Business Ethics and Social Responsibility Essay Example

has greatly changed. I now have better understanding of the meaning of these concepts. The next part looks at my understanding of legal, social responsibility, and business ethics at the end of semester.
Legality

Legality refers to an agreement, act, or contract, which is consistent with law or the state of being unlawful or lawful in a particular jurisdiction (Von Kalinowski et al., 2015). It is a mandatory for a business to comply with these laws. Therefore, before initiating any business, it is essential for an individual to recognize these laws because being lawfully submissive relies on being well aware of the rules and regulations. Some business legal issues include business registration, licenses, privacy act, independent contractors, anti-bullying laws, and unfair dismissal. Let us look at the broad perspective of these legal issues.

Firstly, the business owners in the US are required by the law to register before starting any business activities. The registration prevents the owner from running illegal business. Moreover, registration enables the government to know which type of business and the authorities can be able to tax you appropriately (Erhard, Jensen, & Zaffron, 2008). Secondly, licenses are significant in that they ensure that the business owner is complying with the legal obligations. Thirdly, the privacy act covers how the business should handle personal information. Fourthly, the anti-bulling laws protect discrimination of employees in the working places. Again, before entering into any contract, the law requires an individual to determine whether the contractor is classified as independent contractor because their status will influence their rights and duties. Finally, when it comes to the unfair dismissal, large businesses have diverse laws as compared with smaller businesses. Therefore,

in case an employer wants to dismiss a worker, it is significant to follow the rules indicated in the code.

It is the goal of many businesses to maximize their profits for their shareholders and owners. Nevertheless, this does not imply that the businesses can do anything to maximize their profitability. They cannot do criminal activities and bad things just to achieve the required profit. This is where social responsibility and business ethics play a significant role.
Business Ethics

Ethics refers to the behavior of a business in dealing with the society or community. Therefore, business ethics implies that the business should follow appropriate behaviors that benefit not only themselves but also the community (Velasquez & Velazquez, 2002). Although profit maximization is the most crucial thing in a business, it should also be concerned with the wellbeing of the society. The business activities must not cause any harm to the individuals but should advantage them. An unethical business is highly penalized by the law.

Social Responsibility

The business must perform its social responsibilities by performing activities, which are in rhyme with the society or community norms (Friedman, 2007). In spite of its great need to make profits for company, it should also have social responsibility towards the community. Good examples of social responsibilities include pollution reduction and society enhancement programs.

Conclusion

Adherence to legal, social and ethics are crucial to success of every business. There are perfect things for community, which are not perfect for business. This is actually, where business social responsibility comes in. Conversely, there are perfect things in business, which are not perfect for community. This is actually, where ethics comes in. A law is required to enforce business

social responsibilities and business ethics. This is where legality comes in. The three must work together in order for a business to thrive well.

References

1. Erhard, W., Jensen, M. C., & Zaffron, S. (2008). Integrity: A Positive Model that Incorporates the Normative Phenomena of Morality, Ethics and Legality (March 23, 2009). Harvard
2. Business School NOM Working Paper No. 06-11(No. 06-03, pp. 08-05). Barbados Group Working Paper.
3. Friedman, M. (2007). The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits (pp. 173-178). springer berlin heidelberg.
4. Velasquez, M. G., & Velazquez, M. (2002). Business ethics: Concepts and cases (Vol. 111). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
5. Von Kalinowski, J. O., Sullivan, P., McGuirl, M., Folsom, R., & Fine, F. (2015). Determining Legality and Defenses (Vol. 2). Antitrust Laws and Trade Regulation, Second Edition.