Class 11 Business Studies NotesSocial Responsibility of BusinessAHSEC Class 11 Notes
Unit – VI: Social Responsibility of Business
towards various section of the society
Q.1. When enterprises behave as good
citizen, towards which group are they showing their responsibility?
Ans. Government and community
Q. 2. “A Business owes certain
obligations towards different groups” Identify those groups and explain the
obligation of business towards those groups.
Ans. Consumer ,Shareholders ,Employees,
Government ,Community and Suppliers
Q.3. Which groups expects that the
companies must provide good quality and unadulterated goods and services as
their social responsibility?
Ans. Consumer group
Q.4 . Name the concept which is
concerned with what is right and what is wrong?
Ans. Ethics
Q.5. What is the relationship between
ethics and moral values?
Ans. Higher moral values lead to higher ethics.
Q.6. Give any two reasons against
social obligation.
Ans. 1.Profit Motive 2.lack of social skill
Q.7. What do you mean by
ecology?
Ans: Ecology is concerned with the relationship of
living beings with their natural or physical environment. It provides a
framework by which we can see that all living things are related to other
living things.
Q.8. Give some examples of business ethics.
Ans: A few examples of ethical business practices are: 1)To charge
fair prices from the customers. 2)To use fair weights for measurement of
commodities. 3) To pay taxes to the Government honestly.
Q.9. What do you mean by business ethics?
Ans: Business Ethics means the business practices which are
desirable from the point of view of the society. For instance, business
malpractices such as adulteration, hoarding, black-marketing etc. are not
desirable from the point of view of the society and so are termed as unethical.
Q.10. State the concept of social responsibility.
Ans: Social responsibility means the obligation of business to act
in a manner, which will serve the best interests of the society. Social
obligation of a business relates to the voluntary efforts on the part of
businessmen to contribute to the social well-being that goes beyond the
production of goods and services at a profit.
Q.11. State the responsibilities of business towards various
section of the society. 2006,
07, 09, 10, 15
Ans: Social Responsibility
towards different interest groups: A business unit has to decide
in which areas it should carry out social good. Few areas are explained below:
Responsibility
towards shareholders or owners:
Ø To
provide fair return on their investment
Ø Ensure
safety of their investment
Ø To
provide regular, accurate and full information about the business.
Responsibility
towards the workers
Ø To
provide opportunities for meaningful work
Ø Create
the right kind of working conditions
Ø Respect
the democratic rights of the workers and
Ø Ensure
a fair wage deal from the management.
Responsibility towards the consumer
Ø To
provide right quality and quantity of goods and services at reasonable prices
Ø To
avoid adulteration, hoarding, dishonest and misleading advertisements.
Responsibility
towards the government & community 2017
Ø To
respect the laws of the country and
Ø To
pay taxes regularly and honestly
Ø To
act according to well accepted values of the society and to protect
environment.
Q.12. State the arguments in Favour and against of social
responsibility. 2006,
07, 2016
Ans: Arguments in favour of social responsibility:
1)
Business is a creation of society and it uses
society’s resources. So business is responsible to the society.
2)
It is in the long-term self-interest of the
business to assume social responsibilities.
3)
Scope for government interference in business
will get reduced if the business follows socially responsible policies.
4)
Public image of the business would improve if
it fulfills its social obligations.
Arguments against the social
responsibility
1)
Primary aim of
business is to earn profit which is necessary for its long term existence.
2)
Increase in cost for
charitable expenses creates burden on the consumer.
3)
Lack of social
skills of businessman because they are not fully aware with social problems.
4)
People’s resistance
due to interference from businesses in their problems.
Q.13. Define the role of businesses in environment protection. 2016, 2018
Ans: Business houses should take the following
steps to protect environment:
1)
Eco friendly and low waste technology should
be used by the industrial organisations.
2)
Industrial waste should be recycled as far as
possible.
3)
There should be scientific treatment of all
emissions before they are released into the environment.
4)
Plant and machinery should be modernized to
minimise pollution.
5)
The business houses should co-operate with the
public authorities in their programmes organised for environmental protection
Q.14. What are various kinds of social
responsibility?
Ans: Kinds of Social Responsibility
1)
Economic Responsibility: Maximizing profit by
producing and selling goods and services required for the society.
2)
Legal Responsibility: Every business needs to
operate within the laws of the land. A law abiding enterprise is a socially
responsible enterprise as well.
3)
Ethical Responsibility: This includes the
behavior of the firm that is expected by the society but not included in law.
E.g.. Should respect religious sentiment and dignity of people while
advertizing
4)
Discretionary Responsibility: This refers to
the voluntary obligations that an enterprise assumes.
Q.9. What do you mean by business ethics? Why should businessmen behave ethically? What
are its various elements? 2006,
2016, 2019
Ans: Business Ethics means the business practices which are
desirable from the point of view of the society. For instance, business
malpractices such as adulteration, hoarding, black-marketing etc. are not
desirable from the point of view of the society and so are termed as unethical.
Why should businessmen behave ethically?
The businessman gets access to all resources
such as finance, human capital, land etc. from the society and makes profits by
selling the same to the society. Therefore he needs to be ethical and shouldn’t
make profit at the cost of society.
Elements
of Business Ethics 2017,
2019
1)
Top Management commitment: Higher level
managers need to be openly and strongly committed to ethical conduct.
2)
Publication of a ‘code’: ‘Code’ refers to the
written ethical programs followed by a particular business or industry – which
normally covers the areas of honesty, adherence to laws, product’s safety and
quality and fairness in all dealings.
3)
Establishment of Compliance Mechanism: Simply
having a written ‘Code of Ethics’ is not sufficient, the business needs to
ensure its effective implementation at all levels & throughout the life of
the business.
4)
Involving employees at all levels: To make
ethical business a reality, employees at all levels must be involved.
5) Measuring Results: Measuring the results of ethics programs maybe difficult but can have an audit at regular intervals to monitor compliance with ethical standards and decide about further course of action.