BA107 (WEEK 12) -CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND BUSINESS ETHICS, #1
1. The role of social constraints on action.
2. The distinction between corporate social responsibility (CSR)
and business ethics.
3. Introduction to CSR.
Video
application: clip
Dangerous Business".
on
the
McWane
Corporation
from
"A
4. Introduction to ethics: three methods of ethical reasoning.
Video application: clip on ethical challenges in financial markets
from "A Wall Street Fix."
PREPARING FOR SECTION
This weeks section considers the case of McWane Corporation. In a
series of articles that won its reporters a Pulitzer Prize last
week, the New York Times describes a company that pushes the limit
on social responsibility, and then compares it to another one in
the same industry and home town that behaves very differently.
After reading the assigned article, come prepared to discuss the
following:
1. Discuss the article in the context of the corporate social
responsibility of McWane and Acipco, providing some specific
examples.
2. Provide Robert Restor, a former plant manager at McWane, with
advice on the ethical choices he could have made while working at
McWane based on the three ethical models discussed in class.
SOCIAL VS POLITICAL CONSTRAINTS ON ACTION
1. Political
regulations.
constraints
on
action
--
including
laws
and
2. The social constraints on action -- including values, norms,
etc.
SOCIAL CONSTRAINTS ON ACTION
1. Social constraints on action are the product of:
a. The past -- one's social upbringing ["guilt"].
b. The present -- one's current social position ["shame"].
2. Specific shapers of upbringing and social position include
family background, religion, schooling, profession, etc.
3. Social constraints on action are often discussed in terms of
"values" and "norms":
a. Values = Abstract ideas about what a group believes to be good,
right, and desirable.
b.
Norms = The social rules and guidelines that
appropriate behavior in particular situations.
prescribe