What are the strengths, limitations and challenges of ethical and Essay

What are the strengths, limitations and challenges of ethical and socially responsible business practice - Essay Example The smaller versions of such corporations are still present and not to mention relevant in the society but they have had the doors opened in terms of the possible heights that can be scaled (Habisch et. al 2005). It is with this in mind that there has arose a need to shed light on certain issues such as control and regulation of these business entities to ensure that there is no negative backlash from their activities. It is essential that a corporation not only remain profitable, but serve the society as well so as to live in harmony within its environment. Two subjects that can be said to have attempted to breach this matter is the emergence of business ethics as well as the social responsibility. These two topics have grown in intensity as they have served to provide a viable solution in which the business community can take part in their regulation working together with independent bodies. The issue of maintaining ethical business practices by corporations has become an interesti ng subject as though the concept is appealing, the practical implications in some cases may tend to cause profit hungry conglomerates to shy away from such measures. There are two good examples that can be taken as case studies in recent years and thus portray the value of business ethics and social responsibility. One such case is that Of the BP oil spill that caused a lot of damage to the environment when it happened. The clean up and rehabilitation of the animals there was part of the company showing the Social responsibility it had to the society. The organization was also fined heavily for the part they played in the accident. Another case is that of the horsemeat scandal that was uncovered in the UK involving Tesco industries. This situation is a portrayal of what could have been avoided should the organization have decided to implement strict business ethics in their practice and operations. Doing what is best for the company does not always mean doing what is best for the society and the Tesco horsemeat scandal proves that. Business Ethics Business ethics can be described as the practice of maintaining ethical principles in the decision-m aking and operations of a company with regard to the effect that their actions may have on the society (Greenfield, 2006). It can be seen as the process of ensuring that businesses stay in line during their quest for profitability and that this objective does not hinder the advancement or progress of the surrounding community. Business ethics can be said to have been set up to ensure that companies behave in their day to day activities be they long or short term (Murphey et. al 2007). The ethics were developed in a bid to provide guidelines to the businesses on proper forms of interactions and inconsiderate trajectories. A number of external independent bodies that with the corporation of the involved corporations have strived to encourage the practice of these ethics by every business have backed the development. Business ethics can be considered to take up a wide range of issues as it deals with all aspects of a company with regard to their conduct and operations. This means that the business’Â  activities as a whole are not the only sections that will be evaluated and individual’s activities for example will be taken into consideration should they be acting as a representative of the corporation. The code of business ethics hopes to cover all scenarios in a bid to improve the interaction between the businesses and the society. This ensures a harmonic existence as mentioned earlier that allows both sides to flourish. Social Responsibility Social Responsibility refers to the relationship that an organization has with the members of the society in which they operate. A company should