Businesses aim to gain maximum profits for their owners and shareholders. That is the bottom-line. It is no more a secret that businesses will go to any lengths to achieve the bottom-line. However, this does not mean that companies should be allowed to do whatever helps them to get that maximum profitability. They cannot do unethical things just to get that desired profit. This is where business ethics[/b] and social responsibility[/b] comes into the picture. There is a lot of misunderstanding between these two terms and they tend to get used interchangeably. Social responsibility is straightforward to understand, but the word ethics causes much perplexity. A company policy must be followed to benefit the community. This is coined as the corporate social responsibility. However, when one talks about business ethics, it becomes a very different thing, because ethics is based on conscience. Conscience is a matter of perspective. There are a few things that are good for society but they are not good for business and this is where social responsibility[/b] comes in. There are also a few good things in business but they are not good for society and this is where business ethics[/b] comes in. Social responsibility is more of guidelines or a duty to the community, while business ethics is more of a sense of right and wrong. There is a noteworthy difference between social responsibility and business ethics; and the best way to differentiate the two is by defining both of them.
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Ethics means moral character and comes from the Greek word ethos[/b]. Ethical behaviour is a feature concerning the good and right. Ethics is decisive on the good and bad, the right and wrong. Using it in business means the company must go after the right behaviour to benefit the good of everybody, including the shareholders, stakeholders, and even the community. Even though making a profit is the most central thing in business, if making money is the only concern of a certain business, then it is capitalism in its worst[/b]. Businesses should have good business ethics to do good to the entire community or society. This is the main goal of business ethics.[/b] The business activities should not harm the people. On the contrary, it should benefit them. Businesses that do not have good business ethics are dealt with severely by the law, however, these punishments are nothing compared to the amount of damage and unrest caused by a warped sense of conscience. Businesses are capable of inflicting a lot of damage to the society and have actually done so for a long time. Here are a few examples to illustrate the point of Business Ethics[/b]:
1. Testing of new drugs on animals by Pharmaceutical Research Companies and Biotechnology Firms.
2. Exploitation of child labor by lots of companies
3. The greed which drives multinational companies to contaminate river systems and even oceans in an attempt to cut costs in their clean up operations.
4. The Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia, the bloodiest South American conflict of the last century, which was largely instigated by profit hungry oil companies.
Image Sourced From filipspagnoli
Human beings are social beings. The behaviour that people must display must be in accordance to the acceptable standards of the community or society. Comparing this scenario to business, businesses must still perform its social obligations by performing activities that are according to the norms of society or community. Even if businesses are more concerned on making profits for the company, it should still have a social responsibility towards its community. This is the main meaning of social responsibility. It is more of an obligation or a duty towards the society that the business affects. Here are a few examples to illustrate the point of Social Responsibility[/b]:
1. If there is a crime being committed and you are aware of it, you are responsible for calling attention to it by calling the police.
2. If the person driving in front of you drives into a tree, you are socially responsible for pulling over and making sure that the person is okay.
3. If someone is getting beat up by a bully in school, you have a responsibility to help and stop the violence.
I hope this clears up the confusion that exists in the usage of these two terms i.e. Business Ethics[/b] & Social Responsibility[/b].
Image Sourced From gravitaspartnership
Ethics means moral character and comes from the Greek word ethos[/b]. Ethical behaviour is a feature concerning the good and right. Ethics is decisive on the good and bad, the right and wrong. Using it in business means the company must go after the right behaviour to benefit the good of everybody, including the shareholders, stakeholders, and even the community. Even though making a profit is the most central thing in business, if making money is the only concern of a certain business, then it is capitalism in its worst[/b]. Businesses should have good business ethics to do good to the entire community or society. This is the main goal of business ethics.[/b] The business activities should not harm the people. On the contrary, it should benefit them. Businesses that do not have good business ethics are dealt with severely by the law, however, these punishments are nothing compared to the amount of damage and unrest caused by a warped sense of conscience. Businesses are capable of inflicting a lot of damage to the society and have actually done so for a long time. Here are a few examples to illustrate the point of Business Ethics[/b]:
1. Testing of new drugs on animals by Pharmaceutical Research Companies and Biotechnology Firms.
2. Exploitation of child labor by lots of companies
3. The greed which drives multinational companies to contaminate river systems and even oceans in an attempt to cut costs in their clean up operations.
4. The Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia, the bloodiest South American conflict of the last century, which was largely instigated by profit hungry oil companies.
Image Sourced From filipspagnoli
Human beings are social beings. The behaviour that people must display must be in accordance to the acceptable standards of the community or society. Comparing this scenario to business, businesses must still perform its social obligations by performing activities that are according to the norms of society or community. Even if businesses are more concerned on making profits for the company, it should still have a social responsibility towards its community. This is the main meaning of social responsibility. It is more of an obligation or a duty towards the society that the business affects. Here are a few examples to illustrate the point of Social Responsibility[/b]:
1. If there is a crime being committed and you are aware of it, you are responsible for calling attention to it by calling the police.
2. If the person driving in front of you drives into a tree, you are socially responsible for pulling over and making sure that the person is okay.
3. If someone is getting beat up by a bully in school, you have a responsibility to help and stop the violence.
I hope this clears up the confusion that exists in the usage of these two terms i.e. Business Ethics[/b] & Social Responsibility[/b].