Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Law

Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) and organizational ethics have been described with a variety of definitions in the past literature, without any explanations of the underlying motives and assumptions. For instance, Kim, Youn, and Lee (2019) define CSR as “activities or processes concerned with how an organization exceeds the minimum obligations to stakeholders’ specified through regulation and corporate governance” (p. 682). Although these descriptions have demonstrated different details and expectations of what social, business, and legal procedures a company can engage in, CSR defines the relationship between an enterprise and the community the industry serves. Additionally, CSR concentrates on the voluntary business’ actions designed to enhance environmental and socio-economic conditions (Kim et al., 2019). Globally-Renowned businesses including the Apple Corporation and Volkswagen have legally binding responsibilities to their financiers and administrative teams. These enterprises are regularly required to make profits and increase or maintain their business value while improving growth potential. The companies must obey regulations associated with internal and external organizational relationships which address issues including social inclusion, timely payments for deliveries made, working environments, and employees’ benefits including pensions. The government has placed an “invisible hand” on established corporations through the execution of employment rules and regulations that promote corporate social responsibility activities, thus ensuring that companies legally bound to the fulfillment of additional duties (Saleem, Kumar, & Shahid, 2016). However, the main issues with the stipulated responsibilities involve the perceived duty of a business to willingly operate within the confines of pre-determined ethical and corporate rules, which are often designed based on the needs and expectations of the immediate community. Some scholars including Marens (2008) have argued that corporations exist to fulfill important needs of the population and must be responsible for maintaining the highest standards of behavior. However, others have questioned the practicality of forcing firms to allocate their financial and human resources to improving public welfare (Saleem et al., 2016). This paper will present opinions for and against the value of corporate social responsibility investments in businesses such as Apple Inc. and Volkswagen by examining the advantages and disadvantages of CSR in an international context