I
chose to do this week’s application assignment on article by Archie B. Carroll,
entitled The Pyramid of Corporate
Social Responsibility: Toward the Moral Management of Organizational
Stakeholders. Different
types of responsibilities were highlighted, including economic, legal,
philanthropic, and ethical. Until
recent years the philanthropic category was not recognized as being an integral
part of the equation. Corporations
need to strive to ensure that their day-to-day business practices are in alignment
with each category as much as possible.
A visual representation of the theory is exemplified in the Pyramid of
Social Responsibility. In the
pyramid, Philanthropic is placed at the top, followed by Ethical, Legal, and
grounded by Economic responsibilities. “A
consideration of the separate components helps the manager see that the
different types of obligations are in a constant but dynamic tension with one
another.” (Carroll, 1991, p. 42)
The
article also talked about Moral, Amoral, and Immoral types of management and
managers and how the different types of ethical management can affect the
relationships the corporation has with Stakeholder groups. One of the main themes of the article
was to focus on the relationship of moral management and
organization-stakeholders. I found
the article to be interesting and a great companion to the readings for this
week.
REFERENCE
Carroll,
A. B., (1991). The Pyramid of Corporate
Social Responsibility: Toward the Moral Management of Organizational
Stakeholders. Business Horizons,
39-48 Retrieved from http://cf.linnbenton.edu/bcs/bm/gusdorm/upload/Pyramid%20of%20Social%20Responsibility.pdf.
Sounds like an interesting article. Why do you think philanthropy was placed at the top of the pyramid? Is it more important that the other responsibilities, or does its placement at the top mean it should be integrated with all of the others?
ReplyDeleteI would be interested to hear more about the different management types. It seems clear how moral and immoral management would influence relationships with stakeholder groups, but the impact of amoral management seems less clear. How did the authors describe this style? What are its implications?
Hi there Jessica,
DeleteThanks for your comment. I believe the pyramid has philanthropy at the top because it was deemed the least necessary component to an organization. The article mentioned that the basic idea that the economic performance "undergirds" all the other sections.
With regards to the amoral management style, the authors basically portrayed a climate where management has no interest in thinking through any ethical consequences for their actions. Making profits within the letters of the law is the main concern of the amoral management style.
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteI found this article on the web and referenced this week as well. I thought it was very insightful on what is CSR and how it is so much more than just handing out cash to charities. I liked how it touched on the ethical and moral responsibility as well.
What does moral management mean to you? I found that a little objective as the morals of individuals vary greatly, as evidenced by this week's readings on Enron. So I think organizations should clearly define the concept of moral management and outline the expectations of managers in a way that is not disputable. I think this would give companies greater leverage for firing because there isn't any gray areas when it comes to what is moral and not moral.
David,
DeleteI wish I had known about your article when I was writing my response to Jessica, I would have used the term Pyramid of CSR. That is what I was trying to describe to her when answering her inquiry regarding whether I thought CSR should be more widespread in companies and I do think that it should. I agree with both you and Kristina that CSR as part of the corporate strategy and not just an 'add-on' to what they do is morally and ethically sound. What makes for difficulty in determining moral and ethical responsibility is that everyone's moral and ethical compass is not calibrated the same.
Thanks for sharing.
Lauren,
DeleteThanks for your reply to my posting.
I wish you had the pyramid at your disposal as well - I actually contemplated adding a diagram of pyramid in my posting.
I totally agree that everyone's moral compass is calibrated differently and that makes for some very real differences in opinion and ideas about how to conduct business.