Discussion board

profileBluSkyy757
Week9LectureEthicsSocialResponsibilityandEnvironmentalSustainability.html.zip
Home>Business & Finance homework help>Management homework help>Discussion board

Weekly Lectures/Week 9 Lecture Ethics, Social Responsibility, and Environmental Sustainability.html

MGMT 670: Week 9 Lecture

Week 9: Ethics, Social Responsibility, and Environmental Sustainability. The students examine the triple bottom line--social, environmental, and financial performance factors.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Understand what corporate ethics is.
  2. Discuss the theories of corporate responsibility and environmental sustainability.
  3. Examine the changing role of strategic human resources management in international business
  4. Analyze the triple bottom line to improve the performance and success of a business.

Introduction

After numerous corporate scandals in the 1990s and 2000s, firms began paying more attention to corporate ethics, social responsibility, and environmental sustainability. This commitment people, the planet, and economic value is exemplified by three theories: corporate social responsibility, the triple bottom line, and stakeholder theory (“Three theories of corporate social responsibility,” 2012). Although economic performance is certainly important to a firm’s stakeholders, “increasingly though, it seems clear that noneconomic accomplishments, such as reducing waste and pollution, for example, are key indicators of performance as well. … Increasingly, evidence is mounting that attention to a triple bottom line is more than being “responsible” but instead just good business” (Economic, social, and environmental performance,” 2012). 

Corporate social responsibility

Corporate social responsibility is “a general name for any theory of the corporation that emphasizes both the responsibility to make money and the responsibility to interact ethically with the surrounding community. … Corporate social responsibility is also a specific conception of that responsibility to profit while playing a role in broader questions of community welfare” (“Three theories of corporate social responsibility,” 2012). The triple bottom line “is a form of corporate social responsibility dictating that corporate leaders tabulate bottom-line results not only in economic terms (costs versus revenue) but also in terms of company effects in the social realm, and with respect to the environment” (“Three theories of corporate social responsibility,” 2012). Stakeholder theory

is the mirror image of corporate social responsibility. Instead of starting with a business and looking out into the world to see what ethical obligations are there, stakeholder theory starts in the world. It lists and describes those individuals and groups who will be affected by (or affect) the company’s actions and asks, “What are their legitimate claims on the business?” “What rights do they have with respect to the company’s actions?” and “What kind of responsibilities and obligations can they justifiably impose on a particular business?” In a single sentence, stakeholder theory affirms that those whose lives are touched by a corporation hold a right and obligation to participate in directing it. (“Three theories of corporate social responsibility,” 2012)

Ethics

Business ethics is defined as knowing “what it right or wrong in the workplace and doing what's right -- this is in regard to effects of products/services and in relationships with stakeholders” (McNamara, n.d.). “Organizational ethics express the values of an organization to its employees and other entities, irrespective of governmental and/or regulatory laws” (“Ethical issues at an organizational level,” 2016).

The ethics of effective and competitive business practices include creating a shared sense of meaning, vision, and purpose that connect the employees to the organization and are underpinned by valuing the community without subordinating the individual and seeing the community's purpose as flowing from the individuals involved” (Waddock, 2008).

Organizations can encourage ethical behavior by use of

  • A written code of ethics and standards
  • Ethics training to executives, managers, and employees
  • Availability for advice on ethical situations (i.e., advice lines or offices)
  • Systems for confidential reporting (“Ethical issues at an organizational level,” 2016; McNamara, n.d.).

Some organizations also perform social responsibility audits, a process of evaluating a corporation's social responsibility performance (“Social responsibility audits,” 2016). “Organizations with these types of ethically based approaches also focus on development for both employees and the organization as a whole, which means valuing individuals as ends, not as means to ends (a key ethical principle), and focusing on learning and growth” (Waddock, 2008). 

Environmental sustainability

Environmental issues may be caused by nature or humans:

  • Changes in the climate, such as global warming
  • Natural disasters, such as hurricanes
  • The alteration of terrain or bodies of water by natural disasters or development
  • Deterioration of either inside or outside air quality
  • The release of hazardous materials from activities such as oil spills and the dumping of hazardous waste
  • The depletion or deterioration of natural resources, such as farmland, water, trees, and minerals
  • The displacement of wildlife or depletion of their food sources (Connaughton, 2015).

For a company to effectively practice environmental sustainability, it needs to formally write its strategies into its planning. “To be truly effective, all stakeholders — from top management to employees — need to be committed to the planning and execution of actions and decisions that contribute to a sustainable society” (Connaughton, 2015). Firms can actively engage in “practices that will result in a positive impact on a sustainable society” or passively engage by avoiding “practices that will result in a negative impact on a sustainable society” (Connaughton, 2015). Active practices include

  • Creating a formal, written environmental management plan that details goals, actions, responsibilities, and timelines.
  • Using renewable resources, such as bamboo and treated pine timber whenever possible.
  • Planting trees on company property and in the community.
  • Using recycled and biodegradable materials in product development.
  • Designing products that are recyclable or biodegradable.

Passive practices include limiting building and development that will alter the course of nature, such as rerouting rivers, encroaching upon wetlands, or displacing wildlife habitats (Connaughton, 2015).

The World Resources Institute (2012) has developed a guide to help organizations assess their risks and opportunities for environmental sustainability.

Conclusion

There are “definite benefits to the environment and local, national, and global communities from incorporating sustainable society factors into corporate management strategies. In fact, measurement tools do exist for calculating the benefits of a company's actions on society; the Center for Sustainable Innovation (http://www.sustainableinnovation.org) created a non-financial, mathematical tool called the Social Footprint, which is both a corporate sustainability measurement and a reporting method” (Connaughton, 2015). But the company also reaps benefits, by fostering a positive public image and attracting employees, investors, and customers to a "socially responsible" company.

References

From the UMUC library: (Note: You must search for these articles in the UMUC library.  In the case of video links in the UMUC library, exact directions are given on how to find the video.)

  • Connaughton, S. A. (2015). Strategic management in a sustainable society. Research Starters: Business (Online Edition).

From Other webpages: