Overview
Corporate Social Responsibility Policy – Striving for Excellence. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is defined in several ways; however, our text highlights that from an ethical perspective CSR is used to “cultivate a broad view of their own self-interest while searching for ways to align that self-interest with the larger public good.” There are many ethical dilemmas today that impact companies, such as harassment, discrimination, nepotism, and unequal pay, to name just a few. In this assignment, we will look at CSR, what it involves, and how to create a corporate policy for a selected ethical dilemma. For example, if the chosen ethical dilemma is discrimination in the workplace, your paper should discuss how a policy could be created, communicated, and implemented to reduce or eliminate instances of discrimination as well as the consequences if discrimination were to occur after the policy was implemented. This exercise will help you to understand how CSR can be a force for good, not just in the company but in the larger arena of the public good, and how you can have a positive impact via the policy you create.
Preparation
To prepare for your assignment, read the following:
Mayer, D., & O’Toole, J. (2010). Good business: Exercising effective and ethical leadership. Taylor & Francis.
· Chapter 8, “Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Excellence,” pages 94–106.
Instructions
For this assignment, consider how a company’s social responsibility can affect the workplace, stakeholders, clients, and other outside parties. In your paper, address these questions:
· How can a company’s social responsibility policy complement its obligation to maximize profits for shareholders?
· How does the ethical issue itself affect employees, stakeholders, clients, and other outside parties, considering the specific company issue? What are the positive and negative outcomes?
· What ethical decision-making approaches would you incorporate into your policy? How would your policy solve the ethical issue?
Follow these steps to complete the assignment. For all of these steps, make sure you provide examples and information from credible sources to support your writing and claims.
· Step 1: Analyze how corporate social responsibility policies can both complement and conflict with profit-maximizing goals.
o Explain how robust corporate social responsibility policies can enhance a company’s reputation and public perception.
o Examine how having responsible corporate social responsibility policies support a company’s sales and marketing efforts, and ultimately, the bottom line.
· Step 2: Assess how an organization-wide ethical dilemma impacts the organization internally and other outside parties.
o Describe, in detail, the organization-wide ethical issue.
o Describe these impacts and how they affect each category—employees, stakeholders, clients, and other outside parties.
o Explain how these different categories are inter-related and why an organization needs to address the ethical dilemma through corporate policy.
o Discuss the ramifications or outcomes that might occur if the ethical dilemma is addressed or not addressed.
Step 3: Explain how a selected ethical approach is suitable to address the organization-wide issue.Describe, in detail, the selected ethical approach that you would incorporate into your policy.Connect the approach to the ethical issue and describe how the approach is suitable to address the issue with multiple stakeholders. Provide examples and possibly data from other organizations with similar ethical issues.Step 4: Create a corporate policy that can help resolve an ethical issue.Identify the essential parts of a corporate policy, then explain how these parts address the impacts from these perspectives: employees, stakeholders, clients, and outside parties.Create an actual corporate policy that addresses the ethical issue.
Additional Requirements
Your submission should meet the following requirements:
· Written communication: Write in complete sentences free from errors that detract from the overall message. Communicates in an exemplary and professional manner through clear, concise, well-organized, and grammatically correct writing.
· Font: Arial, 12 point.
· Page length: 4–5 pages.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:
· Competency 1: Evaluate the parameters for ethical decision making in 21st century multi-cultural business environments.
o Explain how a selected ethical approach is suitable to address the organization-wide issue.
· Competency 2: Assess the impact of corporate social responsibility policy.
o Analyze how corporate social responsibility policies can both complement and conflict with profit-maximizing goals.
o Assess how an organization-wide ethical issue impacts the organization internally and other outside parties.
o Create a corporate policy that can help resolve an ethical issue.
· Competency 4: Convey purpose, in an appropriate tone and style, incorporating supporting evidence and adhering to organizational, professional, and scholarly writing standards.
Write in a well-organized and concise manner that adheres to the rules of grammar, usage, and mechanics.
