Ethics - Social Responsibility and Sustainability for Businesses

Question: Discuss about theEthics, Social Responsibility and Sustainability for Businesses. Answer: 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 seek s from employees that is for the good of community and environment. 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 firms 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 peoples 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 enumerat e 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 onethical 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 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 t o 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 faade. 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 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. 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. 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