Business Ethics & Corporate

Social Responsibility
 Introduction
Ethics: What is the correct thing to
do?
 What is Business
Ethics?
• Decisions a business makes between right and
wrong
– Includes actions of employees and
organizations
• Reflects the philosophy of business
• Corporate social responsibility: businesses act as
responsible citizens in their communities
 Examples of Ethics in
•
Business
Accounting:
misrepresenting the truth
• Human Resources: hiring
relatives
• Marketing: selling
unhealthy products to
youth
• IT: using illegal copies of
software
 International Views &
Ethics
• Ethics is interpreted differently around the
world
– Bribes
– Minimum working age
– Safe workplaces
– Copyright protection
– Nepotism
• Religion also plays a big role in shaping
ethics
Corporate Social
Responsibility
Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing
commitment by business to behave ethically and
contribute to economic development while improving
the quality of life of the workforce and their families as
well as of the local community and society at large”.

CSR is also referred to as

• ‘corporate’ or ‘business responsibility’
• ‘corporate’ or ‘business citizenship’
• ‘community relations’
• ‘social responsibility
 Benefits of Corporate Social
Responsibility
• It aids the attraction and retention of staff.
• It attracts green and ethical investment.
• It attracts ethically conscious customers.
• It can lead to a reduction in costs through recycling.
• It differentiates the form from its competitor and can be
a source of competitive advantage.
• It can lead to increased profitability in the long run
 Benefits of Corporate Social
Responsibility
• Human Resources – attractive to potential
hires
• Risk Management – keeps customers happy
• Unique Brand – stand out from the crowd
• New Customers – reach new people with
your products by helping them
The Pyramid of Corporate Social
Responsibility
 Arguments Against Corporate Social
Responsibility
• Benefits are hard to measure
• Does not have a big impact on
success
• How genuine are companies’ efforts?

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Negative Impact of Unethical
Behavior
• Unethical actions hurt many to benefit a
few
• Examples
– Media company: unfair competition
– Airline: poor treatment of others
– Gold mining company: destroys homes and
environment

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 The Role of Trust in Ethics
• Trust can promote ethics
• Important with customers AND
employees
• Transparency creates trust

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 The Gray
Area
• Ethics is very complicated
• Sometimes right and wrong aren’t clear
• Ethics depends on our idea of business
• We must try our best to behave ethically
• Competition should never compromise
ethics

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 Summary
• Business ethics is a new but popular field
• The study of right and wrong in business
• Ethics change with time and culture
• There are benefits for ethical behavior, but not
necessarily added success for a company
• Society suffers when businesses act unethically
• Difficult to know sometimes what is right

Novus Business and IT Training Program