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ABSTRACT
Is there a difference between business ethics and corporate social responsibility? Are the two compatible or mutually exclusive? This paper raises questions about the overlap and reciprocally supportive interface between business ethics and corporate social responsibility, as well as about their mutual exclusivity. It isolates several specific ethical and corporate social responsibility topics for further exploration.
Business ethics imply a system of moral principles and rules of conduct applied to business so that the business should be conducted according to certain self-recognised moral standards. This is with a view that the interests of society and of the business sector itself should not suffer. The ethics are the same as those, which every individual in society and society as a whole should abide by.
Corporate social responsibility is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. It is also called as corporate conscience, corporate citizenship, social performance, or sustainable responsible business. CSR policy functions as a built-in, selfregulating mechanism whereby business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards, and international norms.
Keywords: Business Ethics, Self regulation, Social performance
INTRODUCTION
Business ethics can be defined as written and unwritten codes of principles and values that govern decisions and actions within a company. In the business world, the organization's culture sets standards for determining the difference between good and bad decision making and behavior. In the most basic terms, a definition for business ethics boils down to knowing the difference between right and wrong and choosing to do what is right. The phrase 'business ethics' can be used to describe the actions of individuals within an organization, as well as the organization as a whole.
CSR-focused businesses would proactively promote the public interest (PI) by encouraging community growth and development, and voluntarily eliminating practices that harm the public sphere, regardless of legality. CSR is the deliberate inclusion of PI into corporate decision-making, that is the core business of the company or firm, and the honouring of a triple bottom line: People, Planet, Profit. The goal of CSR is to embrace responsibility for the company's actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public...