Case Study-James Hardie

When turning away from a quality to a profit focus only created far more problems. “Toyota, once the world’s most profitable automaker, suffered its first losses in its past two fiscal years; the turning away from a quality to a profit focus only created far more problems.” (O’Brien, 2010)

The author Robert Solomon argues that ethics has to an integral part with regard to business management. He does not believe that business management must include unethical or illegal methods to be able to succeed. Solomon preaches that business management is not as simple as obtaining revenue. “Businesses need to abide by fair policies and their owners have to be ethical in dealing with their customers” (Shaw p. 37). The author acknowledges that while illegal practices in business management could bring positive results at first, eventually the business is bound to fail. This is why Solomon recommended eight important policies that can help businesses in integrating ethics into their operations.

This essay will analyse the strengths, limitations and challenges of ethical and socially responsible business practice. The purpose of this essay is to identify the advantages and limitations of following business ethics and act socially responsible in business operations. In order to help me analyse those further I will use the case study from food industry - McDonald’s corporation.

The survey was performed in 2010 involving members of the Ethics and Compliance Officer Association (ECOA). They focused on the evolution of business ethics by analyzing six other studies over a span of two-and-a-half decades. Members of the survey were ethics manager, but members on the previous studies were regular employees and management. The results of the analysis of the previous studies showed that ethics programs in companies during a time span of the 1980’s through the 1990’s was used to show social responsibilities and not necessarily to enforce it throughout the company. It showed that ethics programs now that companies follow ethical laws and they are motivated to be ethical. Another result of the study showed that ethics training at companies has increased since the 1990’s due to the passing of Sarbanes-Oxley and other laws directed at ethics. The passing of the laws in the early 2000’s has led to ethics being a major component of everyday

The corporate world has an unfavorable view of itself by being selfish, evil, and against the average American. Companies market themselves and their products in certain ways that makes them and their products appealing to everyone and if not everyone then a certain group of people. Every company has a mission to follow and values to go by, but some companies lack ethics and morals. In this paper I am going to talk about one company that engages in ethical behavior and another that doesn’t.

Based on the movie “A Christmas Carol 2009”, issue that we found that relevant to the business ethic is the corporate social irresponsibility (CSI). Corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) refers to the dark side, as it investigates the wrongful and damaging business decisions that managers might take. Corporate social irresponsibility to concepts such as corporate culpability and undesirability and irresponsibility, in its various forms such as corruption, bribery, environmental degradation, and social injustice, is most frequently found in poorer regions, those with fewer social resources or educational opportunities (Sanchez‐Runde et al., 2013, p. 690). Because of corporate social irresponsibility, the business performance decline, customer dissatisfaction and low profitability will be happen.

Breaking down an overview of Lockheed Martin’s organization leads to Terris’ elaborate plan to gain a general overview of the evolution of business ethics and revealing a balance between profits and stakeholder concerns. Responsibilities of top leadership involve several different form of involvement. These leaders have to be aware, decisive, honest, focused and inspiring. A top leader is usually referred to as a chief executive officer, CEO. CEOs have helped throughout the history of business ethics by seeking unfair advantages through immoral arrangements and creating new ways of business. With business changing occurring, welfare capitalism becomes a major aspect in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As a result of issues with welfare capitalism, corporate social responsibility has made its appearance in the twentieth century. Programs of corporate social responsibility now form many of corporate America’s largest advertising campaigns, especially in industries that have been vulnerable to public criticism for their social impact (Terris, 2005, p.42).

Nowadays, organizations have a corporate social responsibility to fulfill in the business industry. There is a variety of definitions for corporate social responsibility however; a common definition is a business integrates social and environmental concerns in their everyday business operations on a voluntary basis (Murphy, 2010). It is important that managers behave ethically and morally so other individuals will follow their guidance. A manager is responsible for fair treatment of employees, customers, and suppliers, building trustworthy relationships, and being transparent (Murphy, 2010). As a result, managers that are in executive level positions are oftentimes, most responsible for any unethical or

(Panza & Potthast, n.d.) Ethics is very important to a company’s success. Ethical behavior can bring benefits to a business. They can attract customers, which can lead to a boost in sales and profits. It can attract the right employees and increase productivity. It can also attract investors and keep the company’s share price high. Unethical behavior on the other hand can damage a company’s reputation and make it less appealing to stakeholders. It could also result in lower profits.

It is only during moral lapses and corporate scandals that interest groups and the broader public ask themselves the fundamental ethical questions, who are the managers of the organization and were they acting with the ethical guidelines. For a long time, the issue of ethics was largely ignored, with organizations focusing on profit maximization. However, this has changed, and much attention is now focused on ethics management by researchers and leaders. The issue of ethics has arisen at a time when public trust on corporate governance is low, and the legitimacy of leadership is being questioned. Leaders are expected to be the source of moral development and ethical guidance to their employees.

Corporations, an indispensable part of society, has existed for a long time. In order to better the long-term development and be competitive, having a deep understanding of corporate social responsibility is key to the survival of a particular corporation. Over the past few decades, the social responsibility of corporations has been considered as a controversial issue among experts. Friedman (1970), a recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics and Sciences, claimed that the only social responsibility of business is to increase its profit. However, still others disagree with this point of view. By contrast, they argue that if corporations consider increasing as their only social responsibility, it will not only harm the right of employees, but also trigger social problems. This essay aims to explore what should be the social responsibilities of corporations, and to analyze whether the only responsibility of corporations should be increasing its profit. In order to solve the problem, firstly, it is necessary to expound what corporate social responsibility is. Then, it is indispensable to clarify Friedman’s view regarding the only social responsibility of the business. Subsequently, different social responsibilities of corporations, such as ethical responsibilities, philanthropic responsibilities and legal responsibilities, raised by Carroll also need to be evaluated. Finally, another

Ethics refer to what is defined as right or wrong in the morality of human beings and social issues are matters which could directly or indirectly affect a person or many members of a society. In this case study, Nike has been accused of subjecting employees in their subcontracted factories overseas to work in inhumane conditions for low wages. The CEO and cofounder of Nike lamented that “The Nike product has become synonymous with slave wages, forced-overtime and arbitrary abuse.” Initially, the firm purchased two shoe-manufacturing facilities in the United States but eventually had to shut them down due to tremendous loss

Corporations the world over have been publicly criticized for improving their firm’s bottom line at any moral or social cost. Ethics essentially “refers to the issues of right, wrong, fairness and justice.” Clearly, examples such as Enron, WorldCom, and even Conrad Black tested society’s views on sound ethical business and the link to what society sees as “good” governance practices. Although the controversies involve issues matched in variety only by the types of companies, they all virtually involve some form of abuse of stakeholders trust. These cases are not representative of the entire spectrum of today’s business environment; in fact, there are a number of companies whose competitive advantages are based on

Social responsibility and ethics are a part of the rules and regulations that an organization must comply with in order to meet the moral standards. It is best to observe the standards of ethic and social responsibility in any type of management. An organization normally has policies already put in place that both the employee and proprietor has to follow. There is a procedure that is laid out from step one to the final step that will keep all involve safe and secure from any mishaps. Management policies and procedures are practiced and viewed a number of times in an organization so that all participants are up to date and well aware of the latest changes in the policies and procedure manual. Policies and Procedures must be followed in any organization so that it will protect the workers and the public.

In the article “Doing well by doing good”, the words ‘business” and “ethics” has been pointed out that they can’t come together. Companies wondered where do ethics go and it has been widely wrath despite being taught in school. Ethics has been the custom yet uncertain. There are protesters in Washington, DC who were criticizing the immorality of a company including the IMF. Most people reacted that companies shouldn’t be in the business ethics at one’s convenience but should be concerned of their social responsibilities, morals and environment. The leader of market economics, Milton Friedman, stated that to increase the profits, the company has to use its resources and has to engage in activities.