DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY – MANILA

Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business

Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Analysis

of Bethel Academy of Gen. Trias, Cavite Inc.

A Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Course Requirements for

BUS560M: Lasallian Business Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Social
Responsibility
Term 1, AY 2020-2021

Submitted to:
Ms. Pia R. Manalastas

Submitted by:
Garcia, Tristan F.

February 6, 2021
 I. Introduction

There are numerous philosophical theories surrounding the conduct of

business - guiding frameworks that shape a business leader’s decisions and
management style. And while any of these perspectives can be effective in
achieving a company’s desired results, not all can be considered universally ethical
and moral. Business education in De La Salle University - Manila revolves around
this - the pursuit and application of ethical business philosophies.

This paper aims to use principle or duty-based ethics as a guide in launching

a corporate social responsibility program for Bethel Academy of Gen. Trias, Cavite
Inc., and its stakeholders.

II. Company Background

Bethel Academy of Gen. Trias, Cavite Inc. is a 43-year-old private school in

General Trias City, Cavite which offers pre-school, grade school, junior high school,
and senior high school education. To date, it has two campuses in the city. Birthed
from a local church, Bethel as an institution aims “to provide quality education which
integrates academic excellence, character building, and Christian values” (Bethel
Academy, n.d.).

Being in the education space for four decades, the school has been regarded
as one of the better and more affordable private schools in the City of Gen. Trias.
Prior to the pandemic, Bethel averages around a thousand enrollees every
academic year, while its faculty is usually composed of 40 - 50 educators.

Despite its long years in the industry, the school was not managed as
properly as it could have been the past few years. The growth from 2013 to 2019
rendered the traditional and church-like management style employed by school’s
leaders as ineffective; leaving a void for scientific and dynamic organizational
leadership. This resulted in improper and disorganized business foundations and
organizational culture.

Fortunately, Bethel has been under organizational transformation and

modernization for the past two years through the help of its new youngblood leaders.
During this phase, top management aims to correct past practices and lay better
foundations for the school as it gears for greater growth in the years to come.

III. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Bethel Academy

Despite the stated lapses in management, Bethel was still able to establish
some corporate social responsibility programs that are being implemented up to this
day. In addition to its overall commitment to keep private education affordable to the
community, the school has had the following programs in place for the past few
years:
 A. Scholarships

Scholarship Description

Academic Given to public and private school students with

outstanding academic capabilities

Church affiliation Given to students whose parents are pastors or

members of evangelical churches

Athletic Given to public school students who have

outstanding athletic skills

Employee grants Given to children whose parents are employees of

Bethel Academy

Financial grants Given to chosen students who are financially-

challenged
Table 1. Scholarship Offerings

B. Disaster relief drives - Regular donation and relief drives for typhoon,
earthquake, and volcanic eruption victims.

C. Gratuity pay for long-tenured employees who voluntarily resign.

D. Mental health and spiritual parenting seminars for parents.

But while these programs do help the community and some stakeholders in a
lot of ways, there are some fundamental issues of CSR that should be addressed
first before going to external projects. One of which is the low salaries of the school’s
employees, specifically, its educators

Employee Type Pay Rate Per Living Wage* Difference

Month

Entry-level, licensure exam Php 11,000.00

Php (4,544.50)
non-passer
Php 15,544.50
Entry-level, licensure exam 12,000.00
(3,544.50)
passer
(Source: Bethel Academy, 2020; IBON Media and Communications, 2020)
Table 2. Comparison of Bethel’s Entry-level Pay Rate and Living Wage for 2020

To illustrate the problem at hand, Table 2 shows the school’s pay rate for its
entry-level teachers vis-a-vis the estimated living wage as of February 2020,
assuming that the family living wage for a family of five is allocated equally among
two income earners for the family and that the rate for the National Capital Region
(NCR) is the same as that of Region IV-A. The analysis resulted in deficits of Php
4,544.50 and Php 3,544.50 for licensure exam non-passers and passers,
respectively, signifying that Bethel’s monthly rates, despite being above minimum
wage (Department of Labor and Employment, 2021), are still lagging behind what is
considered as the true cost of living and value of services rendered in the area
(Living Wage Foundation, n.d.).

Employee Type Pay Rate Per Public School Difference

Month Salary

Entry-level, licensure exam

Php 12,000.00 Php 20,754.00 Php (8,754.00)
passer (Teacher I)
(Source: Bethel Academy, 2020; Salaverria, 2020)
Table 3: Comparison of Bethel’s Entry-level Pay Rate and Public School Entry-level Pay Rate

Further comparison of Bethel’s pay rates with that of public schools (see
Table 3) shows that the former is lagging behind the latter by Php 8,754.00 despite
the latter being at par with most private schools in the industry. According to Cruz
(2019), salaries of private school teachers could go as low as Php 3,000.00 to Php
6,000.00 per month.

Sadly, such pay rates are just reflective of a larger systemic problem in the
Philippines where other sectors like the military and the police are prioritized over
education when it comes to government funding - devaluing the work of educators in
the long wrong (Delizo, 2019). The regular increase of salary grades for public
school teachers also puts private schools in difficult positions as most schools are
not capable of matching the competitive salary given by the public sector (Estrada,
2018). In fact, most teachers leave Bethel once they pass the licensure exam for
teacher (LET), leaving the school with a high employee turnover rate which in turn
affects the quality of education rendered.
 Source: Manalastas (2020)
Figure 1. CSR Continuum

Using the Corporate Social Responsibility Continuum (see Figure 1), Bethel
can be placed in between the legal and philanthropic phases of CSR maturity. While
it does have programs in place that lean towards philanthropic giving and a few
social causes, it has yet to resolve some foundational and internal matters such as
the compensation structure discussed above.

IV. Opportunities for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Programs

Kantian principle-based ethics, as stated by Bowie (2002), suggests that for

work to be meaningful it has to provide “a salary sufficient to exercise independence
and provide for physical well-being and the satisfaction of some of the worker's
desires.” Thus, it can be deduced from definition that meaningful work requires a
livable wage. Therefore, it is imperative for Bethel to increase its educators’ salaries
at least to Php 15,544.50. This is in spite of the fact that the school salary grades are
within industry practice and are not in violation of any labor laws.

If Bethel, in keeping with the Christian values and principles that it purports
follow, wishes to uphold its employees’ rights to fair compensation, it has to first
recognize that there are failings in its compensation system and how the industry
values educators as whole; and that before it pursues other external CSR programs,
it has to first voluntarily provide livable salaries to it employees even if it means
going beyond what the law and the industry requires.

V. Proposed Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Program

In response to the foundational issue delved into by the study, the researcher
aims to propose the project, reVALUE: Salary Restructuring and Career
Progression Program, to the school’s top management. The 3-year program will
revolve around revamping the current salary structure of the school with the long
term goal of matching the pay grades of the public sector.

A. Objectives
○ To elevate the salaries of all educators, and incidentally all
employees, to a livable level.;
○ To provide a structure for regular salary increases and career
progression for the school’s educators; and
○ To transition the school to its desired compensation structure in a
financially feasible manner

B. Benefits to the Organization

 ○ Increased employee satisfaction
○ Possible decrease in employee turnover
○ Better organizational image

C. Key Performance Indicators (KPI) of the Project

○ Employee satisfaction
○ Employee performance
○ Employee turnover
○ Number of new applicants

VI. Salient Features of the Proposed Program

A. Salary grading

A definitive structure on employee classifications and salary rates

will be established. Current employees will be classified accordingly and
will maintain whichever is higher between his or her current salary or his
or her revised salary based on the new classifications.

Requirements and target KPIs to reach each qualification will also

be set in order to establish career progression for the educators.

B. Across the board salary increase for first year of implementation.

Since salaries of entry-level employees are slated for a big increase

on the first year of project implementation, it is only fair that those in higher
positions also get the same increases. Thus, an across the board increase
must be implemented.

C. Salary increase program for subsequent years.

A schedule on regular increases for the subsequent periods even

beyond the reVALUE program will be established. This is to adjust
salaries for inflation.

D. Target increase amount amortized across the duration of the program.

Since the school is not capable of providing large abrupt salary

increases, the cost of doing so must be spread across the duration of the
program. This way, Bethel is able to gradually meet the goals of the
program without sacrificing its operations.
VII. Implementation Plan

Phase Activity Department Involved Duration

1. Build Support Present program proposal Transformation and One week
to top management Modernization Team

2. Planning Prepare revised salary Human Resources One month

increase and career Department
progression structure

Determine forecasted Human Resources One month

costs of the program and Department, Accounting
create a budget to the and Finance Department
extent feasible, spreading
costs across three years

Present final proposal to Transformation and One day

top management Modernization Team

3. Execution Open new academic year Top Management Three years

with revised salary and
career progression
structure

4. Monitoring Monitor KPIs to see if Transformation and Regularly

and effective; revise Modernization Team every
Evaluation accordingly academic
quarter

References:

Bethel Academy. (n.d.). About Us. Bethel Academy.

http://bethelacademygtc.com/about/#:~:text=Bethel%20Academy%20strives

%20to%20provide,students%20to%20optimize%20their%20potentials.

Bethel Academy. (2020). Payroll AY 2020-2021. Unpublished internal document,

Bethel Academy.
Cruz, M. (2019, December 4). ‘Increase salary of private school teachers’.

Manila Standard. https://manilastandard.net/mobile/article/311749

Delizo, M. J. (2019, May 30). Overworked, underpaid: Teachers renew cry over

low pay, poor working conditions. ABS-CBN News.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/30/19/overworked-underpaid-teachers-renew-

cry-over-low-pay-poor-working-conditions

Department of Labor and Employment. (2021, January). SUMMARY OF

CURRENT REGIONAL DAILY MINIMUM WAGE RATES BY REGION, NON-

AGRICULTURE AND AGRICULTURE. Department of Labor and Employment:

National Wages and Productivity Commission.

https://nwpc.dole.gov.ph/stats/summary-of-current-regional-daily-minimum-wage-

rates-by-region-non-agriculture-and-agriculture/

IBON Media and Communications. (2020, March 7). The Family Living Wage, as

of February 2020. IBON. https://www.ibon.org/the-family-living-wage-as-of-

february-2020/

Living Wage Foundation. (n.d.). For The Real Cost of Living. Living Wage

Foundation. www.livingwage.org.uk

Manalastas, P. R. (2020). Session 10: Introduction to CSR Human Rights. In

[Power Point Slides]. https://dlsu.instructure.com/courses/45884/files?

preview=2541972

Salaverria, L. B. (2020, January 10). Duterte signs pay hike law; teachers

‘disappointed’. Inquirer. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1211153/duterte-signs-pay-

hike-law-teachers-disappointed#:~:text=An%20entry%2Dlevel%20teacher

%20earning,and%20P27%2C000%2C%20respectively.