Social Responsibilities in Management
Social responsibility is an important issue among corporate management. Responsibilities can be defined as a set of obligations an organization has to protect and enhance in the society in which it functions. There are a few main components of social responsibilities. All businesses have responsibilities to its customers. The paramount duty in this respect is to provide customers with quality and safe products. Unfortunately, not all businesses follow this rule. The example of such deception is the tobacco industry, which deliberately manipulated the level of nicotine in cigarettes. Despite its declaration of managers, scrutinized research made it clear that industry tried to maintain the addictive level of nicotine. The purpose of it was far from humanistic, addicted smokers kept buying cigarettes, making the industry prosperous and profitable. There have been a number of other different customer abuses such as sale of fruits with overdosed chemicals and breast implants for women.
English: Chart depicting the major kinds and inter...
English: Sunil Aggarwal, past president of Washing...
English: The main entrance to Battelle Memorial In...Though, the responsibilities to its customers are a crucial point of management, the way managers treat employees is another parameter of evaluation of companies ethical well-being. Unfortunately, the main concern of managers is their own jobs rather than theirs employees. Another problem is equal employment opportunities for everyone. Although a lot has been done to destroy the system that kept women and minorities away from the top management positions, many corporations still rely on "white men's" stereotypes and prejudice. Women are considered as accessories for men and are not treated equally. In fact, many firms attitude toward employees often determines the way employees feel about the company.
Another responsibility of a company's management is to its stockholders. Managers are in control of the property stockholders, however, the interests of these two groups may not be the same. As managers are looking for more power and prestige,