Discussion 6 response

Cecilia L

In my mind, this tenth principle of the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops, “The global economy has moral dimensions and human consequences. Decisions on investment, trade, aid and development should protect human life and promote human rights, especially for those most in need wherever they might live on this globe”(1996, p.1), should be on every corporation’s mission statement, vision statement, value statement, or ethical codes of conduct.  Every company, corporation, or organization should be an advocate for the protection of human life and an advocate for human rights.  If they import products from other countries, it is their responsibility to make sure the workers are being treated fairly and humanely.  If work is outsourced to other regions or countries, human rights should be first and foremost on the company’s agenda before the decision is made.  Companies can no longer concentrate solely on profit, but must consider ethical concerns for all stakeholders and its social responsibility.  “Social responsibility can be viewed as a contract with society, whereas business ethics involves carefully thought-out rules or heuristic of business conduct that guide decision making (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2013, p. 142).  

 

      “Organizations today, whether private or public are expected to conduct their businesses in a legal, ethical and transparent manner, raking in the needed profit, while at the same time meeting the expectations of various stakeholders. This is where the issue of corporate social responsibility (CSR) comes into play” (Abukari & Abdul-Hamid, 2018).  In Madhumita Chatterji’s book on corporate social responsibility, she discusses how socialist or capitalistic governance has to have a human face to attain sustainability (Chatterji, 2011).  She also believes that corporate social responsibility is here to stay and will continue to grow.  As companies become more global, they will naturally evolve into a more responsible stance.  

 

     Moral values, ethics, and social responsibility are all related and determine the integrity of a company.  This is my understanding of social responsibility.  If a company chooses behavior that may be legal but not necessarily ethical, they are not socially responsible.  An example of this would be a firm that sends jobs overseas to countries that use child labor to perform hazardous jobs.  This would be in contempt of this tenth principle.  Companies that send jobs to other countries and insist on creating good working conditions and practices are working toward engaging this principle.  

     One example of a socially responsible company that also has great leadership is the Coca- Cola Company.  I am a diet coke-a-holic.  This is truly a global company as its products are literally everywhere.  I have been to a lot of different countries and I have always been able to find a Diet Coke, even if it was called a “Coke Light” or something similar. Coca-Cola provides jobs, good jobs, every place it goes.  It invests in the youth of all these countries, works on preserving water resources, does outreach programs such as distributing medicine and supplies to remote communities, they help women and women’s rights as well as many other programs in over 200 hundred countries (Banks, 2016).  So much good can be accomplished with a smile and a Coke, (or a Diet Coke).

 

Abukari, A., & Abdul-Hamid, K., (2018).  Corporate social responsibility reporting in the telecommunications sector in Ghana.  International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, 3(2). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40991-017-0025-9

Banks, H. (2016).  The business of peace:  Coca-Cola’s contribution to stability, growth, and optimism.  Business Horizons, 59(5), p. 455-461.

Chatterji, M. Corporate Social Responsibility, 2011, New Delhi: Oxford University Press

Ferrell, O.C., Fraedrich, J., &Ferrell, L. (2013). Business ethics: ethical decision making and cases, Ninth Edition.  South-Western Cengage Learning, p. 139.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Inc. (1996). A Catholic Framework for Economic Life.  Retrieved from http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/economic-justice-economy/upload/catholic-framework-economic-life.pdf