Ethics and social responsiblity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Ethics and social responsiblity - Essay Example These incidents are all manifestations of the failure of companies to act in a socially responsible manner. Always, at the other end of the supply chain – the consumers – bear the brunt of the failure of companies to act responsibly. For which reason, this research paper is now being carried out in order to establish ways with which the general public and concerned authorities can evaluate if a company is behaving in a socially responsible manner. This paper shall consider the growing role of ethical considerations in business, as well as the different moral philosophies and ethical standpoints related to CSR. It shall also consider ethics and corruption in its discussion. Practical examples shall be used in order to answer the details needed in this paper. This paper is being conducted in order to establish a comprehensive evaluation of corporate social responsibility and how the general public can be guided in their patronage and purchase of the various products and s ervices in the market. Discussion Corporate social responsibility defined Before any discussion or evaluation of this subject matter can be carried out, it is important to first understand and lay out a standard definition and conceptualization of corporate social responsibility, otherwise known as CSR. ... It is defined more in detail by Carroll (as cited by Kanji, 2009, p. 102) as a pyramid with four distinct elements. The first is economic responsibility; the second is, legal responsibility; the third is ethical responsibility; and the fourth is discretionary responsibility which is otherwise equivalent to philanthropy. This definition however is still considered incomplete because it does not take into consideration the dynamic relationship between corporations and society. The above definitions can be conceptualized on a more comprehensive plain when the elements of social fairness, ethics, environmental rights, human rights are all considered in the management of corporations (Kanji, 2009, p. 102). These elements all have standards of compliance and all help build knowledge and a strong basis for the evaluation of CSR among corporations. Approaches to evaluating CSR There are different ways of evaluating whether or not a company is acting in a socially responsible way. Schermerhor n, Jr. (2010, p. 70) suggests that a company’s CSR performance can be measured based on the following criteria: economic responsibility, legal responsibility, ethical responsibility, and discretionary responsibility. In essence, evaluating a corporation is taking note of the following: 1. Economic responsibility: Is the organization profitable? 2. Legal responsibility: Is the company obeying the law? 3. Ethical responsibility: Is the company doing what is â€Å"right?† 4. Discretionary responsibility: Is the organization contributing to the broader community? (Schermerhorn, Jr., 2010, p. 70). In the current age of the globalized market, mass consumerism has now become the running trend. For corporations wanting to fulfil their CSR, their ability to

Horizon Automation System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Horizon Automation System - Essay Example The standards based system provides an interface for remote public access and inter library operations like ILL (Inter Library Loaning). The main features of the library automation system are described as: Online Catalogs - Anglo American Cataloguing Rules (AACR) are used for constructing catalogues in the library system. The cataloguing is done based on the two classes of materials: monographs and continuing resources. AACR2 (AACR 2nd edition) defines "monograph" as: The serial is a continuing resource issued in a succession of discrete parts, usually bearing numbering, that has no predetermined conclusion. E.g. journals, magazines, newspapers, and monographic series. The integrating resource is the work that is updated and integrated into the whole. E.g. updating web sites. Authority Record - provide information about individual names, subjects and uniform titles that are used in the bibliographic records, e.g. Author, Publisher, etc. Authority records provide cross-references in the catalogues. Record Creation - The bibliographic record is created in the library system when CIP (Catalogue-In-Publication) record is received from the bibliography publishing agency or is locally entered. The holdings and item records are created when the physical object is received. Record Edit - The record is edited when either an update to t... The bibliographic record must exist before holdings record is created. Item Record - identifies a physical piece - book, CD, etc and links it to a barcode number that is used for circulation. Authority Record - provide information about individual names, subjects and uniform titles that are used in the bibliographic records, e.g. Author, Publisher, etc. Authority records provide cross-references in the catalogues. Record Creation - The bibliographic record is created in the library system when CIP (Catalogue-In-Publication) record is received from the bibliography publishing agency or is locally entered. The holdings and item records are created when the physical object is received. Record Edit - The record is edited when either an update to the CIP record is received (any modifications in the published information), the item is made available to the library, or if there are any modifications to any of the field information in the item catalogue. Record Import - The import of a record is performed when the requested information is not available in the local library system. The search request is submitted through the Z39.50 client to the preferred partners (OCLC server) who can loan the desired item. The server returns the requested record. MARC Record Management The MARC formats are the standards for the representation and communication of bibliographic and related information in machine-readable form. The cataloguing information is maintained on the typed cards and in online bibliographic records as: Author Title Edition Place of Publication Publisher Date of Publication Subject Headings, Etc. The Library of Congress needed to develop software which allowed cataloguers to enter their