Reviewing corporate responsibility and ethics in practice

Having a look at some leading theories and models for responsible business conduct.

For businesses that are wanting to enhance and increase the effectiveness of their corporate responsibility policy, there are a few developed theoretical structures which are recognised by business leaders and stakeholders for fundamentally dealing with environmental and social causes. In business theory, a well-known model for CSR acknowledged by many economists is Elkington's triple bottom line theory. This framework extends the standard measure of success from profitability across 3 classifications, namely people, planet and profit. The concept here is that businesses must account for social and environmental performance together with their financial achievements. The focus on people covers the social dimension of CSR, consisting of the combination of fair labour practices. Meanwhile, considerations for the planet will entail all aspects of environmental stewardship. Raymond Donegan would acknowledge that in this model, these aspects are viewed to be just as important as success.

In the modern business landscape, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a crucial strategy that many businesses are picking to embrace as part of their social practices. In understanding this strategy, there have been a variety of theories and models that have been proposed to describe why companies need to act responsibly and recommend some techniques they can use to include corporate responsibility and sustainability into their activities. One of the most successful and widely recognised structures in CSR is Caroll's pyramid design, which conceptualises accountable practices into four key elements. At the foundation, economic obligation suggests that financial sustainability is the structure of all fundamental obligations. Next, legal responsibility ensures that businesses follow the guidelines of website society. This is proceeded by ethical obligation, which stresses fairness, justice and respect for stakeholders. Finally, at the top of the pyramid is humanitarian duty which includes all contributions to community health and wellbeing. Jason Zibarras would know that this design highlights that while success is vital, there are different types of corporate social responsibility which need to be looked after in different approaches.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) theories have been offered by business and economics specialists to provide a couple of different perspectives and structures that lay out precisely how businesses can demonstrate responsible factors to consider for society. Among theories which are typically used in business today, Freeman's stakeholder theory is most recognisable for shifting attentions from shareholders to the more comprehensive set of stakeholders that are affected by business decision-making procedures. This can include the interests of workers, clients, suppliers and financiers. According to this theory, it is believed that the function of management is to stabilize competing stakeholder interests, so that all parties can maximize the benefits of corporate social responsibility. Jeffrey W. Martin would understand that compared to other principles of CSR, which view social responsibility as secondary to profitability, this theory asserts that CSR is integral to business success, highlighting the general interdependency of businesses and society.