Corporate Social Responsibility (csr) and Ethics

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Ethics

Definition of Ethics

The accepted definition of ethics is those accepted principles of right or wrong that govern the conduct or actions of a person or group of people. Business ethics refer to the accepted principles that govern businesspeople in organizations. Ethical business strategy is strategy that guides an organization's members in ways that do not violate these accepted principles. From a global perspective, ethical dilemmas stem from variations among political systems, laws, and cultures that define the accepted principles of right and wrong differently from nation to nation. The most common ethical issues in international business involve employment practices, human rights, environmental regulations, corruption, and the moral obligation of multinational corporations.

Terms and Concepts

Kantian Ethics: People should be treated as ends, and never purely as means to the ends of others.

Cultural Relativism: Ethics are cultural determined and companies should adopt the ethics of the cultures in which they operate.

Rights Theories: Human beings have fundamental rights and privileges that transcend national boundaries and cultures.

Justice Model: Ethics is the attainment of a just distribution of economic goods and services that is considered fair and equitable.

Moral Rights Model: The fundamental rights and privileges of the people, such as people's rights to freedom, life and safety, privacy, free speech, and freedom of conscience should be protected.

Utilitarian Model: Production of the greatest good for the greatest number of people. The moral worth of actions or practices is determined by their consequences.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a United Nations document that lays down the basic principles of human rights that should be adhered to.

Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 23:

1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work, and to protection against unemployment.

2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worth of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

In In a Different Voice, C. Gilligan (1982) defines ethical actions as a series of caring relationships that evolve over time, focused first on the self, then on dependent others, and finally, on establishing equality of needs between self and others so that dynamic relationships can replace dependent ones. This model of self, dependent other, dynamic equality can be used by multinationals in developing countries.

In Shared Values for a Troubled World: Conversations with Men and Women of Conscience by R.M. Kidder (1994), the ethicist describes a research project he headed for the Institute for Global Values, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting ethical action in a global context by exploring the global common ground of values, elevating awareness of ethics, and providing practical tools for making ethical decisions. The research project involved interviews with 24 international "ethical thought leaders" including officials from the United Nations, heads of states, university presidents, writers and religious figures from Bangladesh, Britain, China, Costa Rica, Lebanon, Mozambique, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, the United States and Vietnam. Each in-depth interview lasted from 1-3 hours and began with this question: "If you could help create a global code of ethics, what would be on it?"

These values emerged:

1. Love: Spontaneous concern for others; compassion that transcends political and ethnic differences.

2. Truthfulness: Achieving goals through honest means; keeping promises; being worthy of the trust of others.

3. Fairness (Justice): Fair play; evenhandedness; equality.

4. Freedom: The pursuit of liberty; the right of free expression; action and accountability.

5. Unity: Seeking the common good; cooperation; community; solidarity.

6. Tolerance: Respect for others and their ideas; empathy; appreciation for variety.

7. Responsibility: Care for self, the sick and needy, the community, and future generations; responsible use of force.

8. Respect for life: Reluctance to kill through war and other means.

Business and Ethics

Business codes of ethics are derived from

1. Societal Ethics: The values and standards embodied in a society's laws, customs, practices, norms and values.

2. Professional Ethics: The values and standards that groups of managers and workers use to decide how to behave appropriately.

3. Individual ethics: Personal values and standards that result from the influence of family, peers, upbringing, and involvement in significant societal institutions.

To make sure that ethical issues are considered in international business decisions, managers should:

1. Favor hiring and promoting people with a well-grounded sense of personal ethics

2. Build an organizational culture that places a high value on ethical behavior

3. Make sure that leaders within the business not only articulate the rhetoric of ethical behavior, but also act in a manner that is consistent with that rhetoric

4. Put decision-making processes in place that require people to consider the ethical dimension of business decisions

5. Be morally courageous and encourage others to do the same

Decision Making Criteria

1. Does the decision