A strategic plan is a document drafted with the aim of guiding an organization’s future direction and strategy based on their current position, the organizational goals and objectives and delegation of responsibilities. Ethics and social responsibility must be incorporated into the strategic planning process for the survival and continuity of the organization. Ethics are a set of principles put in place to ensure that businesses operate in a morally responsible manner in the face of controversial issues like corporate governance, fair business practices, and fiduciary responsibilities. Corporate sustainability is a practice aimed at maximizing customer and workers' value through the creation of a "green" strategy geared towards conserving the environment and giving back to society. Stakeholders are the publics that have a stake in the business and can be affected by the company, affect the business or both affect and can be affected by the business. Ethics, social responsibility and stakeholder agendas play an essential role in strategic planning since the strategic plan should incorporate ethics and social responsibilities into the organizational culture.
Ethics and social responsibility act as moral compasses in the formulation of an organization’s vision statement (Rothaermel, 2016) . A vision statement details where the organization sees itself in several years and spells out the what and the why of future plans. Ethics and social responsibility are critical to business continuity, corporate image and reputation and overall brand equity factors that highly affect stakeholders’ agendas and needs (Rothaermel, 2016) . When the vision statement is founded on ethics and incorporates corporate social responsibility, the management can allocate resources to ensure that ethical compliance is adhered to and corporate social responsibility activities budgeted for (Rothaermel, 2016) . In using ethics as a basis for the formulation of the strategic plan, the management realizes their duty of ensuring that the decision-making process looks after the economic, legal and ethical aspects of the business.
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The ethical compliance reduces lawsuits and interference of the government in the business which in turn leads to economic returns since lawsuits and negative corporate image affects the share prices and profitability of the company (Rothaermel, 2016) . Corporate social responsibility, on the other hand, is a part of the business' discretionary duty and when considered during the strategic planning process ensures that the company fulfills its obligation to society. The result is customer attraction, and loyalty increased brand visibility and boosted brand equity which positively affects the share prices and profit margins (Rothaermel, 2016) . Ethics and social responsibility, therefore, facilitate the realization of management's economic, legal, ethical and discretionary duties.
Apple Inc, a leading multinational company, has been accused of overstepping the boundaries for stakeholder agendas (Rothaermel, 2016) . Driven by the profit maximization agenda, some of their subsidiaries have been accused of violating ethical work practices by overworking their employees, withholding wages and failing to provide the minimum safe working conditions required by the law (Rothaermel, 2016) . They have also been accused of dealing with Congolese cobalt miners who use child labor in their artisanal mining activities and whose working conditions are life-threatening since they are not provided with work gear like gloves and face masks. To prevent future ethical non-compliance, Apple should thoroughly audit all their suppliers to ensure that child labor and unsafe working conditions are discouraged (Rothaermel, 2016) . They should also provide a directive on the maximum number of working hours and overtime compensation policies to avoid the withholding of wages and overworking of employees.
References
Rothaermel, F. T., (2016). Strategic management , 3 rd ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
