Social Awareness in Business

There has also been an increased awareness and social responsibility has begun to creep into the culture of many organizations. Many organizations are attempting to use cleaner methods or productions and renewable resources. Some organizations have even set up self sustaining production systems. There has also been an increased concern with employee health within the last ten years. Some individuals would contend that the rise in health concerns stems from a desire to cut healthcare costs but other insist that organizations are just becoming more socially responsible by paying attention to things such as obesity and cigarette smoking. I believe that as a nation, people are beginning to understand that we are connected whole and that we must be responsible citizens and not perform acts that will harm our home or our fellow citizens. Of course accidents such as the oil spill still happen but those incidents are surely not conscious acts of harm.

In the 1980's W.R. Grace was found guilty of contaminating the water supply of a nearby town by dumping waste into the reservoir. Many people died and many others suffered terrible symptoms. A movie was made of the incident entitled A Civil Action. I believe that such a thing would not happen today. I believe organizations are more consciously aware and would not purposely harm their potential consumers.

Of course there are examples of ethical dilemmas such as the case of Mark Zuckerberg and the creation of Facebook. Some suggest that he stole the creation while other say is was his all along. Regardless of the truth, this type of ethical dilemma seems to be the new problem of today. Intellectual property and information are currently very grey areas. So while organizations are become more socially responsible in terms of how they treat resource consumption and health issues, I believe these same organizations are very irresponsible in terms of how they treat their consumer's information such as email address telephone numbers and any information regarding the individual's spending habits.