So, how do business ethics and social responsibility differ? As a business ethics motivational speaker, business ethics consultant and business ethics book author, I am constantly being asked this question.
Not in flux
Ethics are not in flux, and not subject to whim. The classic differences between business ethics and social responsibility is usually delineated by business ethics being what is good or bad for an organization and corporate social responsibility as being more societal – even worldly.
Going back to my point, ethics are not subject to societal or corporate whim or flux. Such “exercises” are what is known as rationalization. Dumping waste and poisoning people and the environment. The famous Erin Brockovich case in California took place around 1992 – 1993; polluting the environment was wrong then – it is wrong now.
Across the nation, companies are currently hiring Diversity, Equity and Inclusion officers and activist shareholders are demanding corporation diversify boards. However, advocates for racial, religious, gender rights, have been pounding the table in demand for these issues since the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Good people, great people, committed people have been excluded from corporate America not because ethics were different then, but because unethical executive leaders reinforced egregious behaviors.
Ethical fluidity?
Though somewhat related, the current discussion of gender fluidity differs from the right and wrong of business ethics which is not fluid, but staunch, intractable and reinforced by law.
Indeed, how an employee identifies in terms of gender is supported and enabled by good business ethics. Similarly, sexual harassment or workplace bullying is simply wrong. It can be sugar-coated any way those in the so-called C-Suite might want to position their defence, but it is wrong.
An organization that willfully pollutes the atmosphere of a town, not only affects its workers and the area in which it is located, but obviously people hundreds or thousands of miles away. A soft drink company that packages in plastic may spend millions on responsible recycling messages. It is not total absolution, for in the end, the recycling organizations selling to manufacturers who may be polluting waterways by dumping in distant lands are also part of the problem.
There is no ethical fluidity in how human beings ask to be treated as equal or in the simple fact that polluting the environment is improper behavior. Wrong is wrong. Ethical behavior recognizes that construct.
The overlay here is that with the advent of social media across all platforms, the acknowledgment of ethical wrong-doing is broader than ever before. An anonymous employee who posts an image of a multi-national corporation dumping biological waste understands that if the image goes viral, every aspect of that company’s reputation will be shattered.
Why is it shattered?
Not because of a cry for corporate social responsibility but because it is abhorrent to ethical behavior. Granted, pollution that may have not been deemed bad in 1950 is unacceptable in 2022. However, that doesn’t mean the ethics are fluid; only that there is a body of knowledge we now have that understands how wrong it was.
If social media or a 24/7 cable news cycle points out a socially irresponsible act of corporate behavior, be it a lack of corporate governance, tax fraud, pollution or racism, as a business ethics motivational speaker, business ethics consultant and business ethics book author, I can guarantee someone, somewhere, knew it was wrong.
How do business ethics and social responsibility differ? In this day and age, they don’t differ very much at all. It is why I advocate ethical training throughout organizations, from top to bottom with the same ethical expectations of everyone.
Ultimately, everyone in the organization is responsible for their ethics and certainly, everyone must display social responsibility.
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