SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN CROSS CULTURE AND INTERNATIONAL CONTEXTS

     Ethic in business relate to individual managers and other employees and their decision and behaviors. Organizational themselves do not have ethics but do relate to their environment in ways that often involve ethical dilemmas and decisions by individuals within the organization. These situations are generally referred to within the context of the organization's social responsibility.
     Social responsibility is the set of obligations and organization undertakes to protect and enhance the society in which it functions. The complexities for managers in an international business are clear.
Clear means balancing the ideal of a global stance on social responsibility against the local conditions that may compel  differential approaches in the various countries where the firm does business.

AREA OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Organizations may exercise social responsibility toward their stakeholders, toward the natural environment, and toward general social welfare. Some organizations acknowledge their responsibilities in all three areas and strive diligently to meet each of them, while others emphasize only one or two areas of social responsibility.

1. Organizational Stakeholders
2. The Natural Environment
3. General Social Welfare 

 Organizational Stakeholders

  Organizational stakeholders are those people and organizations that are directly affected by the practices of an organization and that have a stake in its performance. Most companies that strive to be responsible to their stakeholders concentrate first and foremost on three main group;

• Customers

    Organization that are responsible to their customers strive to treat them fairly and honestly. They pledge to charge fair price, to honour product warranties, to meet delivery commitments, and to stand behind the quality of the product they sell.

•  Employees

  Organizations that are socially responsible in their dealings with employees treat their workers fairly, make them  a part of the team, and respect their dignity and basic human needs.

• Investors

   To maintain a socially responsible stance toward investors, managers, should follow proper accounting procedures, provide appropriate information to shareholders  about the financial performance of the firm, and manage the organization to protect shareholder rights and investments.

   Moreover, they should be accurate and candid in their assessment of future growth and profitability and avoid even appearance of improprieties involving such sensitive areas as insider trading, stock price manipulation, and the withholding of financial data.

The Natural Environment

  A second critical area of social responsibility relates to the natural environment . Not long ago,     many organizations indiscriminately dumped sewage, waste products from production and trash into streams and rivers , into the air, and on vacant land.Many laws regulate the disposal of waste  materials.In many Instance, companies themselves have become more socially responsible in their  release of pollutants and general treatment of the environment.

Companies need to developed economically feasible way to avoid contributing to acid rain and global warming;to avoid depleting the ozone layer and to develop alternative methods of handling  sewage, hazardous waste and ordinary garbage.

  

General Social Welfare

• Some people believe that in addition to treating their stakeholders and the environment  responsibly, business organizations also should promote the general welfare of society. 
•  Some people also believe that organizations should act even more broadly to correct the  political and/or social inequities the exist in the world