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Abstract
At the heart of the problem of social responsibility are the values of the individual: the general belief of the person as to «what is bad and what is good." The most important is to consider the maximization of profit, efficiency, and compliance with laws and less valuable, such as altruism. And if the actions of the organization respond to this system of values, they see it as socially responsible. To determine whether a person considers good behavior should have a basic understanding of ethics, which deals with the principles governing right and wrong behavior.
Business ethics involves not only the problem of socially responsible behavior, but also a wide range of behavioral standards for managers and employees. Moreover, it explores the objectives as well as the means used to achieve them. For example, most Americans would call a bribe a foreign official to obtain a contract unethical act. In this case, unethical means. But imagine that we are talking about a contract for the supply of fur seal skins for the production of fur coats. People for whom the protection of wildlife has become a matter of life will say that the use of animal skins unethical, even if the contract was signed without bribes. In this case the aim is unethical. Such actions are invalid, not because they are illegal, but because they are contrary to the personal values of the individual.
Considered unethical and illegal actions of managers and ordinary employees. For example, the EF Hatton was found guilty of two thousand cases of postal and telegraph fraud, which is a clear violation of the law. It's obvious. But the actions do not violate the law can be considered ethical or unethical, depending on the individual's personal value system. Recall the situation with the withdrawal from the market by the company Johnson & Johnson drug Tylenol. Most people would call this action is ethical. But the behavior of Ford Motor, which refused to withdraw a dangerous model Pinto from the market, many will find it unethical.
There are two different points of view on how the organization should behave in relation to the social environment in order to be considered socially responsible. The first is that the organization is socially responsible, if operating at maximum profit and at the same time honoring the all the laws and rules of their society. According to the first point of view of the organization should pursue only economic goals. According to the second point of view of the organization, except for the obligations of economic nature, is obliged to take into account the human and social aspects of the impact of its activities on employees, customers and the local community and make a positive contribution to the solution of social problems. This approach also implies that society expects of modern organizations not only strong economic performance, but also more successful in achieving social goals.
Trying to improve the ethical climate, organizations are taking a variety of steps: make the moral and ethical codes, create ethics committees involved in social audit and provide training on ethics.
Today, more and more obvious that in the interests of multinational corporations consider himself an agent of change aimed at economic and social development. Wanting or not wanting, they are often very strong and long-term impact on other countries. This influence on the local culture, institutions, religion and way of life should be carefully evaluated for what is useful to periodically "audit ethical impact." These problems must be a very important element in the process of corporate planning of multinational corporations. Otherwise, the problems arising from their actions, are subject to increased regulation by the host government or major regulatory bodies (such as the OECD or the UN), endowed with regional or world powers. Therefore, in the interest of every multinational organizations to develop uniform ethical guidelines for the operations in all regions of the world, strictly comply with setting highest standards.
The non-ethical example shows us the situation with Enron.
Enron Corporation is now defunct U.S. energy company, which completed activity as a result of bankruptcy in 2001. The company's headquarters was located in Houston. Prior to bankruptcy at Enron had almost 22,000 employees in 40 countries around the world and it was one of the leading companies in the world, in areas such as pulp and paper production, power generation, gas transportation, gas and communications. In the non-manufacturing sector company engaged in trading futures and derivative securities. The declared sales for 2000 amounted to about 101 billion dollars. At the end of 2001, it became known that the information on the financial condition of the company was largely falsified by accounting fraud, which was later called as “The matter Enron”. December 2, 2001 it was announced the company's bankruptcy.
In November 2004, the company emerged from bankruptcy, according to the plan of reorganization. In 2006 Enron sold its remaining business of the company Ashmore Energy International Ltd (currently AEI).
The company's bankruptcy, which occurred as a result of a major scandal, dubbed "Things Enron», has become one of the largest in world history. The main accusations against Enron, was false reporting by misleading investors. During the scandal erupted committed suicide Vice President Clifford Baxter.
It was opened by the use of various financial and offshore schemes. To carry out scams have created many legal entities, which were located mainly in the offshore areas. According to one legal address (Georgetown, / I 1350) of the Cayman Islands were registered 692 subsidiaries. Despite the complexity of the schemes, the principle of their action was simple: on the one hand, the operations of electricity conducted through subsidiaries, increased production costs and the selling price of electricity, on the other hand, are processed offshore debts of the corporation that management did not want to advertise. Thus, the Enron scam was not concealing income, and in concealing losses.
One of the results of the "Cause of Enron» was the adoption of U.S. lawmakers Sarbanes - Oxley Act, have tightened requirements for financial reporting, and the collapse of the auditing company Arthur Andersen, before that was part of the "Big Five" accounting firms in the world.
Sources
- Andersen guilty in Enron case". BBC News. June 15, 2002. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
- Kalinda, B. (Ed.). Social Responsibility and Organizational Ethics. (2001). Encyclopedia of Business and Finance (2nd ed., Vol. 1). New York: Macmillan Reference.
