What is business ethics: its importance, and social responsibility, and customer relations. Introduction. Business ethics is the branch of applied ethics that focuses on the moral responsibilities of business to stakeholders.
It is not a new field, but it has grown in importance in recent years because of two major trends: first, the development of new technologies for transaction-based interactions between firms; and second, increased public scrutiny, media attention, and regulatory intervention.
Business ethics involves ethical principles that are employed by companies to govern their conduct. Business ethics policies and practices differ between industries, but it is a broad field that has become increasingly important in many countries.
The ethical conduct of business is one of the causes of the growth and development of business, and also one of the causes for its decline. Some develop ethical principles in advance to guide them in making decisions; others are more reactive but try to ensure that they take into consideration basic moral principles as they make decisions.
Business ethics is relevant to the conduct of individuals and entire organisations. It is also highly relevant to corporate law and corporate governance. Public companies are required to report on their ethical policies, as well as any violations in their annual reports.
Organisational culture plays a large role in determining the ethical tone of a business. Ethical behaviour also depends on a company’s industry.
Business ethics (and, more broadly, behavioural ethics) is sometimes taught as a stand-alone course. However, it is also embedded into other courses (e.g. business law), and many business schools now have mandatory courses in business ethics and/or behavioural ethics. This article will explore the importance of business ethics, social responsibility and customer relations.
Its importance
One of the main benefits of business ethics is to maintain a high standard of ethics in all dealings, even when there is no external pressure to do so.
This rule is important because it encourages a company to set its own standards, especially if they are higher than what the government requires. The most effective way for a company to legalise ethical behaviour is by training their employees on how the right decisions should be made. Employees who realise their actions will reflect upon themselves and their company are less likely to break the law or engage in other unethical behaviours.
Another benefit of business ethics is that it is a good way to make a company better. Business ethics can also motivate employees and encourage people to take on new challenges in their career.
Sometimes, when a company has good ethics, they are seen as trustworthy. Business ethics can improve the reputation of a company which will in turn help them attract new customers. When an employee is conducting business with another person or company who sees the good ethics of their employer and has a good experience, they might be more likely Think about returning to work with that Company in the future..
Another advantage of business ethics is in the long run, it will save a company money and time. Ethical behaviour tends to be reciprocated, which can lead to partnerships with other companies and valuable relationships.
Not only will it save time, but it will also be less stressful for employees because they don’t have to worry about what is considered appropriate or legal. The money saved in avoiding legal fees can then be invested into more research or developing new products.
Social responsibility
Corporations are powerful machines. They make and break careers, change the world, and no matter what their size or niche, they wield immense power. As a result, corporations can be held accountable for the social responsibility they take on through their actions.
This is not always easy to quantify or even define in relation to a corporation’s goals — it’s also not always required. However, there are a number of cases that call for corporations to take on an active social responsibility role.
Social responsibility in companies refers to the various ways that companies impact their stakeholders, the community and environment surrounding their work. It also refers to how their actions can cause ripple effects for other companies.
The idea is to incorporate a sense of social good into business decisions. A company’s social responsibility is a way to foster community and make sure that its actions do not destroy the communities they are a part of or cause undue harm to the environment.
There are many different methods to taking on social responsibility. Some of them are required by law, others are optional.
Traditionally, corporations had one obligation: maximise returns for their shareholders. This means that if a corporation had multiple options for operations, it would choose the option that would give the highest profit and thus more returns for its shareholders.
In this model, corporations can easily harm their stakeholders and the community by polluting or unfairly compensating employees. However, over the past few decades, as C.E.O.s have realised that they need to expand their scope beyond shareholders to be successful, corporations have responded by incorporating social responsibility into how they operate.
A prime example of this is Nike and its accountability for workplace conditions in countries where they produce their goods.
Though corporate social responsibility is now an established practice, there are a few ways that corporations could continue to incorporate it into their business.
For example, corporations could continue to expand their social responsibility by assessing their impact on the communities around them and work to improve it. Ideally, this would be a conscious decision rather than a simple assessment after harmful actions have taken place.
Another way that corporations could be more socially responsible is by responding to consumer demands for products and services that reflect socially conscious values. It may take some time for consumers to change their buying habits, but as they do, corporations will need to adapt.
Traditionally, corporations have been mainly focused on the bottom line. Social responsibility is more than just keeping shareholders happy and informing them about tax issues.
It is about being responsible to the stakeholders and communities in which they operate, such as employees, customers, investors, suppliers, and local governments. As a result of this evolution in corporate operations and responsibility to stakeholders, there has been a shift in how businesses view accountability to their consumers.
Corporations are now accountable for what their stakeholders see as social responsibility, because doing so is beneficial to business. It is in their best interest to be socially responsible, not only for their stakeholders, but also for maintaining a cohesive relationship with their community. Several things that can lead to negative press include the company’s operations and how it deals with its employees.
Customer relations
If you’ve ever been on the customer service line, you know how frustrating it can be. Often times your company’s phone representatives are unable to answer your questions, they seem to struggle with basic knowledge of their own products, and they feel like they have no control over what’s going on.
In recent years, customer relations have been taken more seriously. Companies seek ways to make their customers feel valued and cared for instead of being treated as a “cost.” This can be seen in the proliferation of customer service representatives. With companies’ increased spending on attracting customers, there has also been an increase in employees’ salaries and benefits.
Customer relations play an important role in companies because it affects the customer’s perception of the company. If a company is perceived positively, then it will be seen as a reputable brand and this will affect the customer’s decision to purchase from that same company in the future.
The customer’s perception of a brand is what determines a consumer’s level of trust in that brand; as such, customer relations contribute to whether or not a company can maintain its position in society. If a company’s relationship with its customers is not good, it could potentially lose current and future business.
Customer relations are also a very important aspect of how a company can attract and retain customers. The key to building a relationship with customers is to make sure that the company is connected to their lives in ways that are meaningful.
One way companies do this is through customer service. Customer service representatives can become the face of the brand, which gives them an opportunity to quickly establish and maintain rapport with customers.
Conclusion: What is business ethics?
The success of a company highly depends on how it utilises business ethics, social corporate responsibility and how it enhances customer relations. The actions that a company takes can affect the customer relations as well as social corporate responsibility.
The company should act in a way that’ll create the need for satisfaction in their clients. As the client will be satisfied the customer relations will also be improved and more customers will be attracted to the business, making it successful.
The company should demonstrate concern for human rights and focus on protecting marginalised groups or those with no voice and help them acquire formal employment as well as financial support.
Read Also: how to enhance customer relations. This information would enlarge a company’s market share: Medical ethics; Ethics in tourism; Ethics in Marketing
External resource: hbr
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