BUS 2301 Introduction to Business Assignment Brief | Columbia Southern University

BUS 2301 Assignment Brief

Assignment Instructions

For this essay assignment, you are tasked with locating a company or business that has experienced an ethical issue within the last 5 years. In your essay, you will include the following information:

• the name of the company or business and a description of the ethical issue that took place,
• a description of how the issue affected the company or business,
• a description of how the ethical issue was handled by the company and whether you believe that the company was accountable and responsible in their handling of the issue, and
• a description of how social responsibility might have helped prevent an ethical issue like this one.

Your essay should consist of at least two pages and at least two references should be used, one source must be from the CSU Library. Adhere to APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment.

Resources

The following resource(s) may help you with this assignment.

• Citation Guide
• CSU Online Library Research Guide
• Submit Writing Center Request

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Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VII

Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

6. Discuss the importance of ethics and social responsibility in business.
   • Explain how an ethical issue can affect a company or business.
   • Identify ways in which a company or business can handle an ethical issue.
   • Determine how social responsibility can help prevent ethical issues within companies or businesses

Required Unit Resources

In order to access the following resources, click the links below.

Hasnas, J. (2020, December). The core of business ethics. Business and Society Review, 125(4), 375–385.

https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire ct=true&db=bsu&AN=147877770&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Jannat, T., Alam, S. S., Ho, Y.-H., Omar, N. A., & Lin, C.-Y. (2022, February). Can corporate ethics programs reduce unethical behavior? Threat appraisal or coping appraisal. Journal of Business Ethics, 176(1), 37–53. https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire ct=true&db=bsu&AN=154880658&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Nardi, L. (2022, April). The corporate social responsibility price premium as an enabler of substantive CSR. Academy of Management Review, 47(2), 282–308.

https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire ct=true&db=bsu&AN=156422921&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Nickerson, D., Lowe, M., Pattabhiramaiah, A., & Sorescu, A. (2022, March). The impact of corporate social responsibility on brand sales: An accountability perspective. Journal of Marketing, 86(2), 5–28.

https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire ct=true&db=bsu&AN=155817139&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Phillips, R., Schrempf-Stirling, J., & Stutz, C. (2020, October). The past, history, and corporate social responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 166(2), 203–213. https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire ct=true&db=bsu&AN=146033847&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Unit Lesson

Understanding the Concept of Social Responsibility

Businesses play a critical role in society. In fact, large organizations have the ability to influence governments, resources, the economy, and communities. In recent years, business criticisms and growing environmental concerns have increased pressures on large organizations to take greater responsibility for their actions. Rising concerns for environmental protection, diminishing natural resources, and developing social issues have increased the need for greater corporate social responsibility. The concept of corporate social responsibility developed out of concerns for corporations to act in a manner that enhances society and minimizes actions that adversely affect individuals, their communities, and the environment.

This concept requires companies to consider their acts in terms of an entire social system. The term UNIT x STUDY GUIDEsociety    refers to individuals and the social structures created; businesses exist as an integral part of society that Title participate in exchanges with society members. Hence, both businesses and society are part of an interactive  system in which each unit directly or indirectly affects each other. Although the growth of social responsibility has led to increased satisfaction with business practices, it has also led to increased expectations.

Consider the auto industries’ dilemma of fuel-economy standards ignited by environmental issues such as emission of pollutants and global warming. Reportedly, these issues cause harm to both the environment and those in affected areas. The automobile industry has experienced increased pressure for more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles. Rising expectations of consumers and special interest groups drive the innovation of vehicles that appeal to environmental conservationists. In response to these expectations, automobile manufacturers designed more environmentally friendly automobiles—including electrically powered vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf and other automobiles of its kind. This response is an example of automobile manufacturers behaving in a responsible manner in the design of vehicles in the public’s best interest.

Historical Perspective of Corporate Social Responsibility

From a historical perspective, the classical view of business stems from the classical economic model. This classical view held that the marketplace satisfies the needs of society through the production of goods and services. The role of business within the marketplace is to respond to the demands of society by providing for the needs and wants. As such, the business is rewarded for its ability to provide what society needs and wants. The role of business has been to make a product or provide a service for a profit. Although businesses were successful in providing for societal needs and wants, the business actions in providing for these needs did not always meet ethical standards. Therefore, laws were created to restrain business behavior, and the legal model of business actions prevailed. Gradually, society’s expectation of business evolved from the classical economic view of performance and merely obeying the law to conducting business within ethical boundaries and demonstrating good corporate citizenship to all stakeholders through philanthropic activities.

Who Are the Stakeholders?

The stakeholder theory of a firm contends that modern corporations should create value for all stakeholders— not simply those who own shares within an organization. Stakeholders are individuals or groups that have various interests in a business and are impacted (intentionally or unintentionally) by the decisions, actions, policies, and practices of the organization.

Primary social stakeholders have a direct interest in the organization and are very influential. They are fundamental to the company’s survival. Examples of primary stakeholders include shareholders and investors, employees and managers, customers, local communities, suppliers, and business partners. Secondary social stakeholders are those who may be affected by the actions of the firm, but they are not essential to the organization’s survival or involved with direct transactions. Examples of secondary social stakeholders include the government, civic institutions, social pressure groups, media, commentators, and competitors.

The stakeholder model suggests a two-way relationship between the firm and stakeholders. Stakeholders exercise power and pressure to influence organizations to act in accordance with their agendas. At times, stakeholders act independently or create coalitions to influence companies to adopt their agendas.

Companies may work collaboratively to resolve concerns on behalf of stakeholders or choose to ignore them. Companies refusing to acknowledge a stakeholder concern may garner lost public trust and attract negative media attention. Therefore, skillful managers must ascertain which issues to address, prioritize alternatives, and implement a strategy that will minimize business risk.

Why Should Businesses Be Ethical?

There are a number of reasons why businesses should consider the demands of stakeholders and act with the highest level of ethical performance and social responsibility.

• First, businesses that are ethical attract and retain the best employees, strengthen relationships with UNIT x STUDY GUIDE suppliers, increase sales, enhance customer loyalty, and build good will in the community. This Title behavior helps them improve financial performance for shareholders.
• Second, doing business in an ethical manner is also a legal requirement. For example, the SarbanesOxley Act provides guidance for companies to exercise high ethical standards in conducting and monitoring business operations.
• Third, businesses should act ethically to prevent harm to the corporation’s stakeholders and the general public.
• Finally, businesses and stakeholders that promote ethics often act in ways that are consistent with their personal values. Providing a supportive ethical climate contributes to greater employee satisfaction because employees have a higher sense of psychological security, and they experience minimal cognitive dissonance.

Conflicting Reviews of Social Responsibility

As previously noted, the classical economic argument of social responsibility holds that management’s primary responsibility is to maximize profits for shareholders. Additionally, this view contends that legislative actions should seek to solve social problems, not business problems. Economist Milton Friedman asserts that management should make as much money as possible while conforming to the rules of society within legal and ethical constraints. Hence, voluntary or philanthropic activities should be at the discretion of the organization. In fact, many business managers view social responsibility initiatives as costly and believe such endeavors only reward society at the company’s expense.

In contrast, those who advocate philanthropic and voluntary activities believe many social problems stem from the actions of businesses that should provide a remedy for such problems. In turn, any cost incurred as a result of socially responsible behavior will be recovered through improved performance and greater societal support. Society at large supports socially responsible behavior and will patronize those businesses that engage in such endeavors. Additional supporting arguments suggest that businesses have the resources (talent, expertise, and capital) to curtail social problems and should be given the opportunity to do so.

In conclusion, businesses of all sizes can engage in corporate social responsibility that not only improves performance, but also enhances stakeholder relationships. From a long-range, self-interest perspective, businesses must take appropriate actions now to secure sustainability in the future. While not all aspects of social responsibility directly benefit the bottom line, such activities have potential to indirectly affect businesses in the long run. Furthermore, the escalating cost of government intervention and regulation of practices is rising. If businesses employ self-disciplined standards and guidelines, future government intervention can be prevented.

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