, reading to the elderly or disabled, volunteering at facilities such as the fire or police department, or at hospitals, or providing a professional service such as legal advice or teaching at no charge. Businesses are generally involved in charity services such as providing food or clothing, or providing products or services for free. This is a very good way of advertising the products and services the business provides, as well as to advertise the business itself as a socially responsible entity.

Strategic management means taking action to move a company in the direction of achieving its goals and objectives. The task of the strategic management team is then to implement certain actions that will accomplish the optimal functioning of a company within its environment and in connection with its customers. Team members need to develop policies and plans in concomitance with the available resources within the company. Resources should therefore be allocated in an effective manner in order to ensure that all the objectives of the company are achieved. All members of the strategic management team should therefore be very familiar with the company's goals and objectives, as well as the resources available to achieve these. It is then the task of the team to create pathways towards the objective by means of the resources, which then forms the direction of the business. Specifically, strategic management is formulated by the Board of Directors of a business, and carried out by the Chief Executive Officer together with the executive team.

As mentioned, strategic management functions on the basis of a strategy that is formulated by the Board of Directors. The strategy is based upon a situational analysis, evaluation of the business and its competitors, and an analysis of the micro- and macro-environment. Short-term and long-term objectives are created according to a timeline. These are then exemplified in mission and vision statements. The mission statement is the role of the organization in society, with the mission statement the long-term view of the company's future. Specifically, the strategy also includes the company's overall corporate objectives, strategic business unit objectives and tactical objectives. The plan is then formulated to achieve these.

Strategy implementation is the step that follows the planning phase outlined above. It is this step that begins to fully involve the strategic management team, or executive team and its CEO. The CEO is required to establish a chain of command among team members in order to carry out the team's functions effectively. The CEO can also arrange various smaller groups within the team to focus tasks and to make the cross-functioning of teams possible for further effectiveness. Team members are given a range of tasks, including allocating and managing sufficient resources. These resources include finances, human resources, time and technology. After gathering the necessary resources, team members need to ensure a sound basis of planning for implementation. This includes developing the process, implementing training and testing, documentation, and integration with existing processes already established within the company. While implementing the strategy, team members should monitor results, compare benchmarks and best practices, evaluate the process, control variances and adjust the process where necessary.

After implementation, the effectiveness of the strategy needs to be evaluated. This is done by a SWOT analysis in order to determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats created by the existing organizational strategy. An unfavorable weight of weaknesses and threats (either internal or external) could then indicate the need for strategy adjustment.

Depending upon the size of the organization, the various tasks can be allocated either to a number of subgroups within the strategic management team, or to individuals. The CEO needs to ensure that each task is allocated to the team member or team members with the greatest ability in that specific area. To ensure that the necessary expertise is available within the executive team, the CEO can for example conduct interviews with representatives from the different departments within the organization.

The most important element of the strategic management team is its ability to function within a team. It should therefore be ensured that not only the necessary expertise is available, but also that individuals do not experience an unnecessary level of interpersonal conflict.

Marketing is a vital part not only in the life of an organization, but also in the function of a strategic management team. Marketing is the strategic management team's, and indeed the company's, connection with the customer. As such, strategic marketing needs to be targeted towards the specific needs and expectations of the public in order to ensure optimal performance and goal achievement.

In the strategic management team, the marketer should therefore take charge of achieving the companies goals via the marketing component. The first step is therefore to establish contact with the customer and his or her needs. The marketer does this via providing his ore her team with market research tasks, which can be conducted in a variety of ways. Marketers draw up questionnaires for use via telephone calls, mail, or personal interviews. With product development, the marketer can also conduct research by testing the product on a sector of the market. The marketing manager should also work closely together with product development personnel in order to ensure that customers' demands are met. Once the product is on the market, further research is necessary to determine the product's performance, and how the product can be improved in the future.

A further component of marketing research is the competitive marketplace. The marketer should not only be aware of the customer's needs, but also of how these needs are filled by competitors. In this, the marketer can cross-function with the research and development team in creating unique components that will set the company apart from others in its market environment. Specifically, the marketer can divulge research information to the development team in order to help the latter develop unique products and services that fill a previously unseen need in the customer base. Furthermore in concomitance with the research and development department, the marketer can make future projections regarding new products and improvements on existing products. Customers can also be approached for ideas regarding these.

In addition to research, the marketing manager should also market the products in ways that will reach the most possible customers in the most effective way possible. Once again, a variety of strategies are open to the marketer. Direct mail is a possibility, as is handing out pamphlets, and advertising in the media such as television, radio, magazines and newspapers. The marketer should ensure that such marketing is done within the confines of and concomitantly with the resources and objectives of the company.

In a consumer-centric business approach, marketing therefore centers around customer's needs and demands, as mentioned. As such, the marketing manager looks for growth opportunities that consider both present and possible future trends. The marketer is challenged by factors such as incomplete information, limited resources and uncertainty in the market. Optimal creativity is therefore a requirement in the modern strategic marketing environment. This is also a function that can be optimized by collaboration with other departments within the strategic management team, and the rest of the company.

The marketing manager is therefore to create optimal opportunities for the enhancement of creativity, and use this in concomitance with experience in order to work towards the strategic goals of the company.

Marketing is part of the functional strategies handled by the strategic management team. As such, it is one of the fundamentally practical components of the team's responsibilities. It can also be measured quantitatively for the success of its various components, and modified accordingly. Marketing is the function that connects the company with its customers and is therefore one of the most important channels of implementation for the management strategies in order to reach the company's goals.

Community service is one of the vital components of business today. Not only does it provide the business person with a good image in the public view, but it also allows a connection between the business and its community that would not otherwise be possible. Indeed, community service can also serve as an important springboard for marketing opportunities. I believe it is vital to include community service in school of management courses.

In the business environment, community service provides the business with a public image of corporate responsibility. Indeed, today's community is particularly informed regarding businesses and their community-targeted practices. Furthermore, the looming environmental crisis has made such responsibilities not only mandatory in terms of image for the company, but also in practical terms. The world also faces humanitarian crises such as hunger and poverty, both of which can be significantly alleviated by businesses.

It is therefore important to teach aspiring business persons the value of community service in a practical way. Such opportunities can also teach young persons the various possibilities in community service. This can help them identify the type of community service that they are best at, enjoy the most, or where the greatest need exists. It is therefore an important step towards the future for such young business people.