Reflection Paper #2 Due

This reflection paper can be on anything we’ve discussed in the course to date except for “The Corporation” clips). Pick a topic that resonated with you, think critically about it, and explore it further! See course syllabus for further details. Please note: this paper is to be 3-4 pages long.
The Stakeholder Approach to Business, Society & Ethics
The Business & Society Relationship
Corporate Citizenship: Social Responsibility, Performance, Sustainability
Business Influence on Government and Public Policy
Business, Government & Regulation
Business Influence on Government and Public Policy

ANSWER

Reflection: The Stakeholder Approach to Business, Society, and Ethics

After reading critically on The Stakeholder Approach to Business, Society, and Ethics, I have gained extensive knowledge of the complex yet vital components of success for both corporations and society in modern society. Over the decades, the relationship between corporations and society has evolved, with distinct relationship stages defining the interaction and integration of business with civilization. Studying this topic throughout the course has been the most exciting. It presents intriguing information with different authors providing different perspectives on the business’s location within a societal framework, which has developed objectivity in learning and understanding business and ethical issues. At the same time, it has been one of the most interestingly confusing topics due to the battle of ethics in business applications. Nevertheless, the topic provides learning objectives that maximize my confidence and enables my creativity triggers that I can exploit and integrate when handling Business, Society, and Ethical Problems in real-world scenarios. This reflection paper outlines the primary theme readings in the topic that stood out, explains the learning experience, and analyzes these two aspects’ effects on my thinking and practice today and in the future.

Every business has diverse stakeholders from both internal and external operating milieus. As I discovered within the topic, the relationship between business, society, and ethics is a perennial debate among scholars. Various stakeholders have diverse interests that conflict, as it is human nature to have different wants and desires in a business (Lawrence & Weber, 2014). A stakeholder has a stake in a company, which could be an interest, right, or ownership. They have the power and legitimacy to claim the stakes with varying degrees of urgency. The challenging and interestingly confusing aspect of understanding the relationship between business and society was the co-existence between business, society, and ethics. I integrate the ethical perspective in this relationship due to the conflicting prioritization and balancing of stakeholder diverse and conflicting interests in stakeholder management (Lawrence & Weber, 2014). Previously, I wondered who among the many internal and external business stakeholders would be prioritized in the wake of corporate social responsibility, where the changed corporate purpose is no longer profit-making alone but also showing responsibility to the people and planet (Triple-bottom line theory) (Żak, 2015). Imagining that a business must prioritize creating value and profit for its shareholders yet cannot make some decisions or undertake some activities as society deems being unethical and immoral became intriguing.

The stakeholder approach extensively establishes a framework for understanding business and society relationships. Even though the topic presents effective stakeholder management through the rationale, process, and transactional level, I felt that the stakeholder approach does not comprehensively discuss, address, or establish the moral or ethical issues generated when a business tries to meet all stakes and conflicting interests of all stakeholders, as explained above. This approach instigated questions such as, “when deciding in favor of shareholders, which is harmful to employees or society, is that ethical?” To be more specific, I began wondering about the ethics of downsizing, “is downsizing ethical as it presents a situation of harming and benefiting some?” All these questions are moral issues generated in the modern corporate world as businesses manage their stakeholders effectively.

This topic influences my understanding and reasoning of stakeholder management in the co-existence of business, society, and ethics personally and professionally. Personally, I had an empowering, intriguing, and engaging learning experience when undertaking this topic. The questions I developed regarding the ethical issues, discussions and related assignments done prompted my inquisitive nature and further research. It is at this point I engaged in further reading consulting various authors. I met Adam Smith and the Separation Thesis, who argues that ethical issues can be separated from business issues. Then I met diverse ethical reasoning that answered my questions, including Kantianism, Ethical Relativism, Enlightened Self-Interest, Utilitarianism, and Contractarianism. Among these ethical theories, contractarianism presented the most plausible solution, especially regarding the ethics of downsizing, as it offered reasoning for finding joint agreements for managers and businesses when facing the moral dilemma of duty and responsibility to diverse stakeholders (Schwartz, 2017). The topic enlightened and instilled intricate knowledge instigating creativity and innovative triggers in my life when addressing business-related issues and ethical dilemmas.

The Stakeholder Approach to Business, Society, and Ethics topic is interesting and educative to learn. It should be a priority for people that wish to start or manage businesses and companies. Stakeholder related issues business, legal, or morally related keep increasing and evolving as the corporate environment strategically aligns with the changing consumer, industrial, market trends, and phenomenon events such as globalization and technological advancements. Professionally, through the topic, I have learned an integral aspect necessary in stakeholder management, which is creating an effective stakeholder culture that embraces values, practices, norms, and beliefs essential when addressing stakeholder problems and when managing their relationships. Creating this effective stakeholder culture must be comprehensive, inclusive, and innovative, especially when dealing with moral and ethical issues generated from stakeholder conflicts. Overly, the topic provides an effective platform to grow professionally, personally, and academically. I gained creative thinking skills and managerial insight into dealing with possible business, society, and ethically related issues present in our contemporary and future world.

References

Lawrence, A., & Weber, J. (2014). Business and Society: Stakeholders, Ethics, Public Policy 14th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Schwartz, M. S. (2017). Business Ethics: An Ethical Decision-Making Approach. Oxford: John Wiley & Sons

Żak, A. (2015). TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE CONCEPT IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. Social Responsibility of Organizations, 252-264.