Ethics and Social Responsibility
Introduction
Though the operations of corporations and the individuals who provide professional services may vary, their overall objective is to maximize wealth, grow their businesses and make profits. However, businesses and professionals are duty bound to conform to the ethical norms and acceptable conduct as determined by the society in which they operate. Businesses and professionals (e.g. accountants, lawyers etc.) are usually held to some ethical standard (code of conduct) and are considered to have an obligation to contribute to the betterment of society. Separate codes of ethics govern their operations which enables them to play by the rules of fair competition. Research has shown that businesses and professionals have not always adhered to the ethical standards they have set for themselves.
From the dawn of written history, people have been obsessed with wealth accumulation, greed, power and status, and for this, ethical principles have always been pushed aside. In modern time’s unethical behavior is most often driven by heavy pressures on company managers to meet or beat performance targets, the demands of highly competitive and saturated markets and a company culture that puts profitability and good business performance ahead of ethical behavior..
The ethical sensitivity of organizations and individuals has come under scrutiny in recent years. This group assignment, written in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Masters of Science Degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Management, examines the present day popularity of code of ethics in business and professions in general and in Jamaica in particular. Through a review of appropriate available literature, we excerpted some definitions of ethics, business Ethics, code of ethics and social responsibility.
Definitions of ethics
There is normally some challenge when trying to define what is morally right or wrong as morals and values generally differ based on the individual’s
Though the operations of corporations and the individuals who provide professional services may vary, their overall objective is to maximize wealth, grow their businesses and make profits. However, businesses and professionals are duty bound to conform to the ethical norms and acceptable conduct as determined by the society in which they operate. Businesses and professionals (e.g. accountants, lawyers etc.) are usually held to some ethical standard (code of conduct) and are considered to have an obligation to contribute to the betterment of society. Separate codes of ethics govern their operations which enables them to play by the rules of fair competition. Research has shown that businesses and professionals have not always adhered to the ethical standards they have set for themselves.
From the dawn of written history, people have been obsessed with wealth accumulation, greed, power and status, and for this, ethical principles have always been pushed aside. In modern time’s unethical behavior is most often driven by heavy pressures on company managers to meet or beat performance targets, the demands of highly competitive and saturated markets and a company culture that puts profitability and good business performance ahead of ethical behavior..
The ethical sensitivity of organizations and individuals has come under scrutiny in recent years. This group assignment, written in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Masters of Science Degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Management, examines the present day popularity of code of ethics in business and professions in general and in Jamaica in particular. Through a review of appropriate available literature, we excerpted some definitions of ethics, business Ethics, code of ethics and social responsibility.
Definitions of ethics
There is normally some challenge when trying to define what is morally right or wrong as morals and values generally differ based on the individual’s
References: Cochran, Craig (2003) Customer Satisfaction: Tools, Techniques, And Formulas for success Dess, G., Lumpkin, G Kreitner, R. and Kinicki, A. 1998 Organizational Behaviour 4th Edition, McGraw Hill, USA Lussier, R Maxwell, John C. 2003 There is No Such Thing as Business Ethics, AOL Warner Business Books, USA Mullings, L Robbins,S. & Coulter, M. 2007 Management 9th Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, USA Thompson, A.A, & Strickland, A.J (2011) Crafting and executing Strategy The quest for competitive advantage Concepts and cases15th edition http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/code-of-ethics.html