Ethics and Sustainability in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Public Policies

Abstract

In an age of important scientific and technological breakthroughs, among people that constantly search further, it is quite a challenge to stop in place and assess the situation from a sustainable dimension; more so, even harder to perceive at organizational and functional level a company and its actions based on ethical principles. The origins of ethics are still unclear, and sustainability is a globally promoted concept, mostly for its rhetorical value. Within the global economy, the ethical and sustainable decision-making process of businesses is not often linear, but it presents more or less the same manageable pattern, especially when the unit of analysis is represented by multinational companies. There is, though, a different guiding path for the small and mediumsized companies, and it all starts with the SME public policy. By making an analysis of SME public policy of the ASEAN countries, and by introducing the elements of business ethics and corporate social responsibility at the level of small economic entities, the research managed to create a backbone of a narrative of frameworks and approaches within the South-East AsianSME public policy. The research question of the paper simply manages to direct towards finding different perspectives on SME public policy and cases of ethical and sustainable decisions, based on secondary data, using a qualitative approach. The study resumes the knowledge on ethical and sustainable practices and guidance in the Asian SME sector, and adds to the current database a straightforward answer to the question: Are ASEAN SMEs ethical and socially responsible?

Analysis of micro, small, medium enterprises: The cases of Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam

“…According to Ion (2020), it can be difficult to stop and consider a situation from a sustainable perspective in a time of significant scientific and technological advancements among people who are always seeking new knowledge. It is even more difficult to understand at the functional and organizational level a business and its actions from an ethical perspective.…”

Teaching Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics at Economic Programs

“…Gradually, the demand for CSR specialists has been increasing also in Georgia, as around the world. Since concerns regarding the ecological and environmental impacts of an enterprise are increasing globally, the corresponding legislation takes into account ethical and sustainable issues (Ion, 2020). As knowledge, innovation, and entrepreneurship is regarded as an engine for economic development, business educational programs gain more attention.…”

Human Resources Management in Organizational Performance

“…Typically, the aspirations and expectations do not fully reflect in skills, efforts, behaviors, etc. What interfere are firstly the personal limits set by the parameters of the individual variables of each employee and secondly, the favorable and/or restrictive influence of the organizational and contextual variables (Ion, 2020).…”