Responsible Commerce

At the beginning of the semester my understanding of responsible commerce was, for companies to build a socially acceptable business, that not only conformed to shareholders wants but to that of society and the environment. Social responsibility is about being transparent so that the business has the trust of the community. It is about looking after all people who have an interest in the business managers, to employees, the community, government, it is all stakeholders. It is important because by building a responsible business you build a sustainable business. One that will not go bankrupt through dodgy accounting practices like Enron, one which the directors of the company do not have a tarnished name. If the company is mindful of the environment then they are not only helping towards a sustainable future but they are avoiding upsetting large groups of stakeholders. Reflection

Responsible commerce focuses on how we use and should use traditional ethical views to evaluate how institutions organize human behaviour (Dienhart, 2000). It means that part of a company’s activity is the fulfilment of the duties and responsibilities that they have to the wider community, or that they contribute to the common good by benefiting both the company and society. To be socially responsible corporations must cooperate with other groups such as competitors, non-profits and government agencies to help solve social problems’ (Daugherty 2001, p. 389). Essentially it is about how business takes account of its economic, social and environmental impacts in the way it operates, maximising the benefits and minimising the downsides (Wood, 2007). Specifically responsible commerce needs to become part of the corporate culture, accepted by the significant operating institutions and transmitted from one generation of executives to the next (Shaw, 2009) to address both its own competitive interests and the interests of wider society. In the very least responsible commerce involves the idea of...