Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
STR/581
Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
To maintain existence in a highly competitive industrial environment, business entities
have to pass the society’s test. This test is whether they play a significant role in the
advancement of the society as well as in the preservation of the natural environment. Businesses
have to maintain a “give and take” relationship with the community. They have to serve the
society in return for the benefits they get (Vitell et al, 2003). The code of moral philosophy is a
binding moral agreement that every business entity must conform to to ensure the public that it
serves them with good faith, loyalty, and goodness.
Business ethics shall not focus solely on the relationship between owners and clients, but
it includes the entity’s relationship with its country and governing administration of its home
country. Despite this extensive scope of business ethics, it must be noted that the most important
thing in corporate social responsibility is focused on owner-clientele relationship. Most company
goals, like product or service quality improvement greatly focus on the maintenance of a longterm relationship between these two agents. A company’s representation and duties to the society
shape its reputation as an ethical and socially responsible entity. Business entities perform a
crucial part in a society’s advancement in lifestyle and technology. They could either promote or
destroy an individual’s rights and disposition. This is why companies have to be extra careful in
distributing information and in releasing their products. They will serve as the main dictators of
how the people in the community will live their lives.
On the manufacturing aspect, entities would have to follow these business ethics on the
same reason why they are considered as dictators. Imagine if most business organizations will
promote child labor and illegal practices. This could lead to a society governed by private
individuals or the elite group rather than a legally organized democratic government chosen by
the nation itself, thus creating an unbalanced concentration of power to those who are in the elite
group. Sustenance of business ethics will then aid in creating the ideal ethical community.
From this lesson, I have learned that an ethical person becomes ethical not solely because
of how he holds himself and how he displays his views or ideas through his actions. His
character is shaped by the community he serves through years of exposure. The ideals that his
community has will dictate which acts are ethical and which acts are not. Moreover, ethics does
not depend on actions alone. Internal aspects such as good intentions and ethical ideas form part
of this ethics for they drive an individual to work and act.
Another lesson that I have learned here is that not every individual is aware of his key
position in a particular organization or community. This is essential for him to know the purpose
of his every action. I understand that every individual is distinct from the other, and thus it is
necessary to bridge this distinctiveness with the proper communication channels. Given this, the
individuals will be able to create a work group that has the best means in attaining the desired
end. To do this, each of the employees must be duly aware of business ethics.
References
Vitell J. Scott, Joseph G. P. Paolillo and James L. Thomas; Business Ethics Quarterly; Vol. 13,
No. 1 (Jan., 2003), pp. 63-86