Download ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Ethics - the moral principles and values that govern the
actions and decisions of an individual or group.
Ethics are different from laws.
Laws - society’s standards and values that are enforceable
in court.
Three factors typically influence a business person’s ethical
decisions:
1. Societal Culture
2. Business Culture
3. Corporate Culture
SOCIETAL CULTURE - values, ideas and attitudes that
are learned and shared among members of a group.
BUSINESS CULTURE - codes of conduct expected in
business dealings in a particular industry.
Prior to 1960 business people believed in the concept
of caveat emptor - let the buyer beware.
In 1962 the consumer bill of rights was passed which
codified the “ethics of exchange” between buyers and
sellers, including the consumer’s right to safety, to be
informed, to choose and to be heard.
CORPORATE CULTURE - shared values, beliefs and
purpose of employees that affect individual and group
behavior in a single organization. Often these standards are
formalized in a Mission Statement or in a Code of Ethics.
Code of Ethics - a formal statement of ethical principles
and rules of conduct.
Employees who report the unethical or illegal actions of
their employers are called Whistle-blowers.
MORAL PHILOSOPHIES
1. Moral Idealism
2. Utilitarianism
Moral Idealism - considers certain individual rights or
duties as universal, regardless of the outcome.
Utilitarianism - focuses on the greatest good for the greatest
number of people, assesses the costs and benefits of
behavior.
Concepts:
Social Responsibility - the idea that organizations are part
of a larger society and are accountable to that society for
their actions.
Green Marketing - marketing efforts to produce, promote
and reclaim environmentally sensitive products.
Cause Marketing - tying the charitable contributions of a
firm directly to the sales produced through the promotion
of one of its products.