Discussion
Discuss the importance of maintaining a social responsibility and ethics in a business.
Ethics and social responsibility are two concepts that are important for the development of an organisation. Without maintaining proper ethics an organisation cannot provide moral principles among the employees and thereby the services of the company may be hampered due to this process. The social responsibility that a company undertakes helps it to remain popular with the society and gain a competitive advantage. The blending of the ethics and social responsibility of an organisation is strengthened after an organisation implement written codes of practices that help in providing value to the employees as well as the customers. The essay discusses the importance of maintaining a social responsibility and ethics in a business.
The social responsibility of a business defines the nature of the business and the relationship it has with the society. It helps in determining the responsibility that a business has on the society and sets up standards that are required for the welfare of the society in the business world. Therefore, three interrelated aspects can be analysed that may help in maintaining the philosophy of a business organisation. These include the nature of the business, role in the society and the moral obligations that the society has on a business. The traditional factor of a business is that it has been seen as an institution that is more based on a property level than at the social level.
Therefore, the primary motive of business organisations is to earn a profit and because of this, the business domain is independent as compared with the rest of the society. The expectations of the society are that business can help in producing services and products that can be used by the society in a proper manner. It also expects that business organisations take proper care of the environment and other social issues that are part of the development of business and the market. Therefore, automatically meeting the demands of the stakeholders were expected from the managers of business organisations. One of the conventional understandings related to business is that it can recompose the factors that are essential in playing a crucial role in the marketing mechanism of a country.
The income factors remain aligned with the social factors that affect the society. It has been observed that the price paid for gaining the resources in the market is equal to the cost in real terms of the market. Therefore, the moral obligations of a business are automatically discontinued and society begins to judge it based on the manner in which it presents itself in the market. Therefore, business and society can be considered as distinct and has a strong relationship with the ethics that is maintained. The social activities of the business are considered as an important activity that defines the culture of a business organisation.
Importance of Social Responsibility in Business
Ethics also known as moral philosophy involves concepts that are systematic, correct and defended any actions that are considered as wrong by the society. It helps in solving the questions that are related to the morality of human and helps in defining the good and bad that exists in a society. Ethical considerations are taken into consideration so that human beings or business organisations can judge the right thing from the wrong. It has been seen that the attitude and behaviour of the people define the ethical considerations and the difference between these considerations are normally the differences that exist between the mentalities of the people. It has been seen that the ethics are considered as a complex area that does not believe in setting up ethical principles for human beings.
Although moral principles have existed since the development of human beings, the ethical consideration of the business organisations is mainly due to the evolution of the beliefs that business organisations need to have a vision that helps in maintaining its competitive advantage in the market. An example can be provided that highlights the importance or ethical principles among human beings. The case of GAP Inc had created a stir in the minds of the people as children were used for the manufacturing of the dresses. This drew in lots of criticism from the business market and stern actions such as ban of the products were taken. Therefore, it can be said that companies need to maintain the principles that are involved with ethical considerations. In reputed companies like Gap, such illegal use of children as labours needs to be considered as ethical approaches.
These principles include being honest particularly while describing a professional experience and avoiding conflicting of interests. Business organisations need to maintain factors that can be considered as important for the business. For example, the confidentiality of the customers’ needs to be maintained in organisations that provides services. At the same time, it is necessary that the companies follow certain rules that prevent it from making any type of stereotypical advances that may jeopardise the development of the business. Therefore, ethical considerations are important for the development of principles within an organisation.
Sustainability can be considered as a relatively new concept that has developed mainly due to the realisation that profit-making cannot be the ultimate goal of an organisation. Therefore, it is necessary for business organisations to continue with motivating the society so that it can help in providing value to the organisations. The concept of social responsibility is mainly aimed at helping the society and the environment in which an organisation works to develop so that more resources can be gained from it for the benefit of the organisation. Therefore, it can be argued that the application of social responsibility of an organisation can be underlined with the profit-making concept of an organisation.
Ethics in Business Operations
Business needs to be considered as a part of a society and the manner in which it operates in the socio-economic climate defines the steadiness and the popularity of the organisations. The dependence of the society is important for a business organisation as rich resources in the form of capital and human resource can be achieved. Therefore, enhancing the local community is important as it helps in facilitating the living conditions of the people. The justification of the existence of a business organisation is done by fulfilling the obligations it has on the society. Therefore, it is necessary that the social responsibilities of the business are maintained so that it can help in the proper growth and development of a business.
In the modern world, it has become a moral duty for business organisations to serve the society in which it works. Organisations such as Act for Peace provide sustainability as well as contribute to the development of the society. The NGO performs these activities by supporting local charities or by conducting a knowledgeable programme that can help to develop the society and ensure that recognition is achieved for its welfare. Developing educational facilities or supporting healthcare concerns of the people are considered as the social responsibility of Act for Peace that they need to consider. It has been stated that good ethical behaviour is crucial for the development of business; however, conducting a good social responsibility is another factor that can help an organisation to maintain success. The obligation to the community needs to be fulfilled so that business organisations can maintain its competitiveness in the market.
Organisational transformation involves changes that are fundamental, complex as well as radical. The changes undertaken comprise of making the organisations better and improve its overall importance in the society. In this case, it can be said that the changes made in an organisation can provide major shifts in the manner in which an organisation works. The shift in the organisations can be in the form of structure and organisational arrangements that are crucial in the development of the business. Changes have been seen in the organisation that involves shaping up of the behaviours of the members so that profit is not the focal point of the business. The shift in paradigm can be attributed to the reshaping of the culture and design of the organisations.
The transformation that takes place in an organisation can be attributed to the various features that involve the structure, process, human resource and the information system of the organisations. The features need to be changed so that an organisation can gain support from the stakeholders and apply any cultural views and work designs. This transformation can be related to maintaining the ethical and social responsibility of the business organisations. The ethical responsibility is normally based on the manner in which an organisation perceives its activities in the society. The transformation needs to be such that principles relating to the changes need to focus on maintaining the organisational culture so that the benefits can be gained from the society.
Sustainability and Society
A systematic process that involves several levels for conducting ethical changes in the organisations can be achieved by such transformation. The financial stability of the companies needs to be analysed so that proper social responsibility can be maintained. Therefore, it can be said that the transformational changes in the organisations help in mastering the different levels in a systematic manner and ensure that the adaptability and learning process of the organisations are maintained in a proper manner. The success of a business cannot be separated from the solo entity it has in the market. The application of ethical and social responsibilities can help business organisations to establish a new paradigm of success in the market.
The managers play an important role in developing the social responsibilities of a business and the manner in which it ethical responsibilities can be maintained. In the highly competitive environment, it is necessary that a positive impact be maintained in the business so that the reputation of the organisation and the success of the business can be maintained. The application of ethical considerations comes from the top leadership that percolates three dimensions of the ethical conduct. The managers need to ensure that the ethical practices that are developed in an organisation are written down so that each employee maintains it while working for the success of the organisations. In this case, it can be said that the role of the managers is crucial in identifying the ethics and translating it into the business activities of the organisations.
The organisational transformation is brought about by the managers so that departments within an organisation embrace the changes and ensure that institutionalisation of the problems is maintained. The successful implementation of the corporate social responsibility practice can be attributed to the strategic decision undertaken by the managers. Therefore, it is important to understand the knowledge that is possessed by the managers while trying to incorporate the social responsibility factors in an organisation. Therefore, an analysis of the departments needs to be made so that the business managers can incorporate the application of ethics in an organisation. A system can be developed by the top level managers that can help it to make the corporate social responsibility a success in the market.
The role of the managers in the implementation of ethics and social value in an organisation can be attributed to the fact that the managers need to remain aware of the efforts that are made by the management. The contribution made by managers can be related to the actions that are undertaken for maintaining the profitability as well as the perpetuation of the efforts related to the transformation of an organisation.
Fulfilling Obligations to the Community
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that every business organisation need to maintain its social responsibility and ethics so that it can gain success in the competitive market. The motive of making a profit in the organisations is an important factor but it cannot overlook the importance that a community provides to a business. Hence, it is necessary that every organisation develop a separate social responsibility and ethical responsibility so that it can continue with its business in the market. Although controversy has evolved over the need for ethics in business, the mere application of it has helped many organisations to perform social responsibility in an effective manner.
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