INTRODUCTION Ethics and professionalism are the distinctive differentiation between a good business and a great business. It can create a great competitive advantage and a firm and loyal customer basis which is the obvious objective for all entities. Understanding and acknowledging these concepts can lead to a successful and profitable organization. Professionalism however is the way in which people act or behave when taking part in a particular job. Professional codes are put in place to ensure that employees within the business are acting and behaving in a particular manner.
From Milton Friedman’s view, maximizing profit is the only focus of any business corporation, so long as it does not violate the state’s laws and the fundamental rules of society. Most firms are disposed to agree the above statement, thinking that business as a whole should not perform social responsibility at a cost of shareholders ('Shareholder value or social responsibility? ', 2007). However, the case of ‘Brent Spar’ revealed the failure of corporate social responsibilities, showed that complying with the legislative requirements is insufficient from the view of the
The advantage of the statement is that it shows in writing that MacVille is not just making grand yet empty statements of being a socially conscious company. Safety as an organizational requirement ought to be reflected in the company’s mission statement. The statement ought to read: MacVille is committed to its employee’s safety, customer safety and the general wellbeing of its environment. Organizational Values MacVille is a company committed to rising to the top of the hospitality industry while ensuring that the quality of its products is maintained. MacVille is also compelled that the safety and well being of its employees must be ensured.
Eskom strives towards the highest standard of ethical conduct in everything it performs. According to the, The Way, Eskom’s directors and employees apply their code of ethics in their day to day activities even if there are no rules that govern those decisions (Eskom, 2008: 2). Eskom obeys with the necessary laws and regulations and they take into consideration the interests of their stakeholders. Their operations and actions are driven based on good corporate governance such as responsibility, accountability, fairness and transparency (Eskom, 2008, 1). Transparency, in the Cambridge Dictionary (2015), can be defined as a situation in which business and financial activities are done in an open way without any hidden secrets.
The last category is philanthropic responsibility, which is on the top of the pyramid indicates that firms are expected to be good corporate citizens. It is a desire of societal members for firms to contribute resouces to the community such as money, facilities, arts, education or programs which promote human welfare or goodwill and to improve quality of life. The most important difference between ethical and philanthropic responsibility is that the latter is not expected to be a moral sense; therefore, philanthropy is more voluntary for businesses. Some following statements characterizing philanthropic responsibility are “it is improtant to perform in a manner consistent with the philanthropic and charitable expectations of society, to assist the fine and performing arts, to provide assistance to private and public education institutions, to assist voluntarily projects that enhance a community’s “quality of life”, and managers, employees participate in voluntary and charible
Organizational improvements, reduce risk and lower operating cost for all flow from a successful implementation of the OSH management system. While many small to medium businesses (SMEs) may think of OSH management systems as too complicated for they to operate, they do not know how to start, or do not consider it necessary to impose seemingly complex processes into business and does not have the resources or expertise. It is a very good business sense for them to take a systematic approach to safety. For SMEs, the key is to determine a management system that is consistent with the size and risks of their business. A good OSH management system does not have to be complex.
Some of these initiatives that the companies have integrated into their business strategies, and in the process have created new opportunities for customers and the company, leading to profit-oriented corporate social innovations (KPMG, 2014). Other initiatives were not aimed at producing profits; their goals were to tackle some environmental or social need. When selecting examples of best practice, we depended greatly on the Követ CSR market database (Szegedi, 2014). These examples provide confirmation for the validity of our integrated model.
Even though there was opposition from certain section of economists and organizations the concept of corporate social responsibility caught upon and has now become an imperative for most organizations around the world. As to the definition of corporate social responsibility there is no common agreed definition or no common agreement as to what it is. But some of the most popular definitions of corporate social responsibility are as given below: 1. The European Union (EU) Definition of corporate social responsibility is as follows: "A concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary
According to White (2012), the responsibility is to operate ethically, and by doing so, ensuring that the goods, services and operations offered by the company are safe for individuals and the environment equally. The author further argues that it also gives the opportunity to businesses to meet different consumer needs and demands, to build top-line business, to reduce costs efficiently, to increase employee’s motivation level, and to deliver greater value to both society and shareholders in particular. Most importantly, the key objective behind is to shape a solid and viable corporate sustainability and to have it owned by the business, rather than presenting it as an additional activity. On the other hand, Weber (2017 cited Lin et al., 2015; Sharma and Vredenburg, 1998) share the view that the strict adherence to corporate sustainability guidelines and practice definitely gives companies a competitive advantage that subsequently helps them to outperform their competitors
It is one of the essential pillar for building efficient and sustainable environment. Corporate Governance is based on the principles of integrity, fairness, equity, transparency, accountability and commitment to values. Good governance practices stem from the culture and mindset of the organization. Effectiveness of the Corporate Governance in a Company depends on regular review, preferably regular independent review. As stakeholders across the globe evince keen interest in the practices and performance of companies, Corporate Governance has emerged on the centre stage.