Case Study Analysis: Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility

This case study analysis explores the issues of business ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in a given scenario. It discusses the identification of key issues, evidence from the case, development of a solution, justification of the solution, and recommendations. The analysis emphasizes the importance of ethical policies and procedures for the long-term sustainability of a business.

CASE STUDY ANALYSIS

Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................3
2.0 Case analysis..............................................................................................................................4
2.1 Identification of key issues....................................................................................................4
2.2 Evidence from case................................................................................................................4
2.3 Development of a solution.....................................................................................................5
2.4 Justification of solution..........................................................................................................6
2.5 Recommendations..................................................................................................................7
3.0 Conclusion.................................................................................................................................8
References:......................................................................................................................................9
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1.0 Introduction
Ethics may be considered to be an integral part of the business as the same critically impacts the
success or failure of an organization. The ethical framework of a business house is something
which the management must consider with due care and caution. Well-Developed ethical
policies and procedures may help the management not only to achieve the brand reputation but
also the sustainability in the market in the long-term. The instant paper delves into the analysis of
a given case study based on the issue of business ethics (Leonidou, Leonidas C., Paul
Christodoulides, and Des Thwaites 2016).
The case study revolves around the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and related
unethical practices adopted by the company. At the very outset of the study, the researcher
provides a brief introduction to the topic followed by a brief discussion on the concept of
business ethics in the context of the given case study. In the subsequent parts of the paper, the
researcher may attempt to analyse the ethical issue by explaining the background of the situation.
In addition, the researcher critically argues the case in the backdrop of a relevant theoretical
framework. Based on the findings and evaluation so performed, the researcher finally provides
the recommendation before wrapping up the discussion by way of concluding note.
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2.0 Case analysis
2.1 Identification of Key Issues
It has been observed from the provided case study that the profitable foreign steel factory placed
in the Southern province of Vietnam is struggling to pursue its operation due to the protests
raised by the local population and authorities as well. The local authorities were bound close the
factory operations due to the numerous protests and allegations placed against the company for
causing severe air and water pollution. The CEO of the organization had claimed to show
immense concern towards the wellbeing of the local residents and the environment as well. The
CEO also declared of dealing with the most environmentally friendly practices and methods.
However, the local population has shown the strong determination of not following the claim of
the management and continuing their protest to discontinue the operation of the factory. The case
reflects the fact that the environmentalists and the local residents had conducted an investigation
and inferred that the factory attempt to release highly toxic chemicals in the local rivers.
Therefore, as per their water testing result, the level of toxic chemicals is 50 times greater than
national and global authorized standards. Hence, the factory is facing sever struggle in term of
continuing their operation
2.2 Evidence From the Case
Evidence received from the provided case study reflects that environmentalists from 2 foreign
NGOs have declared anonymously to the online media source that more than 2000 households
had been directly exposed to the toxic air released by the factor on regular basis. The population
and farmers living nearby are getting directly exposed to the harmful air and intoxicated
chemicals released in the waters. The people staying near factories or getting exposed to harmful
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gases might suffer serious illness in the near future (Atkins, Peter, and Ian 2016). It has also been
identified that the environmentalist is not exactly certain about the long term impact the factory
operation would create over the agronomy operation and food production aspect of the region.
The environmentalists claimed of conducting more research over the matter to identify the long
term impact the factory operation would create over residents and on the agricultural aspect of
the province. Instances found that the farmers tend to pump water directly from the river for the
purpose of irrigation. Moreover, on the contrary, instances show that the sudden pause in the
operation might cut the employment of 1600 workers that is why the local residents are granting
the factory owners with the permission to resume the operation. Furthermore, the brand had been
experiencing external pressures from the stakeholders and the customers to continue their
operation and segregate its products in the market to meet the rising demand rate.
2.3 Development of a Solution
Every business shall provide an explicit focus on the community welfare activities and regulate
its internal operation accordingly (Alqahtani, Ammar, Elif, Kishore, and Surendra 2019). There
needs to be a mutual understanding between the community members and the owners of the
business to ensure steady and interrupted operation. The members need to have a clear
understanding of the measures and equipment the factories are using for their daily production.
This would help the community members to comprehend the efforts organizations are taking to
process the internal operation by ensuring high security to the society and environment. Hence,
a mutual understanding would build between businesses and the community, which would
feature long term profitability and also leading healthy lifestyles (Pham, Raj, Ludovic, William
and Raja 2018). On the other side, experts mentioned that majority of the organization are
following recycling process to ensure a process where the left out materials can be reused and the
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need of emitting or releasing disposable waste in the environment is also less. This, in turn,
ensures a safe and healthy environment and also a profitable solution for the business, where
used products can be reused to enhance the productivity margin (Kristjansdottir, Katrin, Sara,
Lars, Cipriano, and Niels 2018).
2.4 Justification of the Solution
The justification of the solutions would be discussed with the support of Agency Theory. The
chosen theory usually helps to understand the relationships between the principals and agents
(Morel, Gérard and Carlos 2019). Herein, the stakeholders of the chosen factory would be the
principals and the employer of the factory would be the agents. It is the foremost responsibility
of the agents to make sure that the principals are satisfied with the regular operation of the
business. The above-discussed solution would certainly help the agents of the organization to
maintain a stable and uninterrupted business in the chosen province. Moreover, the suggested
solution would also help the organization to meet its Triple Bottom Line approach. The business
needs to focus on the demands and the job securities of its employees. The inappropriate
operation and production process would also reflect on the employability of the resources (Bose,
Susmita, Dongxu, Himanshu and Amit 2018). Therefore, the suggested solutions like
maintaining transparency with community and recycling of the materials would assist the
employers to resume its operations. It would enrich the business to meet the requirements of the
planet and society as well. Henceforth, it can be stated that the discussed solution can definitely
help the factory to maintain a secure balance in the operation that would get aligned to the
community demands and also retain its profitability as well (Pal, Parimal, Ramesh Kumar, and
Subhamay Banerjee 2016).
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2.5 Recommendations
The organization can readily introduce the eco-friendly production equipment that can reduce the
amount of emission rate or disposal of waste materials. The specific approach can also help the
business to run its operation and to recycle the limits waste products that are released in the
process (Pan, ChunRong, MengChu, Yan and NaiQi 2018). This would cut down the allegations
raised by the community members, rather, they would not get the adequate scope to accuse the
foreign factor of its improper production process. Moreover, the business can also show strong
involvement in CSR actions, where some margin of its profit can be contributed to the local
NGO's to conduct a quick recovery of the damaged section in the claimed society (Xifang,
Wang, and Dai 2019). Hence, the societal members can readily witness the effort business is
paying towards community welfare actions and might withdraw their consent in the near future.
As a result, this would form a balanced relationship between the business and the community
members, which would facilitate the business to overcome continuous struggles and
interruptions.
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3.0 Conclusion
Based on the discussion and analysis performed in the preceding sections of the paper, it may be
construed that the management of the company must abide by the rule of Triple Bottom Line
(TBL) which puts emphasis on the social responsibility of a business house from a larger
context. The recommendatory measures must be adopted by the management of the firm in order
to make the operation sustainable within the industry (Petljak, Kristina, Dora Naletina, and
Kristina Bilogrević 2019). In this context, it may be noted that consideration of people and
environment related issues within the corporate value proposition framework help the business
significantly to achieve its desired goals in the form of customer satisfaction and brand building
(Nallusamy, S., M. Ganesan, K. Balakannan, and C. Shankar 2016). Therefore it may finally be
concluded that a well-designed CSR policy sets supported by the strong leadership with ethically
sound corporate governance will considerably contribute towards the attainment of corporate
aims and objectives of sustainability in the long-term in most time and cost efficient manner.
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References:
Alqahtani, Ammar Y., Elif Kongar, Kishore K. Pochampally, and Surendra M. Gupta,
eds. Responsible Manufacturing: Issues Pertaining to Sustainability. CRC Press, 2019.
Atkins, Peter, and Ian Bowler. Food in society: economy, culture, geography. Routledge, 2016.
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manufacturing of biomaterials." Progress in Materials Science 93 (2018): 45-111.
Kristjansdottir, Katrin, Sara Shafiee, Lars Hvam, Cipriano Forza, and Niels Henrik Mortensen.
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Leonidou, Leonidas C., Paul Christodoulides, and Des Thwaites. "External determinants and
financial outcomes of an eco‐friendly orientation in smaller manufacturing firms." Journal of
Small Business Management 54, no. 1 (2016): 5-25.
Morel, Gérard, Carlos Eduardo and Pereira, Nof. "Historical survey and emerging challenges of
manufacturing automation modelling and control: A systems architecting perspective." Annual
Reviews in Control (2019).
Nallusamy, S., M. Ganesan, K. Balakannan, and C. Shankar. "Environmental sustainability
evaluation for an automobile manufacturing industry using multi-grade fuzzy approach."
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Pal, Parimal, Ramesh Kumar, and Subhamay Banerjee. "Manufacture of gluconic acid: a review
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Pan, ChunRong, MengChu Zhou, Yan Qiao, and NaiQi Wu. "Scheduling cluster tools in
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no. 1 (2019): 107-126.
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Xifang, Wang, and Dai Ruijuan. "Analysis of the Influence of Exhibition Industry on Ecological
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