Promoting Ethical Behaviours and Corporate Social Responsibility

Introduction Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept that aims at promoting the continued commitment of companies to behave ethically and contribute to economic development in a bid to achieve positive social and environmental change.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Promoting Ethical Behaviours and Corporate Social Responsibility specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the contemporary society, most companies have evolved into enormous multi-national organisations that have control over billions of revenue and assets, and thus they contribute greatly to the national economy coupled with wielding substantial power in the community. Thus, corporate social responsibility is an integral management concept of a company that decides to go a further step to contribute towards improving the quality of life of the workforce and the society at large in the future without solely being interested in financial gains, particularly by being interested in charitable accomplishments and environmental stewardship (Kotler Lee 2007). This goal can be achieved by creating jobs for the communities living near a company and acting appropriately to conserve the environment. Ethical issues that the company has faced Unfortunately, despite some companies having the interests of improving the livelihood of the society, corporate scandals have been on the rise. ABCD group, just like most financial companies around the world, is faced with ethical problems that greatly affect its CSR responsibility, which is to improve the well-being of the society. As the managing director of this financial company suggests, its main objective is to create more wealth, and it does not matter who is affected in the process. This company faces serious ethical problems as the person in charge does not seem to be concerned with the origin of wealth and he treats the matter as just another business transaction that is of benefit t o the company. As the company’s policies are not tailored to promote self-control, but to promote the monetary nature, employees have been given the freedom to exploit the customers to enrich themselves through high commissions.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The management has given employees the right to rob customers of their hard-earned money and this aspect has a great impact on the lives of the customers, as money is a very important element in the livelihood of humankind. The misconduct and dishonesty by the company’s employees are attributed to fraud and personal interests as well as saving the company by earning more money from customers (Beauchamp 2003). Therefore, handling money without ethical considerations amounts to overlooking a critical moral issue and the unethical behaviour by the financial participants is contributing to a crisis in the fi nancial sector, and thus it should not be ignored. The firm has also failed in fostering an environment of trust between customers and employees as shown by the employee who made a huge transaction on a customer’s account in a bid to have a high commission. Though this act was legal, as the customer had signed an authorisation part that allowed the employee to carry out a transaction without being notified, it certainly cannot be classified as ethical as the investment was not successful and it led to the loss of about 200,000 HKD. This aspect shows that there is no mutual understanding between customers and employees, and thus fraud in the firm can happen easily leading to loss of substantial amounts of money. The clients’ interests should come first and they have a right to be informed on any attempts to access their accounts so that they can also give their informed suggestions on any investment before they commit their money (Velasquez 2011). In this case, the cust omer might have fallen into the deception trap of the ill-minded employee whose main agenda seems to be increasing his commission income and maintaining his job at the company by signing the authorisation part of the agreement.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Promoting Ethical Behaviours and Corporate Social Responsibility specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The management of this firm is to be blamed for these unethical practices amongst employees as its policies encourage employees to make money at the expense of their potential customers. This ethical issue does not only affect the ABCD group, but also other organisations worldwide. Other notable organisations that have been associated with ethical issues are the Wall Street firms in the United States, which almost led to the collapse of the US economy due to questionable business practices. Therefore, the management of the ABCD Company should learn from the et hical lapses of some of the biggest multi-national companies that failed as improved ethical behaviour can contribute in improving the company’s economic performance in addition to respecting ethical values in the interest of the stakeholders (Velasquez 2011). One way that the management can achieve this goal is by not solely being money-oriented and educating employees on the importance of being honest, trustworthy, reliable, and avoiding any kind of fraudulent activities by all means possible. The process can be successful if the managing director monitors employees closely and abundantly rewarding those who make sound ethical considerations while dismissing those who are unethical. How the company has embraced corporate social responsibility As stated above, the ABCD group has been affected by some moral standards and principles that guide the behaviour of employees, thus resulting in unethical behaviours like fraud that might have tarnished its good reputation in the publ ic. The management has realised the need to change the image of the firm to be acceptable and utilised by the society. In a bid to achieve this goal, the firm has embraced corporate social responsibility to improve the livelihoods of the society without sacrificing the well-known main goal, which is financially oriented. For instance, according to the managing director of the firm, is involved in sponsoring a local school during sporting events.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This move is a good initiative as the firm has reshaped its framework from just being a financial institution whose main and only goal is to make profits to an organisation that is involved in charitable events (Bolton Benn 2012). Such sporting events have a great impact on the society, especially on the children who come from poor families as they get sponsorships, which underscores a great opportunity for them to exploit their hidden talents. Thus, by the firm engaging in such a charitable organisation aimed at uplifting the livelihoods of the community, it attracts more customers and investors as they feel that such kind of firm is interested in the welfare of the society. This strategy is also advantageous to the company when it comes to its publicity to the community, as people are made aware of the services that are offered and how they can benefit. Additionally, the company has made another great important step by deciding to incorporate the staff welfare plans with aims o b uilding community relationships by visiting the elderly in the society. As the number of the elderly people in society is increasing drastically, the decision by the manager to let employees visit the elderly twice a month is important and it leads to boosting of the relationship between the firm and the community. This move is also important in promoting ethical behaviours, as some employees who may have been involved in fraudulent activities may be discouraged to do so in the future once they have an opportunity to get advice from the elderly who are considered as the greatest source of wisdom. Employees often feel proud of the organisation that they work for if it is doing notable work, which explains why by visiting the elderly, the employee-employer relationship has developed, as employees are more satisfied with their work. This aspect not only creates a reliable workforce, but also there is less likelihood of employees looking for better jobs elsewhere as their attitude towar ds the company is changed for the better due to the positive impact of the CSR (Urip 2010). Way forward for ABCD group in Hong Kong The firm should realise that to achieve economic prosperity as well as influencing the society it should continue to revise its short-term and long-term policies to keep abreast with the rapid changes that are taking place. Although being socially responsible is the new realism of businesses, the firm should embrace CSR entirely with the aim of not only influencing the local community, but also the global community. Irrespective of the size of the company, it can assist in curbing climatic change, which has affected the livelihoods of many people by engaging in investment activities that are environmentally friendly and adopting energy-efficient practices in its business setups (Urip 2010). The firm can achieve this goal by integrating climatic changes concerns in its daily operations and reporting the development towards the environmental goal. In addi tion, it can be involved actively in the use of renewable sources of energy, such as the use of solar energy. Solar energy, as compared to other sources of energy does not emit hazardous gases that affect the climate and is cheaper. Thus, by using such kind of energy to power electronic gadgets, the company will be preserving the environment for the current and future generations. This aspect is also extremely important, as the company will be stretching beyond statutory obligations by taking additional steps to improve the quality of life for all stakeholders. Conclusion Companies’ management teams should realise that promoting ethical behaviour amongst stakeholders is their responsibility and s unethical behaviour of one individual reflects the laxity of the management in relation to promoting ethical leadership. Promoting ethical behaviours and corporate social responsibility is critical in the success of an organisation, if it will be of benefit to the current and the fut ure generations, and managers are the only force for creating an effective ethical culture. Therefore, the management should draft ethical and corporate social responsibility policies carefully so that all the stakeholders have an understanding on what is expected of them. The policies change individuals’ behaviour coupled with how they interact with customers and this aspect will be of great benefit to the organisation. The company should not be involved in CSR as a way of complying with the law, but with the aim of providing solutions to societal and environmental challenges. Reference List Beauchamp, T. 2003, Case studies in business, society, and ethics, Pearson Publishers, New Jersey Bolton, D. Benn, S. 2012, Key concepts in corporate social responsibility, SAGE Publications, New York. Kotler, P. Lee, N. 2007, Corporate social responsibility: doing the most good for your company and your cause, Wiley Publishers, Hoboken. Urip, S. 2010, CSR strategies: corporate social responsibility for a competitive edge in emerging markets, Wiley Publishers, Hoboken. Velasquez, M. 2011, Business ethics: concepts and cases, Pearson Publishers, New Jersey. This report on Promoting Ethical Behaviours and Corporate Social Responsibility was written and submitted by user Neil Guy to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Common High School Policies For Recommendation Letters

Common High School Policies For Recommendation Letters SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips When should you ask for a recommendation letter? Many high schools answer this question for you with an official timeline and procedure for your recletter requests. In addition to school policy, your teachers might also set rules aroundhow and when to ask for letters of rec. This guide will go over the most common recommendation letter guidelines, as well as some not so common ones that you hopefully won’t encounter (like a lottery system!). To start, let’s consider whichguidelines are set on a school-wide basis and which ones fall into the realm of individual teachers. What Do Schools Say About Recommendation Letters? You should receive directions from your school, or more specifically, your guidance or college counseling office, on two mainsteps: When to ask for letters of rec, and What information to give your teachers. Let's first take a look at the three most common guidelines around when to ask for letters. 1. Ask in the Spring of Junior Year Generally, schools with strong college counseling departments have their students ask for letters in the spring of junior year, usually by April or May. This system tends to be part of the school’s culture, so teachers, mainly th grade teachers, expect to get requests then. Asking later is seen as inappropriate and last minute. 2. Ask Within a Month of Your Deadlines Other schools take a more hands off approach and tell students to ask anytime up to three or four weeks before their deadlines. Larger public schools often use this approach, where students are given more independence and a longertime window in which to make their requests. Some students still may ask in junior year or email their teachers over the summer with a promise to follow up with information in the fall. 3. Submit a List of Names to Your Counselor A third, less common system used by a few schools involves some chance. Students give three names of teachers to college counselors, who then assign each student two teachers. Usually smaller private schools with a large percentage of college-going graduates use this method to ease the burden on teachers who get the most requests. Schools with this system are a bit more strict, while, as you read above, others put the responsibility largely in thehands of students. Most schools, however, have similar guidelines about what information to give to your recommenders. This information typically goes into a "brag sheet." Prepare a Brag Sheet In addition to setting rules for when you ask, your counseling department should give you a packet to fill out to help your recommenders. This packet should include space for you to write your college list and deadlines, as well as a formcommonly referred to as a "brag sheet." Here you'll describe yourself and your goals. There may be space for your parents to contribute their ideas, too. Whatever systems your school uses, there are two best practicesto go by when planning your recommendations: ask early, and give your recommenders a detailed resume and brag sheet. Just how early you ask may depend on your school’s policy, as just described, but it may also be influenced by the teachers you plan to ask. Let’s take a look at what teachers control in this process. Some teachers limit the number of rec letters they'll write, so you have to ask them early! What Do Teachers Say About Recommendation Letters? While your school tells you when and how to ask, your teacher decides how many recommendation letters they’ll write for students. Some don’t set a limit at all, while others set a cap at around fifteento twenty letters. It may be disappointing to learn that your teachers limit their letters, but on the bright side it suggests that they put time and thought into each letter they produce. In a few, unfortunate cases, teachers set a very strict limit and don’t seem too eager to write recommendations. One student on College Confidential talked about how his teacher collected everyone’s requests and drew only six â€Å"winners† out of a hat. Luckily, it’s not common for teachers to set a cap this low or to select students arbitrarily. If you have a good relationship with the teacher and make your request early enough, then she should agree to provide you with a letter of rec. At this point, you may be wondering what your school and teachers have to say about recommendation letter guidelines. If you don’t know already, how can you find out? If you don't know your school's rec letter policy, how can you search for clues? How Can You Learn About Recommendation Letter Guidelines? It’s never too early to find out this information, as you want to get your requests in early and devote a good amount of time to preparing your packet. Ideally, your counselors give you this information during college planning presentations. If not, you can absolutely set up an appointment to meet with your counselor. Prepare a list of questions, like when and how you should ask, and go into the meeting prepared so you find out everything you need to know. Your counselors should also have some advice on which teachers have a reputation for writing strong letters, and which ones get flooded with requests. If your counselor hasn’t already given you the details on your teachers, you can speak to older students, as well as your teachers themselves to find out when’s an ideal time to ask. Even if it’s only halfway through the year, you could tell your th grade teacher that you’re curious about recommendation letters and wonder if she has any special deadline for accepting requests. Even if you’re not ready to ask yet, you can plan when to do so. Some of these concerns are obvious requirements, while some are not so immediately apparent. Why’s it important to make sure you know about all recommendation letter guidelines from all involved parties? Guidelines help make sure your recommendation letters get into the system by your application deadlines. Why Do You Need to Know About Recommendation Letter Guidelines? These guidelines influence when you ask, who you ask, and what information you prepare. By figuring this all out early, you can spend a few weeks deciding who to ask and producing your materials. It’s especially important to put time and thought into your resume and brag sheet, as your recommenders will rely on these documents to write their letters. Not only should your recommenders already have a positive impression of you from class, but giving them thorough materials willalso impress them and show them how seriously you’re taking the college application process. As discussed above, some schools require students to ask in junior year while others take a more hands-off approach. Even if your school doesn’t give you a specific deadline, you might consider asking at the end of th grade. That way you’re fresh in your teachers’ minds, plus you can ensure that you won’t lose a spot to other students who were ahead of the game. If you’re unclear about the answers to any of these questions around recommendation letters, you should definitely speak with your counselor and teachers. Make sure you have the information you need to feel empowered through the process of applying to college. What’s Next? Speaking of the steps you need to apply to college, check out this full guideon how to apply to college. It goes over everything you need to know, from choosing the right classes to taking standardized tests to filling out your application forms. For more on planning your recommendation letters, you can learn about how to request your letters here and why exactly these letters are so important to your overall application. Want to improve your SAT score by 160points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: