Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility

This study material explores the concepts of business ethics and corporate social responsibility. It discusses the importance of following ethical principles and the impact of corporate social responsibility on organizations. The material also delves into normative and descriptive ethics theories and examines stakeholder perspectives on business behavior.

Business Ethics

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
PART 1............................................................................................................................................3
Corporate Social Responsibility.............................................................................................3
PART 2............................................................................................................................................6
Normative Ethics....................................................................................................................6
Descriptive Business Ethics...................................................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
Stakeholder perspectives on the business behaviour..............................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
Books and Journals...............................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Business Ethics can be defined as policies, procedures, principles and moral values that must
be followed business. Business ethics include corporate governance, corporate social
responsibility and sustainability principles that must be followed by an organisation
(Khramtsova, 2018). The business organisation that follows the principles of business ethics is
generally more successful. It is vital to note that there is discussion related to the case of Apple.
It is important to discuss about the corporate governance. There is discussion related to
normative as well as descriptive business ethics theory. In the end of the report there is
discussion related to stakeholder’s perspective in the case of Apple Plc.
MAIN BODY
PART 1
In the case there is discussion related to Apple Plc. The case is related to the battery issues
that are faced by the users. The scandal in this case is related to the issue of low battery that
reduced the power of the phones and that is due to the battery. Then it is observed that the Apple
Company took initiatives and reduced the cost of replacement of batteries so as to overcome the
problem. This shows that they understood their mistake and changing the same (Goodpaster,
2017). It is important to note that this action of Apple comes under corporate Social
Responsibility. So it is an action that is taken to satisfy the needs and wants of the customers.
These actions of the company help to enhance the image of the organisation. It is important for
the company to accept the mistakes done by them and then work. It becomes vital for an
organisation to take care of the problems and take actions to change the problem. This helps to
make the image better in front of the organisation.
Corporate Social Responsibility
It is one of the important activities that are carried out by business organisation. It is seen that it
is an activity of fusing the social as well as environmental impact on the world (Gabbani,2018).
It becomes essential for the business organisation to follow the principles of the corporate social
responsibility. It helps to set the image of the company in the front of world. It can be said that it
is activity of improving the position of the company as well as improves its green impact on the
nation. These are the programmes that are run by the company and are beneficial for the society

as a whole. There are large numbers of benefits that are associated with following the corporate
social responsibility. It improvises the position of the organisation and helps to earn more profits.
In relation to Apple it is stated on their website that they are committed towards the social
responsibility. It is seen that the company focuses on corporate social responsibility and
eliminating all the bad things from the society (Berko, 2019). The company focuses on fair
labour treatment and always follow all the principles related to labour laws. It is observed that
the labours are safe and healthy in relation to Apple Company. All the crucial communication is
done in an effective manner. As they take care of the working conditions and the review of
employees say that it is not at all unsafe to work there. They take care of all the industry
standards while working and follow the principle of the minimum wages along with the working
hours that are enough for the employees.
In relation to environment inside it is seen that they are transparent about following the
policies that help them to reduce the impact of their products on the environment. It is evaluated
that they are not using hazardous material and try their best to reduce the carbon footprints while
their packaging and benefit the environment (Cahn and Glass, 2018). Along with this it is also
important to study about the design of products is in such a way that is energy efficient and
recyclable. It is considered that the benefits are given to the company by the government and
their efforts are always acknowledged. Their actions are aiming towards a greener company that
will be recognised by the customers. They are making use of Technology but in an
environmental friendly manner so that there is no harm to the environment. Along with that they
are trying to aim to fulfil the customer’s needs into reality. They are filling the gap between the
perception of customers as well as reality.
As per the analysis of research it is seen that the CSR activity done by Apple is reactive rather
than proactive as in case of environmental sector. It is observed that the competitors of Apple are
also focusing on the concept of corporate social responsibility and that is the reason all of them
focus on using the best technology and benefiting the environment as well (Verma, 2019). As per
Apple the CSR activity helps them to make business and improvements by satisfying the needs
and wants of customers.
At the present time Apple is focusing on innovative and inspiring vision that takes care of values
and builds a good image of the company. The company's aim is to promote trust as well as their
open to all the stakeholders and communicate with them effectively for the benefit of

organisation as well as all of the stakeholders (Bandsuch and Winsor). They are not focusing on
the scale of social innovation that will be highly beneficial for the society and will help them to
overcome the Global challenges that they are facing. The companies focusing on their vision and
at the same time taking care of environment as well as Society for overall benefit. All this is
discussion related to CSR followed by Apple and it is noticed that it is vital to follow the
responsibility.
Carroll’s “Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility
It is being observed that there are 4 levels that must be followed while working as corporate
social responsibility the discussion related to save is done below.=:
Economic responsibility: It is the lowest level in the pyramid that shows the
responsibility of business that is too on Profit so it is said that Apple takes care of earning profit
while taking care of corporate social responsibility (Nemashkalo and Balanovych, 2018). The
take care that all the employees are given pay that they want so that they are able to work
effectively in the organisation.
Legal responsibility: As per this level of pyramid it is said that the business should
follow all the laws and legal obligations that are important. In respect to Apple the company
follows all the text regulations takes care of health and safety of employees as well as
employment laws that help them to operate effectively.

Ethical responsibility: It is the next level in the pyramid and as per this level it is duty of
all the business organisation to do all the things in a right manner and deal with the situations in
a fair way. Apple always obeys the law and takes care of working in in a ethical manner that
helps the company to follow the legal as well as economic responsibility effectively.
Philanthropic responsibility: It is the top level of the pyramid and as per this level Apple
takes care of reducing the carbon footprints and use this renewable resources ways to reduce the
negative impact to the environment
PART 2
It is vital for a business organisation to maintain sustainability so that there are no legal
proceedings against the organisation (Jain, 2019). In relation to Apple they always follow the
concept of sustainability and focus on reducing the pollution in the environment the company
takes proper follow up related to business ethics in an appropriate manner. Below mentioned is
the description related to theories that help the company to follow the business ethics and
achieve sustainability.

Normative Ethics
Normative ethics is the study of the ethical actions that are taken by an organisation full stop
it helps to analyse what the people ought to act it helps to understand the morality that helps to
work. It helps decide what is morally right or what is wrong so that the company can follow the
same to achieve success. In addition to the core concept of normative ethics is to arrive at the
basic moral standards as to justify that they are doing right. It is important for a business
organisation to follow the moral standards and accomplish the goals that are set by the
organisation and that are ethically right (Kumar, 2018). It is also classified under two stories that
are Teleological and deontological. In regard to Teleological ethics the badness or goodness of
action is determined with the consequences in contrast to in deontological theory the goodness or
badness is examined by the actions itself. In relation to Apple the focus is on designing the
product in such a manner that is morally right and all the moral principles are followed. They
also focus on converting all the negative aspects into positive so as to satisfy the needs and wants
of customers of the organisation. It is seen that in the recent candle and issue related to battery
the company has set a negative image so to change the image and create positive in in the favour
of customer the company has worked over the same. In this regard the company has worked and
provided the batteries at low cost to customers and create a positive impact again this is how
apple PLC is following the concept of normative ethics.
Descriptive Business Ethics
Under this approach the focus is on what people think as right. The focus is on doing what is
right as per the thinking of people. It is also important for business to first understand what the
customers think and what is right according to them and follow the same. It is seen that by
following the moral values and standards the companies able to gain benefits as they are able to
understand the behaviour of customers and fulfil what they want (Kazeroony and Barton, 2018).
It is seen that it helps to follow all the cultures and societies that are helping them to follow the
ethics. In this theory the analysis is done between similarities as well as differences in moral
practices of all the societies and the standards and values that are followed by them. In relation
with apple the company is taking care of desire of customers and working to cater their needs in
a way so that all the moral values are fulfilled. They are using innovative and creative ways to
satisfy the customers and create a good image in the mind of customers.

TASK 3
Stakeholder perspectives on the business behaviour
Stakeholders are the people that are interested in the information of the company. These are
the people that want to know each and every data related to company and get impacts with the
decisions taken by the company. They all want that the business follows ethics and
responsibilities so as to achieve success. The main stakeholders in an organisation are
employees, customers, investors and government (Sun and Wang, 2019). In relation to the
employees they work for the organisation and they are interested in the working of organisation
as the get salary for leaving from the organisation. Because of Brexit the trade relation of UK
and European Union are broken and this has impacted the employment. So this is how the
stakeholders are impacted by brexit. It is examine that Apple provides basic pay to the
Employees and follows all the employment laws for the benefit of the workforce in the company.
It is seen that if the employees are given healthy working environment they work for longer
duration of time in the company.
The next important stakeholders of the company are the customers. Every company works in
an effective and efficient manner to fulfil the needs and wants of the customers. As Brexit has
important barrier on the trade relations of UK and European Union this has impacted the
customers in. The company also has to face performance issues as they have restricted the trade
relations (Khan, Tanu and Hira). The customer always wants the company should follow
Business ethics and work with social responsibility that benefits the society and does not harm
the environment. Apart from that, governing bodies are also stakeholders who have an interest in
the organization's ability to collect taxes and ensure that no human rights are abused. These
rights can include customer rights as well as employee rights. This is one of the reasons why
governance bodies keep a close eye on the operations. The continuous emphasis on stakeholder
criteria and priorities aids in the establishment of a proper direction to achieve goals in a number
of projects of various sizes and complexity. The investors are the people that invest money in the
company and their highly influenced with the performance of the company. They want that the
business follows all the laws and regulations so that there are no possible problems that arise as
they do not want go company goes in loss. As they are important part of company the company
always discloses all the reports and data with the shareholders.

It is vital to know that the Brexit has different impact on all the stakeholders. It is seen that
company has to take of vital steps that help to reduce the negative impact and to enhance the
positive impact on all the stakeholders (Haugh, Hudon, Meyer and Peredo). So, the company
always understands the need of the stakeholders and then take action that benefits the
stakeholders. Apple Plc is following corporate social responsibility in an effective manner and
that is the reason company is earning huge benefits. This is observed that they have established a
positive impact on the stakeholders. By satisfying all the stakeholders company is able to fulfil
the needs and wants of customers. So the stakeholder plays a vital role in success of an
organisation.

CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that it is vital for a organisation to follow all the
ethical framework and the moral values. It has been observed that the organisation following and
benefit as the society and government both are in favour of the organisation. In the report there is
discussion related to corporate social responsibility and it is explained with the help of Carroll's
pyramid of social responsibility. Business ethics is explained with the help of two theories that
are normative as well as descriptive ethical theories. In the end of the report there is dispersion
related to the stakeholders perspective related to business.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Khramtsova, M.V., 2018. New approaches to teaching business ethics within the frames of
business english classes.
Goodpaster, K.E., 2017. Teaching and learning ethics by the case method. The Blackwell guide
to business ethics, pp.117-141.
Gabbani, F., 2018, From “One World Now” to Global Business Ethics.
Berko, A.R.O., 2019. A Survey of the Awareness of Business Ethics among Accounting Students
at Selected Secondary Schools in Ghana (Doctoral dissertation, University of Ghana).
Cahn, E.S. and Glass, V., 2018. The Effect of Age and Size on Reputation of Business Ethics
Journals. Business & Society, 57(7), pp.1465-1480.
Verma, M. 2019, BUSINESS ETHICS-“A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE FOR
COMPANIES”.
Bandsuch, M.R. and Winsor, S.R.D., A Practical Approach to Teaching and Implementing
Business Ethics. Fulfilling Our Obligation: Perspectives on Teaching Business Ethics, p.167.
Nemashkalo, K. and Balanovych, A., 2018. Business ethics: syllabus of the educational
discipline for students of the first (bachelor) level.
Kumar, U., 2018. Business Ethics-Does it Pay. International Journal of Advances in Agriculture
Sciences.
Kazeroony, H.H. and Barton, C.D., 2018. THE NEED FOR A NEW BUSINESS ETHICS
MODEL. Management Education for Corporate Social Performance, p.99.
Sun, B. and Wang, Y., 2019, October. Case Study of Business Ethics: from Individual, Corporate
& Global Points of View. In 4th International Conference on Modern Management, Education
Technology and Social Science (MMETSS 2019) (pp. 541-547). Atlantis Press.
Khan, M.R., Tanu, D.R. and Hira, M.A., Practices of Business Ethics: A Study on Minister Hi-
Tech Park Limited.
Haugh, H., Hudon, M., Meyer, C. and Peredo, A.M., Special Issue of the Journal of Business
Ethics The Ethics of the Commons.
Jain, M.P., 2019, Role of Business Ethics Education in Shaping Student’s Ethical Attitudes. OF
IPEM, p.1.