The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Corporate Social Responsibility Essay

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example In fact, the scope of literature does not include data that is relevant for all the businesses and touches the dilemma between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ solely within corporate management. Thus, the given essay can serve as a background for further researches on this topic that will investigate this problem in different business environments. To start with, the notion of ‘good’ manager needs clarification, since this topic is problematic to date. In this context, the fact that capitalism serves as a preliminary condition of contemporary corporations’ appearance leads to the misunderstanding between ‘good’ management and ‘bad’ ethics. In capitalist framework, the very establishment of enterprise is self-regulatory enough to be good for the society. As a result, no significant attention was paid to the analysis of business in ethical terms in the context of early capitalist development. Because of this, ambiguity between et hics and profit appears nowadays. In Smith’s words, ‘No regulation of commerce can increase the quantity of industry in any society beyond that capital can maintain†¦ And it is by no means certain that this artificial direction is likely to be more advantageous to the society than that into which it would have gone of its own accord†¦ The study of his [every individual] own advantage naturally, or rather necessarily leads him to prefer that employment which is most advantageous to the society.’ In the given passage, it is hard to measure the difference between the choice motivated by profit means and by public good. In this context, personal motivation has crucial role; moreover, the level of publicity and acknowledgment of social needs define the ethical behavior in modern times (Trevià ±o and Nelson 2011: 323).