Lecture #5 - Environment, Social, + Corporate Governance

Business Ethics

Standards of conduct and moral values regarding right and wrong actions in the business environment.

Code of Conduct

A formal statement that defines how an organization expects its employees to resolve ethical issues.

Conflict of Interest

A situation in which an employee must choose between a business’s welfare and personal gain.

Consumerism

Public demand that a business consider the wants and needs of its customers when making decisions.

Corporate Philanthropy

An organization’s contribution to the communities where it earns profits.

Discrimination

Biased treatment toward a job candidate or employee.

Employee Equity Act

An initiative created to increase job opportunities for women and members of minority groups and to help end discrimination based on race, color, religion, disability, gender, or national origin.

Fair Trade

A market-based approach of paying higher prices to producers for goods exported from developing countries to developed countries in an effort to promote sustainability and to ensure the people in devloping countries recieve fair trading conditions.

Green Marketing

A marketing strategy that promotes environmentally safe products and production methods.

Integrity

Behaving according to one’s deeply felt ethical principles in business situations.

Product Liability

The responsibility of manufacturers for injuries and damages caused by their products.

Recycling

Reprocessing used materials for reuse.

Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

U.S. federal legislation designed to deter and punish corporate and accounting fraud and corruption. It is also designed to protect the interests of workers and shareholders by regaining enhanced financial disclosures, criminal penalties for CEOs and CFOs who defraud investors, and safeguards for whistle-blowers. The initiative also established a new regulatory body for public accounting firms.

Sexism

Discrimination against members of either sex, but usually against women.

Sexual Harassment

Unwelcome and inappropriate actions of sexual nature.

Social Audits

Formal procedures that identify and evaluate all company activities related to social issues, such as conversation, employment, practices, environmental protection, and philanthropy.

Social Responsibility

A businesses’s consideration of society’s well-being and consumer satisfaction in addition to profits.

Stakeholders

Customers, investors, employees, and the public who are affected by or have an interest in a company.

Sustainable

The capacity to endure in ecology.

Whistle-Blowing

Disclosure to company officials, government authorities, or the media of illegal, immoral, or unethical practices committed by an organization.