: Critically Evaluate Corporate Social Responsibility as an Ethical Tool Basing Some of Your Argument on the Toyota Case Study

Businesses, specifically larger corporations, play a major role in what occurs in society therefore, they are responsible to their stakeholders not only to pursue economic goals but the greater social good as well. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) means that a corporation should act in a way that enhances society and its inhabitants and be held accountable for any of its actions that affect people, their communities, and their environment. (Lawrence, 2010). Social responsibility is becoming the norm so much so that some businesses have incorporated it into their business model. There are three components of the bottom line of social

Many firms are learning that being environmentally friendly and sustainable has numerous benefits. (O.C Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2015). This could enable them to increase goodwill from various stakeholders and also save money in the long term. This will mean that they are being more efficient and less wasteful of resources, which will enable them to be more competitive by satisfying stakeholders. The CEO of

Firstly, I would like to explain what Corporate Social Responsibility is. “It is a company’s sense of responsibility towards the community and environment (both ecological and

“Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.” (Baker, Mallen (June 8,

Chapter 5 in the text, Business, Government, and Society by John F. Steiner and George A. Steiner, corporate social responsibility is defined as the corporate duty to create wealth by using means that avoid harm to, protect, or enhance social assets. General Electric in the Jack Welch Era fulfilled its corporate social responsibility but by marginal measures.

Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large. (World Business Council for Development, 2016)

Corporate Social Responsibility are actions taken by a corporation that have positive and lasting impact for all stakeholders associated with the organization, seeking to strike a balance between profits and helping to establish lasting investment in the community (Carrol, 2015). In the 1980’s, then President Reagan challenged the business community to take on more responsibility to address social problems (Carrol, 2015). Socially responsible actions can benefit local communities as well as the greater societal good.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is something that affects all companies and should be an active factor in the company’s decision making. It is something all corporations need to care about. CSR is when business’ or corporations take part in an initiative or campaign for a cause that will benefit society and/or in some way make the world a better place (Taylor, 2015). Initially, Corporate Social Responsibility started to take shape around the 1950’s, but some say that it dates all the way back to the 1800s, the idea of CSR was seen (Carroll, 2007). One may think that because it is dated so long ago, it doesn’t have an important impact today nevertheless, it is proven that Corporate Social Responsibility is a pathway for entities to self benefit as they are in the process of benefitting society.

Research into the topic of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), has shown that there is no single universally accepted definition. CSR has many

”Hold on and pray.” These were the last words spoken to a 911 operator on August 29, 2009, before the speaker, Christopher Lastrella, and 3 family members died in a horrific car accident in San Diego, California. The cause of the crash? The pedal of the rented Lexus E350 was stuck in full throttle, hurtling the car down the highway at speeds of up to 120 miles per hour, rendering the brakes completely useless. Those who passed away included two adult men, an adult woman, and a thirteen year old girl. Upon further investigation, it was determined that the floor mat had caused the accelerator to be caught and unable to be released.

Corporate social responsibility emphasizes the participation of the organization in a larger society and its responsibility to support good causes. It emphasizes corporate citizenship, philanthropy, and community support and recognizes community-based obligations and responsibilities.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) is a term describing a company’s obligation to be accountable to all of its stakeholder in all its operation and activities. Socially responsible companies consider the full scope of their impact on communities and the environment when making decisions, balancing the needs of stakeholder with their need to make profit.

The purpose of this report is to examine if the reasoning behind well-known car manufacturer, Toyota’s loss of revenue and leading market position is alone as a result of extensive product recalls following a fatal crash of a Lexus ES 350 on August 28th 2009. The journal article, “Toyota Crisis: Management Issue?” (Yuanyuan Feng 2010) provides an outline of the key factors that triggered the 2009 Toyota crisis, and explores whether the fall in the company’s returns by 19% were caused purely as a result of the recall and safety concerns, or something much deeper.

Ford Motor Company is an automobile manufacturing company which manufactures and distributes the products across six continents. Currently, the company has 65 plants producing vehicles under the Ford and the Lincoln brands (Ford Motor Company, 2014). Also, Forbes describes Ford as an important industrial company in the history of the United States. As a consequence, the company boasts of 180000 employees and an annual revenue exceeding 134 billion dollars (Ford Motor Company, 2014). Similarly, the company operation is highly automated, making it necessary for the company to have a Total Quality Management system in place, bearing in mind that ford is one of the first companies in the world to embrace Total Quality Management, as they used the slogan, “Ford has a better Idea” (Scheid, 2011).

Corporate social responsibility is the voluntary stance or set of actions from a corporation that demonstrate a contribution to a better society and a cleaner environment. Corporations are already required to operate within the law, but laws do not always protect all people or individuals who will be affected by the corporation’s actions. In addition to this, it is very common for special interests to play a part in legal decisions through lobbying efforts, so it is assumed to be an additional effort for a corporation to be socially responsible. Being socially responsible essentially comes down to being considerate and calculated in the decision making process, paying attention to the consequence of every action. In the ethical decision making model, there are two particular steps that I believe to be of greater importance than the others. The first would be that of