Ethics, Social Responsibility and Sustainability in Business

This paper evaluates the importance of ethics, social responsibility and sustainability in businesses. It discusses the benefits of upholding ethical standards, challenges faced by management, and the need for a business plan to ensure success.

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ETHICS, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY
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Introduction
It goes along way for any particular organization to be considered as either successful or not
(Shah 2014, p. 59). All this depends on the management strategy and the culture of the business
fabricated within its ethical standard. Ethics in relation to business can be referred to as code of
conductor or a system of moral principles which affect how decisions are made and executed
within the constraints of any organization. It can also refer to application of ethical values in a
business environment. A successful business need to be guided by asset of principles and code of
conduct. This paper will focus on evaluating the ethics, sustainability, and social responsibility in
businesses.
For business to successfully carry out its activities and be able to achieve its vision, it must set up
ethical standards that will guide the way it deals with its clients and stakeholders (Farias 2016). It
thus calls for the organization to go beyond its own interests and put into consideration the needs
of the general community as well as the environment. Success does not just come through
making lots of profit (Wu, Kwan, Yim, Chiu, & He 2015, p. 820). On the contrary a business
requires to maintain its reputation within the society and its stakeholders for it to flourish longer
and outdo its competitors in the market. With this in mind, managers need to be aware of the
constitutes of ethical conduct and pass it down to their employees and be made known to the
general public. Building ethical standards in the organization can take many forms. For instance,
ensuring that employees are aware of and understand the cooperate value of the company by
making clear the behavior that it seeks from employees that is for the good of community and
environment.

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Wu et al. (2015) denotes that behaving ethically and maintaining the corporate social
responsibility significantly helps to flourish a business. It has the power of attracting customers
to the firm’s product and also enables the company to get the most talented employees and
keeping the share of the company high thereby protecting it from turn over.
Managers can further plough the value of ethics in their organization by educating the staff on
what is at risk if they fail to perform ethically (Shah 2014, p. 59). This involves offering training
programs to all workers so that they become aware of the value of ethic and how they can apply
it for the good of the organization and the society. Encouraging a corporate culture in which
employees feel free to speak the truth holding integrity to those in authority thus creating
commitment from all corners of the organization (Thomas 2016). It being a pillar to ethical
standards, encouraging openness to other people’s view and being diverse and open minded to
all opinions whether popular or not will facilitate the success of the business. In addition to this,
passing down the art of transparency about finances also plays a rudimentary role in building a
conducive environment for a business. Going further to rewarding solid ethical behavior that will
trigger other staff members to enumerate the same and leading by examples plays major key
roles in building ethical standards within the business.
Every manager should adopt effective approaches to help in evaluating and deciding on ethical
dilemmas. It requires going beyond the interest of the business to that of the community involves
shifting values of the organization from those of compliance to virtue-based. Ferrell (2016)
denotes that it includes taking responsible to all the activities that occur internally and externally
around the business. Environmental responsibilities and the need to care for the workforce for
instance treating waste products prior to disposal and controlling the gasses released to the

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atmosphere (Anderson, Garavan & Sadler-Smith 2014, p. 498). The benefit that comes in hand
with creating a good rapport with the surrounding community like ensuring that the community
is not affected adversely by waste product and also returning to the community such as offering
scholarship and aid service is loyalty (Klettner, Clarke, & Boersma 2014, p. 145). This builds the
reputation of the organization and helps it to flourish in the presence of other companies in the
market. Companies that succeed in fostering a profitable atmosphere and build a good
relationship with the community/win over their competitors always think differently through
defining themselves on what they contribute. It does not entail changing purpose but being
explicit on how they achieve their purpose to benefit the society thus generating long term
values.
Even though it is of great benefit to uphold ethical standards within the organization, it is also an
added challenge to the management team to carry out this task while concentrating on making
profit (Wang 2013 p. 131). As the business grows, losing site of what the company stands for is
easy. Growth can make it difficult to ensure all stakeholders follow the rules. Among the
challenges of ethical leadership is consistence. Adherence to rules you establish consistently in
the business to act as an inspiration to your workers. Failure to adhere to them as a leader makes
your workers see you as having a forged visage thus interpreting your vision and mission as
public façade.
In addition to this, it becomes more challenging as an administrator since creating a conducive
atmosphere at workplace especially in an oppressive environment where employees fear to speak
out the ongoing an ethical deed as they are afraid of being ostracized or even written off. It my
also involve the creation of policies which might be a difficult task as it involves writing down

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clear goals and mission of the company (Rath 2016, p. 197). On the contrary winning over the
competitors and enhancing sustainability prospect is not the only means to successful business
rather, having a business plan plays also an integral part in success. The management and
structure of the entailed in the business plan when followed correctly will act as a guide map or
compass that ensures the organization triumphs in its endeavors. Learning from your past failures
and trying to apply creativity to come up with best of products also play key role in ensuring that
an organization outdo its competitors.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the success of any business should not only be measured in terms of how it makes
profit. It also matters the way in which it up holds its ethical standards for the benefit of the
public and the business itself. Therefore, it calls for the business focusing also on the social
responsibility and sustainability.

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List of References
Anderson, V, Garavan, T, & Sadler-Smith, E 2014, 'Corporate social responsibility,
sustainability, ethics and international human resource development', Human Resource
Development International, 17, 5, pp. 497-498, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed
20 April 2018.
Farias, G, & Farias, C 2016, 'Sustainability: Opportunity or Responsibility?', Competition
Forum, 14, 1, pp. 54-64, SPORTDiscus with Full Text, EBSCOhost, viewed 20 April 2018.
Ferrell, L 2016, 'Ethics and Social Responsibility in Marketing Channels and Supply Chains: An
Overview', Journal Of Marketing Channels, 23, 1/2, pp. 2-10, Business Source Premier,
EBSCOhost, viewed 20 April 2018.
Klettner, A., Clarke, T., and Boersma, M. 2014. The Governance of Corporate Sustainability:
Empirical Insights into the Development, Leadership and Implementation of Responsible
Business Strategy. Journal of Business Ethics, 122(1): 145 - 65.
Rath, AK 2016, 'Emerging Landscape of Corporate Ethics and Social Responsibility -
Challenges and Options', Journal Of Institute Of Public Enterprise, 39, 3/4, pp. 137-154,
Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 20 April 2018.
Shah, S. 2014. Corporate Social Responsibility: A Way of Life at the Tata Group. Journal of
Human Values, 20(1), 59 – 74.

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Thomas, L 2016, 'Corporate Social Responsibility: A Socio-Economic Theory, Framework, and
Model', Competition Forum, 14, 1, pp. 85-88, SPORTDiscus with Full Text, EBSCOhost,
viewed 20 April 2018.
Wang, Y. 2013. From Virtue Ethics to Virtuous Corporation – Putting Virtues into Business
Practice. PLATFORM: Journal of Media and Communication, 5(1), 131 – 139.
Wu, L.Z., Kwan, H. K., Yim, F. H. K., Chiu, R. K., and He, X. 2015. CEO Ethical Leadership
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130(4), 819 - 831.