Unethical And Socially Responsible Business Actions

Every day businesses are faced with making decisions that can have far reaching effects within their organization and the communities in which their business are based. Company Q is one of these businesses. Recent decisions made within this company have demonstrated a trend that would suggest Company Q has a negative attitude toward social responsibility. This attitude can be evidenced by the closing of two stores in high-crime rate areas because they were consistently losing money, offering minimal amounts of health-conscious and organic foods despite high demand, and declining donations of day-old products rather than donating these items to the local area’s food bank due to concerns of fraud and stealing by employees.

Social Responsibility can be broken down into 3 parts, the companies benefit to society, how they follow policies and their performance of their obligations. It is hard to decipher who and what companies are socially responsible to. A company decides what they are doing if it is going to benefit shareholders or stakeholders. The shareholders are those who are in the company that benefit from it by maximizing the profits. On the other hand, the stakeholders are those who use the company and are impacted directly by what the company does. These people include customers, suppliers and the community. Companies receive more positive feedback

Firstly, I would like to explain what Corporate Social Responsibility is. “It is a company’s sense of responsibility towards the community and environment (both ecological and

An article on Forbes has mentioned that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is not going to solve the world’s problems, but is a way for companies to benefit themselves while also benefiting the society . My argument would align with Freeman because of the sole fact that in today’s world, no business can run in isolation. It needs support from the community it is in, as much as the community receives support from the company.

Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large. (World Business Council for Development, 2016)

Corporate Social Responsibility are actions taken by a corporation that have positive and lasting impact for all stakeholders associated with the organization, seeking to strike a balance between profits and helping to establish lasting investment in the community (Carrol, 2015). In the 1980’s, then President Reagan challenged the business community to take on more responsibility to address social problems (Carrol, 2015). Socially responsible actions can benefit local communities as well as the greater societal good.

Corporate social responsibility is not going to solve the world’s problems. With that being said, corporate social responsibility is a way for companies to benefit themselves while also benefiting society. It allows companies to take small steps to make big differences in areas of need. Some may say that it is a bunch of “greenwashing” – the deceptive use of green marketing that promotes a misleading perception that a company’s policies, practices, products or services are environmentally friendly – but there is a call to action that inspires a company to get involved in the community (Kewalramani, Sobelsohn).

Ultimately, businesses exist to make a profit for their owners and shareholders. In most cases, ethical behaviour adds expenses to the business, reducing profits. Profits are a good thing - they ensure that people have jobs. The smaller the profits, the fewer income tax dollars are paid, which would hurt government programs.

The two articles provided for comparison, “How Consumers Perceive The Ethical Conduct of Businesses And Their Managers” by Derrek Choy, and “Reconciling Traditional Morality and the Morality of Competition”, by Adam D. Bailey, both analyze ethical and unethical behavior in business, and conclude that moral and ethical standards in business actions are not only

Corporate social responsibility is the responsibility a company takes on beyond its own economic benefit. Wikepedia (2006) states that it is "a company 's obligation to be sensitive to the needs of all of the stakeholders in its business operations" (Corporate social responsibility, para. 1). Stakeholders according to Wikepedia (2006) are all entities that might have influence on a company 's decisions. However, it should be pointed out that corporate social responsibility surpasses charitable donations and

The benefit to business of good Corporate Social Responsibility is difficult to quantify as it varies depending on the nature of the enterprise. Some scholars believe that there is a business justification for CSR. That is, what is good for the environment and society will be good for company profitability. And studies have shown a slightly positive correlation between CSR and financial gain (Steiner and Steiner, 2006). However, as Freidmanism claims, the first responsibility of business is to make enough profit to cover the costs for the future. If this social responsibility is not met, no other responsibilities can be (Hargreaves, 2006). Therefore it is critical that CSR activities are included in strategy formulation and that the level of resources devoted to CSR is determined like any other strategy – through cost/benefit analysis. Corporations will not throw money away…they need to see it

A corporation that says it is socially responsible, claims that they are concerned for society's welfare; which also includes the environment, because now days, we are a lot more concerned about our environment and how everything affect it. The corporation will make sure to insure those values within the company and also to its partners. ("Social responsibility in Marketing," 2012 - 1998) Also, if a corporation says it is ethically responsible and it really is, it shows to their customers and partners their integrity

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

Snider, Hill and Martin. (2003) stated that “ CSR may be defined in general terms as "the obligation of the firm to use its resources in ways to benefit society, through committed participation as a member of society, taking into account the society at large and improving welfare of society at large independent of direct gains of the company" (as cited in Kok et al., 2001, p. 288). Since the growth of the corporations depend on the societal factors, corporations should be responsible for the society for the corporation’s own benefit in the long run. “The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) construct describes the relationship between business and the larger society” (Snider et al., 2003). According to The Wall Street Journal (2013),

Corporate social responsibility is the voluntary stance or set of actions from a corporation that demonstrate a contribution to a better society and a cleaner environment. Corporations are already required to operate within the law, but laws do not always protect all people or individuals who will be affected by the corporation’s actions. In addition to this, it is very common for special interests to play a part in legal decisions through lobbying efforts, so it is assumed to be an additional effort for a corporation to be socially responsible. Being socially responsible essentially comes down to being considerate and calculated in the decision making process, paying attention to the consequence of every action. In the ethical decision making model, there are two particular steps that I believe to be of greater importance than the others. The first would be that of