20146549 Ethical Issues Social Responsibility

8/3/2019 20146549 Ethical Issues Social Responsibility

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ROSELINE LUBULELLAH

STRATHMORE UNIVERSITY

ETHICAL ISSUES AND SOCIALRESPONSIBILITY OFENTREPRENEURS





ETHICAL ISSUES

Ethical decision making is a challenge thatconfronts every business person involved inlarge or small enterprises.

Recent scandals : Anglo-leasing Goldenberg Nyaga Stock brokers/Francis Thuo

Stockbrokers Enron, Citicorp, and other several large companies

Such scandals have made consumersconcerned about the ethical standards that



ETHICAL ISSUES (contd)

Even after defining ethics as “a set of principles of right conduct or a theory or system of moral values”it is still difficult to determine which businesses are better at complying with ethical standards

and which businesses are acting unethically .WHY?

This is because people disagree about what is right

and wrong



Common Examples Of Unethical Actions ByA Firm Or Entrepreneur

Theft Falsification

Bribery

Embezzlement

Stealing supplies

Manipulating suppliers

Failure to withdraw a defective product from themarket place



Reasons for Unethical Behavior

Businesses seem to take part in unethical behaviorfor different reasons today than in the past.

According to Vogel (1987), corporate misdeedsduring previous generations resulted from a lack of

governmental controls. However, time haschanged and there are government controls.

Some reasons for unethical practices include

1. A lack of foundation in ethics

2. Survival drives (bottom line thinking)3. Reliance on other institutions to convey or

reinforce ethics



Reasons for Unethical Behavior (contd)

4. Balancing work and family demands

5. Poor leadership

6. Work hours and work load

7. Need to meet high targets

8. No recognition given for achievements

9. Company politics



Strategy

1.The main strategy is to develop a set of ethicalpractices and codes of conduct for the

employees to follow.

A code of conducts is a statement of ethical practices

or guidelines to which an enterprise adheres.

These codes cover many areas ranging from how to

use corporate asset, conflict of interest, use of inside

information, equal employment practices, falsification

of books or records.



How Businesses Can Improve EthicalStandards

There are certain actions a company can take to helpits employees maintain ethical standards. A businesscan encourage employees to adhere to a company’scode of ethics by engaging in the following actions.

a) Review the relevant laws and regulations

pertaining to the business.b) Review which values produce highly ethical and

successful people or products

c) Compose a code of ethics for the business. Within

the code, attempt to associate two examplebehaviors with each value

d) Identify the top five to ten ethical values that arehigh priorities within the organization.



How Businesses Can Improve Ethical Standards(contd)

e) Include wording that indicates all employees areexpected to conform to the values stated in the

code of ethics.

f) Make sure there are no double standards and that

management sets a good example by following thesame code of conduct the employees must follow.

g) Codes of conduct are an important first step – begin today by putting business values on paper,

then begin to live by them.



Conclusion

Ethical business standards could bestrengthened if companies uphold a code ofethics on a day-to-day basis.

Business ethics that are modeled by CEOs,management, and employees can help acompany remain profitable and stable and avoidcorporate scandals.

Although embracing ethical behavior does notguarantee success, good ethics combined withbusiness competence is still a winning

combination.



SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

The firm has certain obligations to society. Some

areas where the firm owes obligations include:

1. Environment

2. Energy

3. Fair business practices4. Human resources

5. Community Involvement

6. Products



The Future of Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is about risk-taking, creativity,independence and rewards.

These are and will continue to be the driving forcebehind the notion of entrepreneurship in the future.



The Future of Entrepreneurship (contd)

The future of entrepreneurship appears bright; this isbecause the field is being given prominent recognitionby:

Education institutions

Governments

Society

Corporations What other factors will contribute to the

development of the field of entrepreneurship?

20146549 Ethical Issues Social Responsibility

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