Globalization, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Ethical Considerations

Globalization refers to a multidimensional set of social processes that create, multiply, stretch, and intensify worldwide social interdependencies and exchanges while at the same time fostering in people a growing awareness of deepening connections between the local and the distant. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) focuses on the concept that business has a duty to serve society in general as well as the financial/economic interest of stockholders. There is no argument that there are many financial/economic advantages to the corporation when engaging in global activities (globalization). The purpose of this paper is to introduce and describe an approach for incorporating CSR into the global strategic planning and decisionmaking process using a conceptual philosophical/ethical framework. The scope of this paper is limited to a number of anecdotal scenarios (case studies) that are used to illustrate the downside of globalization from a philosophical/ethical perspective. The structure or model that will be used for philosophical/ethical reasoning and analysis in this paper will present several key questions to be asked of alternative actions being developed during the strategic planning process.