Ethics and the bottom line
by
Elizabeth Archer
While the business press might be wholly concerned with shareholder expectations and changes to industrial relations legislation, businesses themselves are quietly giving back to their communities.
Corporate social responsibility is a big issue. So big that a group of high-profile corporate identities has formed an association called Our Community, and with it a subscription-only publication, Business Community Intelligence, based around the concept.
Dr Howard Harris from UniSA’s School of Management, and Master of Business student Christopher Wainwright, have contributed material for the October launch edition.
Wainwright is the publication’s Adelaide correspondent, and Harris was commissioned to write: Are there some activities for an organisation that are always prohibited? The article looks at the extent to which it is reasonable for companies to ensure ethical standards in their production and business dealings.
“My article examines issues like how far down the supply chain do you have to check before you can decide if a company’s practices are ethical,” Harris said.
“It’s easy to say that if a company has its products made in a sweatshop in China, those products are therefore an unethical investment, but if a company happens to purchase a few office chairs, for example, from a supplier who sourced them from a factory operating under horrific conditions in the third world, should that affect its reputation or its bottom line?”
Both Harris and Wainwright will contribute regularly to Business Community Intelligence.