Similarities And Differences Between Caux’s Round Table And White’s Biblical Principles Critical Thinking Examples

There are many different ways to consider business ethics in context; for each situation, the ethics that apply to the given situation may fluctuate. Being in business may lead to an individual being faced with experiences that he or she has never had before; these types of new and different experiences are such that an individual must have a framework built into his or her everyday life to deal with the problems that are sometimes associated with business ethics. The Caux Round Table guidelines provide one set of guidelines for business ethics, while Jerry White has provided five Biblical principles that should govern business ethics for devout individuals.
Obviously, there are both similarities and differences; determining the impact of these principles on the organization, the employees, the customers, and the other stakeholders as well as how suitable it is to use Scripture as the basis for business ethical decisionmaking for employers is the key purpose of this particular discussion. This discussion will also center around what potential issues may exist for a manager who is utilizing White’s five principles in his or her workplace.
The Caux Round Table (CRT) business principles are not particularly difficult to understand, but they set a rigid structure for business (Cauxroundtable.org, 2015). CRT claims that business ethics should adhere to a number of qualities: for instance, business ethics require that a business respect stakeholders over shareholders, contribute to economic, social, and environmental development, build trust by adhering to the spirit of the law, support responsible globalization, respect rules and conventions, and avoid illicit activities (Cauxroundtable.org, 2015). These are all very important rules and conventions that underscore the CRT basic philosophy, which is: “The Caux Round Table believes that the world business community should play an important role in improving economic and social conditions. Through an extensive and collaborative process in 1994, business leaders developed the CRT Principles for Business to embody the aspiration of principled business leadership. The CRT Principles for Business are a worldwide vision for ethical and responsible corporate behavior and serve as a foundation for action for business leaders worldwide. As a statement of aspirations, The CRT Principles aim to express a world standard against which business behavior can be measured” (Cauxroundtable.org, 2015). Essentially, this is a way to build ethical constructs within business, and to ensure that businesses adhere to ethical business practices from day one, rather than trying to ensure ethical business practices in an otherwise very unethical business structure (Cauxroundtable.org, 2015).
Jerry White, on the other hand, has provided businesses with an alternative form of consideration for business ethics. Unlike the CRT philosophy, White’s five principles are founded on Biblical ideas. White’s five principles are just weight, total honesty, being a servant, personal responsibility, and reasonable profits (Cotton, 2015). These are all principles that have been derived from different parts of Scripture (Cotton, 2015). Each principle has been derived from a different concept of the Bible, but each has a distinctly Biblical philosophy attached to it (Cotton, 2015).
The idea of a just weight is the principle that a business should give just payment for goods or services (Cotton, 2015). This corresponds to the idea in CRT theory that suggests that businesses should adhere to all rules and regulations, and that businesses should adhere to the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law (Cauxroundtable.org, 2015). The idea of being a servant is also closely linked to the ideas that CRT promotes; White suggests that a good Christian should put others before oneself, and CRT promotes a similar philosophy by ensuring that the stakeholders in a business are protected before the shareholders, and so on (Cauxroundtable.org, 2015).
While these two philosophies may have different roots, they are essentially promoting the same idea: that there is a way to conduct business that is ethical and promotes the well-being of the world as a whole over the well-being of the company (Cauxroundtable.org, 2015). White has used Scripture to write the basis of his ethical beliefs, and the CRT ethics have been built in a more secular manner; however, there is no doubt that both philosophies have the same core belief, and this is that business can almost certainly be conducted in an ethical manner (Cauxroundtable.org, 2015).
It may be difficult for a business manager to utilize White’s philosophies in the workplace, especially in a secular workplace. People who are not religious often resist religious principles, even if they are being used to promote ethical policies. For instance, a manager may have an issue encouraging a secular employee to take the idea of being a servant to heart, because it is a philosophy deeply entrenched in religious culture, but not really in business culture (Cotton, 2015). In addition, total honest is not commonly associated with business culture, and as a result, it may be difficult for an employee and even a manager to cultivate an environment of total honesty (Cotton, 2015).

References

Cauxroundtable.org,. (2015). Caux Round Table - Principles for Business. Retrieved 12 January 2015, from http://www.cauxroundtable.org/index.cfm?&menuid=8
Cotton, R. (2015). Business and Ethics. Leaderu.com. Retrieved 12 January 2015, from http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/bus-ethi.html
Curtan, L. (1996). The Caux Round Table Principles for Business. Nursing Management (Springhouse), 27(2), 54???57. doi:10.1097/00006247-199602000-00016
Gracechapel.org,. (2015). Biblical Principles on Financial Stewardship. Retrieved 12 January 2015, from http://www.gracechapel.org/about-us/beliefs/white-papers/biblical-principles-on-financial-stewardship-white-paper#sthash.IOkUzagk.dpbs
Post, J. (2002). Global Corporate Citizenship: Principles to Live and Work by. Business Ethics Quarterly, 12(2), 143. doi:10.2307/3857808