L1

Grey area: questionable behaviours (values in conflict)

Corporate social responsibility is

“the responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society”.

1. Economic Responsibilities: Be profitable. This is the basic role of a business to make money.

2. Legal Responsibilities: Obey the law. Businesses must follow the rules just like everyone else.

3. Ethical Responsibilities: Be ethical. This means doing what's right, even when you're not forced to.

4. Philanthropic Responsibilities: Be a good corporate citizen. This is about contributing to the community and making it better.

triple bottom line consists of:

economic, social, environmental

The triple bottom line refers to a business strategy that includes three key performance areas: economic (profit), social (people), and environmental (planet). It suggests that companies should focus on more than just making money (economic) and also contribute positively to society (social) and the environment (environmental). This approach emphasizes that long-term success requires balancing these three elements, rather than solely prioritizing financial outcomes.

1. Reactive: Companies deny their CSR responsibilities and do less than what society expects.

2. Defensive: Companies admit CSR responsibilities but do only the minimum required.

3. Accommodative: Companies accept their CSR responsibilities and comply with what's required.

4. Proactive: Companies go beyond the basics, anticipating responsibilities before they arise.

Relativism

• Morality is context dependent and subjective

• No universal right and wrong

• Right or wrong depends on the

  perspective of the person who makes the decision

Relativism says that what is right or wrong can vary depending on the situation and the beliefs of each person. There are no absolute rules that apply to everyone, everywhere. For example, something considered wrong in one culture might be acceptable in another.

Pluralism

• It accepts different moral convictions and backgrounds (as relativism)

• It suggests that a consensus on basic principles and rules can and should be reached (e.g. the universal declaration of human rights)

Pluralism recognizes that people have different beliefs about right and wrong, just like relativism. But, it also suggests that despite these differences, we can all agree on some basic principles that apply to everyone. An example is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which many countries have agreed upon as a standard for human rights.

Absolutism

• There are eternal, universally applicable moral principles

• Right and wrong are objective qualities

• There are facts about which action is right or wrong and these facts do not depend on perspectives

Absolutism argues that there are certain moral principles that are always true, no matter the situation or personal belief. These principles are objective, which means they are true for everybody and are not influenced by individual perspectives or opinions. For instance, absolutists would say that harming others is always wrong, regardless of the circumstances.

Psychological Factors Associated with Misbehavior

1. Overvaluing outcomes: We give a pass to ethical misbehaviors when the outcome is good

   (economically/ethically/relationally)

2. Motivated blindness: We tend not to see the unethical behaviors of others when it is in our

   interest to remain ignorant

3. Ethical illusions:

   We think we are more ethical than we really are

4. Ethical spillover: When individuals enter firms/organizations/environments with specific

   (un)ethical norms they adapt to the (lack of) ethics of the organization

5. Denial of responsibility:

   Actors engaged in corrupted behaviors perceive that they have no other choice than to participate in such activities

6. Slippery slope

slippery slope

• Environmental Factors • Legal framework, networks

• Economic Factors (Merton, 1938) • Financial pressure, competition, low performances

• Organizational Culture • Norms, values, beliefs, routines

• Corporate Executives • Individual characteristics

• i.e., personality, CEO background

• Organizational structure

• Strategies and aspiration levels