Ethics and Social Responsibilities in Management

Ethics and Social Responsibilities in Management

Ethics can be defined as a process of evaluating actions according to

moral principal of values(A.Alhemoud). Throughout the centuries people were

trying to choose between profit and moral. Perhaps, some of them obtain both,

but every time it could have roused ethical issues. Those issues concern

fairness, justice, rightness or wrongness; as a result it can only be resolved

according to ethical standards.

Setting the ethical standards for the way of doing business in

corporation is primarily task of management. Corporations have to maintain the

same standards as an individual person and, in addition, corporations, as

organizational units, have their own social responsibilities toward customers,

employees and society. However, any business should keep it's original purpose

of functioning - making profit. Balancing the traditional standards of

profitability and burden of social responsibilities is not an easy task. In

recent years it has been a trend of setting standards of corporate ethics

according to high degree of morale.

To be able to keep the ethical standards management must follow the law.

However, there are some complications in enforcing it. The law affects and is

affected by social forces and prevailing ethical standards. "Although the law

can codify societies ethical ____________________________________________________

____________________ Alhemoud, Ali " Management Ethics is Smart Business."

values, ethical decision making transcends the law in that 1) the law deals with

actions not with thoughts, and therefore it does not (and cannot) codify all

ethical requirements; and 2) an individual or a group may perceive a given law

as immoral, not as a guide to ethical behavior." ( A. Alhemoud). How, then, a

company can ensure that its code of ethics is both followed and enforced ? " .

..Defense firm such as General Dynamics and TRW, and an information company, Dun

& Broadstreet, have appointed internal ethics officers or ombudsmen. Whether

employees have faith in these safeguards against corporate retaliation is hard

to tell, though it is one step forward (The Economist August 19 1995)

The ethical codes of corporations that that get so important nowadays

also did not come into being at once. They emerged from individual ethical

standards and corporate consciousness. Moreover, the public demand for

prosecution of any violations of corporate, professional and business ethics has

been increased. Finally, mass media made possible for society reveal secrets

that were kept from public before. So, the business conduct regulations were

created to "draft guidelines for ethical conduct, develop a process for

monitoring business practices and recommend ways to correct questionable

activities." (J.Byrne) All these measures were taken to balance various social

responsibilities with the high degree of moral and sense of attainment.