What Are Ethical Responsibilities?
- The family is the core of ethical responsibility. Every society embraces the need for obligations and support among family members, especially children and the elderly. Without the responsibility to care for, financially support and assist the members of a family, it is doubtful a functioning society could exist. In this environment, parents pass down the lessons of ethical responsibility from one generation to the next.
- Ethical responsibility is part of the glue that holds society together. It includes giving to charity, running to aid your neighbors in a crisis and even holding doors open for strangers. When tragedies occur, members of a society come together to support one another. For example, after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Americans united to offer food, water and millions of dollars in aid.
- Ethical responsibility in business includes dealing honestly with partners, providing products and services as promised and fully disclosing all necessary information. Contracts are often written up to ensure that agreements get followed, although they cannot possibly account for every interaction. It is the duty of both sides in agreements to act responsibly in fulfilling the spirit and letter of the agreement. For example, if you are shipping 20,000 pounds of metal to a purchaser, you should not reduce the amount that you said you would send. Although it would be cumbersome to verify the amount, the purchaser must trust that you sent what you said you would.
- Responsibility for the environment is another important moral duty. As a public good, individuals, corporations and the government all have an interest in keeping the environment clean. This means limiting waste and garbage, using energy efficiently and reducing harmful carbon dioxide emissions, among other responsibilities. The federal Environmental Protection Agency helps monitor the output of these harmful emissions, but it is up to each individual to ensure that he is contributing to keeping the environment clean. In business, UPS and other logistics companies have transferred their truck fleets to hybrid and electric vehicles. This helps reduce their fuel costs but is also environmentally responsible, as it substantially reduces tailpipe emissions.
