Managers face many ethical dilemmas every day, but with a company’s ethical code of conduct they are instructed how all employees of the business should behave and make decisions.
However, the question remains about the content of that ethical code of conduct and how much ethics businesses should take into consideration when making business decisions. Managers in different countries will have different answers to ethical dilemmas.
These days more companies are considering the ethical dimension of their actions – not just the impact they might have on profits.
Approaches to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
In general, there are three broad views towards the role of businesses in delivering Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR):
1. Self-interest attitudes. Businesses should generate profits for owners only regardless of the society. This attitude believes that the role of businesses is to generate profits for investors only and it is the role of governments to be responsible for fixing problems in the society. Because businesses become more efficient and prosperous chasing profit maximization, they are helping society indirectly anyway through employment creation for the workers, wealth creation for investors and paying corporate TAXes to the state.
2. Strategic attitudes. Businesses should be socially responsible only if it can increase profits for the owners. Businesses ought to be socially responsible only if such actions can help them to become more profitable, therefore they are treating Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a method of long-term growth for the business.
3. Altruistic attitudes. Businesses should do everything possible to improve society regardless of profits. Humanitarian behavior makes businesses do what they can to improve the society and other people’s lives. They could willingly donate their pre-TAX income to various charities for good causes, invest in local community projects such as renovations of old apartments, or send employees to collect rubbish in the neighborhood. Businesses should do good things regardless of whether their actions help to increase profits or not.
Some business managers claim that even illegal actions can be justified as long as the business is making money. Others argue that any business decision that reduces costs and increases profit is acceptable as long as it is legal because the shareholders make money. Finally, the third group of managers say that businesses should follow strict ethical rules and will argue that, even if certain actions are not illegal, they are not right. They cannot be justified morally even if they cut costs and increase sales to maximize profits.
