Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

Rainier Estrada (Abstract/Format), Ronny Davis (Intro), Aragad Abramian (Business Ethics),

Blair Martin (Social Responsibility), Emmanuel Sanchez (Conclusion)

University of Antelope Valley

Abstract

This paper addresses the topics of business ethics and social responsibility. Some say that the concept of ethics can be dated back to holy books such as the Bible and the Quran. Ethics deals with beliefs about what is right and wrong or good and bad in actions that affect others. Business ethics is defined as ethical or unethical behaviors by employees in the context of their jobs. We will discuss how practicing good business ethics creates long lasting business relationships and maximizes profits. Also, some key events dealing with business ethics through the 80’s and 90’s will be discussed. Social responsibility is the attempt of a business to balance its commitments to groups and individuals in its environment, including customers, other businesses, employees, investors and local communities. We will discuss Pizza Hut’s efforts to be socially responsible with their programs to help fight hunger, be more eco-friendly, and promote child literacy. We will also explore how Wal-Mart is passing the low-cost savings to their employees by offering higher wages. Business ethics and corporate social responsibility are similar concepts dealing with the values of right and wrong. The main difference is that ethics deals more with morals and values on the level of individual persons and social responsibility deals with firms and organizations as a whole.

Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

In order to have a successful business the business must possess a well thought of ethics code of conduct. That is a format that all employees must abide by and follow. it allows the business to keep the same set of rules for all of the employees and it creates consistency within the workplace. Now day’s in the business workforce it is very diverse, so in order to have a good ethics code of conduct you have to think about all types of different people. The employees are required to read these ethics handbooks and follow the rules in order to keep the work environment intact. A good ethical company will do what is right even when it may seem wrong to others. That is the purpose of possessing ethics is doing the right thing. In order to have a good successful company with a good reputation not only does your company have to possess a good code of ethics, but they also have to have social responsibility. Everything that the company does it is responsible for, well at least it should be. The company should be held responsible for their employees, investors, suppliers, customers and even their local and international communities. With social responsibility the business takes accountability and pride in its name and logo of the company and motivates the employees to work hard to maintain their good name and reputation as a business. So we now know the two things that can improve the quality of a business, but we will be going into depth about each of the two terms of ethics and social responsibility and give you as a reader a better understanding of how they work and who they relate to.

Business Ethics

Holy books such as the Bible and the Quran have taught everyone the ethics of life. This shows the history of business ethics are in these religious books that have talked about truthfulness, and honesty among people. Many religious sources have direct application toward the world of business, such as the prevention of theft, self-interest at the cost of others, and hatred. There have been many changes in the world of business which has evolved the business ethics to its current form. With continuously changing business world we know that in the future business ethics will experience more changes.

The importance of business ethics has to be maximize profits. Profit maximization comes when the organization that follows ethics in business and always is honest with their customers about their product, always makes profit in their business because of customer satisfaction. Maximizing profit is not the only importance of business ethics. There is creating the goodwill in the market. The investors and shareholders are willing to put their money in the business which is trustable and by the organization which is famous for loyalty and honesty creates goodwill in the market. Business ethics builds long term relationship in between customer and organization.

The timeline of business ethics has been progressing through history. Right now in our current business situations we are not perfect yet but definitely less sexist, less racist, and less fraudulent in the business world. In the 1980’s the ethical issues were illegal contracting practices, bribes, deceptive advertising, financial fraud and transparency issues arise. The government and head corporation leaders developed new ways to overcome these issues. By overcoming these issues General Dynamics establishes the first business ethics office (1985), Defense Industry Initiative established (1986) and Some companies create ombudsman positions in addition to ethics officer roles. In 1990s global expansion brings new risks. There are major concerns about child labor, facilitation payments, and environmental issues. The global expansion makes unsafe work practices in third world countries. Also with the emergence of the Internet, cultural borders are challenged. The ethical developments that was put through the 90s was Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations (1991). There were a few more key developments such as Professionalization of ethics function; launch of Ethics Officer Association (EOA) in 1992 and Transparency International releases its first annual Corruption Perceptions Index in 1995. Currently ethics in business is progressing in a positive wave. We are less sexist and less racist and the business world is becoming less fraudulent, making this world a better place.

Social Responsibility

        Companies have many social responsibilities to the people of the work and the world itself. If you look at social responsibility as a whole, it would be the world that we and companies are supposed to help stay healthy. There are more than 7 billion people in this world with minimum resources and many poor people. So how do businesses maximize the use of the resources and who are the big spenders using these resources? It would be all the major firms, corporation's and companies. Besides the fact that there are more small businesses in America, the companies with a lot of employees still make a major difference. “Businesses with less than 20 workers made up 89.6 percent of US businesses (census bureau 2012).” The other 11.1 percent ranges between 20-10,000+ employees. Those firms and companies have the money and time to invest the majority of the effort in conserving the earth’s resources. Pizza Hut for example uses thirty percent recycled pizza boxes, of course they meet the food safety requirements also. You add up how much recycled cardboard they used and add up all Pizza Hut stores, there has been major resource saving. That would be the most important social responsibilities in the world would be save and recycle as much resources.  Social responsibility also deals with just a simple benefit to the society. Pizza hut for example uses the book it program and food hunger to help out the community not just the customers. The book it program tries to encourage kids to read more, and make the community a better place. “This summer you helped us read for nearly 1.4 million minutes (book it ,2015).” is a lot of reading and help in stimulating your brain. They think kids are the future, which they are, and gives them incentive to read, be smarter, gain more knowledge, and encourage kids to do better in school. This programs gives out free pizza coupons for certain amount of minutes read. Since pizza hut is a huge food company, it sounds perfect that they would join in on the world food hunger. “Pizza Hut has donated 185 million dollars and has provided approximately 750 million meals around the world. another great way to show social responsibility to the world. Trying and helping save the world from starvation is a great way to help out.