CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY

Corporate Accountability

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Outline

Abstract: This paper examines the case based on corporate accountability focusing on ethical issues in business.

Introduction: Corporate accountability can be defined as the ability of those affected by a corporation to control that corporation's operations.

Discussion of Topic: The Role of Corporate Accountability in Sustainable Development

Conclusion and Recommendation: Calls for mechanisms to deliver corporate accountability will continue to grow as the evidence mounts that voluntary CSR is failing to deliver the changes that are needed to deliver sustainable development, social and environmental justice.

Abstract

This paper examines the case based on corporate accountability focusing on ethical issues in business. For this purpose in this paper it is discussed that there must be fundamental changes to the legal framework in which companies operate. These include social and environmental duties being placed on directors to counterbalance their existing duties on financial matters, and legal rights for local communities to seek compensation when they have suffered because directors have failed to uphold those duties. Finally, it will explore in some depth how the principles and components of these mechanisms would be transposed and made to work within one jurisdiction in particular the UK. From corporate campaigning to campaigning for corporate accountability Friends of the Earth's first campaign action in the UK, shortly after if was established in 1971, was a mass “bottle-drop” outside the offices Schweppes to protest against their plans to start selling drinks in non-returnable plastic bottles.

Corporate Accountability

A great deal of discussion has taken place on the topic of corporate responsibility, on companies recognizing their own interests within the framework of sustainable development. A significant number of companies have indeed made impressive efforts to operate and develop products according to ethical and environmental principles, a fact deserving widespread recognition and appreciation. Whether this trend toward corporate responsibility is due to enlightened management, customer demand, or public pressure, the basic idea is for a company to voluntarily "do the right thing." The aim of the concept is to convince companies -- from small, family businesses to transnational corporations -- that sustainability and ethical conduct are in the interests of business. (Sethi 1973)

The concept of corporate accountability, on the other hand, refers to the legal obligation of a company to do the right thing. The aim of corporate accountability is to be sure a company's products and operations are in the interests of society and are not harmful. This concept addresses the problem of those companies which refuse to act responsibly; it also addresses those situations in which companies and employees are held prisoner by the competitive demands of the economic system and forced to choose the bottom line. (Sethi 1973)

Corporate accountability is especially relevant to the current situation of increasing economic globalization and the unique position of transnational corporations, which in many cases are legally accountable to no one. Just as individuals in society require both morals and laws to guide their behavior, responsibility and accountability are both necessary to guide corporate ...