Analyzing Challenges in Ethics, Responsibility, Sustainability Report

This report delves into the critical challenges of ethics, responsibility, and sustainability (ERS) within the contemporary corporate landscape, drawing upon the author's experiential learning during a university residency. The report examines key terms like ethics, responsibility, sustainability, corporate citizenship, and corporate social responsibility (CSR), emphasizing their interdependencies. It identifies primary challenges, including conflicts between profitability and ethical decisions, as well as organizational cultural differences and the absence of a cohesive international framework for ethical practices. The analysis considers the impact of leadership approaches in addressing these challenges, offering recommendations for fostering a positive organizational culture, balancing profitability with ethical considerations, and benchmarking against similar organizations. The report underscores the importance of integrating ERS principles to achieve long-term business success and sustainability, reflecting on personal experiences and observations to offer practical insights and strategies for improvement within the author's organization.

Business 1.
BUSINESS: TACKLING THE CHALLENGE IN ETHICS, RESPONSIBILITY AND
SUSTAINABILITY
Name
Professor
Course
University
City/state
Date

Business 2.
Introduction
The concept of ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability is
essential in organizational as well as institutional development (Kolk, 2016, p. 28). As a result,
these concepts are integral for any manager in the modern corporate/institution world and
determine how successful and sustainable their businesses are in a given environment I n which
they operate. Ethics or business ethics play a critical role in business decision making and are
highly influenced by an individual character and organizational culture. The concept of Ethics,
Responsibility, and Sustainability (ERS) has therefore increasingly become a significant concern
in businesses as they strive to achieve different social, economic and environmental goals (Setó-
Pamies & Papaoikonomou, 2016). It is however increasingly challenging to achieve the active
development of business ethics, become responsible in various dimensions as well as achieve
corporate social sustainability. The purpose of this study is therefore to analyze the challenges in
Ethics, Responsibility, and Sustainability in the contemporary corporate world that I need to
tackle at my company based on my experiences as residency in the University for one week. The
study will also provide an understanding of to what extent does the leadership approach of the
organization enable me to address the issues. The analyses of the challenges will, however, be
based on my experiences from my residency in the University. The study will therefore provide
recommendations based on the experiential learning from my residency at the university.
Definition of Key terms
Ethics - refers to a school of behavior that is influenced by a particular value system such as
equity, honesty and integrity. The ability to develop ethical behavior in any organization is,
therefore, a factor of an individual character as well as the corporate culture of an organization.
A positive ethical culture promotes responsibility and business sustainability.

Business 3.
Responsibility - refers to the willingness or an ability to incorporate a broader environmental
and social consideration into an individual or organizational decision making and also to become
accountable for the impact of the decisions made. It is therefore highly correlated to
sustainability in business development. It is usually embedded on business CSRs initiatives
which refers to a business commitment to proactive environmental and social responsibility as
well as to become good stewards of the environment in which they operate. To become
responsible then one must be guided by specific ethical values or ethical culture which shows the
relationship between business ethics and responsibility.
Sustainability in business refers to the ability to maintain various systems or processes towards
environmental, social and economic goals. It is therefore about the social, economic and
environmental business challenges/issues and objectives that are common to the society as a
whole. It is linked to responsibility and ethics in that the development of favorable business
ethics is depended on a business ability to show concern for sustainability and therefore the
business socially, economically and environmental responsibility behaviors contribute to
sustainability in business.
Corporate citizenship refers to the extent to which businesses can meet the legal, ethical and
economic responsibilities as established by the business stakeholders (Crane & Matten, 2016, p.
18). It reduces financial risks and improves the financial performance of efficient firms. It is born
out of the recognition that business has cultural, social and environmental responsibilities to the
community which seeks a license to operate in such a community as well as financial goals and
responsibilities as set out by the business stakeholders.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) refers to the need or desire of the businesses or
companies to be good corporate citizens. It is therefore, a management concept, which

Business 4.
establishes or promotes responsible behavior within a business or organization. It can also refer
to the responsibility of businesses or enterprises for their impacts on society as well as their
consequences for the integration of social, environmental, ethical and human rights. It is,
therefore, the concept in which ethics, responsibility, and sustainability are embedded.
Main Challenges in Ethics, Responsibility, and Sustainability
Having worked in my organization for the last year, I have had the first-hand experience
with organizational challenges about business ethics, responsibility, and sustainability. However,
my residency at the university has helped me gain experience on how these challenges can be
solved. The concept of corporate social responsibility has become the new driving force in
business with managers seeking to integrate every initiative that will enable their business
organizations to achieve improved corporate social responsibility (Quarshie, Salmi & Leuschner,
2016). However, the effectiveness or the integration of these practices is highly dependent on the
organizational culture and the environment in which the business operates. As a result, corporate
social responsibility initiatives are not compulsory business strategies or frameworks which
every business should adopt but are a necessary framework which determines the ability of a
business to succeed in any given business environment. The business ethics are based on the
value system of the organization where in this case in my organization the fundamental values
were accountability, integrity, respect for others and responsibility. Therefore an individual
behavior within the organization was judged based on the ability to uphold the above value
systems.
Severe environmental problems characterize the modern corporate world while ethical
issues are still a massive threat for us human beings as they strongly affect the lives of future
generations. However. It is essential to note that there are many organizations and companies

Business 5.
around the world that are becoming increasingly aware the importance and also possible benefits
behind responsible behavior and actions (Wymer & Rundle-Thiele, 2017, p. 22). In doing so,
they have recognized the need for corporate social responsibility which can be explained by the
fact that sustainability and responsibility are a significant area when evaluating and measuring
companies overall business. It is increasingly difficult, therefore, for the companies to ignore
their responsibilities toward nature and surrounding society. However, most businesses are
governed by their need to achieve their financial or profitability goals and therefore adopting
corporate social responsibility is often regarded as a burden to some businesses on top of the
existing business regulations the companies might be struggling to meet. This explains why it is
a voluntary exercise and not compulsory to develop and implement various corporate social
responsibility initiatives. However given the importance of the initiatives towards promoting
business interests and sustainability, most businesses develop the initiatives willingly.
Challenge 1: conflict of interests between profitability and ethical decisions
During my residency at the organization, I was able to learn that the most profitable
decision in the organization is not the most ethical. Therefore there is always a struggle for the
managers to make an effective decision. In any case, business are guided by their profit motive
or to meet the interest of their shareholders which is to maximize business profits (Kolk, 2016).
On the other hand ethical decisions promotes fairness and responsibility on the part of business
operations and therefore. For instance, the organization I was working with was providing food
services as it was a large food restaurant and therefore there were seasons when the demand was
very high. The financial controller had much pressure on the fiancé officers to develop strategies
to maximize their company profits during this period. Therefore the most probable decision was
to increase food prices and the business would achieve maximum profits given the increased

Business 6.
demand. However, this was not ethical at all because the rationale for increased food costs
should not be demand but increase in food materials. I was also able to discover that the
management of the company was reluctant in establishing corporate social responsibility but
rather had its focus of achieving business profitability. Other than adopting various
environmental conservation or protection measures such as proper waste management and
disposal strategies, the business did not have in place any strategy aimed at giving or supporting
the community in which it operates and therefore a reason to the declining customer numbers
and especially during the low demand periods. The rationale for this decision was because the
management felt not financially stable to support other corporate social responsibility initiatives
in the community but had a plan of doing so shortly (Rupp, Wright, Aryee & Luo, 2015).
Therefore given these experiences, I was able to learn that there is always a conflict of interest
between business profitability motives and the need to make ethical decisions. I would therefore
recommend the management of my company to develop strategic goals that are able to strike a
balance between profitability goals and the need to operate ethical businesses.
Challenge 2: Organizational cultural differences and lack of an international ethical,
environmental and sustainability framework.
It is the culture of an organization which determines their organizational behavior and
therefore influences ethical behavior, environmental and sustainability initiatives. If an
organizational culture does not promote the development of ethical behavior or the development
of social responsibility and sustainability, it would be difficult for the business to achieve these
objectives as well. This is because a positive organizational culture promotes the development of
positive ethical behaviors as well as sustainability (Setó-Pamies & Papaoikonomou, 2016, p.
530). However, a negative ethical behavior promotes the development of negative ethical

Business 7.
behaviors which are also a hindrance to business sustainability. For example, during my
residency, I was able to learn about the organization culture which in this case advocated for
accountability and responsibility, and therefore every employee was expected to adhere the
established code of conduct and work ethics which governed our behavior. Any decision or
activity done by an individual on behalf of the organization outside the realm of these values was
treated to a gross violation of work ethics and was punishable. As a result, the organization was
able to recognize that it also had a responsibility towards the community in which we operated
and hence developed various corporate social responsibility initiatives to protect the
environment, support the community and also enhance the relationship between the business and
the community. I would therefore recommend my company to develop a positive organizational
culture that will prioritize sustainability, ethical and corporate citizenship.
Lack of an international regulatory framework for business practices is a critical
challenge on ethics, responsibility, and sustainability. Business operations in most cases are
governed by the objectives of the business which are internally developed by the management
team on behalf of the business stakeholders (Quarshie, Salmi & Leuschner, 2016, p. 86). Lack of
an international framework to govern business practices, therefore, encourages the development
of business practices which are illegal and harm the environment. It is therefore essential that the
management of my company would consider developing their ethical and CSR strategies by
benchmarking with other similar organizations.
It is also an increasing concern that corporate social responsibility initiatives are
determined by an organization, but there are no international standards for corporate social
responsibility, and therefore this provides an opportunity for most businesses and organization to
develop initiatives which are beneficial to the organization and not necessarily beneficial for the

Business 8.
community they operate (Rupp, Wright, Aryee & Luo, 2015, p. 18). From my residency
experiences, most of the corporate social responsibility initiatives by the organization I worked
for was mostly through charitable activities. This is because the organization had strategically
planned the activities as a way of introducing their food brands which formed 50 percent of the
charity items as well as financial support to community projects. Therefore, because of the lack
of an international regulatory framework for corporate social responsibility, it is increasingly
challenging for most businesses to operate within the scope of their business ethics, corporate
social responsibility and even to focus on sustainability efforts.
Impact of Leadership Approach in solving challenges in Ethics, Responsibility, and
Sustainability
The challenges of ethics, responsibility, and sustainability are complex and dynamic, and
therefore business leaders have been able to recognize that they cannot achieve practical
solutions for these challenges with the development of an interactive leadership approach (Kolk,
2016, p. 26). To achieve this, there is a need to develop system leadership in an organization
which is comprised of three leadership dimension of individual system leadership, institutional
system leadership, and interactive system leadership. System leadership in organizations is
determined by the way leaders conceive of themselves as well as their roles and their ability to
interact with others effectively. This is the necessary foundation for active development and
implementation of corporate social responsibility initiatives and organizational ethical behavior.
As a result, the leaders in future should be focused on prioritizing the actions that will of value to
the system as a whole. I believe these types of leadership approaches in an organization are
fundamental in solving the challenges in organizational ethics, responsibility, and sustainability
in future.

Business 9.
An individual system leadership characterizes an organizational leader who is playing a
leadership role in his company not only for his benefit or interests but also for the interests of the
whole system in which he operates because he can recognize the fact that in the long term the
two are interlinked. The leader is therefore in a position to motivate others by engaging and
inspiring those of the same belief to promote ethical behaviors that work for the whole system
(Moody-Stuart, 2017, p. 26). This type of a leader, therefore, serves as a source or drive of
change within their organizations and mostly by motivating the organization to develop and
adopt new strategies of operating and working with others. It, therefore, plays a critical role in
enhancing the development of business ethics, corporate social responsibility as well as to enable
the organization remains focused on business sustainability goals. I would recommend the
company to consider equip their leaders with individual system leadership skills as it will help
them motivate others in the organization to achieve the organizational change they desire and
solve the challenges resulting from ethics, responsibility and issues of business sustainability.
An institutional system leadership also critical to the development of an effective
organizational platform to solve the challenges in ethics, responsibility, and sustainability. In this
case, the leadership is developed towards achieving the interests which work for the whole
system and therefore the organization can develop unilateral efforts as well as project-based
partnerships towards the various business objectives (Voegtlin, 2016, p. 590). Based on the
experiences of this type of leadership I would recommend my organization to implement because
it provides an opportunity to develop an attitude and culture that values and promote the interests
of the company.
Lastly, is the interactive system leadership approach which is strongly advocated for an
organization for active development of solutions to organizational challenges? Therefore there is

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a collective effort towards the development of business ethics or ethical behaviors which will
promote the interest of the business and the environment it operates as well as the development
of corporate social responsibility initiatives which will propel the business or organization
towards sustainability. I highly recommend also the company to incorporate the aspects of
interactive systems leadership as it promotes the integration of the three concepts of ethics,
responsibility and sustainability and hence it will provide an effective solution to the challenges
the company is facing.
Therefore an organizational leadership is critical to the determination of how effective the
organization will be in solving the challenges in ethics, responsibility, and sustainability.
Interactive leadership culture in an organization provides the opportunity to analyze issues or
challenges from the broader perspective on the individuals in the organization, the organization
objectives and the business environment at large (Smith, 2016, p. 6). Without a proper leadership
structure and culture in an organization then implementation of various strategies or policies to
solve the challenges is increasingly difficult, and therefore leadership provides a framework for
the development of practical solutions.
Critical de-construction of the experiential learning
During my residency at the organization, I was exposed to different learning experiences
which I consider critical to my understanding of corporate social responsibility, ethics, and
sustainability in business. I was able to be engaged in different interactive learning experiences
where I was able to learn effectively on organizational ethical behavior and how it contributes to
efficiency in organizational performance as well as how it related to responsibility and
sustainability. Kolb’s experiential learning theory became more practical as I had hands-on
experience in understanding the concept of ethics, responsibility, and sustainability in a business

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(Li & Armstrong, 2015, p. 424). I was, therefore, able to gain experience based on concrete
evidence, based on reflection and abstract or analytical business experiences. I would therefore
recommend the company to conduct more benchmarking on similar industries as this will
provide a more effective experimental learning in the future because similar industries share
same experiences and challenges.
Conclusion
Ethics, responsibility and Sustainability concepts have become essential in most business
operations are critical in the determination of business performance in a given business
environment. However, it is essential to recognize that organizational culture, as well as the
actual conflict of interest between the business needs and ethical decision, are significant
challenges to the development of ethical behaviors, corporate social responsibility, and
sustainability initiatives. These challenges increasingly become complex because they are
increasingly dynamic and therefore the need for the development of interactive system leadership
which recognizes the need for the business to meet and support the needs of the business
environment in which it operates. The type of leadership adopted in an organization influenced
the organizational culture and hence determined the effectiveness of the organization in
addressing issues or challenges in ethics, responsibility, and sustainability.

Business 12.
References
Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.pp.12-36.
Kolk, A., 2016. The social responsibility of international business: From ethics and the
environment to CSR and sustainable development. Journal of World Business, 51(1),
pp.23-34.
Li, M. and Armstrong, S.J., 2015. The relationship between Kolb's experiential learning styles
and Big Five personality traits in international managers. Personality and Individual
Differences, 86, pp.422-426.
Moody-Stuart, M., 2017. Responsible leadership: Lessons from the front line of sustainability
and ethics. Routledge.pp.14-28.
Quarshie, A.M., Salmi, A. and Leuschner, R., 2016. Sustainability and corporate social
responsibility in supply chains: The state of research in supply chain management and
business ethics journals. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 22(2), pp.82-
97.

Business 13.
Rupp, D.E., Wright, P.M., Aryee, S. and Luo, Y., 2015. Organizational justice, behavioral ethics,
and corporate social responsibility: Finally the three shall merge. Management and
Organization Review, 11(1), pp.15-24.
Setó-Pamies, D. and Papaoikonomou, E., 2016. A multi-level perspective for the integration of
ethics, corporate social responsibility and sustainability (ECSRS) in management
education. Journal of Business Ethics, 136(3), pp.523-538.
Smith, A. 2016. Experiential learning. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.pp.6.
Voegtlin, C., 2016. What does it mean to be responsible? Addressing the missing responsibility
dimension in ethical leadership research. Leadership, 12(5), pp.581-608.
Wymer, W. and Rundle-Thiele, S.R., 2017. Inclusion of ethics, social responsibility, and
sustainability in business school curricula: a benchmark study. International Review on
Public and Nonprofit Marketing, 14(1), pp.19-34.