BUSINESS ETHIC POSITION PAPER Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

BUSINESS ETHIC POSITION PAPER - Essay Example Ethics are not related to feelings of right and wrong nor are they related to a particular religion. They are not defined by law and they are not based upon the norms of a given culture group. Finally, ethics are not based upon scientific evidence of what constitutes ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. In order to try to determine what constitutes the concept of ‘ethics’, there are five general ethical standards by which one can compare personal and group ethics in prioritizing responsibilities. While corporation leaders have a responsibility to the shareholders who have entrusted them with their company, they also have a responsibility to their stakeholders, the common good of the people within the communities in which they work. From the viewpoint of three ethical standards, it is clear that the corporation must maintain a level of responsibility toward both their shareholders and their stakeholders if they wish to conduct business ethically. In general, most people understand corporate social responsibility as referring to the practice of corporate investment in community related projects, often projects that will bring no direct, quantifiable benefit to the corporation itself. In respect to these types of practices, it is often argued that the corporation is acting irresponsibly toward its shareholders when it elects to invest corporate funds into charities that do not directly benefit the shareholders themselves. â€Å"The company’s owners – its shareholders – can certainly donate their own assets to charities that promote causes they believe in †¦ But it would be irresponsible for the management and directors of a company, whose stock these investors purchased, to deploy corporate assets for social causes† (Atkins, 2006). Because shareholders don’t have direct control over how these funds are spent, which charities they contribute to or how much they wish to invest,