Social Responsibility and Business Ethics

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Social Responsibility and Business Ethics

• Introduction to Business
• Mrs. Jurecka

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Social Responsibility

• The obligation of a business to contribute to the
  well-being of a community.
• 4 social responsibility issues businesses face
• Environmental Protection
• Workplace diversity
• Safety on the job
• Employee Wellness

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Environmental Protection

• Conservation (protecting scarce natural
  resources)
• Example reforestation programs of lumber
  companies
• Non-renewable resources-resources that cannot be
  replaced when used up
• examples gas, oil
• A Socially responsible business takes action to
  eliminate causes of pollution
• EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) - the
  government agency that monitors standards for air
  and water quality

4
Workplace Diversity

• There are four groups that businesses must
  consider. They are increasingly sensitive to the
  role of
• Women in the workplace
• Ethnic groups
• Physically challenged workers
• Older workers

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1. Women in the workplace

• cannot discriminate based on sex
• should take steps to remove employment barriers
  to women.

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2. Ethnic groups

• cannot discriminate based on ethnicity
• managing a work force made up of the various
  cultures in our society is a major challenge to
  businesses

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3. Physically challenged

• cannot discriminate based on handicap
• should make facilities accessible to physically
  challenged
• must accommodate individuals who are physically
  challenged

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4. Older workers

• cannot discriminate based on age
• laws have been passed to eliminate this type of
  discrimination

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Workplace Diversity - concluded

• Members of these groups must have equal access
  to
• education
• training
• jobs
• career advancement

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Safety on the Job

• Having a safe place to work is important to
  workers.
• Areas that businesses must address when providing
  safety on the job
• Protection from physical harm
• Employee training in how to work safely
• Emergency procedure training
• The government sets standards for safety which
  are regulated by agencies such as OSHA (the
  Occupational Safety and Health Administration)

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Employee Wellness

• Businesses do various things to improve the
  health of their work force.
• stop smoking programs
• counseling
• fitness centers
• Many contracts and company policy manuals include
  clauses (conditions of work) that pertain to the
  health and safety of employees while on the job

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Costs of Social Responsibility

• When businesses take socially responsible action,
  there are monetary costs involved.
• Because businesses are motivated by profit,
  spending on social programs must be restrained so
  the businesses can still earn a profit.

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Business Ethics

• Ethics Principles of morality or rules of
  conduct.
• Business Ethics Rules about how businesses and
  employees ought to behave.
• If a business or employee demonstrates ethical
  behavior, he is following business ethics.

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Code of Ethics

• A statement of rules for guiding the behavior of
  employees or members of an organization.
• Must be written so that it states acceptable
  behavior.
• The ethical conduct of a business is greatly
  determined by the behavior of top management.
• Sometimes businesses must provide training on
  ethical behavior.

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Business Ethics Worldwide

• Can cause confusion in international business.
• Some actions that are considered unethical in the
  US are considered common business practices in
  other countries
• example giving gifts to government officials