Ethics and Social Responsibility *Dr. Vipin K Sharma Abstract: “Ethics and Social Responsibility’ is a growing and developing discipline Lately it has come into focus ever since the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee pleaded for “cero tolerance for corruption’ in order to restore ethics. He rightly pointed out that it cannot become a reality unless we work with the foundation of human values? The recent scams perpetrated by Messrs Raja & Kalmadi in 2G Spectrum, Commonwealth Games and the latest Citi Bank scam etc have already considerably undermined this foundation, Presently professional education is equally callous towards human values and ethics, The educated leatlers and business entrepreneurs have forgotten Vivekanand, Gandhi, Tagore, Aurobindo and several other towering personalities for their valuable contributions in building this foundation, Ethics and social responsibilities have an intemational dimension that should not be ignored. The field of business ethics has traditionally been the domain of all intellectuals. The literature on ethics today, is not ready to handle the practical needs of managers — the persons, mainly responsible for adhering to ethics in the workplace, The values that were rigidly followed are now strongly questioned. There are no clear moral and ethical values to navigate managers through complex dilemmas about what is right or wrong. This article mainly deals with the understanding of business ethics and social responsibility and its implementation at grass root level arising out by virtue of one’s position in an organization especially during this dynamic scenario mainly because of emergence of affluent society and LPG i.e, Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization Key words: Ethics, values, liberalization, privatization and globalization Introduction: Ethics and social responsibility are two concepts many individuals believe go hand in hand for organizations in the business environment. Business ethics represents the moral principles an organization uses to ensure all employees act in an acceptable manner when completing business functions. Social responsibility is typically an ideological theory governments and the general public hold, believing that businesses should not conduct themselves in a manner counter to cultural or societal norms. The blending of business ethics and social responsibility bears when organizations implement avwritten code of ethics to prove that the organization only acts in its best interest so long asit does not damage the organization's social responsibility. Ethics: When man first evolved himself from the primeval existence, his behavior and thinking were not different from those of animals. He largely depended on instincts for his existence and survival But gradually, his rational faculty began to develop and he grew from the stage of an animal guided by the instincts to that of a rational animal Every individual in this world wants to lead an ideal and luxurious life, where he tries to find out the norms, ideals and standards of the particular society and this can be achieved through three ideals of human life, ic. truth, beauty and goodness. They refer to “Associate Professor, Aravali College of Engineering & Management, Faridabadthree aspects of our experiences- ‘thinking’, ‘feeling’ and ‘willing’. These all refer to the Ethic: Ethics is a set of moral principles, which guide the code of conduct and behavior of a human being in his life and in society. It is a person’s own positive attitude and desirable behavior and it differs from one another among individuals. ‘The concept of ethics comes from the Greek word, “Ethos” that means both an individual's character and a community’s culture. Generally it is believed that business ethics involves adhering to legal, professional, regulatory and company standards, keeping promises and commitments and abiding by general principles like truth, faimess, honesty and respect. The Institute of Global Ethics defines ethics as ‘obedience to the unenforceable’? ‘This is a well-known fact that Ethics is a complex area where no universal set of ethical principles exists and what is right and whet is wrong often depends on circumstances. Due to global competition and rapidly developing technology change has become inevitable. The increasing realization of this has led to a change in thinking about the effective approaches to getting firms and their employees to behave ethically. Initial approaches were heavily based on “compliance’, the creation of rules and systems that people and company had to follow. But rules are hard to draft and can quickly become obsolete while systems can tie people up in bureaucracy and hamper business efficiency This has led to the evolution of the belief that although some level of compliance will always be necessary, it is more important to instill ethical “values” into the corporate body and the employees that inhibit it To do this successfully, businesses must have a vision about why they exist and that ought to be shared by everyone connected with the organization, They must have also shared beliefs about acceptable standards of behavior It may be called an American subject in the sense that most recent work on the subject has been carried out in United States. The ethics movement has grown most strongly in United States because the risk of being penalized by the courts for unethical behavior is greatest there. Business values and business ethics have a world wide dimension that must be looked after in an appropriate manner. Many people remain unconvinced by the business ethics movement. Business ethics matters because there is plenty of evidence that unethical behavior can cost a company its reputation and hard cash and reduce its stock price. Moreover companies that are perceived as ethical are more likely to build trust among their employees, customers, shareholders and the wider community and this surely is good for business. Some entrepreneurs focus on specific ways to exhibit integrity and respect in daily business interactions with clients, suppliers, and other designers, while others address much broader issues and present fundamental ethical principles. Some fundamental of these practices are + Ethics ‘not 1, but thou,” with motto: ‘not self, but non-self «Always respect your competitors in fair and open competition + Be honest when you are describing your professional experience andcompetencies + Avoid any type of conflict of interest cquaint yourself with each client’s business and provide honest and impartial + Maintain the confidentiality of all client information + Eliminate any form of hidden compensation or kickback + Maintain commitment to the development of innovative work of the highest quality + Never compromise on any forms of plagiarism ethics and social responsibility owledge contribution of others who have collaborated unconditionally with you in creating aniche in your field Some of the scandals in the business world had their origin in little regard being shown to morality. The scandals convince that maxims such as “business is business: or principles like ‘caveat emptor’ (let the buyer beware) fall far short of public expectation + Businesses are under pressure to define their standards and codes of practice. Henry ‘Thomas, a cellular technician for Souther Bell, who was asked to randomly terminate five employees as a disciplinary measure. He refused to do so based on his moral code, and was then terminated. He decided to go into business for himself and dedicate his business to God. He states that, “The Bible tells us that God’s eyes are looking to and fro throughout the earth for those whose hearts are wholly committed to Him. Every day, I pray that God would give us wisdom and that He would find us usable so thet we can continue our mission to help others and to show God how much we love Him.”* Another very important area for ethics to be apparent is in the field of education The public often hears of student ragging resulting suicide in reputed colleges. These instances scare people and lead to mistrust. It is essential that college authorities maintain ethical standards so that they can maintain the trust that we need to place in them as customers ‘The interest in business ethics has increased by recent trend towards Total Quality Management. TQM has two consequences for business ethics, First, it means that the consumer’s interests cannot be ignored. Second, management should define procedures and codify them for the introduction of code practice. The codification of procedures involves duties which impart a value judgment Social Responsibilities In the heyday of laissez-faire capitalism of Europe, the maxim ‘was maximizing profit, Social responsibility had no place in this scheme of things. The business of business is business. So long as man made money was kept out of the srunches of society he felt no particular obligation and acknowledged no responsibility to the community. “The public be damned.” Social welfare was not his concem. But this