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Critical Thinking Assignment
Critical Thinking Assignment
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Semester 1 2011-2012
Module Leader Dr. Kalpana Maheshwari
Executive Summary
In this report, Ive endeavored to evaluate major factors contributing and attributed to Business Ethics. By giving definition and historical background of Business Ethics, Ive tried to give reader a base, and thereafter, Ive tried to raise major issues and the impact business ethics have on success of business. Later in the report, Ive mentioned social obligation and moral obligation, which are nothing but two side of the coin of Business Ethics. I hope, I have done justice to the topic, though topic was too vast, however, Ive tried to keep things short and to the point.
Historical Background
Indias tryst with business ethics dates back to Kautilyas Arthasstras that was found in 3rd century BC. Kautilyas Arthasstras is one of the oldest written management transcripts which are still treated as relevant and applicable in contemporary business scenario. Kautilya, who is popularly known as Chanakya, endeavored to comprehensibly elucidate the purpose and philosophy of an organization, organizational culture, leadership established upon values and ethics, and achievement of purpose and welfare of stakeholders and shareholders in an organization. (Kautilya, 2011) If we define business ethics as law of moral code, then the code of Hammurabi (1800 BC) could be one the earliest example of business ethics, wherein tribute, taxes and daily commercial activities were codified to nurture healthy business environment free of corruption. The Talmud and Ten Commandments (After the death of Christ, 200) also includes moral codes for the business activities. However, these books are more religious and are limited in scope; despite this these books offer an insight into the historical legacy of ethics in business. (History Guide, 2000) In contemporary history, Raymond Baumhart works on business ethics (1960s) are attributed to be the first concrete effort to understand, design, structure and develop effective business ethics
background and base. Subsequently, vertical and horizontal study in business ethics, opened wide array of avenue in which different branches of ethics related to business grew and develop to become discrete subject matter such as financial ethics, organizational ethics, leadership ethics etc. (A. Marcoux, 2008)
CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is one of the effective tools to fulfill social obligations and for moral obligation, a corporation needs to have policies, work-culture and its leader should have sense of high level of personal integrity to nourish ethical values and make success truly deserving.
Now, to standardize or to judge if a corporation is doing well in CSR activities, many international organizations or government bodies have issued set of standards. If these standards are met in their full forms then the corporation is provided certification to ascertain its role in CSR activities in marketplace. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an autonomous body that offers international certifications on meeting set of standards of management practices. Now, ISO have launched set of standards guiding social responsibility (SR) under ISO 26000, this will not be a certification. ISO 26000 will be shared with ISOs members of Working Group on Social Responsibility (WG SR). Swedish Standards Institute (SSI) and Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT) will lead this ISO Working Group on Social Responsibility. (ISO, 2010)
Conclusion
Business ethics is a vast area of research, wherein many factors both internal and external are capable to broaden and deepen the scope of study. Apart from studies, Business ethics need to become more applicable then remaining only bookish. Beside, contribution of academic world to business ethics, now it is high time for corporate world to come to fore front and contribute to business ethics in terms of application, implementation and evolution. However, corporate world has achieved high feats by fully realizing the potential of social and moral obligation, and continue to cater to it, nevertheless, enlargement of horizon and perspective will not only make business worthwhile but more profitable and sustainable.
References
Marcoux, A. (Fall 2008) Business Ethics, The Stanford Encyclopedia Of Philosophy, 1, Fall (online) (cited 10th Oct 2011). Available from <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/ethicsbusiness/>. The Dictionary (2011) Ethics (online) (cited 11th Oct 2011). Available from <URL:http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ethics>.
Friedman, M. (1970) The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits, The New York Times Magazine. India Knowledge @ Wharton (2011) Corporate Social Responsibility in India: No Clear Definition, but Plenty of Debate (online) (cited 12 October 2011). Available from <URL:http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4636>. History Guide (2000) The Code of Hammurabi (online) (cited 11 October 2011). Available from <URL: http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/hammurabi.html>. Fieser, J. (2011) Business Ethics, The University of Tennessee at Martin, 1:1, (online) (cited 11 October 2011). Available from <URL:http://www.utm.edu/staff/jfieser/vita/research/busbook.htm>. Porter, M. E. and Kramer, M. R., (2006) Strategy and Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility, Harvard Business Review, 1:1, (online) (cited 11 October 2011). Available from <URL: http://hbr.org/product/strategy-and-society-the-linkbetween-competitive-/an/R0612D-PDF-ENG>. The International Organization for Standardization (2010) Social Responsibility (online) (cited 10 October 2011). Available from <URL: http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/fetch/2000/2122/830949/3934883/3935096/home.html?nodei d=4451259&vernum=0> Boisjoly, Roger M. (1993) Personal Integrity and Accountability, American Accounting Association Accounting Horizons.