# Making Ethical Decisions and Managing a Socially Responsible Business

## Introduction


### Learning Outcomes

After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer these questions:
1. What philosophies and concepts shape personal ethical standards?
2. How can organizations encourage ethical business behavior?
3. What is corporate social responsibility?
4. How do businesses meet their social responsibilities to various stakeholders?
5. What are the trends in ethics and corporate social responsibility?
Every day, managers and business owners make business decisions based on what they believe to be right and wrong. Through their actions, they demonstrate to their employees what is and is not acceptable behavior and shape the moral standard of the organization. As you will see in this module, personal and professional ethics are important cornerstones of an organization and shape its ultimate contributions to society in the form of corporate social responsibility. First, let’s consider how individual business ethics are formed.