Social Responsibility and Business Ethics

Social Responsibility
The awareness that business activities have an impact on society, and the consideration of that
impact by firms in decision making.
Besides emphasizing profits, firms concerned with social responsibility voluntarily engage in
activities that benefit society. Many, for instance, take an active role in rebuilding our public
education system. A socially responsible firm makes deliberate, regular efforts to increase its
positive impact on society while reducing its negative impact.
Examples of social responsibility
✓ Green management or recycling programs
✓ Support for community programs
✓ Contribution to local schools
✓ Programs to encourage healthy lifestyle
✓ Researching for alternative fuels
✓ Commit to reduce pollutions or construct eco-friendly buildings
✓ Provide aid or supplies in times of disasters

Responsibility to Consumers
Firms trying to succeed provide products that satisfy the needs of their customers, since dissatisfied
customers eventually take their business elsewhere. But a company also needs to consider how
customers view the firm itself. Increasingly customers are looking beyond a firm’s goods and
services, evaluating its policies and actions, taking action in the marketplace.
When firms engage in practices that individuals or special interest groups oppose, consumers
sometimes boycott products to convey their dissatisfaction with a product or one of the firm’s
activities.
Pressure from consumers and special interest groups has prompted many business firms to adopt
socially responsible policies.
Consumerism
It includes the activities of individuals, groups, and organizations aimed at protecting consumer
rights. Consumer groups perform many activities, including testing and reporting on the safety and
performance of products and service firms, informing the public and government officials of
consumer issues, and advocating legislation.
1. The right to safety
The most basic consumer right is the right to products that are safe to possess and use. To ensure
safety of goods, manufacturers should test them and provide buyers with explicit directions for
use.
2. The right to be informed
Consumers have the right to receive information available about a product before they purchase it.
Customers seeking a loan from a bank or other financial institution, for example, should be told of
all costs and repayment terms associated with the loan.
Necessary information for goods includes ingredients and detailed instructions for use. To aid
shoppers making decisions in the supermarket, many food producers list nutritional information
on product labels for certain foods even when not required to do so by law.
3. The right to choose
Consumers have the right to choose and make purchases from a variety of products at competitive
prices. They also have the right to expect quality service at a fair price. Consumer demands for
pesticide-free foods, for example, has resulted in a movement to grow vegetables and fruits without
chemicals. Thousands of farmers are experimenting with different methods of crop rotation and
greater use of natural materials to control insects and increase productivity. If the experiments are
successful, consumers will have the choice they desire.
4. The right to be heard
Consumers also have the right to have their opinions considered in the formation of government
policies and in business firm’s decisions that affect them. A number of large firms have established
consumer affairs departments to address consumer concerns. Many, including Little Tykes (toys),
General Electric (appliances), Nabisco (foods), and Beechm Ins. (toothpaste and other personal
care products), provide toll free telephone numbers as an easy way for consumers to ask questions,
make comments, and register complaints. Small businesses may not have reason or resources to
establish hotlines or hire personnel specifically for consumer relations. But small business owners
and manufacturers can set up procedures and train employees to invite consumer comments,
answer questions, and handle complaints.

Responsibility to Employees
Like consumers, employees hold certain expectations of business firms. They expect safe working
conditions, fair compensation, equal opportunities. And adequate benefits (e.g. health insurance,
vacation, and time off to care for sick children). Employees also want to know what is going on in
the company and want managers to be responsive to problems or complaints. Firms aware of their
responsibility to the people who work for them make every effort to meet these expectations.
➢ Safety in the workplace
The ILO is working with the Government, employers’ and workers’ organizations in Bangladesh
to foster a preventative safety and health culture by strengthening national occupational safety and
health (OSH) systems, which include developing policies and frameworks on OSH, reinforcing
labor inspection and governance, facilitating training on OSH, and conducting national OSH
campaigns.
➢ Equality in the Workplace
Bangladesh is also home to around 3 million indigenous and tribal peoples (ITPs) from more than
50 ethnic backgrounds. They belong to the most disadvantaged sections of Bangladeshi society
and face multiple challenges including economic, cultural, social and political marginalization.

ILO is working in with a variety of partners including government ministries, workers and
employers’ organizations as well as social partners to promote gender equality, eliminate
discrimination and counter exploitation in the world of work.
Activities include mainstreaming gender in the Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP);
promoting women’s participation and gender equality in the trade union movement; promoting
and protecting rights of female and male migrant workers; access by women and young people to
skills training; and promoting the rights of indigenous people in Bangladesh through capacity
building and advocacy.
➢ The Hard core Unemployed
Some organizations also have taken active steps to train the hard-core unemployed. These are
individuals with little training or few skills and a long history of unemployment. The National
Alliance of Businessmen, for instance, works to train such individuals so they can find and keep
jobs. This effort helps people to gain dignity and become productive members of society; it also
reduces the burden on the nations welfare system and adds trained individuals to the workforce.
Firms can take a progressive step by providing programs or extra training to qualify persons who
want to work.
 Responsibility to the Environment
Pollution
Contamination of air, water, and land.
✓ Water Pollution
Water Pollution is caused by dumping of toxic chemicals, sewage, and garbage into rivers and
streams. Toxins and pollutants from buried industrial waste can also find their way into
underground water supplies. A recent concern is the liberal use of agricultural fertilizers and
pesticides, which drain into water supplies.
✓ Air Pollution
Air pollution is caused by carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons that come from motor vehicles and
by smoke and other pollutants from manufacturing plants.
Air pollution is contamination of the indoor or outdoor environment by any chemical, physical or
biological agent that modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere.
Household combustion devices, motor vehicles, industrial facilities and forest fires are common
sources of air pollution. Pollutants of major public health concern include particulate matter,
carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide. Outdoor and indoor air pollution
cause respiratory and other diseases and are important sources of morbidity and mortality.
Air quality is closely linked to the earth’s climate and ecosystems globally. Many of the drivers of
air pollution (i.e. combustion of fossil fuels) are also sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Policies
to reduce air pollution, therefore, offer a win-win strategy for both climate and health, lowering
the burden of disease attributable to air pollution, as well as contributing to the near- and long-
term mitigation of climate change.
✓ Land Pollution
Recycling
Reusing materials such as paper, plastic, glass, and aluminum to make other products.
Land pollution or the degradation of our soil by outside contaminants is largely the result of
unsustainable agricultural practices, the improper disposal of waste (both hazardous and non-
hazardous), mining (often called “mineral extraction”), illegal dumping and littering.