Ethical Evaluation in Business/Marketing Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility

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Published: Jun 7, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/dia.45807
Keywords:
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) management morality Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility Business Ethics Marketing Ethics.
Geogria Broni
Associate Professor, University of Western Macedonia, Greece
John Velentzas
Professor, University of Western Macedonia, Greece
Nikos Kartalis
Professor, University of Western Macedonia, Greece
Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. CSR refers to companies taking responsibility for their impact on society. In A. Carroll’s "Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility" a corporation has four types of responsibilities: The first and most obvious is the economic responsibility to be profitable. The second is the legal responsibility to obey the laws set forth by society. The third, which is very closely linked to the second, is the ethical responsibility. This is to do what is right even when business is not compelled to do so by law. The fourth is the philanthropic responsibility. This refers to contributions by the corporations toward social, educational, recreational and / or cultural purposes. A foundational distinction must be established at the outset: “Ethics,” as employed in this paper, denotes a normative philosophical system — a systematic framework of principles that prescribes what ought to be done — whereas “Morality” refers to the socially embedded set of norms, conventions, and practices that actually govern conduct within a given community (Habermas, 1990; MacIntyre, 1981). This distinction is not merely terminological; it carries substantive implications for the analysis of corporate behavior, insofar as a corporation may comply fully with prevailing moral norms while simultaneously violating deeper ethical obligations, or vice versa. According to ethical and moral principles in business affairs there are three categories of managers:


a. The moral managers, who are dedicated to high standards of ethical behavior, both in their own actions and in their expectations of how the company’s business is to be conducted.


b. The immoral managers, who are actively opposed to ethical behavior in business and willfully ignore ethical principles in their decision making.


c. The amoral managers, who appear in two forms: the intentionally amoral manager and the unintentionally amoral manager.

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