Corporate Social Responsibility # 2: Business Ethics

Continuing the article about CSR (corporate social responsibility), I would like to discuss about the ethical part of businesses and the part ethics play both in the performance of a company and in the planning of a CSR program.

Ethical questions arise very often in the business world not only in strategic level but also in everyday decisions about normal and usual activities of the company. Managers should follow the guidelines and the main principals of the company in order to resolve ethical problems and answer to difficult questions. Under the context of CSR and Business Ethics a manager should always seek to find the moral answer to his questions and decide to act good to the environment and the society in general. Reasons to support the context of CSR have been discussed in an older post below. Consequently, managers when deciding which option to choose, the first which cause harm or the second which has a positive impact on society, should choose the latter.

Real problems arise when both choices are ethically right and good!!! On occasions like this –which are not very rare – managers face great dilemmas as to which option to choose and which good practice should sacrifice in order to provide greater welfare to individuals and society. A good idea then is to consult the main principles of the company or organization in which he/she works and find which option is evaluated as more important and higher in the main objectives list. One can ask guidance from his/her supervisors, from code of ethics of one’s company or relevant manuals, etc. However there are some dilemmas which are not being addressed by the code of ethics of the company (or organization) or are ambiguous. In those occasions things are even harder for managers to decide. The real interest and an integrated education and deployment of ethics in the organization in which ethical questions have not been addressed can provide the ground for the solution of the problem/challenge, while the final answer would be made by the manager. An example of such a good against good decision is given –among others – in the book “Business Ethics” by Chris Moon, Clive Bonny et al., (Profile Books Ltd.): A company has very strict rules against bribery but when it comes about human lives which can be saved (for example a pharmaceutical company during a war), decisions are very tough to be made and may be against shareholders opinions, law and reputation. Thus when one have to choose between conceding bribery for many lives to be saved or against bribery (in favor of company integrity, legitimacy and good reputation) and loss of lives, could be in deep water. Many examples could be cited (one is referred to the above book), but the questions are not being addressed.

On conclusion, as above, moral integrity and ethical education can provide the frame for answering difficult moral questions but cannot provide solutions to real dilemmas, who have to been addressed effectively by individual managers.

Another good reference is: Kotler Philip, Lee Nancy, Corporate Social Responsibility, John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2005