Corporate ethics, governance, and social responsibility: precepts and practices

Is profit-making the only goal of a business? Should an unbridled market mechanism drive corporate enterprise? To what extent should corporations compensate for the manifest and hidden costs that are incurred by the society at large? These are some of the questions that have engaged specialist economists, business barons, corporate heads and management experts for decades. A consensus has emerged that corporate practices cannot bypass the fundamental demands of ethical behaviour, that administration and policies of governance have to be more transparent and publicly accountable, and that businesses must be sensitive to the community and environment within which they are established. This has led to the emergence of three key concepts of contemporary businesses, namely, business or corporate ethics, corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility. (Source: www.infibeam.com)