Ethical issues facing the organization

Ethical issues facing the organization: corporate social responsibility
Student
Institution
Introduction
Corporate social responsibility (CRS) is defined as the manner in which a business organization takes responsibility for their activities and decision on the surrounding society, the environment, and the finances. The corporate social responsible business has realized the importance of the society and the environment for the business success as shown in (Allen, 2011). CRS become an ethical issue when a business corporation ignores their impacts on the society and the environment and focus on a sole duty of making the profit. Most Jamaican business organizations are aware of CRS but have a misconception of the whole idea as a representation of philanthropic activity toward the society. This makes the CRS become an ethical concern since a business that is not based on integrity and trust, its operations becomes unethical. One time the Canadian high commissioner in Jamaica stated that conducting good business is good for the business environment (Allen, 2011). This meant doing business with integrity, will ensure business stability and incur genuine profits for the organization.
The issue can also be analyzed from various ethical perspectives that included utilitarian, moral rights and justice as explained below. From a utilitarian viewpoint, actions are judged to be good or wrong based on their results as shown in ( Kvale, 1996). In this perspective, the end outcome is used in the justification of the means.

The actions of a corporation are judged once the results have been realized. If the business activities and policies ensure that the environment is not polluted, the organization is assumed to be socially responsible. From a right moral perspective, the position states that a moral act is based on the use of principles as indicated in ( Kvale, 1996, for instance, an organization that bases its action of integrity is considered to have taken a moral step and is seen to be social, economically or environmentally responsible. Justice is also considered an act based on moral; behavior. Justice could be distributive or procedural. Distributive justice comes when the organization and another stakeholder, plan on how to share duties and benefit as shown in (Kvale, 1996. The organization may need to take up some duties and share with the other interested parties in the surrounding community as they try to be socially responsible. Procedural justice represents the act of consulting stakeholders before taking a particular action on a particular matter. In this context, the organization could ask the community what is their most felt need and help to solve it instead of just implementing an idea they presume it will satisfy the society.
Literature Review
The literature will review the corporate social responsibility in a business organization from Canada, USA, China, and Jamaica. Edelman’s good purpose study in Canada reported that consumers are likely to buy products from the business that care about the customers and have a good intention during the establishment of a business as explained in (Hui, 2013). This has raised alarms to business owners who have now been compelled to use CSR as a business strategy. Campbell’s Canada’s nourish operates in the private sector and supplies canned food. Their staffs at Campbell are conscious on how they treat the society and the food the can are not provided directly to consumers but the food banks than to the consumers.
China and the USA are among the major global economies. They are both big business partners whose exports and imports is more than the rest of the countries combined. In the business world, USA and China are facing a strain in a relationship due to ethical issue related to corporate social responsibility. For instance, USA has frequently accused China of lacking CSR impacting negatively on their economic and political relationship. The Chinese company where most of the Apple products are assembled has faced a protest from the American community over their recklessness when dealing with human rights and environmental responsibility during their production activities as indicated in (Hui, 2013). The USA claim it’s a strategy for China to cut manufacturing cost and steal American jobs that are an aspect of unethical and corporate socially irresponsibility.
In the Jamaican context, firms do not feel obligated to being socially responsible. Most firms consider it an act of generosity towards the society and the environment (Gordon, 2013). This means the firms operations are not based on any CSR principles that make their activities unethical. They become socially responsible only when they find it convenient.
Discussion
In Canada, a research study was conducted at the beginning of 2015 by Impact Corp, a research corporations and reported that best performing business applied the similar model of CSR as shown in (Allen, 2011). Campbell’s said that they are socially responsible and as an organization that is interested in alleviating hunger, it intends to be the role model for other organization that provide similar services. They want to be the standard measure in their target market.
With capitalism, the ideology supports organizations and people making profits and not so much of the social responsibility aspect. This supports the aggressiveness in business by the Chinese at the expense of the American people and the environment. Consumers across the world are becoming more informed on the inherent obligation for the business corporations towards the environments and its customers. The Chinese companies that provide poor working conditions and polluting the environment are threatened to change their business strategy if they need to stay relevant in the industry. People are more likely to buy products from nations that have a concern towards the environment and its consumers. In USA products with a sticker made in China draws various reactions from the American community. They associate Chinese goods with people working for the low wage in severe condition and with careless pollution of the environment. The Chines firms are thought to be only interested in making profits. These view from Americans is affecting some American products where, for instance, Apple Company has some of its assembling services done by a Chinese firm. This shows how CSR is important in the business world.
In Jamaica, the rate of corruption in the private and public sector is rampant. The Canadian government through its Canadian high commission in Jamaica has urged the Jamaican government to promote transparency and integrity in their business and political activities. As explained previously integrity is an ethical element and without it CSR is not displayed. As shown in (Gordon, 2013) Christopher Zacca the Jamaican president of the private sector in an urge to promote CSR said that business should promote the employment of local high school and university graduates in their business. He said that companies have a social responsibility to the environment they have been located. He emphasized that those firms have a duty of helping children of this regions to grow up in good moral, as a model of alleviating crime whose rates have surged in Jamaica.
In Conclusion, CSR is a business strategy that is being embraced a crossed the world by various business corporations. Those Businesses Corporation’s still based on the primitive institution of capitalism that had a provision for a business organization as an entity of profit-making, are on the verge of collapsing. Consumers are being informed on the essential duty that companies has towards the environment, employees, and its customers. That organization that exhibits weaknesses in performing those duties are most likely to losses customers now and in future. Those firms that observe the element of CRS are probably going to have a stable market for their products, as shown in Impact Corp research in Canada, which could be used to reflect shopping trends across the world. The three cases studies in America and China, Canada, and Jamaica shows show corporate social responsibility affect business environments. For instance the accusation of Chines firms concerning the lack of CRS, have been met by American protest and stereotyping of all Chinese products. The Chinese need to show responsibility on their dealing with its employees and the environment. They need to formulate policies that will show the rest of the world that they are not only interested in exploiting human being and their environment bust also participating in sustainable development. The issue of corporate social responsibility is important since it addresses the ethical issue of business and the society. When the society is satisfied with activities of the organization it most likely going to support the organization’s interest. In regions where the organization is not concerned with the society, the society may become a security concern for the business environment. They may also prefer to buy good from different Company that offers the same goods or services.
References
Allen, F. (2011, April 26). The Five Elements of the Best CSR Programs. Retrieved November 11, 2015, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/csr/2011/04/26/the-five-elements-of-the-best-csr-programs/
Gordon, T. (2013, March 27). CSR just as important as the business – Business. Retrieved November 11, 2015, from http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/CSR-just-as-important-as-the-business_13955788
Hui, W. (2013, April 30). Why Corporate Social Responsibility is the Greatest Ethical Challenge to U.S.-China Relations. Retrieved November 11, 2015, from http://www.globalethicsnetwork.org/profiles/blogs/why-corporate-social-responsibility-is-the-greatest-ethical
Kvale, S. (1996). Ethical Theories, Ethical Guidance for Research with Human Participants, Lancaster University UK. Retrieved November 7, 2015, from http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/resources/ethics/resources/ethical_theories.html