Global Stakeholders and Corporate Social Responsibility CSR

Hello and welcome to this recording that will focus on global stakeholders and corporate social responsibility CSR. Ethics refers to moral principles that influence how people make decisions and live their lives—mainly concerned with what is good for individuals and society. The study of ethics elaborates on various factors, including the rights and responsibilities of individuals, what is good and what is bad, and how to make proper moral decisions. These concepts have been derived from religions, culture, and philosophy.

Global stakeholders and corporate social responsibility CSR

Stakeholders are people who can be affected by or can affect an organization’s actions, policies, and objectives. This video analyzes the role of stakeholders in corporate social responsibility (CSR). This is because of a trend of corporate dialog with stakeholders to address social issues. This is an attempt by the corporate society to acquire a positive social perception. The term corporate social responsibility refers to the self-regulating business model where a company strives to be socially accountable (Cragg, 2002). This means that the company is answerable to itself, its stakeholders, and the public.

Business ethics and its relation to corporate social responsibility

Business ethics refers to proper business practices and policies, especially in controversial situations that will affect the community and other stakeholders. These issues include corporate governance, bribery, discrimination, and insider trading. Some form of business ethics is guided by the law (Cragg, 2002). There are, however, other circumstances where a business has to come up with its framework to gain social acceptance. Corporate social responsibility involves going beyond what is defined in the law to do what is good for society.

‘When in Rome, do as Romans do’ and its ethical implications.

This phrase is used to encourage people to follow the customs of the society in which they live. It can also mean that when one is in an unfamiliar situation, one should follow the lead of those who know what should be done in that society. Following this principle can lead to an ethical dilemma since one may be forced to adhere to the local standards, as the phrase suggests, even if it violates ethical standards. For instance, local standards may allow a company to employ children. According to the general ethical standards, this is a violation of the rights of children. One in such a situation is faced with an ethical dilemma as to whether to follow local standards or ethical guidelines.

Moral relativism and situational ethics

Moral relativism refers to a view of whether something is moral or immoral relative to a particular standpoint. This means that morality varies from one community to another, i.e., what is moral in one community may be immoral in another community (Brogaard, 2012). This means that there is no absolute morality. Based on this principle, the phrase ‘when you are in Rome, do what Romans do’ is justified. This is because what they do in the local community will be moral to them. This is also in support of situational ethics, where the prevailing circumstances determine what is right.

CSR and Biblical worldview.

Religion is one of the aspects that shape people’s ethical decision-making ability. For a business to successfully achieve corporate social responsibility, it cannot afford to ignore or separate religion from its day-to-day decision-making process. Various relational alignments influence the ethics of corporate society operating amongst the community. There is a likelihood that the ethical standards of religions conflict over various issues. As a matter of fact, some religions do not advocate for CSR. Businesses, however, have to select religious values that will enable them to serve the community better.

Case study

In this video, we will consider a case where there are needy children in society who needs financial assistance to meet their daily needs. The children have come to your company to seek employment opportunities. There are vacancies, and according to society, employing children is allowed as it is viewed as assisting the community. As the company’s executive, you are faced with an ethical dilemma because you know it is unethical to employ children, but society is compelling you to assist by offering the children opportunities.

Ethical theories and personal worldview

Three main ethical theories can be applied to solve the case. These theories are the utilitarian theory, deontological theory, and virtue theory. Utilitarian theory is concerned with doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2016). For instance, in the above case, the executive may offer to assist the children financially without requiring labor from them. The deontological theory requires people to be treated with dignity. Treating the children in the case above with dignity means assisting them and giving them a chance to concentrate on their studies. Virtue ethics is concerned with maintaining good public relations. This could be done by assisting the kids and letting society understand that child labor is not good (Sire, 2009). The executive will try to make the community understand their personal worldview.

Biblical perspective.

According to Acts 4:32-36, the bible says that all the believers never claimed possessions and shared whatever they owned among the needy. Society can apply this in daily life by ensuring that they donate whatever they can to the needy. This will create a peaceful society where no person lacks whatever another person has in plenty (2 Corinthians 8:8-15., 2019). As for the corporate society, they can apply this to ensure that they consider the society before they come up with crucial decisions.

Conclusion

To conclude, by applying ethics in their actions and policy formulation, corporate societies can establish a healthy relationship with the communities in which they are located. They should develop a framework to ensure that their operations benefit the local societies. They should, however, be vigilant to ensure that as they interact with the local communities, they consider general ethical guidelines and respect the expectations of other stakeholders.

References

Stanwick, P., & Stanwick, S. (2016). Understanding business ethics (3rd ed.).

Sire, J. W. (2009). The universe next door: A basic worldview catalog (5th ed.).

2 Corinthians 8:8-15. (2019) (pp. 2 Corinthians 8:8-15.). New International Version.

Cragg, W. (2002). Business Ethics and Stakeholder Theory. Business Ethics Quarterly, 12(2), 113. doi: 10.2307/3857807

Brogaard, B. (2012). Moral Relativism and Moral Expressivism. The Southern Journal Of Philosophy, 50(4), 538-556. doi: 10.1111/j.2041-6962.2012.00141.x

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Business Speech: Global Stakeholders and Corporate Social Responsibility CSR

In this assignment you will create a 3-5 minute video presentation that examines one or two concepts or lessons that have had the greatest impact on you from this course. Describe the context for the concept/lesson, explain what was learned from the perspective of your worldview, and then articulate how that learning will influence your leadership and decision making.

Please see the Technology Quick Guides module in the course-level Dashboard for instructions on how to record and post a video. Be sure to host your video on a site such as YouTube and only submit the link to your video, not the entire video file.

Topic: Global Stakeholders and Corporate Social Responsibility CSR

In this final session we will look at business ethics as it relates to international business and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Perhaps there are no more controversial areas in business than so-called “social responsibility.” Simply defining the term “social responsibility” will create rancor among groups with competing views. We will have the opportunity to exercise our objective critical thinking skills in evaluation and discussing those divergent views.

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do” — is this a valid ethical perspective? Throughout this course we have addressed such issues as absolute (apodictic) truth, moral relativism, and situational ethics. Our views on those issues will be brought to their boiling point in this session. The idea of leadership as stewardship will have far reaching implications as we deal with these issues and develop our positions on these matters. One thing is certain, in the global economy in which we operate, ignoring the issue is not an option.

Topic Outcomes:

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Propose recommendations for addressing problems based on an understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and a biblical worldview.
• Create a case study that poses an ethical issue that requires the application of ethical decision making models, ethical theories, and a personal worldview.
• Develop a guide for facilitating the discussion and analysis of an ethical case study based on ethical theory, a biblical worldview, and the application of a values-aligned leadership decision-making model.
• Critically reflect on how course learning will influence ethical, values-aligned decision making and action in leadership.

Reading and Viewing Assignments

Please complete the following before this session:

Reading:

• Stanwick, P., & Stanwick, S. (2016). Understanding business ethics (3rd ed.).
  • Chapter 1: The Foundation of Ethical Thought (pp. 15-18)
  • Chapter 3: Stakeholders and Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Chapter 8: Ethics and the Environment (review)
  • Chapter 11: Ethical Issues in the Developing World (review)
• Sire, J. W. (2009). The universe next door: A basic worldview catalog (5th ed.).
  • Chapter 9: A Vanished Horizon
  • Chapter 10: A View from the Middle East
  • Chapter 11: The Examined Life

Biblical Perspective

• Christ – Our Pattern of Social Responsibility
• Read 2 Corinthians 8:8-15.

In the early days of the Church, Acts 4:32-36 records one of the greatest strengths and Christ-like actions of the early church. Acts 4:32 observes that, “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had” (NIV).

How should the patterns of social responsibility exhibited and explained in these verses be applied to our culture, lives, and actions today? What can we learn from our early Church brethren