Social responsibility begins centuries ago when people realized that living in a community and that is why their decisions affect others. We have considered a pluralistic society is one that accepts, recognizes and tolerates the existence of different positions or thoughts and that is why we must always look for a common welfare laws governing society to find a balance that benefits all its members.
However throughout history we can find times in which the common good prevailed and where instead of this first special interests of a few, one of these times is called the industrial revolution in which the former arise companies that demonstrated the lack of social responsibility to the community where farm workers were objects of women and children were forced to work long and exhausting hours in exchange for very low wages, were living the exploitation of the environment and natural resources and we can not leave behind the lack of concern for the quality of the products we provide to society. All that mattered was to increase profits. There were factories of goods and services, were machines to make money at the expense of others.
We may think that this time of the industrial revolution and the lack of corporate social responsibility has been overcome, but the reality we live is another, many companies want to take advantage of the lack of restrictions and laws that have some particular countries poor countries or in developing, and take advantage of these circumstances to exploit their natural resources, fouling the environment and save money by hiring labor at very low prices all with the aim of increasing their profits at all costs. This is when we ask ourselves if we really have overcome the lack of ethics that lived in ...
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... rules are imposed must be expanded globally so that corporations can not avoid relocating to countries with weaker standards which can be exploited more easily. That is to say corporations should be subject to global standards that protect the welfare of entire society.
What society calls for corporations is to eliminate the negative impacts but can be very expensive to remove and can be a great disadvantage for companies because they would have to spend much money, resources and energy in solving the problems that caused the society.That is why the work of company managers is to anticipate the impact that their company can do to a community and find ways to minimize or gain an advantage with a business opportunity or if you can not exploit this situation to create a rule or regulation that can balance both company and society, and neither are adversely affected.
When we discuss morality we know that it is a code of values that seem to guide our choices and actions. Choices and actions play a significant role in determining the purpose and course of a person’s life. In the case of “Jim and the Indians”, Jim faces a terrible dilemma to which any solution is morbid. On one hand, Jim can choose to ignore the captain’s suggestion and let the whole group of Indians be executed. Alternatively, he may decide upon sacrificing one Indian for the sake of saving the rest. Both options involve taking of person’s life. Regarding what should Jim do in this circumstance, there are two approaches according for Jim’s dilemma that should be examined. By looking into the Deontological moral theory and the moral theory of Consequentialism we can see what determines an action that is morally required.
Social ethics are moral principles that represent the shared experience of people and different cultures. It shows what is acceptable and what is not. Social ethics puts laws and rules in order to protect the person’s life. It collects all the different culture and put rules for those people in order for them to be able to live with each other safely in peace. For example, the law about prohibiting against killing and robbery. This law protects the people from what they might do to each other due to lack of morals for some people. Ethics in general are the ideas about how to behave yourself and do well. Therefore, social ethics is about the right behavior and giving a better life for people in the society. It’s telling people what is right and wrong. The idea of having laws is to let people know what is wrong and not doing it,
Consequentialism and deontology are two different theories concerning with morality. Consequentialism believes in the concept of the end justifies the means. On the other hand, deontology does not believe in the concept of the ends justifies the means. It believes that right actions are defined by duty. Deontology is the opposite of consequentialism when it comes to moral ethics, making it the better approach.
The Industrial Revolution began in England during the late 1700s, and by the end of its era, had created an enormous amount of both positive and negative effects on the world in social, economic, and even political ways. The revolution began to spread across the world, raising the standard of life for the populations in both Europe and North America throughout the 1800s. However, even with all of its obvious benefits, its downsides are nonnegotiable, forcing workers into horrendous living and working conditions, all inside of unkempt cities. While some might argue that Industrialization had primarily positive consequences for society because of the railroad system, it was actually a negative thing for society. Industrialization’s
The term “ethical business” is seen, by many people, as an oxymoron. This is because a business’s main objective is to make as much money as possible. Making the most money possible, however, can often lead to unethical actions. Companies like Enron, WorldCom, and Satyam have been the posterchildren for how corporations’ greed lead to unethical practices. In recent times however, companies have been accused of being unethical based on, not how they manage their finances, but on how they treat the society that they operate in. People have started to realize that the damage companies have been doing to the world around them is more impactful and far worse than any financial fraud that these companies might be engaging in. Events like the BP oil
Many laws have been put into place to make sure corporations act ethically, so they do not harm people or the environment. Corporations have a social responsibility to follow these laws and various other ethical actions; Johnson & Johnson, considered to be one of the most admirable companies according to Fortune, is one company that included their corporate social responsibilities in their code of ethics. Their code of ethics states that executive officers cannot financially benefit from unethical transactions or that their management must be competent and ethical (Code of Business Conduct, 2015). It is important for corporations to act ethically and hold up to their social responsibility, especially within the workplace; ethics are especially
Business organizations should act responsible towards society as it will benefit society, culture, economical condition and environmental issues as well. In other words, business organization are currently only focusing on their core objective that is only maximizing their profit but this profit maximization comes with a cost to the society like over exploiting resources, polluting environment, producing products which are not environmental friendly. If business organization acts socially responsible they will help the society to develop.
The arguments for and against corporate social responsibility have captured two points of view. Those who believe that organizations should not be concerned about social responsibility base many of their arguments on the costs involved and whether organizations should shoulder those costs on behalf of society. And those who are in favor feel that organizations benefit from society and, therefore, have an obligation to improve it. Although there is no universal agreement, surveys and other reports express that many organizations are, becoming increasingly active in addressing social
Virtue Ethics Virtue ethics is a theory used to make moral decisions. It does not rely on religion, society or culture; it only depends on the individuals themselves. The main philosopher of Virtue Ethics is Aristotle. The. His theory was originally introduced in ancient Greek.
It seems obvious that large corporations have a tendency to ignore the negative effects of their actions in favor of profit. This example, although sensationalized, still says to me that with power comes responsibility. It affirmed my belief that a corporation’s goal cannot be just to provide profit to shareholders, but there must also be an element of social responsibility.
When faced with the issue of alleviating poverty or saving nature, many would agree with the following statement: as a society we ought to use available resources and funds to help the poor. In his article “Feeding people versus Saving Nature” Rolston opposes this position and asserts his view that there are times when we ought to choose to save nature instead of feeding the poor. I will argue in favor of Rolston’s argument and against those such as Singer, who strongly opposes the notion that preserving nature and allowing people to unnecessarily die is morally wrong. In reality there are many ways in which we can address the issue of global poverty without resorting to destroying natural ecosystems that we are dependent on.
When the problem became serious two main views formed: the “narrow” view and the “broader” view, based on different ideas. The “narrow” view is based on the proposition that corporations have no social responsibility and they have only one main purpose, to make a profit (Friedman, 1970). So corporations should remain socially independent and all conflicts must be solved through the individual responsibility concept. On the contrary the “broader” view states that corporations have social obligations as all existing participants of market, persons and entities are tied together and are mutually dependent. So corporations cannot ignore some serious events or problems, which take place, and must help society, as profit is not their single purpose.
Both of these areas are the lifeblood of the company, and any benefit to them should not be overlooked. Before a company can become proficient at corporate social responsibility, they must first know its definition. Corporate social responsibility is defined as actions that can be taken by a company to ensure they are adhering to ethical and social responsibilities of the day. These corporate social actions are self-regulatory, as a company strives to adhere to guidelines while also going above and beyond being a Good Samaritan in the business world (ECA, 2015). This can place certain businesses at the forefront in customers mind because of the example they are setting in the marketplace. A company going above and beyond the call of duty to work towards a more philanthropic approach in the surrounding community is a perfect example for corporate social responsibility. Going deeper into the definition, corporate social responsibility acts like a “double bottom line” for a company, as they strive to achieve financial goals, but also achieve their social mission out in the community. Once a company is aware of what the concept of corporate social responsibility is, they can now implement it and start to reap the many benefits of its
Corporations that place an importance on corporate social responsibility usually have an easier experience when dealing with politicians and government regulators. In compare, businesses that present an irresponsible disregard for social responsibility tend to find themselves fending off various reviews and probes, often brought on at the assertion of public service organizations. The more positive the public insight is that a corporation takes social responsibility seriously; the less likely it is that innovative groups will launch public campaigns and claim government inquiries against it.
Ethics is a system of moral principles and a branch of philosophy which defines what is acceptable for both individuals and society. It is a philosophy that covers a whole range of things that have an importance in everyday situations. Ethics are vital in everyones lives, it includes human values, and how to have a good life, our rights and responsibilities, moral decisions what is right and wrong, good and bad. Moral principles affect how people make decisions and lead their lives (BBC, 2013). There are many different beliefs about were ethics come from. These consist of; God and Religion, human conscience, the example of good human beings and a huge desire for the best for people in each unique situation, and political power (BBC, 2013).