Business Ethics and Responsibility Research

Business Ethics and Responsibility Research Paper

Instructions/Descriptions

Business Ethics and Responsibility Research Paper

1. Which of the following is a concern employees of an expanding business would have?

A.) Ensure that customer requests are responded to promptly and professionally.

B.) Ensure sensitive information about specialty offerings remains undisclosed until the new location opens.

C.) Ensure that fair hiring and firing practices are incorporated at the new location.

D.) Ensure the team develops strongly in new locations.

Passage to Answer the Question

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What Is Ethics?

Ethics is simply the principles of right and wrong and the morality of the choices involved.

Now, it’s also important to define what ethics is not. Ethics is not emotions or religion. It’s not science or norms of a society, necessarily. It’s also not simply following the law, because it’s perfectly acceptable to follow the law yet be an unethical person.

Ethics The principles of right and wrong and of the morality of the choices

1a. Business Ethics

Business ethics is closely tied to what ethics is. It’s the principles of right and wrong of the morality of the choices made in the business world. Essentially, what we’re doing is taking the principles or the definition of ethics and applying it to business.

hint   Whether you’re looking at business ethics or other types of ethics, ethical people will always follow the same ethical principles all the time, not just when it suits them.

term to know Business Ethics The principles of right and wrong and of the morality of the choices made in the business world

1b. Managerial Ethics Managerial ethics is simply ethics again. It is the principles of right and wrong and of the morality of the choices made in the context of management.

Managerial decisions impact employee behavior. How you hire or fire, the wages that you pay, or the working conditions at your business are all ethical decisions, and they can greatly impact employee attitudes and productivity.

Managerial ethics decisions can also impact behavior toward an organization. Do you have conflicts of interest or allow them? A conflict of interest is simply a circumstance in which the judgment of an individual or group may be impaired because of a difference in primary or secondary interest.

Is customer information kept confidential? Confidentiality is simply keeping private trusted data out of the hands of the public and other people who don’t need to see it.

Think about it   We hand our personal information, like credit card numbers, to a lot of different people online when we are shopping. What do you think it would do for a business if we suddenly found out that our information wasn’t as confidential as we thought it was? That would have a big impact on that particular business.

Collusion is an attempt by business to conspire to the detriment of customers, businesses, or the general public.

Lastly, managerial ethics decisions can also impact behavior toward economic agents, such as your customers or your competitors, stockholders, and suppliers. Competitors can take advantage of unethical behavior, and then customers may not want to do business with you anymore.

Terms to know  Managerial Ethics  The principles of right and wrong and of the morality of the choices made in the context of management  Conflict of Interest  A circumstance in which the judgment of an individual or group may be impaired because of a difference in primary and secondary interest  Confidentiality  Keeping private trusted data out of the hand of the public and other people  Collusion  An attempt by businesses to conspire to the detriment of customers, other businesses, or the general public

Ethical Behavior and Norms

A business assesses ethical behavior in the following ways:

They have to listen and learn, and collect the facts about the decisions that they’ve made.

They create and analyze those facts and relate them to moral values that are appropriate to that condition.

They make judgments based on the rightness and wrongness of the situation.

Some businesses add a fourth step by editing those practices in order to limit unethical behavior.

There are also a set of ethical norms that are important to consider for each particular case involving a question of ethics:

Utility: What’s best for the organization as a whole?

Fairness: Can this decision be considered fair and just?

Rights: Are the rights of other people being infringed upon?

Care: Is this a thoughtful way to be responsible and kind to the other parties?

As mentioned before, these need to be considered in each case, and each case is not always clear-cut. There are also other factors that may affect your decision, such as:

Individual factors, such as an individual experience of the person making the decision, or their own personal values and goals

Social factors, such as the cultural norms for the country or environment that you’re working in. What are your coworkers doing or thinking?

Relationships with your stakeholders and the persons within your organization

Technology, which could play a very important role

Keep in mind, these factors are by no means an exhaustive list.

Culture of Ethics

Now, businesses can encourage or discourage ethical behavior. One of the ways they do this is through a written guide that defines the policies and standards of the business, which is called a code of conduct. This is an organizational set of rules that encourage responsibility and ethical behavior.

Businesses can also help set up an ethical environment. You see, businesses have to have an environment or a culture that encourages not only participation in the ethics program, but also rewards that participation and ethical behavior.

One of the ways to do that is to have an employee representative that looks at each case and is responsible for the ethics of those decisions. The program should be company-wide; it shouldn’t be limited to one particular set of people within an organization. The size of the company is simply the scale of the program.

Term to know

Code of Conduct Organizational rules to encourage responsible and ethical behavior

Ethics and Values

An ethical business person should do the following:

They should follow a core set of beliefs, and those beliefs should be used regardless of the circumstances.

They should behave in accordance with those beliefs all the time, not just when it suits them or when it is convenient. Do you run a red light when people aren’t looking?

Encourage right and discourage wrong. They should actively strive to be right and ethical and discourage unethical behavior.

Act in line with others’ advice on how to be an ethical person.

2 — Models of Social Responsibility and Considering the Stakeholder

Understand different kinds of social responsibility and their benefits.

2.Which statement applies to the economic model of social responsibility?

A.) Businesses cannot ignore social issues.

B.) Business does not create problems in society.

C.) When businesses focus on profits, society benefits.

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D.) Businesses have the resources to help solve social problems.

The Passage to Answer this Question

Social Responsibility and Stakeholders

Up until the 1930s, businesses were free to do virtually anything they wanted. They could make whatever claims they chose, put anything on a billboard, or put anything they wanted into the products that they sold to consumers.

Did you know   “Caveat Emptor” was the phrase of the day during this time period, which is a Latin phrase meaning “let the buyer beware.”

Around the time of the Great Depression, there were a plethora of economic problems. The president at the time, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, began a program of improving social conditions that has continued up until today.

Social responsibility is defined as the responsibility to act in a way that benefits society at large. In other words, it involves thinking not just of yourself, but of society as a whole. Companies must consider their impact on society because they play a big role in our everyday lives. They have to consider the consequences of their decisions–the potential benefit or detriment of those decisions to society as a whole.

Term to know Social Responsibility

The responsibility to act in a way to benefit society at large

1a. Two Models

There are two basic models of social responsibility:

Models of Social Responsibility    Economic Model   Socioeconomic model

In this model, society benefits when companies make profits. When companies make profits, they’re able to produce more product, which improves the lives of individuals. They’re also able to hire more people and pay them more, which provides jobs and allows employees to have a better standard of living.   In this model, businesses have a responsibility to the stakeholders and society. The focus is not just on the profits, or the people “inside”; they need to consider the stakeholders as well.

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Stakeholders are the people and parties directly affected by an organization. They can be any of the following:

Customers, who deserve and want safe products. They don’t want products that are going to injure them in some way.

Employees, who want a safe, stable work environment.

Investors, who want safe investments. They want to know that the money they invest is going to be well cared for and put to work, not squandered.

Communities and the environment, because we all want clean air, clean water, and clean land.

Social Responsibility Advantages and Disadvantages

Can’t ignore social issues: Being socially responsible is really a part of business because it can increase profits, customers are more loyal, and people will want to invest in the business.   Responsibility to shareholders: A manager’s primary job and responsibility are to the shareholders or the owners of the business. Therefore, anything that a manager does that distracts from that job takes away from the primary reason he or she is there.

Have the resources to cause change: Businesses have resources that they can use to help solve some of these social issues–technically, financially, and managerially.   Use resources for profit: Resources made by a business belong to the business, and they should be used to create profit, jobs, more resources and products for the community at large, and to increase employee morale and well-being.

Creation of stable environment: By businesses helping, it creates a more stable environment for the rest of us.   Social problems from society, not business: Businesses feel like this is not something that they should have to solve if they haven’t caused the problems in society.

Decreases need for government intervention: If businesses are socially responsible to their stakeholders, this will decrease the need for government intervention with the business community and our everyday lives.   Government accountable, not business: If government officials are falling down on the job, then they should be the ones held accountable, not necessarily the business.

As you can see, social responsibility isn’t just a catch phrase. It’s a lot of hard work, and the arguments for and against a company being socially responsible–depending on how you personally define it–are valid on both sides.

Ethics vs. Social Responsibility

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Let’s compare ethics to social responsibility because, clearly, there is some overlap between the two. To be ethical and to be socially responsible are very close to each other.

Ethics focuses on behaviors and actions–those individual things, similar to the concept of microeconomics.

Social responsibility involves a big-picture view. It’s how those ethical decisions as behaviors and actions affect the world at large–more like macroeconomics.

How do you balance the needs of the business with the needs of the other stakeholders that you can affect on an everyday basis?

Determine how social responsibility programs are implemented.

3.Which of the following represents ongoing leadership?

A.) Victoria’s friend worked at the local youth group and mentioned to Victoria that they were always looking for more volunteers.

B.) Victoria and her committee decided what their goal was for the program and also discussed the scope of the program.

C.) Victoria checked in on the program to make sure it was being followed appropriately. She conducted an audit and refined a few of the practices based upon her findings.

D.) Victoria appointed specific responsibilities to each member of the program committee to ensure a clear organization of duties.

The Passage for this Question

1. Steps in a Social Responsibility Program

A company can set up a social responsibility program to ensure that it acts in a socially responsible way. There are six different steps in setting up a social responsibility program:

step by step

Step 0: Need Recognition:  Let’s start with 0, because this first one is a pre-step, in a way. This step is need recognition, meaning that someone in the organization or a client notice that there’s a need for a social responsibility program, or that there is a deficiency in the company’s current social responsibility program.

Step 1: Planning:  This is where the goals and objectives, the funding, and the scope of the program come into play.

Now, in planning this particular step, it’s vital that the leadership and the higher-ups in the company get involved. If a program–any program–is going to succeed, it must start from the top of the company.

Step 2: Action:  Next is action, or implementing the program. This involves getting the program started and off the ground.

Step 3: Results:  Then, you want to look at the results that the program is generating. It’s important to clearly identify measurable results that you can then track and observe, to see if you’re hitting your desired targets.

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Often, this is accomplished with a committee within the organization that is committed specifically to that program.

Step 4: Ongoing Leadership:  In this step, the company sets up a clear organization of responsibilities to the program to ensure it stays on track.

Step 5: Follow-Through:  Lastly, you want to check the program and make sure that it’s being followed. You’ll need to conduct audits, and when you find instances where the program isn’t succeeding as well as it should, you’ll need to alter and refine the practices that are involved, to ensure that the company stays on track.

Now, these steps are going to be true regardless of what size company you have. With small businesses, it’s easy to get distracted by the day-to-day operation of the business. If you remember, partnerships and sole proprietors have limited resources on their hands, as far as personnel is concerned, so they’re going to be busy running the business. Keeping up with a recycling program in addition to those daily responsibilities can be a big distraction.

Larger businesses, however, have their own issues. Often, they’ll need to roll out the program in multiple phases and across different locations. For instance, if you have a recycling program that you’re trying to implement in stores across the country, that’s a big task and simply can’t be done all at once.

2. Change Management

Now, what is change management? People get comfortable in certain situations, and they’re typically resistant to change. If you’re going to implement any type of change within an organization, you’ll need to manage that change.

We’ll cover this in much more detail in a later tutorial, but especially with a social responsibility program, it’s important to have a change management team to ensure that the program works and is accepted throughout the organization.

In this case, leadership is absolutely vital, and not just a leader for the team. You will need the approval and support of higher-ups and executive management in any company to help drive this change. If the leadership doesn’t set the tone and create an environment that is adaptable to the change, then it simply won’t happen.

Jake told Oliver that walking should be promoted as a part of a healthy lifestyle. Since they were developing a walking app, he wanted to promote exercise in their community. Jake explained his idea in which users could participate in a walking scavenger hunt. The registration fees could be donated to physical education programs at local schools.

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Oliver loved the idea, and told Jake that they should implement that program when the app was introduced. They both wanted the company to provide a service and to be a leader in raising health awareness in the community. Social responsibility would be a priority for their company from its beginning.

4.Based on Oliver and Jake’s conversation, the company will take a(n) __________ stance towards social responsibility.

A.) accommodative

B.) disruptive

C.) ethical

D.) proactive

The Passage to answer this Question 

1. Responses to Social Responsibility Issues

There are different stances or responses that companies can have to social responsibility issues–or any change for that matter.

Stances   Description   Example     Obstructionist   An approach to social responsibility in which the organization actively tries to avoid, slow down, or stop social responsibility.

The U.S. automotive industry is a good example of an obstructionist stance when it comes to the installation of seat belts in cars. When seat belt laws were first passed, requiring that they are installed in cars, the companies went out of their way to say that it was dangerous, or that it was too expensive.

They tried every tactic to avoid, slow down, or stop this change from happening.

Defensive

An approach to social responsibility in which the organization will fight any allegations of social responsibility. This may involve statements along the line of, “No, I didn’t do that.” or “That didn’t really happen.”

You might see the tobacco industry taking this type of a stance, in the way that they profess that they have no responsibility for what people do with their own bodies, and certainly no responsibility for the fact that people using tobacco are getting cancer. They are simply producing a product, and it ultimately up to people to choose to use that product or not.

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Accommodative   An approach to social responsibility in which the organization goes beyond the minimal standards of social responsibility, but doesn’t necessarily seek to make major changes.

In international trade, companies taking an accommodative stance abide by all the laws and ensure they’re not cheating anybody or doing something overt, but they’re not going to go out of their way to change the market in a way that might benefit the people who are producing the actual product for them.

Proactive.   An approach to social responsibility in which the organization goes beyond the minimal standards of social responsibility by actively anticipating future issues.   Recently, Ben and Jerry’s, the ice cream company, changed their entire recipe for Coffee Heath Bar Crunch.

They stopped using Heath bars and sourced another producer who was engaged in free trade practices and used more organic material, something that was in line with Ben and Jerry’s stance on social responsibility. In doing this, they took a big risk of alienating people who eat that particular ice cream, but it was how that company wanted to act, and it fits their social responsibility stance.

It’s important to note that these stances may not occur in isolation. For instance, companies will generally take the same stance, but businesses may vary in their stance based on the specifics of their situation. Some departments, even within the same company, may take the same stance, but that stance may be different than others.

You can see that because of the difficulty involved in defining something as ambiguous as social responsibility, it can get a bit complicated, even within the same company that generally holds one particular stance on an issue.

Business Ethics and Responsibility Research Paper

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