QUESTION 1

Identify employer’s moral obligations to its employees. Explain this with example (10

Marks)

SOLUTION:

A corporation has multiple responsibilities which include paying taxes, adhering to

government laws, conforming with financial regulations etc. Apart from these an

organization has moral obligations and responsibilities towards the welfare of its employees.

The moral obligations are not limited to only fair pay and conducive working environment

but also include treating employees with respect and dignity, equality, no gender

discrimination, no religious discrimination etc.

Primary responsibility of an employer is to provide an employee with safe, healthy and

respectable working environment. Employers must take steps that they provide an employee

with a workplace that should be free of multiples hazards like fire, earthquake etc., to prevent

its workforce against injury or illness. All hazardous materials should be kept in safe

environment and in proper lock and key and employers must take preventive measures to

avoid accidents that may cause temporary or permanent injury to its employees.

Employers should also not be discriminatory towards its employees on account of religion or

gender. A diverse organization should be cognizant of the fact that employees are of different

religious beliefs and give them appropriate religious freedom by giving them holidays on

their religious holidays and other religious events. Employers must also provide equal and

fair compensation to all its employees irrespective of their gender and religion. Gender

equality should also be practised and women should be given equal chance of job placement,

compensation and equal opportunities for growth.

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Employees must also be paid for their service promptly and without any delays. Any delays

towards payment of employees must be communicated to employees at earliest and

employees should be given relief in case of undue delays in compensation transfer on account

of errors or unforeseen problems/issues.

Employers must also treat their employees with respect and should implement policies that

all employees follow towards their co-workers. Insulting and discriminatory treatment should

be avoided and penalised if incurred.

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QUESTION 2

A. Explain the moral reasons for businesses in engaging in corporate social responsibility

activities. (10 Marks)

SOLUTION:

Corporate social responsibility is an initiative/action by a Company in which it applies

economic, environmental and social activities in their business operations to become socially

accountable and acceptable to not only its internal and external stakeholders but also

public/operating environment in general.

Corporate social responsibility helps a company improve its brand image along with the

trying to enhance the society and the environments in which it operates.

Corporate social responsibility includes environmental responsibility, ethical responsibility,

philanthropic responsibility and economic responsibility. A business may engage in any one

or all of the activities through its CSR initiative.

The biggest and most important initiative of a company is environmental responsibility

towards the people and nature protection. Company involved in plastic manufacturing should

setup recycling plants to promote recycling and reuse of the already produced resources. Tree

plantation is also most sought-after initiative by Oil and Gas companies, tobacco companies

etc. as to give back to the environment/nature for consuming natural resources and increase in

pollution levels.

Ethical responsibility is giving a fair treatment to all associated with the company which not

only includes the employees, stakeholders but also the customers. All customers, employees

and stakeholders are given same treatment irrespective of age, race, religion, cast, gender, or

sexual orientation.

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Philanthropic responsibility is actions and contributions of a company towards the society in

which it operates and how company utilises its resources to make a positive impact on the

society/world.

Economic responsibility is the level of resource a company spends on CSR initiatives which

include environmental, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities. A company may spend

money earned through its operations, deploy human resources for improving the conditions

of people affected by its operations or setup donation programmes, free clinics, providing

financial and digital literacy etc.

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B. Write an explanatory note on corporate governance and its need. (10 Marks)

SOLUTION:

Corporate governance is the system of rules, practices and processes by which a company is

directed and controlled. (What is corporate governance, n.d.)

Corporate governance refers to how an organization is governed and essentially protects the

stakeholders’ interest namely, shareholders, management, employees, government, suppliers,

customers, financiers and community. Good corporate governance leads to effective,

transparent and fair business practices which leads to a better return and attracts investments.

Corporate governance sets out the rules and procedures to be followed by board of directors,

who are representative of the shareholders, to make decisions about the company’s chief level

appointments who are required to run the day-to-day operation of the company, their

remuneration, major investments aligned with the strategic objectives of the company,

financial loans acquiring approval, profits, returns and dividend policies.

There are four pillars of corporate governance. Accountability, fairness, transparency and

independence.

Accountability refers to answerability of the management to board of directors and board of

directors to shareholders. Shareholders want board of directors and top-tier management to be

responsible for the company’s operations. If all goes according to the plans than the company

will prosper and more investment will be generated.

Fairness means treating stakeholders properly and ensuring their rights are protected.

Protecting shareholders rights irrespective of their interest in the company.

Transparency refers to providing proper and clear disclosure and information about

company’s businesses. This clarity is not only provided for financial transactions of the

company but also operational aspects of the company. This includes social and environmental

impacts, ethics and moral obligations of the company etc.

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Independence refers to decision making without undue influence. Policies under corporate

governance should be such as to foster independent and right decision making without any

influence.

By combining the above four pillars, a company can achieve good corporate governance

which will be beneficial for all stakeholders. Following are major benefits of a good

corporate governance.

 Creates transparency for all stakeholders and business integrity.

 Helps to gain investors trust and government support.

 Helps in raising investment and adequate capital for future need.

 Increase share prices, creates more opportunities and in turn additional returns.

 Long term success and resilience to unfavourable conditions.

Good corporate governance practices are the difference in creating a upstanding, transparent

business which benefits all stakeholders in comparison to a bad governance which lead to

bankruptcy and scandals.

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QUESTION 3

Classify stakeholders based on their power and interest. (10 Marks)

SOLUTION:

Stakeholder analysis is a process of identifying key participants and assessing the

requirements of these participants based on their participation, interest, influence and

expectations and formalizing a plan to effectively deliver on these requirements.

Stakeholders are classified based on their power and interest through below grid.

The allocation of stakeholders in the above grid determines the actions needed to be taken to

keep the stakeholders interested in the project and achieve the desired results.

Manage closely – Participants with high power and high interest must be fully always

engaged and satisfied with the progress and development of the project.

Keep satisfied – Participants with higher power and low interest must be well informed

about the project but not given every little detail. These participants must be informed of all

details in case of any issues with delivery and effectiveness of the project but are not

provided every information if the project is moving along with desired objectives and results.

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Keep informed – Participants with high interest and low power are the ones who are directly

affected by the project and must be informed of all details to ensure that all requirements are

met and project in running smoothly.

Monitor – Participants with low power and low interest are the ones who are not directly

impacted by the project and hence must only be provided with minimum relevant information

just enough to get them involved if they become directly affected by the project.

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QUESTION 4

Discuss gender ethics in a corporate culture in terms of harassment and gender

discrimination. (10 Marks)

SOLUTION:

Gender discrimination and harassment is and has been one of the most complex issues in the

modern-day corporate culture. Gender inequality can be observed in a corporate HR structure

and HR policies. The HR policies and practical decision-making create difference in talent

acquisition, wage-gaps, trainings and advancement. Gender discrimination and harassment is

skewed towards women in our corporate culture, but this does not take anything away from

the fact that men also face gender discrimination and harassment in workplace.

Gender discrimination is recruiting, giving promotion or providing additional benefit to

someone just based on their gender or sex. Examples are hiring only men and ignoring

women candidates, giving promotion to women or facilitating them beyond male counterparts

in the team, not giving maternity leaves to female employees or giving lower wage to women

for same work/job done by men.

Harassment is another toxic form of discrimination found in organizations. Harassment

creates a hostile environment in the workplace and this interferes with the ability of an

employee to perform his/her work effectively. Harassment takes many forms i.e.,

inappropriate touch, flirting with co-workers, inappropriate/stereotypical comments about

opposite gender or sexual jokes, or offering employment or increase benefits for a sexual

favor etc.

Gender discrimination mainly stems form the fact that the leadership positions are not well

represented by women, and this creates a passive environment from women. Leaders affect

the structure and policies of a corporate organization. With men holding key positions in an

organization the environment is perceived to be biased towards women and directly impact

the recruitment and advancement. If women are given equal chance of advancement, they can

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surely provide motivation and influence other women to come forward and perform equal if

not better than male counterparts.

References

What is corporate governance. (n.d.). Retrieved from cgi.org.uk:

https://www.cgi.org.uk/about-us/policy/what-is-corporate-

governance#:~:text=Corporate%20Governance%20refers%20to%20the,challenges

%20of%20running%20a%20company.

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