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sustainability as a goal of business ethics
sustainability as a goal of business ethics
corporate social responsibility in an organisation
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Today’s world is constantly changing with our societies and the environment steadily developing. The variation between societies and environment affects all types of businesses. “A more robust public engagement with our moral disagreements could provide a stronger, not a weaker, basis for mutual respect” (Sandel, 2009, p. 268). Our society must share moral ideas and views on sustainability with others in order to earn respect from the opposing side. The exchange of ideas allows others to understand the views from both sides and thus creates a stronger respect for everyone. Due to the constant changes in today’s world, shareholders and stakeholders expect information about the operational, financial and investing activities of a business. …show more content…
Since the Japanese company was founded in 1875, it has now grown to be an international household name with 200, 260 employees worldwide (Merchant Online, 2015). Toshiba’s corporate philosophy is “commitment to people and to the future” (Wang, 2009, p. 2), in which the company puts this philosophy into practice on a daily basis. The company remains committed to creating a higher quality of life by encouraging cultural awareness in a diverse market and promoting environmental friendly activities. According to Senge, et. al. (2010), “despite growing awareness of the importance of a healthy environment and successes in pollution reduction, even a cursory summary shows that things have mostly gone from bad to worse worldwide” (p. 15). This statement shows how Toshiba’s future commitments must persistently create innovative technologies that will focus on saving resources and becoming environmentally …show more content…
10). The company understands the importance of improving air quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions for future generations to come. Furthermore, Toshiba’s sustainability practices have led the company to receive numerous awards such as the 2012 Smart Commute Award for being among area employers with the most carpoolers. Toshiba also joined the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) when it received the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification for creating energy efficiency projects in its buildings (Toshiba Group,
It will be advantageous for the company if they can project themselves as responsible corporate citizen and an environment friendly company. Social enrichment schemes, recycling schemes and educational funds can be initiated to cater to this cause and long term goal.
With annual revenue of US $19.02 billion, Chevron Corporation is the 16th largest integrated oil and gas energy company in the world. Globally they account for a workforce of approximately 62,000 (Forbes 2011). In 2010, the company produced 2.763 million barrels of oil per day (Chevron 2012). Corporations as large as Chevron owe a great amount of responsibility towards the society and environment above and beyond the economic and legal obligations. The industry is strongly linked to environmental scandals and companies make various efforts to address these issues (Farache and Perks 2010, 235). The following thesis will review the Environmental performance of Chevron in terms of fulfilling social needs within society and stakeholders.
In relation to sustainability, more and more this aspect is becoming very important for a company’s bottom line and for them to differentiate themselves from their competition that fails to establish a sustainability program. In a macro sense, it ethically responsible to establish a sustainability program to identify ways that the firm can make a difference globally and reduce their overall expense and
Zsolnai, L. (2011). Environmental ethics for business sustainability. International Journal of Social Economics, 38(11), 892-899. doi: 10.1108/03068291111171397
They have formulated a long-term environmental strategy. Lenovo makes effort to minimize emissions, prevent pollution, reduce health and safety risks, save energy and reduce carbon emissions. In addition, they try to be responsible for the disposal of waste. Products and packaging both minimize the use of materials. When choosing materials, they prefer the recyclable and environmentally friendly ones. They aim to maximize the reuse and recycling. Lenovo has realized the positive promotion effect of environmental performance on economic performance by reducing the cost and increasing the sales income.
Protecting the environment has become an important issue in today’s society. There is no longer any doubt that businesses should consider their social responsibility and the impact of their activities on their stakeholders. In addition, firms are beginning to realize that corporate sustainability can prove to be a win win. There are multiple benefits of sustainability linked to costs, revenues, community relations, and more. The decision to strive for sustainability is obvious, but this process is easier said than done. Developing a sustainability strategy is difficult in itself, but the most challenging factor is the actual implementation. Marc J. Esptein, the author of Making Sustainability Work: Best Practices in Managing and Measuring Corporate Social, Environments, and Economic Impacts, provides companies with tactical methods and approaches, as well as real life examples and personal advice in order to assist in helping companies with achieving corporate sustainability.
An increasing large number of firms are developing mission statements that also attempt to define the social and ethical boundaries of their strategic domain. Some firms are actively pursuing social programs they believe to be intertwined with their economic objectives, while others simply seek to manage their businesses according to the principles of sustainability – meeting humanity’s needs without harming future generations. For example, Unilever has launched a variety of programs to help developing nations wrestle with poverty, water scarcity, and the effects of climate change. The firm’s motives are at least as much economic as moral. As environmental regulations grow stricter around the world, the firm must invest in green technologies or its leadership
Before looking at what the next step should be for Toshiba, it is necessary to examine what the driving forces behind the operation and all its decisions are. For them, The Basic Commitment is this force. In 1990 this Commitment was formulated as a “statement of management philosophy.” Every management decision made is done so by the guidance set forth in the Basic Commitment, which follows:
1, 2010). Incorporating sustainability into business goals and culture has become more than just the ethical thing to do, it can give a company a competitive advantage and increase their bottom line returns (Oppenheim & Stuchtey, 2015). Additionally, businesses that practice environmental ethics such as reducing emissions, efficient allocation of scarce resources, recycling, and reducing energy consumption benefit from increased trust and brand loyalty (Ewing-Chow & Soh, 2009). Some ethical activities, such as reduced energy consumption, have obvious benefits for a company because they reduce the cost of production. For a financial institution, electronic banking channels can decrease labor costs while electronic statements reduce cost of production. Both of these are environmentally beneficial as electronic banking channels allow customers to conduct business without driving to a brick-and-mortar branch and electronic statements reduce paper consumption. An added soft benefit is as customers enjoy the convenience of these services brand loyalty is expanded for the bank. Corporations that do not demonstrate environmental ethics may suffer adverse consequences. For example, a company that is caught illegally dumping toxic waste will not only face fines and potential criminal charges, but public fallout as consumers may boycott the company’s product to show such behavior will not be tolerated. For all these reasons, it is vital that companies address environmental concerns in their ethics
Sony’s most palpable ideological strategy is the ‘Road to Zero’ (Ref). This is Sony’s global environmental plan, which aims to achieve an environmental footprint of zero by the year 2050. This plan was introduced in 2010 and operates under ‘Green Management 2020’, an intermediate target (Ref). Sony have laid out a series of specific goals, based on four environmental perspectives and six life cycle stages. These cover all aspects of the corporation. Therefore, all actors are working to realise this collective vision, resulting in a very strong culture. A move towards zero emissions is a logical one, with a huge emphasis on climate change and CSR in the current context.
I argue that through the rapid change of global transformation, companies need to perform financially to be good cooperating citizens. Companies are expected to create economic, social and environmental value to ensure they reduce harm from their unethical environmental activities. Through this it has resulted in an increase of green washing with companies issuing green claims to satisfy the public.
Humans have been destroying the planet since we were able to stand on two legs. As a society, we need to work to reverse these terrible effects that our existence has on the planet. Sustainability is one way to begin reversing these effects, while still living our daily lives. In 2006, Al Gore presented his documentary, “ An Inconvenient Truth”, as a way to show the world the evidence behind global warming, climate change and the destruction of our planet. This documentary shocked the world. It was clear that changes needed to be made, but the destruction was more intense than previously thought. SInce this revelation in 2006, companies have tried to cut down on their greenhouse emissions, as well as offered sustainable products to their customers. Through a debate of morals and
Social sustainability is “identifying and managing business impact, both positive and negative, on people.” The quality of a company’s relationships and engagement will directly or indirectly “affect what happens to employees, workers in the value chain, customers and local communities” (Wynhoven). This definition focuses on the importance of sustainable relationships. It focuses on the social aspect, which can be good helping to determine what social sustainability looks like. The UN definition makes it clear that it is important to manage the corporation’s impact proactively so that employees, customers, and local communities all benefit from a corporation’s presence. BMW is an excellent example of a corporation that focuses on social sustainability. BMW promotes exchange between refugees, local youth, and BMW employees through a neighborhood project called “Lifetalk” which aims “to give young people a better idea of possible career paths” (BMW). These actions come from the company’s beliefs and goals. BMW states that “taking social and environmental responsibility for everything we do is an integral part of how we perceive ourselves as a company. We are convinced that the lasting economic success of any enterprise these days is based increasingly on acting responsibly and ensuring social acceptance” (BMW). BMW believes that sustainability is an
There are many better understandings and flaws in every subject. When it comes to the talk of sustainability in the present day world, it’s very much difficult to come up with the opinion of debate without the valid points which meets/address the issues. Addressing the issues related to sustainability are very complex in nature as they are dependent on the factors of scaling and distribution. As these factors are embedded in the society in
Now-a-days it is considered that CSR is one of the major concerns of organization’s business ethics. Companies increasingly increase their corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethical management accepting the positive impact on the bottom line. The vast bulk of Standard & Poor’s 500 companies publish sustainability reports unfolding their program challenges and achievements. These pre-emptive efforts can pr...