BUSINESS ETHICS AS FOUNDATION

OF CSR
Why is ethical management important to business?
-ethical management is practically considered by all
business leaders as relevant to business survival and
corporate reputation.
What is Business ethics?
-is a form of applied ethics that examines ethical rules,
theories, and principles in a business context.
-it includes the correct understanding of any moral
duties or obligations that apply to persons who are
engaged in commerce.
-is a normative discipline, whereby particular ethical
standards are advocated and then applied. It makes specific
judgments about what is right or wrong, which is to say , it
teaches what ought to be done and ought to be done
*Managers are caught in a balancing act between the
ideal and the practical, such as the need to produce a
reasonable profit for the shareholders and at the same
time to maintain integrity by paying correct taxes to the
government.
What is the role of ethics in Management?
-Business ethics covers a myriad of both practical and
moral problems that arise out of specific functional
areas of management.
1. Ethical management in the workplace
-is the foundation of CSR in the workplace, which covers
those ethical issues arising from the employer-employee
relationship, such as the rights and obligations justly
owed between them. Preventing discrimination issues
In the workplace include the practice of affirmative
action and fighting sexual harassment, child labor, and
other discriminatory practices on the bases of age,
gender, race, religion, and physical attractiveness.
2. Ethical management regarding intellectual property
rights
-this may take into account the issues regarding
bioprospecting(considered ethical) and biopiracy
(considered unethical), copyright, patent, and
trademark infringement, business intelligence,
employee trading,, and industrial espionage.

3. Ethical management in sales, advertising, and
marketing
- business ethics and social responsibility deal with the
issues on pricing and price fixing, moral dimension of the
anti-trust or anti-cartel law, bait and switch, viral
marketing, pyramid scandal, and sex in advertising.
4. Ethical management in production
- this area of business ethics deals with the duties of a
company to ensure that products and production
processes do not cause harm. The stakeholder involved
are the consumers, the general public, and almost
always the environment.
5. Ethical management in finance, accounting, and
auditing
- the issues comprise executive compensation, (criminal)
manipulation of the financial markets, bribery,
facilitation payments, fraud, and false reporting.
Can a company become a corporate citizen without
being ethical?
- No. Business ethics seeks to determine whether a
particular behavior, decision, or action of an individual
or organization is morally right or wrong. It is not
subjective (or what the subject or doer thinks is right or
wrong). Rather, it is objective, and the basis is a
universal standard common to all.

*The wisest thing to do, it seems, is to practice business
ethics first, and then practice CSR. Business ethics
knocks on ones conscience before the individual makes
a business decision, while CSR nags the accountability of
a group of individuals.
How can business ethics become a philosophy of
management?
-business ethics can become a philosophy of
management-if the practitioner chooses to do so.
Whereas, ethics is principally personal, CSR is social and
corporate.
Does ethical management go beyond public relations
and profitability?
- it might happen, as a consequence of practicing social
responsibility and ethical management, that sales go up
because the company projects an angelic image.
However, individuals do not practice business ethics
and corporation do not benchmark CSR to do public
relations and increase sales. Those results are not what
drives CSR. You practice ethics because it is your
philosophy of management, you benchmark CSR
because it is the right thing to do.
What is the biggest challenge?
- the biggest challenge is to actually implement and
sustain ethical management. In practice, this means
demonstrating how profit motive and corporate gain
serve the interest of the various stakeholders: host
community, customers, employees, competitors, the
government, and the environment. The big challenge is
to actually share resources with all, particularly those
in dire needs, and sustain the program.
Should there be a CSR department?
- it is advantageous if a company has a CSR
department, which should not be headed by a lawyer
because ethical management is beyond legal and
regulatory compliance. It requires the involvement of
Everyone. Because it is primarily social, CSR includes
code of conduct, corporate citizenship, employee
volunteerism, resource sharing and management, social
investment, and sustainable development.