Ethical leadership in the field of public administration is important as it promotes good conduct based on specific needs of a town or country (Cropf, 2016). Public administrators, therefore, should uphold ethics in their operations not only to demonstrate their integrity but also to build trust with the community in which they operate. One positive outcome of upholding ethics in public administration is transparent communication that builds trust and ensures that the people are engaged in dealing with important issues affecting the community as a whole (Cropf, 2016).One way in which leaders can demonstrate ethical leadership is through social responsibility, that is, acting in the interests of the public. In this paper, I will analyze chapter 12 of the book, Business Ethics: Ethical Decision-making and Cases and identify one social responsibility issue. I will then analyze the implications, opportunities, and challenges of the identified social responsibility issue and recommend ways of addressing such implications and challenges. The paper will begin with a summary of chapter 12.
The main purpose of chapter 12 is to demonstrate how sustainability relates to social responsibility and ethical decision making in the business sector (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2015). More specifically, the chapter focuses on evaluating the various issues and risks involved in making decisions that have significant impacts on the natural environment. According to Ferrell, Fraedrich, and Ferrell (2015), identifying issues associated with decision making in business is important as it promotes sustainability through responsible individuals and companies. The chapter describes the term sustainability as the well-being of the environment and interactions with people, nature, companies as well as business strategies. Sustainability, as described in the chapter, focuses on improving business strategies, technologies and work while conserving the natural resources in the environment. One important idea addressed in the chapter is that sustainability relates to social responsibility in the sense that it focuses on reducing negative impacts and maximizing the positive impacts on the stakeholders. Making ethical decisions for promoting sustainability requires organizational leaders to assess risks, monitor compliance and avoid inappropriate misconducts that may have detrimental impacts on the environment (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2015). Such misconducts may include disposing wastes in rivers and using environmental-unfriendly energy sources.
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Social responsibility Issue
As consumers are increasingly becoming concerned about the ethics of companies from which they buy their products, it is important for these organizations to demonstrate their concern for the consumers and environment through social responsibility. Social responsibility, in this case, is the obligation of companies to carry out their operations and make business decisions that take into account the welfare of the society (Dernbach, 2002).Organizations can demonstrate social responsibility, for example, by manufacturing environmental-friendly products and reducing or eliminating hazards associated with the production and processing of products. Therefore, customers are more likely to build trust and maintain their loyalty with companies whose operations and products do not pose any harm to the environmental resources that they depend on. A majority of organizations in the United States and other developed nations in Europe, especially in the manufacturing sector, have adopted sound strategies for promoting sustainability in the environment (Dernbach, 2002).
One critical social responsibility issue in chapter 12 is sustainability (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2015). In this case, sustainability refers to the adoption of business strategies, technologies and work practices to boost financial performance while, at the same time, protecting the natural resources for the needs of the present and future generation. A majority of companies globally are becoming more concerned with the perception of their customers regarding the sustainability of their business. As such, most of these organizations have adopted sound business strategies for building trust with their customers by providing environmental-friendly products and promoting environmental protection by addressing the various environmental problems that emerge from their business operations. Some of the major environmental problems include water pollution, air pollution and global warming (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2015).
Opportunities and challenges
The expectation of customers and other stakeholders is that companies produce products that pose no harm to human health and that the manufacturing processes involved in the production of these products have no negative impacts on the environment (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2015). Such customer expectations imply that customers are more likely to maintain their loyalty with companies which are socially responsible, that is, those that promote the well-being of the society.
One opportunity associated with sustainability, as the social responsibility issue discussed in this paper, is the availability of renewable energy sources and green technologies that most companies are adopting to address environmental concerns such as air pollution and global warming. Air pollution is an emerging environmental issue that arises from the growth of industries and power plants, especially in the developing nations across the world. Power plants and factories involved in the manufacture of rubber, plastics, and other elements emit particulate matter and toxic gases like sulphur dioxide that are harmful not only to human health but also animal health. Some of the health problems caused by air pollutants include cancer, congenital disabilities, asthma and other respiratory illnesses (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2015). Global warming is another anthropogenic environmental issue triggered characterized by the increase of temperatures in the lower atmosphere. It is regarded an anthropogenic issue because it is mainly caused by human activities like agriculture, industrialization, and burning of fossil fuels. Some of the negative aspects associated with global warming include the change of weather patterns, flooding and food insecurity among others (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2015). Therefore, the availability of renewable energy sources like wind and geothermal energy in the US and other developed nations is an excellent opportunity for organizations to promote sustainability through environmental protection. It is also a great opportunity for these companies to reduce products costs as renewable sources of energy are cheap and readily available. The fact that green technologies are cheap is another opportunity for industries to demonstrate social responsibility through environmental protection. Another opportunity associated with sustainability is the support by the government in protecting the environment. Most importantly, the involvement of the society in sustainability programs is the greatest opportunity for promoting sustainability.
One of the main challenges of sustainability in the United States is poor leadership in the industries that produce toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and other substances that are likely to affect the environment. A majority of organizations or industries fail to meet the expectations of their customers due to unethical decisions made by their leaders. Some plant or industry managers only focus on producing more products for sale regardless of the environmental impacts of the manufacturing processes involved and the waste products produced. For instance, some managers fail to make ethical decisions on critical issues like waste disposal, thus leaving the environment at risk of pollution. Such recklessness of leaders undermines the promotion of sustainability. Addressing opportunities and challenges
The biggest question is not how a company would create a sustainability strategy, but rather how the senior management team of the company will ensure that the strategy improves the value of the business. A majority of leaders perceive corporate social responsibility as a great opportunity to strengthen their business operations while, at the same time, give a positive contribution to the society. Therefore, to address the opportunities of sustainability, leaders or managers ought to make ethical decisions to ensure that the social responsibility strategy can simultaneously create business value or make money for the company and meet the needs and expectations of the society (Iszatt & Saunders, 2017). Take, for instance, a food processing industry which has developed a social responsibility strategy of community development. In my opinion, the most ethical decision that leaders in this company would make is to set up foundations for educating the people about the potential environmental issues that are likely to arise from the operations of the industry. Another ethical decision that the leaders in the company can make is to train the employees on proper waste disposal to avoid pollution of nearby surface and underground water sources.
To address the challenges of sustainability, as outlined in the previous section, organization leaders can make ethical decisions and adopt strategies that demonstrate their commitment to promoting the well-being of the society. They can decide that the company will take action of getting rid of production practices or activities that are likely to cause detrimental effects on the public and more so, on the environment. Ethical leaders should, for instance, develop hazard control programs for creating public awareness on the potential hazards of the company’s production practices. Leaders in plants or industries that use chemicals can recommend the implementation of a safety legislation checklist that would be used to guide the employees regarding the best practices they should use when handling dangerous chemicals and other materials.
References
Cropf, R. A. (2016). American public administration: Public service for civil society the 21st century.
Dernbach, J. C. (2002). Stumbling toward sustainability . Washington: DC.
Ferrell, O.C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2015). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases (10th ed.) Stamford, CT: Cengage learning
Iszatt-white, M.,& Saunders, C. (2017). Leadership . Oxford University Press.
