Ethics and social responsiblity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Ethics and social responsiblity - Essay Example These incidents are all manifestations of the failure of companies to act in a socially responsible manner. Always, at the other end of the supply chain – the consumers – bear the brunt of the failure of companies to act responsibly. For which reason, this research paper is now being carried out in order to establish ways with which the general public and concerned authorities can evaluate if a company is behaving in a socially responsible manner. This paper shall consider the growing role of ethical considerations in business, as well as the different moral philosophies and ethical standpoints related to CSR. It shall also consider ethics and corruption in its discussion. Practical examples shall be used in order to answer the details needed in this paper. This paper is being conducted in order to establish a comprehensive evaluation of corporate social responsibility and how the general public can be guided in their patronage and purchase of the various products and s ervices in the market. Discussion Corporate social responsibility defined Before any discussion or evaluation of this subject matter can be carried out, it is important to first understand and lay out a standard definition and conceptualization of corporate social responsibility, otherwise known as CSR. ... It is defined more in detail by Carroll (as cited by Kanji, 2009, p. 102) as a pyramid with four distinct elements. The first is economic responsibility; the second is, legal responsibility; the third is ethical responsibility; and the fourth is discretionary responsibility which is otherwise equivalent to philanthropy. This definition however is still considered incomplete because it does not take into consideration the dynamic relationship between corporations and society. The above definitions can be conceptualized on a more comprehensive plain when the elements of social fairness, ethics, environmental rights, human rights are all considered in the management of corporations (Kanji, 2009, p. 102). These elements all have standards of compliance and all help build knowledge and a strong basis for the evaluation of CSR among corporations. Approaches to evaluating CSR There are different ways of evaluating whether or not a company is acting in a socially responsible way. Schermerhor n, Jr. (2010, p. 70) suggests that a company’s CSR performance can be measured based on the following criteria: economic responsibility, legal responsibility, ethical responsibility, and discretionary responsibility. In essence, evaluating a corporation is taking note of the following: 1. Economic responsibility: Is the organization profitable? 2. Legal responsibility: Is the company obeying the law? 3. Ethical responsibility: Is the company doing what is â€Å"right?† 4. Discretionary responsibility: Is the organization contributing to the broader community? (Schermerhorn, Jr., 2010, p. 70). In the current age of the globalized market, mass consumerism has now become the running trend. For corporations wanting to fulfil their CSR, their ability to