ETHICAL DIMENSION OF CSR: A PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE

Archana Barua
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Archana Barua: Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, India

No 12-13, Social Responsibility, Ethics and Sustainable Business from Bucharest University of Economic Studies

Abstract: A philosophical perspective on ethics, including issues related to corporate social responsibility, keeps room for a second order discourse on some such practices asking meta ethical questions such as is there a gap between “is” and “ought”, between facts and value, that makes it difficult to bridge the gap between existing corporate behaviour and its aspired ethical goal ? Is there scope for some kind of situated and context dependent variations in this regard that will make ethics more businesslike with its slogan for “Think Global Act Local”? Which way of imbibing social responsibility will bring back more dividends in return ? Is it the Chinese way, the Japanese way, the European way or the Indian way of imbuing value that will ensure that corporate remain humane to some extent? If philanthropy and charity is a dharma in the Indian context, so are silence and meditative thinking, and nature friendliness, virtues in a Chinese or a Japanese context. From such a meta ethical and a philosophical perspective the gap that exists between need for social responsibility in corporate may remain an unresolved issue because a dharmic or a religious or even a culture specific perspective will lead to a fact –value dichotomy to an extent that a holy river like the Ganges will remain a matter of worship but at the same time no one will own responsibility for cleaning its garbage. Taking an alternate stand and looking forward to a business perspective on ethical and social responsibility in corporations, this article will still address first order corporate responsibility issues from a second order meaning perspective, in order to explore if corporations can keep room for sustainable development projecting a ‘stake-holder balanced company’ image for its own, but also raising its brand image as with environment friendly consumer products bringing back more dividends in return, ensuring a lasting bond with its stakeholders and thereby adopting a market centric policy modification in light of its paradigm shift from charity and dependence to empowerment and partnership.

Date: 2013-09
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Published in Working Papers Series on Social Responsibility, Ethics & Sustainable Business

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http://www.csrconferences.org/RePEc/aes/icsrog/2013/2013_2_003.pdf First version, 2013, September (application/pdf)

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