Business Ethics and CSR

1. Business Ethics and CSR

2. What is Ethics?
“Ethics is about how we meet the challenge of doing the right
thing when that will cost more than we want to pay”

3. What is business Ethics?
 Business ethics focuses on what constitutes right or wrong
behavior in the world of business. Corporate business
executives have a responsibility to their shareholders and
employees to make decisions that will help their business
make a profit. But in doing so, businesspeople also have a
responsibility to the public and themselves to maintain ethical
principles.
 Business ethics is a set of laws about how a business should
conduct itself.
 In general, for any business to be successful, it must operate
legally and humanely.

4. Sweatshops
 A "sweatshop" is defined by the US Department of
Labor as a factory that violates 2 or more labor
laws. Sweatshops often have poor working
conditions, unfair wages, unreasonable hours, child
labor, and a lack of benefits for workers.

6. Occupational Health and Safety
 The Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) is a division of the Department of Labor that sets and
enforces work-related health and safety rules.
 OSHA's 5 Workplace Hazards
 Safety. Safety hazards encompass any type of substance,
condition or object that can injure workers. ...
 Chemical. Workers can be exposed to chemicals in liquids,
gases, vapors, fumes and particulate materials. ...
 Biological. ... Mold and Fungi, Blood and Body Fluids,
Sewage, Airborne pathogens such as the common cold,
Stinging insects, Harmful plants, Animal and Bird Droppings.

7.  Physical: A physical hazard is defined as "A factor
within the environment that can harm the body
without necessarily touching it. Vibration and noise
are examples of physical hazards". Physical
hazards include but aren't limited to slip and trips,
falls, electricity, radiation, pressure, noise, heights
and vibration amongst many others.

8. Ergonomic: Include themes such as repetitive movement, manual
handling, workplace/job/task design, uncomfortable workstation
height and poor body positioning.

10. Treating Employees Unethically
 Treating employees unethically can also backfire.
 Mistreating employees leads to a high turnover rate. This
increases the cost of hiring and training new employees.
 When considering a questionable course of action, you must
ask yourself these important questions:
 Is it against the law? Does it violate company or professional
policies?

11. Here are some steps if you find yourself in an
ethical dilemma:
1. Identify the ethical dilemma.
2. Discover alternative actions.
3. Decide who might be affected.
4. List the probable effects of the alternatives.
5. Select the best alternative.

13. Social Responsibility
 Social responsibility is the duty to do what is best for the
good of society.
The Ethical obligations of the business are to:
• Provide safe products
• Create jobs
• Protect the environment
• Contribute to the standard of living in society

14. Corporate Social Responsibility
 Corporate social responsibility is a type of
international private business self-regulation that aims
to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropic,
activist, or charitable nature by engaging in or
supporting volunteering or ethically-oriented
practices.

15. Analyze why the FDA officials might feel that
regulation of advertising and packaging labels is
necessary.

16. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR):
1. Closely related to ethics
2. Actions of a firm to benefit society beyond requirements
of law and direct interests of firm
3. CSR involves taking voluntary action
4. CSR concerns include working conditions in factories and
service centers as well as environmental impacts of
corporate activities
 https://business.tutsplus.com/tutorials/what-is-environmental-
ethics-for-business--cms-30933

18. Ethics and Social Responsibility
 Employment and business practices
 Difficult to establish a universal foundation of employment
practices
 Difficult dilemmas in deciding working conditions,
expected consecutive work hours, and labor regulations.
 Offshoring due to differences in labor costs.

19.  Human Rights
 Currently no universally adopted standard
 A great deal of subjectivity and culturally biased
viewpoints exist
 Some basic rights: life, freedom from slavery or torture,
freedom of opinion and expression, general ambiance of
nondiscriminatory practices
 Human rights violations still rampant globally

20. Ethics and CSR
 Corruption
 Government corruption pervasive element in international
business environment
 Scandals in Russia, China, Pakistan, Lesotho, South Africa,
Costa Rica, Egypt and elsewhere

22. What is Environmental Ethics for Business

23. Example
 A secretary who has worked for your
corporation for fifteen years is involved in
a car accident in which she permanently
loses the use of her right hand. Thus, she
can no longer effectively type, file, or
perform many of the other functions that
she previously had performed and that are
included in her job description.