Corporate social responsibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Corporate social responsibility - Essay Example uch definition of the corporate social responsibility could be tied up to the utilitarian Theory, which generally points to the greatest happiness principles as the foundation of morals. It states that actions should be in right proportions as they tend to promote happiness. In reality this postulation is wrong, as actions conceived to be in right proportion tend to support the opposite of happiness. Philosophers Jeremy Benthan and John Stuart Mill argues that the resolution of ethical dilemmas require a balancing effort, where harm is minimized as a result of decisions to maximize the benefits. Mill is known for his greatest happiness principle, which provides that ethical dilemmas are resolved by brining greatest good to the greatest number of people. Utilitarianism is a calculating approach to ethics since it assumes that the quantity and quality of happiness can be weighed. It is often presupposed that happiness is the same as maximizing profit or return on capital investment. Improved profitability will generate happiness for the same. But to the utilitarian principle property, one must consider the possibility that the pleasure derived from increased profitability has bee achieved at the cost of a greater pain to other people. Some of the issues to which utilitarianism has been applied include providing health care even as costs escalate; protecting the environment even as electricity is generated; driving cars, operating factories and outsourcing manufacturing of clothing to developing countries. Utilitarianism is a theory of balancing that requires looking at the impact of proposed solutions to ethical dilemmas from the perceptions of all those who are affected. This theory accepts the cost-benefit analysis as a natural tool, as it measures not only the direct costs and benefits to an organization but also externalities. Corporate social responsibility is also defined as the â€Å"continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and to