Business Ethics: Navigating Profit, Goals, and CSR Challenges

This essay evaluates the challenges organizations face in balancing profit, goals, and corporate social responsibility (CSR), highlighting the ethical obligations and issues encountered. It uses Woolworths Limited as a case study to illustrate these challenges, particularly in relation to stakeholder engagement and ethical decision-making. The essay also explores various ethical theories, such as self-interest, duty to principles, compassion, and virtue ethics, to provide a framework for addressing ethical dilemmas. It emphasizes the importance of training employees in business ethics and incorporating ethical standards into organizational policies to promote responsible behavior and foster strong stakeholder relationships. The conclusion underscores the need for organizations to navigate the complexities of profit-making, goal setting, and CSR to ensure long-term sustainability and ethical conduct.

Running head: BUSINESS ETHICS
In the Global Context, Discuss the organizational challenges of profit, goals and corporate
Social Responsibility
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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BUSINESS ETHICS
Introduction
The aim of this essay is to evaluate the challenges that organizations face in relation
to their profit, goals and corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, in this essay will
further discuss the understanding of the ethical obligations and issues that are encountered by
the organization.
At the time of establishment, setting the goals becomes an important issue because
based on it the organization builds its solid base from which to grow. Thus, organizations
face challenging situations when there is lack in intellectually challenging goals. Another
major goal that organizations face globally is related to profit where the main challenge arise
due to poor management, dissatisfaction of the employees and obsolete performance
management systems in the sphere of profit making (Craft, 2013). Lastly, another major
challenge is faced by the organization in the CSR. Global businesses today have to consider
more than productivity if they have to keep their customers, workers, shareholder as well as
their community satisfied (Crane, Matten & Spence, 2013). Therefore, situations become
challenging when the organization has to balance both positive social change as well as the
goals of the organization.
Discussion
Businesses have certain ethical obligations that split similarity with legal rules and
regulations in deciding how a business performs itself while determining to make profit as
well as attain strategic organizational goals. However, ethical obligations are actually more
about unrestricted decisions and value-guided behavior (Thiel et al., 2012). Woolworths
Limited believes in getting their customer’s trust by behaving responsibly as well as doing
the correct thing for their customers as well as their community. However, the organization

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Woolworths is devoted in upholding human rights not simply with respect to its individual
employee’s nut also for the workers who are part of their supply chain. However, their ethical
obligations is mainly surrounded by the inclusive criteria on anti-corruption, labor rights, safe
working conditions as well as environmental compliance. Therefore, is has been seen that
ethical issues are becoming an essential feature when analyzing the success of the business.
Today’s customers mainly prefer those brands, which avoids unethical reputations.
Moreover, if organizations neglect their social responsibilities then they might land into legal
troubles (Homburg, Stierl & Bornemann, 2013). Therefore, organizations like Woolworths
faced issues in areas like profit, goals and their CSR.
Woolworth further faces issues with the value and ethics related to their stakeholders.
Therefore, to preserve a strong relationship with their stakeholders, Woolworth has worked
on a vigorous process of stakeholder engagement. Through this process, Woolworth can on a
regular basis review of needs as well as opportunity of their stakeholders to keep satisfied.
However, the main reason of Woolworth to focus particularly on their stakeholders is that it
also needs to understand the various issues faced by their stakeholders in the economic,
environmental as well as social areas. Moreover, in relation to these Woolworth also focuses
on approval of problem solving approach to manipulate their stakeholders and get the
maximum profit. However, this organization is always ready to face challenges as well as
changes, which are connected to the stakeholders (Woolworthsgroup.com.au, 2018).
Stakeholders have an adverse relation with the output or the revenue generated from business,
which means they do have a concern or interest in full course of working. List of stakeholders
includes groups, systems, accountants, member or organization. Since they pour investment
in the working capital, therefore by default they become the member for the decision-making
committee in an organization.

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When responsible for a small business, an owner apprises those who show interest in
the organizations activities. Customers, business partners, employees, suppliers, investors
and fellow business leaders are potential stakeholders (Brown & Forster, 2013). In order to
run a successful business agenda, it is significant to convince the stakeholders and to make
sure that certain ethical responsibilities is maintained in terms of some decisions taken,
including decisions of hiring and contract, to demonstrate and highlight company’s social
responsibility. An organization tends to operate schemes coming in worth full for responsible
stakeholders and to make sure a complete sync is established between all the associates,
directors, and CEOs of the company.
Ethical theories:
1. Self Interest, Enlightened or Otherwise: In this ethical theory most focus
has been made on self interest or company’s benefits to be the prime prospect
without looking into the ways of how it affects society as a whole. Methods,
which is concerned about only self-made methods through which business is
prospered. This theory of business ethics can be used to justify almost any
business decision (Broad, 2014).
2. Duty to Principles or People: Self-interest methods can be possible in a free
market, which does practically not exist in nature, or we can say it is
hypothetical concept, as real markets are always bound by laws and other
restrictions (Yazdani & Murad, 2015). It is a debate or an unsettled fact that
about who or what should be the obligations of a business leader. If a
company has stakeholders or investors, then the business owner is bound by
law to act according to their financial interest.
3. Compassion and Consequences: Many have criticized basing the business
operations on moral ethics. Business based solely on compassion cannot

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succeed economically, but that does not mean that ethical decision-making
should be based solely in compassion. Another way of looking at ethical
problems is to think about the possible course of actions. Work practices,
which cause environmental problems, may bring immediate benefits for the
stakeholders but it may cause largely affecting consequences (Ford &
Richardson, 2013).
4. Virtue and Vice: It is an ancient theory of business ethics which says that a
leader will have certain virtues like honesty and courage. Such practices are
criticized heavily and no certain rules have been made (Prior, 2016). Some
ethical theories are made keeping in mind the concept of pure free market
according to economics and in real market scenario rules, competitors and
regulations are always embossing.
No theories suffice all the need of an organization. The best approach is use all the
major ethical theories to assess a situation. For instance, before making a decision an owner
should question himself about his planned course of actions. Is it in the best interest for the
company? Is it going to satisfy the needs of stakeholders and investors? What is the likely
socio-economic impact? After considering such questions thoughtfully, any decision made
will be an ethical one.
Woolworth Limited has maintained certain processes to conserve the satisfaction of their
stakeholders and they are as follows:
 Providing proper working conditions to its employees, safeguarding their human
rights, and ensuring safety standards in surrounding environment
 Policies regarding workplace safety, fair pay, employment conditions, motivating
environment and job security.

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 Company is also implementing improvement to make sure that their suppliers would
be able to qualify according to the standards.
 Woolworth ensures regulation of labour rights in which the labour are free to choose
their way of employment or job. If something went against their satisfaction level then
they are not forced to work into that organization, in fact they are made free to make
the decision of leaving the organization.
 No discrimination of caste, creed, color or gender should take place in the
organization.
 Moves focus towards environment sustainability (Lewis & Huber, 2015).
By following such methods, Woolworth maintained its sustainability in the competitive
retail market. They mainly focus on Stakeholder satisfaction, which in return yield them good
results. However, in recent years the global organizations incorporate their policies into their
performance management program so that they can hold their workers responsible for their
actions as well as alert them to their liabilities to support professional standards during their
job performance and their interaction with the colleagues and supervisors. Today
organization also provides training regarding ethics to their employees so that it can help the
employees address and determine the ethical dilemmas that go in between them and the goals
of the organization. To make possible an effective organizational ethical training program
companies train their employees through experiential learning or via role-play (Basarab Sr &
Root, 2012). Organizations today feel that they have certain responsibility towards the society
where their focus mainly embraces time as well as money along with the duty to offer
environmental products as well as services. They also crave to advance the lives of
individuals around the globe.

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Conclusion
To conclude this report, it can be said that throughout the globe the challenges that the
organization faces regarding their ethical obligations are mainly in the areas of profit making,
goal settings or their CSR responsibilities. Taking the organization Woolworth Limited as
one of the global organization it can be said that they not only face challenges in value and
ethics related to their stakeholders but also ethical dilemmas arises in keeping their customers
happy through ethical profit making functioning. Thus, to avoid any unethical practices and
develop a loyal relationship with their stakeholders, Woolworth prefers an engagement
process for them so that it can keep all the stakeholders satisfied. Several theoretical
approaches are applied to help the organizations globally to deal with ethical dilemma.
However, today majority of the global organizations prefer to train their employees
beforehand on business ethics so that it can help them understand and solve any kind of
ethical obligations. Moreover, they also prepared their policies depending on the ethical
standards so that following it the employees can take the responsibilities of their own
behavior and relationships with their colleagues and seniors.

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