Corporate Government & Ethics-Samples for Students- Myassignement

Question: Discuss about the various theories in Business Ethics and Corporate Governance. Answer: Introduction: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a name that is used to resemble any theory of corporation, which emphasizes on both the responsibilities of making money and ethical interaction in the community. Corporate social responsibility is also the definite conception of the responsibility of making profit by playing a role in the community welfare (Carroll, 2015). The CSR report of the Nike company has created and builded business models that not only accommodate but also thrive the consequences of the world as that is the only way they think of achieving growth in the recent years by not compromising their ability of growing and succeeding for future decades. The CSR of Nike company is on a way of large commitment that controls every aspects of the business and the way of designing their products and engage the employees for profit. The theory that the Nike company follow is preparing themselves for risks without avoiding them and also by understanding where the opportunities and constraints are so that they can be able to merge them and bring up new techniques to up hold them together. Nike Company practices contract workforce of factories for enhancing better ways of business and the employees because they believe that a good work environment can provide a good workforce. Nike Company is also updating with developed materials and management s for addressing the impacts of the change of climates on the supply chain that can reduce the environmental impact of the company. The company has targeted to improve water efficiency for the processing of manufacturing and provide opportunities for conservation of the value chain. Ethical perspective This report includes four types of ethical perspectives, which will depict both the ethical and unethical practices and behaviours in the organization. The four theories of ethics, which will be used, are as follows: Utilitarianism: This approach is based on the effects that will happen due to the alternatives of decision available for the solution. The alternative providing the maximum satisfaction to the majority of the people will be selected. This principle of ethics is codes and guidelines provided for personal public actions (Landa, 2015). According to the Nikes sustainability report the organizational management culture believes in providing a good working environment for their employees along with a secured salary. The company follows a hiring policy in which the company verifies the details of each applicant to find out whether they have the required educational qualification and the skill for that particular job even if the position that has been applied for is a entry level. According to the company, an individual requires both the educational qualification and the skill to get a job in Nike. However, the company mainly focuses on the skill set of the applicant and the focus is on the communication and interpersonal skills. An employee needs to communicate with the customers so that one can acquire the feedback about the various customer demands and needs. This communication process will also help the company to improve the whole shopping experience that is being provided to the customer. Deontology: The theories of ethics present an argument that if a person wants to act ethically then that person will have to act in accordance to their respective duties. The motive of an employee will be reflected upon its action and depending upon the consequences of the situation the employee will choose whether to follow the right or the wrong path. The employee can be motivated or de-motivated depending upon one perspective of the situation (Vitell, Hunt 2015). The fear of pleasing the customer can motivate the employee to work more efficiently but it also de-motivate the employee because of the fear of losing the job. Ethical Egoism: This is the principle in which an individual is inclined to do the things according to their own interest. This approach bears a resemblance to the individualism approach and this approach believes that the act committed by an individual is ethical if it is in accordance to the persons interest. The alternative, which has more benefits than the negatives, is considered to be the right choice of action for the employee. Every human being is driven by his or her own self-interest and the greater good is achieved because everyone learns to accommodate others in their interests (Overall, 2016). The different teams in Nike serve a greater purpose as the team helps the department to learn and grow. The various teams in the organization work hand in hand in order to reach the desired goals and objectives set by the company. The empowerment of the employees can only be achieved by being more and more involved within the company. The company achieves the highest level of perfo rmance by encouraging their employees. This helps the employees to achieve job satisfaction and remain motivated with their respective work. Virtue Ethics: The moral agent character is the basis of virtue ethics and it says that the human beings can lead an excellent life by their individual moral values (Hursthouse, 2013). The approach instructs the individuals to analyse a situation ethically and then proceed with the action that the individual things that is right. The approach considers all individuals to be wise and capable of understanding and making decisions, which will be for the greater good. Strategic issues The environmental issues faced by the organization are water use, energy use, GHG emission, deletion of non-renewable resources and chemistry. The socioeconomic issued faced by the company includes labour compliance, impact of community, excessive overtime, employment, safety and occupational health (Nike News, 2017). The company has faced ethical challenges in the past few years where both the alternatives are potentially harmful when perceived in the point of view of ethics. The chemicals that has been used to make the materials of the product leak in to the water and cause exposure for both the employees and the workers (Korschun, Bhattacharya Swain, 2014). The changes in the climatic conditions all over the world are having a drastic effect on the surrounding environment and the company is trying to reduce the amount of carbon emission so that it can help to increase the quality and credibility of companys target. The manufacturing sites of the company are in a zone where there is a scarcity of renewable energy resources and so the fuel used is mainly coal and diesel. This shows how the company is causing problems for the surrounding environment but ethically speaking the ethical egoism rule applies to this situation. The company had to choose the option, which is more advantageous to the organization. The company is totally dependent on the non-renewable sources of energy for the production of the materials (McWilliams, 2014). This is causing the non-renewable resources to become depleted, which shows the classical dilemma in ethical business. The season spikes and the shortened production schedule is the main reason the workers are being forced to work for excessive hours. This has impact on the health of the workers and it can also result in human errors in work. This eventually does not make any difference but this problem is common for the whole industry. This shows how the capitalism has taken a strong grasp of the system and the ethical rules do not apply to it if corporate governance has to be maintained. Recommendations and Conclusion The following recommendations are being made after analysing the present situation of the company. The company should make sure that all the policies related to training, health, safety and recruitment are being followed according to the guidelines provided. The company should adapt to the usage of the renewable resources of energy to reach a goal of environmental sustainability. The company should do something about the leakage of the chemicals from the materials. The workers should be provided with protective gears, which will save them from exposing their bodies to these harmful chemicals, and the product should be made with a protective covering, which will prevent the leakage. The company should carry out and design training programs, which will enable the employees to grow and develop their skills. The HR related activities, which include job structure and selection, will have to be improved. The company will have to develop programs, which will help in improving the behaviour of the employees, and nurture the moral values developed within them. Thus, it can be concluded from the report that Nike is stilling going through a lot of ethical dilemmas while making the right decisions. The company mainly focuses in the Ethical egoism but has applied other theories where it necessary. The companys action shows how capitalism has taken over the system and the company is resorting to all the required measures to fulfil its goal. The company is trying to control the market and that is why while maintaining the corporate governance the company had to resort extreme measures. Thus, it can be seen that even though capitalism has helped the society progress it has a lot of negative effects, which is till haunting the society. Nikes sustainability issues can be provided a better understanding of the implication of the various principles of the corporate governance and business ethics. Reference Carroll, A. B. (2015). Corporate social responsibility.Organizational Dynamics,44(2), 87-96. Hursthouse, R. (2013). Normative virtue ethics.ETHICA,645. Korschun, D., Bhattacharya, C. B., Swain, S. D. (2014). Corporate social responsibility, customer orientation, and the job performance of frontline employees.Journal of Marketing,78(3), 20-37. Landa, R. O. (2015). Amartya Sen: Utilitarianism, Ethics and Public Policy.Revista Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Econmico,2(2). McWilliams, A. (2014).Economics of Corporate Social Responsibility. Edward Elgar Publishing. Nike News. (2017).Sustainable Innovation.Nike News. Retrieved 15 June 2017, from https://about.nike.com/pages/sustainable-innovation Overall, J. (2016). Unethical behavior in organizations: empirical findings that challenge CSR and egoism theory.Business Ethics: A European Review. Vitell, S. J., Hunt, S. D. (2015). 2. the general theory of marketing ethics: the consumer ethics and intentions issues.Handbook on Ethics and Marketing, 15.