Exploring the Ethical Challenges of Business in Modern Society

This essay explores the ethical challenges faced by businesses in society, emphasizing the evolving relationship between business and its social responsibilities. It discusses the shift from a profit-driven model to one that incorporates corporate social responsibility (CSR), highlighting the importance of considering employees, communities, the environment, suppliers, and customers. The essay examines how CSR initiatives are driven by government inefficiency, demands for disclosure from stakeholders, customer and investor interest, and changing employee expectations. It also outlines the benefits of CSR, including improved financial performance, enhanced brand reputation, and greater ability to attract and retain employees. The conclusion stresses the need for businesses to engage in CSR to maintain a positive societal image and contribute to the overall well-being of society.

Running Head: ETHICAL CHALLENGES OF BUSINESS IN SOCIETY
Ethical Challenges OF Business in Society
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Author Note

1ETHICAL CHALLENGES OF BUSINESS IN SOCIETY
The perception that people have about business and the relationship that is shared
between society and business, is what plays a crucial role in defining about social business
responsibilities are all about. Business has traditionally been seen as, not a social institution
but a property institution. The primary motive or aim of any business enterprise is to try and
earn as much profit as possible and at times, this profit must be earned at any cost by the
business owner (Carroll, 2015). The business as an entity was regarded as one that was quite
distinct from that of society. It was expected by both society and by the business world that it
was the government or the state that would take care of societal concerns and environmental
conservation. It was further assumed that business managers would meet the interests and
expectations of shareholders automatically. Over the last couple of decades however, the
conventional perception of business as a profit making entity has undergone several changes.
There is the increasing realization now that environmental and social issues cannot be merely
addressed through policies and laws implemented by the state. It is necessary for business
enterprises to develop new practices and theories of management in order to facilitate the
process of social wellbeing and societal harmony. Furthermore, the state has also been
declining quite rapidly from its societal responsibilities in recent times yet the imbalances in
society or the needs of society have not undergone any change of transformation. Business
therefore has had to emerge now as the filler of this vacuum. As such, a corporate
responsibility has been imposed on business towards society, something that is indicative of
quite a paradigm shift in business philosophy (McWilliams, 2015). This essay discusses the
various ethical challenges of business in society and concludes that business has an important
role to play in maintaining peace, harmony and balance in society.
Corporate social responsibility in essence refers to the process of carrying out an
assessment of the impact that a business organization has on society and then evaluating the
responsibilities of that particular business organization towards society. Some of the

2ETHICAL CHALLENGES OF BUSINESS IN SOCIETY
important aspects of a business that are assessed as a part of corporate social responsibility
are employees, communities, the environment, suppliers and customers. The phenomenon of
corporate social responsibility is something that can be maintained quite easily as it entails
carrying out activities by a business enterprise in a manner that it will not affect the business
growth of that enterprise negatively (Roy et al., 2015). Corporate social responsibility does
not just mean professing a concern for environmental protection and wellbeing, or being
ecologically accountable such as by promoting a recycling policy. Instead, what corporate
social responsibility implies is taking into considerate the entire manner in which a business
enterprise is represented in the society right from its internal processes like client interactions,
executive tasks for smooth and efficient day to day operations of the business and its
wholesome growth overall. It is necessary for business organizations all around the world to
recognize that corporate social responsibility is a process by which companies manage their
business activities and processes while generating a positive impact overall on the entire
community. It is necessary and perhaps even imperative for both small scale and large scale
business enterprises, that apart from expanding business goals and objectives and chasing
after profit, it is also important to shape supportable and responsible relationships with
society (Steenkampf, 2017). Only then can the goal of corporate social responsibility be one
that is successfully achieved or fulfilled. Developing countries of the world also have to take
the initiative of including corporate social responsibility in their business plans or agenda. A
good way to achieve this is by designating specific teams and departments in companies that
will be given the responsibility of developing specific goals, strategies and policies for
corporate social responsibility programs while also setting out exclusive budgets that will
support these CSR programs. Drawing up a proper and pragmatically designed budget is
absolutely essential if the corporate social responsibility campaigns are to be carried out with

3ETHICAL CHALLENGES OF BUSINESS IN SOCIETY
successful without hurting the business interests of companies in any way whatsoever
(Carroll, 2015).
The main purpose behind implementing corporate social responsibilities is to ensure
that corporate culture and corporate business activities are sustainable in three different ways
namely, social, environmental and economic. By paying as much attention as is needed to all
these three dimensions, there are many companies that think that corporate social
responsibility is nothing but an exterior part of all the business activities that they carry out
on a daily basis (McWilliams, 2015). There are some companies that believe that corporate
social responsibility is entirely irrelevant altogether and tend to focus instead on satisfying
the needs and requirements of the clients or customers. It is also believed on the part of
business enterprises that satisfying clients is something that can only be done by ensuring the
timely and proper provision of quality goods and services. What business enterprises tend to
ignore however, is that there are many important social changes that are taking place in the
world today, that can truly spell the downfall of a particular business enterprise. This change
maybe referred to as social responsibility, which by itself can present a great deal of
opportunities for a business house or enterprise.
A few of the drivers that have been pushing business enterprises towards corporate
social responsibility are the inefficiency on the part of the government and demands for a
greater degree of disclosure. Previously, government authorities relied solely on regulation
and legislation in order to implement initiatives for social and economic welfare in the
domain of business. It relied on regulation and legislation as well to carry out strategies and
plans for environmental protection in the business domain, which ultimately led to the failure
of such initiatives. A growing demand can also be seen for corporate disclosure by
stakeholders, that includes suppliers, employees, customers, investors, communities as well
as activist organizations. Business enterprises now realize that it is in their best interest as

4ETHICAL CHALLENGES OF BUSINESS IN SOCIETY
well as in the interest of the society in which they carry out their enterprise, to undertake
corporate social responsibility campaigns in order to keep people and communities of people
happy. By undertaking corporate social responsibility, a business enterprise can successfully
fulfill its business goals or agenda while looking into the wellbeing of the society at the same
time. It will thus avoid making it stakeholders suspicious and will also keep the governmental
authorities happy and content, preventing any sort of governmental investigation into their
business making activities.
Businesses today are also challenged into undertaking corporate social responsibility
initiatives because of increased customer interest in corporate social responsibility.
Customers or clients are willing to endorse certain businesses or enterprises today only if
these undertake campaigns and initiatives that look into social welfare. Many investors have
also professed an interest of late in companies that undertake corporate social responsibility
campaigns (McWilliams, 2015). The performance of a business house is today being
analyzed by investors, not simply by virtue of the amount of money it makes but also by the
ethical way in which it makes such money and what it gives back to society especially for the
welfare of society as a result of all the profit it makes. Employees are changing in their
behavior too nowadays, something which has had a vital role to play in several companies of
the globe increasingly taking up corporate social responsibility initiatives and measures.
Employees today are interested in more than just their pay check and related benefits and are
actively seeking out employers whose principles match their own principles. As a result, most
employers today are compelled to improve the working conditions of their employees
especially if they are interested in hiring and retaining skilled employees (Suliman et al.,
2015).
There are many wonderful advantages or benefits that are associated with corporate
social responsibility and which indicate why more and more businesses today should get

5ETHICAL CHALLENGES OF BUSINESS IN SOCIETY
involved in corporate social responsibility activities (Tai & Chung, 2014). Examples of the
beneficial effects of CSR include improved financial performances, lower operating costs,
enhanced brand reputation and image, greater productivity as well as quality, workforce
diversity, access to capital, reduced regulatory oversight and a greater ability on the part of a
business house to attract the right employees for its enterprise and to retain such employees at
the company over a long period of time (Carroll, 2015).
Thus, corporate social responsibility is something that every business in the world
today needs to engage in if it wants to be looked upon with respect and admiration by people
in society. Businesses must know and understand by now that simply making profit all the
time will only antagonize them from the society and that social responsibilities must be
undertaken in order for a business to give back to society what it takes from it. By opting for
good CSR strategies, a business enterprise will be able to ensure good profit, attract the right
investors and clients, keep its employees happy and earn a good reputation in society.

6ETHICAL CHALLENGES OF BUSINESS IN SOCIETY
References
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Steenkamp, J. B. (2017). Corporate Social Responsibility. In Global Brand Strategy (pp. 209-
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Suliman, A. M., Al-Khatib, H. T., & Thomas, S. E. (2016). Corporate social
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Tai, F. M., & Chuang, S. H. (2014). Corporate social responsibility. Ibusiness, 6(03), 117.