Here we will explore the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by examining two companies in the same industry with very different views on the importance of CSR. While we will be unable to touch on every aspect of CSR in one module (CSR is a very broad area), the relationship between CSR and business ethics should be clear: in business ethics, a corporation creates an umbrella outlining the parameters of how it must act. CSR goes one step further and requires organizations to assume responsibility for what they do, making CSR akin to a corporate conscience.
In this assignment, perform a critical analysis of the Anglo-American and Massey Energy companies - and their business ethics practices. Your paper will be graded on the rigor of your analysis.
Review the following:
Anglo American Sustainable Development Report 2012
Report Faults Mine Owner for Explosion That Killed 29
Report on the Upper Big Branch Mine Explosion
Cleaning America's Dirtiest Coal Company
Massey Energy - an Unrepentant Polluter
Svensson, G., & Wood, G. (2008). A model of business ethics. Journal Of Business Ethics, 77(3), 303-322. Accessed on July 13, 2012 from EBSCO (see A Model of Business Ethics.pdf).
Based on your results from the Ethics Quiz (I GOT I AM A MUGWUMP), explain how different individual ethical perspectives can be reconciled to account for the ethical expectations of most businesses;
Describe how these two companies - Anglo-American and Massey Energy - apply ethics in practice;
Discuss the costs and benefits to an organization when that organization does or does not behave ethically.