Chapter 3
Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
By Boundless
Business ethics is the written and unwritten principles and values that govern decisions and actions within companies.
Ethics are of critical importance to organizations, as they can potentially have enormous impacts on their communities.
A critical function of organizational management is empowering a positive sense of values and ethos at the individual level.
Organizational ethics express the values of an organization to its employees and affect all functional areas in a business.
Treating employees equitably enables substantial organizational benefits while avoiding unethical operations and the corresponding consequences.
Transparency consists of operating in such a way that it is easy for others to see what actions are being performed.
A situation in which someone in a position of trust has competing professional or personal interests is known as a conflict of interest.
Governments use laws and regulations to point business behavior in what governments perceive to be beneficial directions.
A trade association is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry.
Companies often have corporate ethics statements or codes that identify ethical expectations and offer guidance.
Social responsibility is the duty of organizations and individuals to act in ways that benefit society and/or the environment.
Social responsibility is the idea that an entity needs to act in a way that balances its own gain with societal benefits.
Socially responsible trends include corporate citizenship policies, social investing, sustainable accounting & social entrepreneurship.
Stakeholders may have different interests related to the pursuit of profit and social impact.