Ethics Essay Sample

Ethics is one of the important components in developing a strategic plan. It is worth noting that putting into consideration social responsibility and ethics in developing a strategic plan is essential. The stakeholder agendas and needs are still considered when focusing on the strategic plan development. Ethics must be a priority in an organization. In the competitive world, it is crucial to consider ethics and social responsibility in an organization. The management team in an organization ensure that the mission, vision, goals, strategy, culture and values of the organization are maintained, and at the same time figure out how to incorporate ethics. The strategic plan of multinational companies affect many people in the world (Dávila, 2007). Failure to put into consideration such domains may negatively affect surrounding communities, stakeholders, as well as environment.
The role of ethics is to provide companies with blueprint on how the decisions are developed. The ethical code plays a crucial role in ensuring that the operations of the company are conducted within the shared values in society. The strategic plan is streamlined towards the expectations of society and stakeholders through ethics and social responsibility (Sims, 2003). The management team in an organization have to make decisions based on various discretionary chooses, which include volunteerism, charity, and philanthropist. Companies that participate in voluntary activities contribute towards the social responsibility. The strategic plan tends to be achievable if it is developed on socially responsible perspectives.
Ethics and social responsibility are important in developing strategic plan because it enhances transparency, respect, and independence. The management needs to provide information in an honest and transparent manner. These facilitate better and dependable decision-making. In fact, honest and transparency enhances the credibility of the organization. Ethics also enhances independence during strategic planning because it provides the concerned parties with an opportunity to develop new ideas (Dávila, 2007). During planning ethics comes into play through truthfulness and fairness. The management team have to take truthful and fair look on the possible impacts and risks of the decisions reached. Such consideration ensure that the strategic plan maintain the welfare of society and employees.
The managers in an organization make ethical decisions based on ethical principles, individual rights philosophy, as well as utilitarianism. These models of making decisions are essential to ensuring that ethics and social responsibility are adhered to during the development of the strategic plan. In the 21st century, ethics is an essential component and not a luxury anymore. On the same note, ethical organization culture helps in the development of the strategic plan since it enhances the strong relationship between the organizational leadership and external relationship. Ethical culture emerges when people are treated well (Sims, 2003). The ethical responsibilities are put in place to avoid any harm to the society. The expectations of the society have been put into law; hence, the organization should work with the ethical and legal framework.
The maximization of profits in the organization should be done within the ethics and social responsibility framework. Failure to adhere to social responsibility and ethics may lead to the devastating outcome. When developing strategic plan, it is critical to analyze the risk indicators, strategies, social responsibility, performance, and ethics. The public have to be notified of the strategic plan decisions, especially on social responsibility issue (Dávila, 2007). The positive perception that the public create tend to play a crucial role in the profitability of the organization and the achievement of competitive advantage.
There are various organization in the world that have overstepped the ethical responsibilities. Overstepping on ethical responsibilities tend to affect the performance and profitability adversely. Enron is one of the companies that overstepped its ethical responsibilities. By the use of offshore entities, the organization misrepresented its income. The entities in question made the organization more profitable than expected. One of the preventive measures to be taken is to establish appropriate regulatory systems that strengthen the regulatory structure of the government. The use of proficient and independent consulting service is also the best way to prevent the issue of overstepping ethical boundaries. In addition, the employees of the company should not be employed by any organization that are associated or do business with the primary company. In the general perspective, social responsibility and ethics play a critical role.

References

Dávila, G. A. M. (2007). Ethics, psyche and social responsibility. Burlington, Vt. [u.a.: Ashgate.
Sims, R. R. (2003). Ethics and corporate social responsibility: Why giants fall. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Praeger.