Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility

Globalization theories posit organizational convergence, suggesting that Codes of Ethics will become commonplace and include greater consideration of global issues. This study explores the degree to which the Codes of Ethics of 157 corporations on the Global 500 and/or Fortune 500 lists include the ''third generation'' of corporate social responsibility. Unlike first generation ethics, which focus on the legal context of corporate behavior, and second generation ethics, which locate responsibility to groups directly associated with the corporation, third generation ethics transcend both the profit motive and the immediate corporate environment. Third generation ethics are grounded in responsibilities to the larger interconnected environment. The results of the study suggest convergence, insofar as Codes of Ethics are becoming standard communication features of corporations across region and industrial sector but still manifest a primary concern with profits and those behaviors which are mandated by law. Only corporations headquartered in the European Union demonstrate a significant degree of global consciousness and reflexivity. However, there is some evidence that third generation ethics and thinking are becoming part of the corporate landscape. More then three quarters of the corporations made at least some reference to third generation ethics.

Indian Journal of Applied Research, 2011

The paper addresses the concepts of business ethics and corporate social responsibility in the old vis-à-vis the new economy. The effects of globalization and its impact on the transition from the industrial to the digital era are explored. Although the behaviour of business organizations has always had a profound worldwide impact, with the decline of the nation state economic power has, for the first time, eroded political power. Simultaneously, the undergoing revolution in contemporary information and communication technologies has significantly empowered the customer. Responding to enhanced customer awareness and sensitivity to business and social responsibility issues -coupled with consumers' increasing ability to react-companies in the digital age may be expected to develop even stronger cultures of corporate social responsibility, proactively seeking to increasingly honour their moral obligations to society in the 21st century.

Ethics requires freedom of action, is transversal to our activity, has a universal character, is innate and represents an absolute value. For all these reasons, it is imperative to train the managers of our society so that they do not engage in ethically objectionable behaviors, such as those that have been occurring in the countless corporate scandals of today. Therefore, the objective of this article is to research, through systematic review, the correlation between professional ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR). For this, bibliometric analysis was performed, based on a systematic search in the Scopus database. As a result, the authors propose a new concept, that of integrative responsibility, designed to ascertain the social responsibility of companies within and outside organizations.

Research Question/ Issue: Codes of ethics contain a set of rules of conduct and corporate principles concerning the responsibility to stakeholders and shareholders, which help guide corporate and employees’ behavior, and they constitute verifiable elements of social responsibility. Given the growing concern for social responsibility and for the relationship with external stakeholders, which has become an undeniable social demand, we think that the codes of the most respectable and admired companies should reflect this trend. This study looks into the Most Admired Companies of the World ranked by Fortune magazine in 2009 to find out if their codes of ethics exhibit greater emphasis on social responsibility and strong implementation processes, and whether they could be considered codes of the third generation. Stohl et al. (2009) suggest that the codes of ethics of the most advanced companies should evolve to the “third generation ethics”, which focuses on the long-term perspective and on the global, social and environmental aspects of corporate responsibility sensibility. Research Findings/Insight: Our results show that the codes of ethics of the 2009 Most Admired Companies of the World resemble “codes of conduct” rather than strictly codes of ethics or “codes of corporate social responsibility”. They are still governed by traditional norms related to immediate economic success, normative compliance, internal management and the pressing effects of their sector. Theoretical/Academic Implications: This study provides empirical support for the idea that the philosophy of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is scarcely present in the codes of the most reputable companies.

Emphasizing that ethical responsibilities of a business, is actually addressing sustainable development in all three dimensions: economic, ecological and social. The question of sustainability of business is well answered by the concept of Sustainable Development (SD), where the SD framework gives a new direction to the way Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was previously comprehended. In this paper, we have tried to show why in this case the framework of sustainability and sustainable development would be a more appropriate choice. The concept of sustainability, originally developed in environmental ethics and associated with the concept of sustainable development (SD), is gaining attention. This study tends to capture the CSR evolution through a vivid literature survey and find the essence at every decade till the recent past. The next phase of the study discussed the limitations of the CSR approach, the importance of sustainability in business and introduces sustainable devel...

Futures, 2005

Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility are recognized as important concerns in making decision in all aspects of our life. And it's contributing to accelerate the process of overall development of a nation. India being the second most populous country in the world, and have the largest number of people in need of basic amenities call for more intensive efforts as part of such initiatives in the health care space of the nation. We all know that people engage in business to earn profit. However, making profit is not the sole function of the business. It performs number of social function as it is a part of society. It takes care of those who are instrumental in securing its existence and survival. Business ethics are nothing but the application of ethics in business. It proves that business can be and have been ethical and still make profits. Today more and more interest is being given to the application of ethical practices in business dealings and the ethical implications of business. The paper delves into a comprehensive understanding of how Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility involves as concept and the reason that encourage company in India to be socially responsible.

Nitte Management Review

Globalisation has brought about tremendous changes to the nature and structure of the market. In addition to pursuing attainment of economic gain, market participants both on the demand and supply side directly or indirectly affect and contribute to society. One aspect of such contribution is through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Business ethics and CSR are getting increased attention in corporate decisions and consumer choice. CSR emerges through a social discourse that focuses attention on the fact that business enterprises besides making prots for their investors, have commitments and responsibilities to society. It has come to the forefront of public discussion only after the Second World War especially since the decades of the 1950s and 1960s and has seen signicant progress since then. The concept and practice of CSR has moved ahead from mere philanthropy to strategic social responsibility. It is more than a knee-jerk reaction to open market business today i.e. to laissez faire. This transition opens the opportunity and the need to trace the evolution of the concept as well as the practice of CSR by corporates. There is now not only a wide spectrum of CSR system based on civil regulation, but also a rising trend of counter arguments regarding the principles and performance in relation to rms. Hence the main theme of this essay is to trace an evolutionary outline of the phenomenon of CSR and through this chronicle foreground the various nuances of the concept. We attempt to link business environment (including corporate culture, and strategies) with actors, agenda and actions focusing on moral conduct that drive choice behaviour of participants.

Business and Politics, 2012

Codes of ethics contain a set of rules of conduct and corporate principles concerning the responsibility of a company to its stakeholders and shareholders. These codes help to guide corporate and employee behavior, and constitute verifiable elements of social responsibility. This study examines the Most Admired Companies of the World, ranked by Fortune magazine in 2009 to find out, first, whether their codes of ethics exhibit greater emphasis on social responsibility and strong implementation processes, and second, whether they could be considered codes of the third generation as elaborated by Stohl et al. in their article in the Journal of Business Ethics. Our results indicate that the codes of ethics of the 2009 Most Admired Companies of the World resemble “codes of conduct” rather than strictly codes of ethics or “codes of corporate social responsibility”. These codes continue to be governed by traditional norms related to immediate economic success, normative compliance, interna...