Ethics Reflection Paper

The role of ethics and social responsibility aids organizations in developing a strong strategic plan, while addressing the needs of stakeholders. Ethics and social responsibility require social awareness to address the needs of the environment and to increase the knowledge of employees, which will lead to a corporation focused on supplying the customer with what is needed, managers equipped with solid decision-making abilities, and employees who believe that he or she are an asset to the business. It is the executive manager’s responsibility to establish a clear vision for the corporation and place a specific focus on understanding stakeholder’s needs. In an effort to support

• Explain the role of ethics and social responsibility in developing a strategic plan, considering stakeholder needs.

The primary purpose of ethics and social responsibility is imperative to the way we do business and live amongst society. Ethics most commonly know as the rights and wrongs are principles and standards that establish what is know as acceptable conduct within an organization. Organizations have moral and legal duties to implement ethics when developing a strategic plan while considering stakeholders and consumers, they do not want to be lied to or cheated into buying a false product. Unethical companies will use aggressive sales tactics and mischievous ways, of doing business to sell, promote and profit from vulnerable consumers. Unethical organizations believe in these tactics

To understand the role that ethical and social responsibility considerations occupy in the development of Riordan’s strategic organizational planning, one must first recognize what these concepts mean. According to Merriam-Webster (2011), ethics is “the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation” (para. 1). Outside of this general definition that ethics are standards for morality, researchers and philosophers have actively sought for many years for a comprehensive and all-encompassing explanation of what is and is not ethical. Many factors contribute to the meaning of ethics and corresponding behaviors, including but not limited to culture, religion, societal influences and pressures, and various stages of moral development. Though social

Every organized company worldwide should have among its structure, one planning and coordination division in which social and business goals are integrated. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs are necessary for commercial business as an element of risk management and represent an outstanding mechanism for the stakeholders to identify weaknesses when their own actions or others conduct in its operating environment generate social risk. (Kytle and Ruggie 2005).

Ethics are values and principles that individuals use to govern his decisions and activities. Ethics are about moral judgment of an individual about right and wrong. In an organization, code of ethics refers to set of guiding principles and organizations use these principles in their policies, programs, and decisions for business. Within organizations, decisions are taken by groups or individuals and these decisions are influenced by the culture of the company. Decision making and relevance of ethics may also differ for nonprofit and for profit organizations. In contemporary business environment, organizations must have a clear ethical policy and implement it in proper manner. There are many social, legal and economic outcomes that company has to face in case of any ethical dilemma, so there must be a smart strategy to deal with ethical dilemmas. In this paper, we will address the ethics for nonprofit and profits organizations, ethical dilemmas being faced or faced by each of these companies and the outcomes of these ethical dilemmas. Critique of actions of each of these companies will be provided from the point of view of applicable philosophical theories of organizational ethics.

1. In order to implement an organizations commitment to social responsibility it is necessary to identify what social problem the organization intends to address, develop policies on what the organization plans to do to successfully fulfill its obligation and ensure stakeholder buy-in. The main obstacles an organization faces when implementing socially responsible policies is pressure from stockholders and business analysis who want steady increase in earnings. Without steady increase in profits, it becomes difficult to reinvest money in these areas. The following actions can be taken toward increased social responsibility:

Corporate social responsibility has been one the key business buzz words of the 21st century. Consumers' discontent with the corporation has forced it to try and rectify its negative image by associating its name with good deeds. Social responsibility has become one of the corporation's most pressing issues, each company striving to outdo the next with its philanthropic image. People feel that the corporation has done great harm to both the environment and to society and that with all of its wealth and power, it should be leading the fight to save the Earth, to combat poverty and illness and etc. "Corporations are now expected to deliver the good, not just the goods; to pursue

On the other hand although their similarities are close knit; they each have a distinct difference depending on the individual. For instance, recently the complex next door caught fire due to bad wiring. The company put all the tenants up for the weekend because they believed that this is what they ought to do. After the weekend the tenants were told that the situation had been turned over to their insurance company and it was out of their hands. The tenants believe that the company should hold their self-responsible and accommodate them much more.

Social responsibility makes a company more competitive and reduces the risk of sudden damage to the company’s reputation and sales.

Business ethics, social, and environmental guidelines frame the expectations of an organization's stakeholders including customers, employees, and regulatory bodies. An organization's ethical guidelines encompass how the organization and its employees embody ethical principles in their dealings, with each other, and other stakeholders. Therefore, Ferrell, Fraedrich, and Farrell (2008) have defined Business ethics as "The principles and standards that guide behavior in the world of business" (p.6). In many situations, individuals must incorporate their personal ethics to match those of the organization's ethical culture. For this reason, business ethics theory indicates that an organization's ethics are evident in its organizational mission and vision (Hummels & Timmer, 2004). This is because the mission and vision determine organizational structure and culture, and thereby organizational and individual behavior.

After carefully examining different theories and case studies on the relation between corporate social responsibility and financial performance, evaluating and critically analyzing the topic was possible. Even though social issues have been questioned for years, yet only recently have it become a main issue that is usually addressed by companies and corporations (Ahen and Zetting, 2015). An increased demand in research on CSR has shown that some companies have reacted to this matter by investing more in corporate social responsibility as it increases competitive advantage (Crane and Glozer, 2016). CSR can be used as an aggressive business strategy and an efficient marketing tool in order to design and sustain a competitive advantage over competitors (Crane and Glozer, 2016). Corporations understood that in order to be able to function profitably and be competitive in a very competitive market they must

Ethics ensure that a company achieves its mission, vision, goals, and objectives in such a manner that they give a company a sense of direction and framework. Ethics ensure guidelines are creating that bind the entire organization into one common thread, govern the action of the organizational employees, and avoid deviation from the desired strategic path. Five ways a company can ensure ethics is including in their strategic planning are

What many organizations learn today is that forward-looking innovation and competitive advantage can be obtained from intertwining social, as well as, environmental considerations into business from the very beginning. Through this process, businesses can come up with the next generation of ideas, employees and markets. Therefore, corporate social responsibility is a commitment to improve public welfare through flexible business practices, along with contributions of corporate resources. Corporate social responsibility is all about ethical values and acquiescence with legal requirements, which go hand in hand with respect for the community, the environment and the people. To the extent that a business is concerned, social corporate responsibility is corporate citizenship. In this context, a business needs to be a good neighbor to the people, the environment and the community. An organization should be socially responsible within its host community (Cramer & Bergmans 2003, p. 142).

According to Min-Young and Fairhurst (2009), corporate social responsibility is becoming a typical issue as several organizations attempt to incorporate social and environmental issues into the day- to- day operations of their businesses. However, an organization being socially responsible is not considered fad or a discretionary addition. Instead, one might argue that an organization’s interest in being socially responsible is what is described as a “reflective of a deeper change in the relationship” (Min-Young & Fairhurst, 2009, p. 140) between an organization and its stakeholders. Furthermore, Min-Young and Fairhurst (2009) stated that a critical perspective of corporate social responsibility appears to be the responsibility to work for the betterment of society. Thus, a socially responsible organization might be seen as an organization simply being a “good corporate citizen” (Min-Young & Fairhurst, 2009, p. 141). Theorists such as Wood believed that the fundamental idea of corporate social responsibility is that an organization and society are interconnected rather than “distinct entities” (Min-Young & Fairhurst, 2009, p. 142). As a result, society might have an expectation for desirable actions and outcomes from today’s organizations.