Intro
This essay will examine in details the challenges, limitations faced by corporations and the strengths that are drawn from their ethical and socially responsible business practice.
In today 's business world, it is difficult for corporations to define what is regarded as a responsible business practice in the areas of ethical and social responsibilities. The hallmark of a good company is to maintain a strong ethical practice, values, policies and social responsibilities that guides its conducts as well as the activities of its employees.
Taylor (1975), defined "ethics as the inquiry into the nature and grounds of morality where the term morality is taken to mean moral judgments, standards and rules of conduct". Based on this definition, business ethics can be said to rely on individuals and the business to adhere to high moral principles and judgements. The incorporation of ethics in an organization business values and strategy enables social corporate responsibility to be ingrained in their daily decision making.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) as defined by Carroll (1979) refers to the inclusion of moral, lawful and economical obligations that is expected of a business by the society (Brtitzelmaier, Kraus 2012). Organisations are expected to act responsibly, but many would agree that their actions and policies do have a direct or indirect effect on the society at large and the environment. The success of most organisations is dependent on their corporate
In so doing, corporations does not go empty handed; the reward is profits for its owners and management. The society benefits more in terms of growth and satisfaction in different respects. Company goals nowadays incorporate morals or some statements that linger on ethical behavior and morality, hence companies have a social responsibility as defined by their very own mission statements and objectives. This further attests to the notion that there is a social contract to deliver what society deems necessary to achieve developmental growth.
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
The purpose of this essay is to research the notion of CSR and uncover its true framework and outline what social responsibility truly means to corporate organisations, and whether it should be seriously considered to be a legitimate addition to the corporate framework of an organisation.
Many believe that business entities should have an ethical duty to be socially responsible, to work towards increasing its positive effects on society while decreasing its negative effects. Many organizations look for opportunities to be socially responsible while also creating shareholder wealth.
Corporations can be large or small but they all have some sort of ethical impact on their employees, shareholders, customers, community, and surrounding environments. Richard DeGeorge writes, “We can speak of corporations having moral responsibilities to act in certain ways, and they are morally responsible for the consequences of their actions on people.” (p. 200). Large corporations are comprised of the board of directors, management, and their workers. They also deal with suppliers, customers, and have competitors. This essay will examine the moral responsibilities within a corporation.
The corporate world has an unfavorable view of itself by being selfish, evil, and against the average American. Companies market themselves and their products in certain ways that makes them and their products appealing to everyone and if not everyone then a certain group of people. Every company has a mission to follow and values to go by, but some companies lack ethics and morals. In this paper I am going to talk about one company that engages in ethical behavior and another that doesn’t.
Business corporations are a dog eat world. Business is made up of many aspects from political, social, and environmental responsibilities to those of ethics and responsibility. Every business and major corporation has to deal with these in a much different way. For example, small business’s need more of the social responsibility in order to have more trade and an increased profit. For the major corporations the focus is on what is going on in politics, social, and environmental due to the economy or the state of their countries.
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.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a term used to describe a company’s efforts to improve society in a certain way. These efforts range from donating money to an organization such as a nonprofit organization, to implementing environmentally friendly policies in the workplace. This idea is not required for companies; instead it is something that companies do to improve their communities. The way companies practice CSR is different from company to company, and some companies may not even practice it at all.
The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility is a relatively new in the management field and there is no single definition of it since everyone’s interpretation of the term is different. “Corporate Social Responsibility means something, but not always the same thing to everybody.” (Votaw, 1972, p.25) and from my understanding of the concept, CSR to me is “The voluntary business activities within the boundary of law that contributes to the wider community for a more sustainable environment”. Since everyone has a unique interpretation of CSR, the range of relevant CSR practices across businesses has been quite diverse as there is no such thing as features of CSR (Marcel van Marrewijk, 2003). Rising environmental and social concerns in
Business ethics should be reflected in the Code of Ethics meaning the mission of the company should follow the same principles that are defined. Mihai & Alina provides a definition of business ethics as “a system of principles, values, norms and codes of perception and behavior, based on a business philosophy that requires a moral obligation by inducing their expression” (2013, pg. 45). It should be used as a tool to indicate the entire culture at the company and provide a
In conclusion, a corporation’s ability to abide by the rules and regulations created by the company is a company’s duty to fulfill. It is important to know the roles and strategic planning of ethics and social responsibilities of a corporation in case of future when action may be needed. Companies like Enron have destructed the markets with their unethical and unrealistic social responsibilities not only for the company and its employees but also for the whole United States market
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.
While all companies focus on the needs of their shareholders, those who own the company, the truly extraordinary companies also focus on the needs and wants of the stakeholders. The stakeholders are the associates of the firm that have a stake in or claim on some aspect of the actions, policies and objectives of the business. These people often include customers, employees, local community, suppliers, investors, stockholders and government. Companies that operate with a stakeholder orientation recognize that business and society are interpenetrating systems, in that each affects and is affected by the other. There has been a evolution of social responsibility of today compared to 50 or 60 years ago. In the 1940s corporations had economic dominance and total authority of top management. During the 50s and 60s there were few formal governance procedures restraining management actions. Organizational charity expanded and laws were passed that required safe tools and space for the employees while also fostering diversity in the workplace. The 1970s brought large scale competition mergers and acquisitions and occasionally bankruptcies. The 1980s was a period of simplification small companies more power distributed throughout the company an onus on profitability and sadly more scandals. From the scandals of the past 25 years we have learned a great deal about transparency, liquidity, long-term
This research is compiled to explain how good ethical practices and good values in business can yield sustainability within the business and the society as a whole and in order to do this the concept of ethical business practice and values have to be understood.