Essay --

The following essay addresses the effect and impact of environmental and ethical management within the sport and recreation industry, critically analysing such methods against current literature in the field. Utilising Carroll’s (1991) model of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), it seeks to evaluate, by means of an ethical audit, the current ethical principles employed in the operation of a London-based recreation facility, and objectively assess the extent to which the organisation is committed to the concepts of CSR management. According to Robin and Reidenbach (1987), business ethics demand an organisation behave in agreement with a shared set of believed principles related to moral philosophy, while social responsibility relates to the social conventions that exist between business and society. In other words, social responsibility includes all of the requirements and duties of business to the society it operates in, while business ethics, to some extent, involves the duties of business to the individual decision maker. While the two concepts of ethics and social responsibility are fairly dissimilar, they evidently share a common link. Based on Social Identity Theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1979), Turban and Greening (1997) argued that a company’s corporate social performance (CSP) was favourably associated with their reputation and attractiveness as an employer, suggesting that CSP may provide some competitive advantage in attracting staff. While ethical standards are defined as ideologies that when followed, encourage values such as trust, positive behaviour, justice, and compassion, there is no one consistent set of principles that all organisations adhere to, but rather, each has the ability to create the standards they de... ...h CSR activity, viewing this as a means for its managers to meet the apparent opposing concerns of social responsibility and bottom-line performance. However, to properly manage consumer relationships and its own reputation, GLL should not only adopt CSR as in integral part of its mission, but must also seek to communicate this widely to its members through use of effective social media. While it is plain GLL understands the demands placed on it and its divisional managers, by employees, suppliers, community groups, sporting governing bodies and local authorities, to increase their participation in CSR, it must be wary of this reality as it expands, as business norms and principles, regulatory structures, and stakeholder demand for CSR can and will vary considerably across differing regions of the UK, and along multiple lines of business (McWilliams, et al., 2006).