Ethics Strategy and CSR

Description
It covers topics like ethics and law, characteristics of moral manager, characteristics of immoral manager, business ethics, ethical issues in strategy

Governance Mechanisms
Ownership Concentration

Board of Directors

Executive Compensation Market for Corporate Control

Governance Mechanisms Inside a Company relationships also exist between Important agency
levels of management within a company. Internal agency problems can be reduced by:
?

?
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Strategic control systems ? To establish standards against which performance can be measured ? To create systems for measuring and monitoring performance ? To compare actual performance against targets ? To evaluate results and take corrective actions Balanced Scorecard model approach is used to drive future performance Employee incentives ? Employee stock options and stock ownership plans ? Compensation tied to attainment of superior efficiency, quality, innovation, and responsiveness to customers

A Balanced Scorecard Approach

Ethics and Strategy & Corporate Social Responsibility

Code of moral principles and values that govern behavior of individuals and organizations with respect to what is right or wrong

What is Ethics?

A code of moral standards of conduct for what is ?good? and ?right? as opposed to what is ?bad? or ?wrong?.

Ethics anddetermines ethical behavior the Law ? Over time, society
? Law represents an ethical minimum ? Ethics represents a standard that exceeds the legal

minimum ? Ethical behaviour is value driven ? Formally, it can be enforced via laws
Frequent Overlap

Ethics

Law

Influences on Ethical Behavior

3 Categories of Management Morality
Moral manager
Makes ethical behaviour a personal goal

Managerial ethical & moral principles

Immoral manager
Chooses to behave unethically

Amoral manager
Fails to consider ethics

Characteristics of a Moral Manager
? Dedicated to high standards of ethical behavior in ? Own actions ? How the company’s business is to be conducted ? Considers it important to ? Demonstrate ethical leadership ? Pursues business success ? Within confines of both letter and spirit of laws ? With a habit of operating well above what laws require

Characteristics of an Immoral Manager
? Actively opposes ethical behavior in business

? Willfully ignores ethical principles in making decisions
? Views legal standards as barriers to overcome ? Pursues own self-interests ? Is an example of capitalistic greed ? Ignores interests of others ? Focuses only on bottom line – making one’s numbers ? Will trample on others to avoid being trampled upon

Characteristics of an Intentionally Amoral Manager
? Believes business and ethics should not be mixed

since different rules apply to
? Business activities ? Other realms of life ? Does not factor ethical considerations into own

actions since business activity lies outside sphere of moral judgment ? Views ethics as inappropriate for tough, competitive business world ? Concept of right and wrong is lawyer-driven (what can we get by with or without running afoul of the law)

Characteristics of an unintentionally Amoral Manager
? Is blind to or casual about ethics of decision-making and

business actions
? Displays lack of concern regarding whether ethics applies

to company actions
? Sees self as well-intentioned or personally ethical ? Typical beliefs ? Do what is necessary to comply with laws and

regulations
? Government provides legal framework stating what

society will put up with—if it is not illegal, it is allowed

Developing Moral Judgment

6-23

Moral Reasoning

Business Ethics : Today vs. Earlier Period

Society’s Expectations of Business Ethics
Ethical Problem Actual Business Ethics

Ethical Problem

1950s

Time

Early 2000s

Ethics, Economics, and Law

Business Ethics in the Global Community
? Notions of right and wrong, fair and unfair, moral and

immoral, ethical and unethical exist in all societies
? Two schools of thought ? Ethical universalism

? Holds that human nature is the same everywhere

and ethical rules are cross-cultural
? Ethical relativism

? Holds that different societal cultures and

customs give rise to divergent values and ethical principles of right and wrong

Cross-Culture Variability in Ethical Standards
? Apart from certain universal basics –
? ? ? ? ?

Honesty Trustworthiness Fairness Avoiding unnecessary harm Respecting the environment –

variations exist in what societies generally agree to be right and wrong in the conduct of business activities ? Factors affecting cross-cultural variability
? ? ? ?

Religious beliefs Historic traditions Social customs Prevailing political and economic doctrines

? Cross-country variations also exist in the degree to which

certain behaviors are considered unethical

? What constitutes ethical or unethical conduct can vary according

Ethical vs. Unethical Conduct

to
? Time ? Circumstance ? Local cultural norms ? Religion

? There is no objective way to prove that some cultures are

correct and others wrong about proper business ethics ? Therefore, there is merit in the ethical relativism view that proper business ethics has to be viewed in the context of each country’s societal norms

Ethics and Strategy
Business ethics are the accepted principles of right
or wrong governing the conduct of businesspeople.
?

Ethical dilemmas occur when: ? There is no agreement over what the accepted principles are ? None of the available alternatives seem ethically acceptable

? Behaving ethically goes beyond staying within the law

An ethical strategy is one that does not violate the accepted principles.

Ethical issues are due to a potential conflict between the goals of the enterprise, or the goals of the individual managers, and the rights of important stakeholders:
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Ethical Issues in Strategy

? ? ? ? ? ?

Self-dealing Managers feather their nest with corporate monies Information manipulation Distort or hide information to enhance competitive or personal situation Anticompetitive behavior Actions aimed at harming actual or potential competitors Opportunistic exploitation Of other players in the value chain in which the firm is embedded Substandard working conditions Underinvest in working conditions or pay below market wages Environmental degradation Directly or indirectly take actions that result in environmental harm Corruption Companies pay bribes to gain access to lucrative business contracts.

Approaches to Managing a Company’s Ethical Conduct
Unconcerned or non-issue approach

Damage control approach
Compliance approach Ethical culture approach

Characteristics of Unconcerned Approach
? The business of business is business, not

ethics ? If the law permits ?unethical behavior,? why stand on ethical principles ? Companies are usually out to make greatest possible profit at any cost ? Strategies used, while legal, may embrace elements that are ethically shady

Characteristics of Damage Control Approach
? Protect ourselves if something goes wrong

? Companies often make some concession to window-

dressing ethics
? If I can explain it away, its OK ? Executives may look the other way when shady behavior

occurs

Characteristics of Compliance Approach
? Emphasis is on securing broad compliance to ethical

standards and measuring degree to which ethical standards are upheld
? Driving force behind commitment to eradicate

unethical behavior stems from a desire to ? Avoid cost and damage associated with unethical conduct or ? Gain favor from stakeholders from having a highly regarded reputation for ethical behavior

Characteristics of Ethical Culture Approach
? Top executives believe high ethical principles must ? Be deeply ingrained in the corporate culture ? Function as guides for ?how we do things around here? ? Company seeks to gain employee buy-in to ? Company’s ethical standards ? Business principles ? Corporate values ? Ethical principles in company’s code of ethics are ? Integral to day-to-day operations ? Promoted as ?business as usual? ? Strategy must be ethical ? Employees must display ethical behaviors in executing the

strategy

Milton Friedman
is one and only one social responsibility of business--to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud."
"there

Corporate Social Responsibility
Management’s decisions and actions that will enhance the welfare & interest of the organisation And the Society

Being a good corporate citizen

Stakeholders and their Expectations
? Employees-salary, security, benefits

? Investors – profits and return on their investments
? Customers- quality, availability, price, safety ? Government- taxes, employment ? Suppliers – expect to get paid on time, loyalty ? Society at large – community development, maintain

the environment

Why CSR?
? The Case ?In Favor Of? Corporate ? The Case ?Against? Corporate

Social Responsibility ? Responsibility Increases longrun profits ? Improves public image ? Helps avoid government regulation ? Businesses have resources and ethical obligations to act responsibly

Social Responsibility ? Reduces business profits Creates higher business costs ? Dilutes business purpose Gives too much social power to business

Moral management of organisational stakeholders

The Pyramid of CSR

Social Responsibility

What CSR should a company do?
? Prioritise Social Issues ? Generic Social Issues

Neither affected by a company’s operations, nor affect company’s long term competitiveness ? Value Chain Social Impacts That are affected by company’s activities ? Social Dimensions of Competitive context That affect company’s drivers for competitiveness

From Responsive to Strategic CSR
? Responsive CSR
1. Acting as a good corporate citizen 2. Mitigating harm arising from a firm’s value chain activities

? Strategic CSR

The initiatives whose social and business benefits are large and distinctive

Changing paradigm
? From peripheral activity to business

imperative ? From ad-hoc contributions to strategic approach to building community partnership ? CSR to be an integral part of long term business strategy

A company can do good – and still do well

In a free enterprise, the community is not just another stakeholder in business but is in fact the very purpose of its existence?.
?

J N Tata
Founder, Tata Group



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