CSR and Corporate ethics free essay sample

The link business Ethics in tourism industry 7 Conclusion 8 References 9 Bibliography 12 Introduction The relationship between the business and the society has for long been a source of ntellectual interest to business ethicists. One of the greatest challenges of the mankind and the contemporary organisation is to maintain the sustainability. The requirements of the present as well as future generations cannot be met if proper care and respect is not given to the natural resources and core social as well as environmental values. In this context it is important to mention that business as a part of the society has certain critical role towards the society. Therefore it should be the business interest to recognize the common environmental and social problem (Mullerat, 2011). Considering from a general point of view it can be concluded that an organisation cannot flourish until and unless the environment in which the organisation is operating are healthy. Similarly maintaining ethics in the work place is equally important. Ethics guides an organisation to maintain moral, ecological and social consciousness inside the organisation (Gangone et. al. , 2010). Definition of Main Terms Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) In the world of business, the main responsibility of the business historically been to make money and increase shareholder value. To put in simple words corporate finance responsibility has been the main objective of the businesses. However in the last few decades wider corporate responsibility for the environment, local communities, working condition and for ethical practises has assembled momentum. This new force is known as the Corporate Social Responsibility (Rionda, 2002). Many researchers and analyst described CSR in different ways. For example as stated by Barnard (1983) CSR analyses economic, legal, moral, social and physical aspects of environment (Crowther et. al. 2008). In other words it is the responsibility taken by he company for its effects on the environment. This concept has become dominant in the modern business practises (Swift et. al. , 2002). Corporate Ethics In Britain the market economy is driven by the consumer preference and consumer capacity. But during the last four decades there has an escalating requirement for information on social and environmental impact of corporate policy and appraisal effects. The movements for healthy eating, healthy living ethical investment and above all environmental concern had played a major part in the consumers social awareness. Ethics is not a new term for the corporates. As a matter of fact corporates had always some rules, standards and norms for doing business. However these practices can be changed from country to country and with some social and cultural basis. So when the company apply these standards or norms as a part of their practices or responsibility then this can be called as Ethical code of conducting business. To put in simple words, the Ethics is the proper study ot business policies and business practices of potentially controversial issue like as corruption, unfairness, trading, CSR, and corporate governance (Crowther et. l. , 2008). Business Ethics and CSR is a huge perspective and need to be understood in detail. However most of the people utilize the term Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics interchangeably, but the two terms have different meanings. The former concerns the impact of the entire business activity on the environment and the latter is related to an individual or work group consideration that society Judge as right or wrong. Critical Arguments Role of CSR in Travel and Tourism Industry In todays ever changing Tourism market it is more difficult for any Tourism industry o be competitive in the global market. So the tourism companies should be able to generate tourism product in a responsible way. With implementation of CSR and business ethics, Tourism companies can significantly contribute to the achievement of sustainable tourism and ultimately to the sustainable development. The only way to sustain in the rapid changing Tourism market is by offering a distinguished tourism product. It is true to conclude those tourism destinations are confronted with different difficulties on global level. Therefore the success of the tourism industry ccording to (Ritchie and Crouch, 2003) is determined by two dissimilar types of advantages (Ritchie et. al. 2003). The first is comparative advantage. Comparative advantage comprises the resource benefits provided either by the nature or by the society within which the destination exist in. it includes human, physical, historical and cultural resources; knowledge; capital; infrastructure; and tourist structure. In contrary competitive advantage comprises of the factors that have been established as a result of effective resource development like growth, maintenance, development, fficiency and effectiveness. In simple words industry success depends on how well an industry utilizes put value on the available resources (Vanhove, 2012). Moreover it is worth important in this contest that tourism industry should not depend only on comparative advantage because it is no longer enough and sufficient therefore should be rely on competitive advantage as well. Thus it can be apparently note that competitive advantage ensures efficient and effective use of all the available resources beside the Nation and industry effort to attract international and domestic ourist to the destination (Golla et. al. , 2010). Role of Business Ethics in Travel and Tourism Industry Based on the above discussion it has been revealed that business ethics act as guidelines for the business owners to differentiate between what is right and what is wrong. Along with CSR business ethics also plays a critical role in achieving sustainability in the long run. Therefore the industry should focus on unique, attractive and safe tourism product. The industry should ensure quality tourism destination. Along with the quality destination the industry should focus more on the afety and a security issue as a very basic factor along with the professional approach. All these in combination ensure right things all the time which helps to meet the demand ot the customer. The creations ot this kind ot tourism product helps in a way to implement the principles reside in the Global Code of Ethics for tourism (GCET). GCET, a complete set of principles helps in minimizing the negative impacts of the tourism on the environment and cultural heritage and thereby optimizing the benefits for the residents or the customers of the tourism industry (Golla et. al. , 2010). Benefits of Implementing CSR and business ethics in the tourism industry Ethical behaviour and Corporate Social Responsibility can contribute significant benefits to the business. It attracts the customer to a particular firms product and thereby enhancing the sales and profit. Additionally it enhances the leadership. It shows a leader how to behave properly towards the organisation as well as environment. Correspondingly it creates a demand in the employees to stick with the business. Therefore more employees will be attracted towards the firm implementing CSR and business Ethics which reduce the recruitment cost. It results in getting more talented employees. Similarly it attracts more shareholders and keeps the companys share price high and thereby always protecting the business from any kind of take over. However unethical behaviour and lack of Corporate Social Responsibility may harm a firms reputation and can make it less appealing to shareholders and customers (Dennis, 2008). Based on the above discussion and also with the emphasis on the previous researches, it can be affirmed that individuals involved with the tourism sector should contribute to the achievement of highly ompetitive quality tourism product to become attractive on the global level and provide the destination the opportunity to compete globally. Therefore with the inculcation of CSR and business ethics the development of sustainable tourism product would be possible. Evaluation The link of CSR and business Ethics in tourism industry Although sustainable tourism expansion and related form of tourism are widely debated in literature, but the specific discussion on the CSR in tourism appears to be rare. Yet sustainable tourism reflects the CSR concept as its main characteristics. Now a day CSR has arrive at the mainstream tourism industry. It has been found that the activities done for social and environment well-being are found responsible for the increasing number of tourism business (Monshausen et. al. , 2010). However in case of tourism industry the sole purpose of CSR should not be seen as the market benefit owing to the fact that the credibility of the business will be at risk. Few of the requirements that include focus on human rights, labour standards, and environmental protection of the environment should be fulfilled. CSR should be ade as the core business and it must go beyond legal regulations (Baltruschat, 2011). The link business Ethics in tourism industry As travel industry involves destination over different parts of the world it is essential to maintain ethics while travel to the destinations. For example Myanmar is one such country which supress in the fear. Allocating tourist to such country is a matter of risk and thus marks the importance of business ethics in the tourism industry. One of the important facts is that while ethics began to enter in the tourism industry it has still to be defined clearly. Many writers like Fennell (2006) Smith and Duffy (2003) and Butcher (2003) have not clarified the concept of ethics in travel industry and thereby bringing complexity in the concept. However whether or not to travel to the risky area is a matter ot ambiguity and uncerta (Lovelock, Conclusion It is very important to do business in a responsible way to achieve long term sustainability. With the implementation of CSR and business ethics Tourism Company can contribute to the achievement of sustainable development. The discussion about the importance of CSR and business ethics in the tourism sector eveals that, earning profit is not only responsibility of the company, rather the industry should focus on the well-being of the environment and the society. This in turn ensures more loyal customers, more shareholders and talented employees.