Ethics & Governance
3. Corporations practicing stakeholder management will be more sustainable. Discuss.
Over the years, social and ethical concerns have brought attention to the community that caused much bitter conflict to the relationship between business and society. As people become better educated and more affluent, rising expectations naturally follow for major institutions and these developed a backdrop against which criticisms towards businesses have grown. Therefore, these created the need for them to assume greater societal responsibilities rather than mere ruthless pursuit of own profits.
Many businesses today share the same viewpoint that making profit for profit’s sake no longer leads to sustainable performance, stakeholder management has become an increasingly important aspect of a business’ operation integrating traditional economic considerations with environmental and social concerns (Jones 2012). While doing well and doing good are no longer seen to be mutually exclusive, corporations practicing stakeholder management is highly debated to be sustainable to a large extent. With all the benefits that it brings, this approach however also has its fair share of limitations to be discussed later in this essay.
Outlining the term ‘sustainability’
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. One of the best known general definitions about sustainable development was expressed as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (United Nations 1987). Increasing attempts at definition are also recognizing the needs interdependence between economic, environmental and social systems that thus considered them in an integrated way.
Soyka (2012) put forward that sustainability encompasses three major elements namely economic propensity, environmental protection and social equity. Corporations have to make profit to provide support for its shareholders and employees and contribute to their long-term
Over the years, social and ethical concerns have brought attention to the community that caused much bitter conflict to the relationship between business and society. As people become better educated and more affluent, rising expectations naturally follow for major institutions and these developed a backdrop against which criticisms towards businesses have grown. Therefore, these created the need for them to assume greater societal responsibilities rather than mere ruthless pursuit of own profits.
Many businesses today share the same viewpoint that making profit for profit’s sake no longer leads to sustainable performance, stakeholder management has become an increasingly important aspect of a business’ operation integrating traditional economic considerations with environmental and social concerns (Jones 2012). While doing well and doing good are no longer seen to be mutually exclusive, corporations practicing stakeholder management is highly debated to be sustainable to a large extent. With all the benefits that it brings, this approach however also has its fair share of limitations to be discussed later in this essay.
Outlining the term ‘sustainability’
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. One of the best known general definitions about sustainable development was expressed as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (United Nations 1987). Increasing attempts at definition are also recognizing the needs interdependence between economic, environmental and social systems that thus considered them in an integrated way.
Soyka (2012) put forward that sustainability encompasses three major elements namely economic propensity, environmental protection and social equity. Corporations have to make profit to provide support for its shareholders and employees and contribute to their long-term