Business Should Always Be Ethically and Socially Responsible
Business Should Always Be Ethically and Socially Responsible
Introduction
Corporate scandals in business world have been more and more common, which damages the interest and profits of stakeholders, employers, community or society. The corporate scandals pull the public to focus on the ethic of managers and the firm itself. Comparing to the past, customers are focusing more and more on the reputation of the firms and they prefer to select the brands that are environmentally friendly and socially responsible when they buy products or service. This change pushes firms to maintain their reputations with more efforts. Corporate social responsibility has been a hot topic in business world today, which is an important part of building brand image while brand image is a value for firms. This essay holds the statement that business should always be ethically and socially responsible. Firstly, it gives the several definitions of business ethic and corporate social responsibility briefly. Subsequently, it outlines the pros and coins for addressing corporate social responsibility. Following this, it discusses the negative effects caused by corporate scandals with several real cases likeToyota, Bernard Madoff and Enron. Finally it discusses the benefits when business is ethically and socially responsible with the examples of Procter & Gamble and Li Ka-shing.
Definitions of business ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility
Ethics is the code of values and principles to govern people’s behaviours to verdict what is right or wrong. Business ethic is the application of personal moral in commercial enterprise. Comparing to the vague definition of business ethics, the definition of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is clearer. As stated by The World Business Council for Sustainable Development(2014), corporate social responsibility is the commitment of business to contribute to the economic development and the welfare of employees and the family, the community and the
Introduction
Corporate scandals in business world have been more and more common, which damages the interest and profits of stakeholders, employers, community or society. The corporate scandals pull the public to focus on the ethic of managers and the firm itself. Comparing to the past, customers are focusing more and more on the reputation of the firms and they prefer to select the brands that are environmentally friendly and socially responsible when they buy products or service. This change pushes firms to maintain their reputations with more efforts. Corporate social responsibility has been a hot topic in business world today, which is an important part of building brand image while brand image is a value for firms. This essay holds the statement that business should always be ethically and socially responsible. Firstly, it gives the several definitions of business ethic and corporate social responsibility briefly. Subsequently, it outlines the pros and coins for addressing corporate social responsibility. Following this, it discusses the negative effects caused by corporate scandals with several real cases likeToyota, Bernard Madoff and Enron. Finally it discusses the benefits when business is ethically and socially responsible with the examples of Procter & Gamble and Li Ka-shing.
Definitions of business ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility
Ethics is the code of values and principles to govern people’s behaviours to verdict what is right or wrong. Business ethic is the application of personal moral in commercial enterprise. Comparing to the vague definition of business ethics, the definition of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is clearer. As stated by The World Business Council for Sustainable Development(2014), corporate social responsibility is the commitment of business to contribute to the economic development and the welfare of employees and the family, the community and the