Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Essay

Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example In accordance with the issues discussed in the paper since late 1970s, various organizations have addressed business ethics in different ways, as well as the development of codes of conduct, hiring of corporate responsibility managers and training programs of all kinds, introduction of compliant managers and programs, the preparation and dissemination of value statements, and the addition of board-level ethics committees. Studies conducted in 1960s indicated that European-based corporations were a head of their United State-based counterparts in implementing sustainability and corporate social responsibility practices. However, in the present days, business operations in Europe and the United States are not so much different as was initially assumed. Both businesses in these regions are currently striving to establish the exact meaning for a company to be responsible and ethical. The implementation of ethics and corporate social responsibility practices in most firms have not prevent ed Europe and United State-base companies from engaging in unethical behaviors that cause corporate scandals. This has created increased pressure for governments and Europe-based and U.S.-based corporations to establish more structured ethics and government programs, so as to ensure that these corporations are responsible to the communities within, which they are situated. There are many challenges, which are associated with corporate responsibility. ... ion on how corporate ethics efforts can be improved, and how it can address the issue of underlying causes of misconduct, including the increasing demand for sustainable business, and proactive, socially responsible practices (Banerjee, 2007). Recent researches indicate that European-based companies are far much a head in implementing sustainability and corporate social responsibility practices than their United States-based counterparts, but the question is, are they doing better work of avoiding unethical conduct on a large scale? Understanding the aspects of business ethics is a challenging task since this field is vast, and it usually encompasses issues like reputation management, corporate governance, accurate accounting, environmental stewardship, and fair labor practices (Shaw, 2010). As a matter of fact, this field is concerned with the entire scopes of responsibilities, which a corporation has for all its stakeholders, especially those who have exhibited interest in the acti ons and decision of the company such as suppliers, stakeholders, community, clients, and employees. The understanding of business ethics is further made complex by several terms that refer to corporate programs and offices, which are focused on communicating, monitoring, and enforcing company standards and values (Sims, 2003). In theory, people can make certain distinctions among the various aspects of business ethics such as corporate compliance, corporate responsibility, and social responsibility. However, in practical perspective, such differentiations are of no significance since corporate offices of compliance that was established in 1970s can today function similarly to social and corporate responsibility (Trevino & Nelson, 2010). In order to understand the various scopes and nature