The Question of Ethics

The moral values that guide a person's conduct in their daily activities are referred to as ethics. It teaches a person how to live nicely with others. Ethics attempts to address human values by defining right and wrong circumstances and issues. Social responsibility, on the other hand, refers to a person's or organization's obligation to act in a way that benefits society. It is everyone's responsibility to keep the world in balance. Furthermore, strategic planning refers to the activities that are used to establish the major objectives and ensure that every entity in the business works to achieve the defined goal (Bailey, 2013). There is an agreement of the intended outcomes of the goals set.

Ethics and social responsibility occupy a critical area in the human morals. The need for the companies to incorporate ethics and social responsibility in strategic planning is vital for them to reduce the rise in the scandals witnessed in the companies today. Values shape the behavior of every worker in the enterprise, which in turn obligates them to act in a particular manner when dealing with anyone on the premises. This constitutes been socially responsible.

Companies must implement ethics and social responsibility criteria as part of the business plan to receive the maximum benefit from the firm. The decisions have the ability to affect millions of people across the globe depending on the network served by the company. Ethics ensure that the company meets it intended target and have a sense of direction. Standards ensure that the business plan is set as per the interest of the firm's stakeholders. A stakeholder is any person who has an interest in the enterprise.

Recent business scandals such as the collapse of Wall Street banking house (Hsieh, 2017) have damaged the reputation of the business and shown the importance of a firm to have strict guidelines relating to how they behave towards their customers, whether a small scale customer or a large scale customer. Every poor service to the client adds to their frustrations and chances are sooner rather than later the business will close due to lack of clients.

Adherence to the high ethical standards is crucial in building a good firm image on the stakeholders, who in turn feel secure in investing their resources in the enterprise. Stakeholders expect the organization to behave properly and be aware of their duties to the clientele. They aid to ensure that the business complies with the stakeholder's expectations and shield the company from condemnation and preventable risks.

The social responsibility of the corporates is another important factor that requires consideration in the strategic planning of the business. The misconception that social responsibility is irrelevant in the small business scale is wrong; every company regardless of its size should be responsible for their actions to the public.

Economic responsibilities are the primary type of the social duties of the firm. The company is expected to provide goods and services to the public at a reasonable price while ensuring that the stakeholders get a fair share of the profit from the set prices. For the companies using social responsibility in their plans, the firms are doing everything they can to ensure that they are contributing to the growth of the public and reducing the negative impact of their operations on the society.

Legal responsibilities are another type of the social duties of the company to the society. The goods and services produced by the firm should meet the requirements of the law while at the same respond to the expectations set by the shareholders in the strategic plan of the enterprise (Connaughton, 2017). There should be no production of illegal goods. Production of sub-standard products is highly prohibited and the firm should not deal in such goods.

At times, companies tend to overstep their mandate. A good example of a violation of business ethics is that of McDonald's. In the year 1972, the company's creator donated to the reelection of then president, Nixon. The donation enabled the company to get a favorable registration where they could pay teenage 20% less than the minimum wage of the country. The company does not require its employees to join the workers union and those who joined as the workers at ST. Hubert Quebec had their unit closed down indefinitely.

Unethical activities tend to affect the firm adversely through damaging its credibility resulting in the loss of its clientele. However, the firm can work with its staff and formulate a plan to reduce these behaviors.

A written code of conduct provides the company's staff with the guidelines to the type of behavior required of them. The policy should clearly outline what types of actions are acceptable and the measures to be taken when a staff violates the set of laws.

The company can reinforce consequences to the action of staff. The employees have to be accountable for their actions. This is achievable through informing employees of the rules during their orientation process so that they know the company’s expectations of them before they commence.

The business owners and managers should lead by example as the employees look up to them for directions on how to behave. They should make ethic-based decisions and monitor the staff they hired at the company for the same values.

References

Bailey, R. (2013). Effective strategic planning for your organization. Corridor Business Journal, 9(38), 20.

Connaughton, S. A. (2017). Strategic Management in a Sustainable Society. Strategic Management In A Sustainable Society -- Research Starters Business, 1.

Hsieh, N. (2017). The Responsibilities and Role of Business in Relation to Society: Back to Basics?. Business Ethics Quarterly, 27(2), 293-314. doi:10.1017/beq.2017.8