For a business to be successful, there are many different things that it must abide by, and some of them would be social responsibility and business ethics. These properties can make or break a business, so it is important to know more about them. As each business has gained profits as their main goal, they sometimes forget about their responsibility to their employees and society.
Just because a business is owned privately, it does not mean that they can do whatever they want. There are always sets of responsibilities and rules that one needs to follow, and business ethics and social responsibility help business know their boundaries.
Business Ethics Vs. Social Responsibility
The main difference between business ethics and social responsibility would be their concepts. Business ethics is more focused on the right and wrong of the company to their stakeholders and their workers, while social responsibility is more focused on the impact of the business on society and whether they are doing something right or wrong based on the norms set by the society they are in.
Business ethics would involve the right behavior of a company towards its employees. This means things such as their salary rate if they are being given enough vacation, doing too much work, and such. The business is supposed to follow business ethics to ensure that it is fair to its people. At the same time, it also means that the services or products being sold by the business needs to follow specific rules to ensure that it benefits society.
On the other side, social responsibility would refer to the business thinking about how it can benefit the community. There are specific norms in society that needs to be followed, and for a business to be acceptable, they must be followed. The success of a business can be determined by how they can meet the expectations set by society.
What is Business Ethics?
Businesses have their own structure, which means that they have sets of regulations that need to be followed by their employees. These rules are called business ethics, and they are policies set regarding different things such as bribery and discrimination within the company. They also include the company’s responsibility to the employees and vice versa. A specific set of lawyers in companies goes over these guidelines and gives out punishments to those who fail to follow them.
Ethics translates to discipline and moral character in Greek. It is the knowledge of the difference between right and wrong things. Always doing what is right and being as disciplined as possible are all ethics. What is ethical is normally dependent on the person’s beliefs and principles. However, it is important that they set specific ethics for everyone to follow and learn when it comes to businesses.
It is necessary to maintain the sanctity of business ethics. For a business to be successful, it should have the necessary ethics and be run through honest means.
A business needs to lead its employees and everyone that works for it into profit but with ethics in mind. This translates to giving customers honest service and not taking bribes. It also means being patient with employees and giving them what they deserve. However, it also means giving the necessary disciplinary action to employees that do not follow the rules set by the company.
What is Social Responsibility?
Social responsibility is simply an employee’s behavior in his workplace. It is the behavior that fits the social norms and norms set by the community. Businesses are supposed to be obliged to the norms of society for it to be successful. There are a lot of responsibilities that accompany these norms.
Basically, it says that a business should make a profit but also consider the community around it. One should not lower the price of the items down too much to the point of manipulating the prices to get profits. Social responsibility calls for being responsible for one’s action so that the gains that a business gets do not affect the community negatively.
In order to ensure that the business would profit and succeed, social responsibilities are important to adhere to. A successful business should give back to the community and learn to follow the norms that are set by it. It should meet the expectations of society and not harm the community in any way.
Difference between Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
- Both business ethics and social responsibility are key ingredients to achieving a successful business.
- Business ethics is more business-related, while social responsibility is more community-related.
- Business ethics are based on the conscience of a person, while social responsibilities are more of an obligation.
- The aim of business ethics is to keep peace within the company, while social responsibility ensures that the rules set by society are followed.
- Business ethics benefits the employees and the company, while social responsibility benefits all of the society, the business included.
Conclusion
Business ethics and social responsibilities come hand in hand as key ingredients to building a successful business. What is expected from a business by society is that it does not harm what is around it, and a company should always be honest with its customers. By meeting business ethics and social responsibilities, a good environment is created. The business ethics of a company would reflect on its reputation and its growth.