Corporate Social Responsibility Policy

OverviewEvaluate the impact of corporate social responsibility policy on the workplace and the corporate world. Also, assess the ethicality of an organization and identify the related stakeholders and their roles.

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

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Competency 2: Assess the impact of corporate social responsibility policy.

Assesses the impact of corporate social responsibility policy.
Assess the ethical nature of a selected organization.
Identify the major stakeholders and their roles and responsibilities regarding an issue.
Assess the impact of the issue on various stakeholders.
Assess the potential costs and benefits for various stakeholders in addressing an issue through corporate policy.

Competency Map

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Toggle DrawerContextStakeholders are not limited to directly involved groups and individuals who benefit directly from the corporation. Often, the entire community is affected by an organization’s actions, or lack of reactions. For example, board members, regulators, and consumers participate in the business process every day. To what extent should they shape or influence ethical behavior in business?

Understanding stakeholder needs, as well as threats to the organization, is a key component of the process of managing ethical issues. It is equally important to learn to identify issues and put them in a context or framework, to facilitate management decision making. One of the challenges of marketplace globalization is creating ethical policies and guidelines that monitor how we do business in the global market.
Toggle DrawerQuestions to ConsiderTo deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of the business community.

Workplace privacy is a very contentious issue today, because the growth of technology that might threaten privacy is outpacing the development of privacy laws. New technologies for communication and surveillance are not legally restricted because they are not yet addressed in existing laws. What right to privacy you believe an employee should enjoy at work? What right to surveillance should a company have in watching over the employees it is paying, and the property it owns? Where would you draw the line with regard to workplace privacy?
Think about a real-world example of whistleblowing with which you are personally familiar, or which you have heard about. Why might you feel pressure not to report what you know in the situation, and to what extent would it affect you? What would you do (or did you do) in this situation? Would a code of ethics you are familiar with, such as a military code that requires reporting of unethical behavior, influence your decision?
Analyze an advertisement that was misleading, and did not provide complete and honest information about the product or service. Your example might be from print, television, radio, or the Internet. It might be local, national, or international. How could this deception have been harmful? What action would you recommend to deter this type of deception in the future?

Toggle DrawerResourcesSuggested Resources

The following optional resources are provided to support you in completing the assessment or to provide a helpful context. For additional resources, refer to the Research Resources and Supplemental Resources in the left navigation menu of your courseroom.

Library Resources

The following e-books and articles from the Capella University Library are linked directly in this course.

Rendtorff, J. D. (2009). Responsibility, ethics and legitimacy of corporations. Copenhagen, Denmark: Copenhagen Business School Press. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com.library.capella.edu/lib/capella/docDetail.action?docID=10465558

Part 4 is particularly applicable to this assessment.

Course Library Guide

A Capella University library guide has been created specifically for your use in this course. You are encouraged to refer to the resources in the BUS-FP4801 – Ethics and Enterprise Library Guide to help direct your research.

Assessment InstructionsComplete the following:

Assess the impact of corporate social responsibility policy on the workplace and the corporate world.

Assess how, and to what extent, corporate social responsibility can be coordinated with an organization’s obligation to maximize profits for its shareholders.

Identify a potential ethical issue at a real-world organization. You may use the organization and issue you used in the first and second assessments.

Assess the ethicality of the organization.
Identify the major stakeholders and their roles and responsibilities regarding the issue.
Assess the potential impact of the organization’s choice to address or not address the issue via corporate policy. Address the financial and legal impacts of this choice on the organization, employees, and other stakeholders. In addition, address the potential impact on the organization’s reputation.