You signed up for a Religious Studies A Level with OCR. You knew studying some philosophy would be involved. You knew you’d learn about some ethical theories and the history of a religion, usually of Christianity. So why now do you suddenly need to learn about Corporate Social Responsibility?!

OCR Religious Studies A Level (H573) include Applied Ethics. This is common to any Philosophy/RE curriculum – the AQA Philosophy A Level also include four applied ethics topics, though they are woven more closely into normative ethics. In OCR they are more clearly defined standalone chapters to study and as in AQA, could be the subject matter of an essay in the exam.

Business Ethics is an attractive topic for studies who also take a Sociology or Business Studies A Level, even Politics; but it is also very useful here. There is no obvious relation back to religion here (besides the obvious way in which western ethical theories are often inspired by the Abrahamic faiths) – this very much sits within the Ethics exam for a reason, paper two. It is quite seperate. YET – there are links to be made.

In studing Business Ethics within the OCR A Level, there are roughly 3-4 topics to cover which invite essay questions:

Corporate Social Responsibility

Globalisation

Whistleblowing

and, bringing it all together: Can a business truly have good ethics?

You are employing Kantianism and Utilitarianism here. Instead of speaking of the moral decisions of a person, now we are considering the actions of a business as a corproate body, or the business decisions leaders make on its behalf, and whetehr they can fit into these ethical frameworks of utilitarianism and Kant’s deontology.

It is not an easy task!

So for each sub-topic you should ask yourself four things:

1. What would a Kantian say on this matter? (ii) What is my view on that? (In other words – Would the Kantian be right?)
2. What would a Utilitarian say on this matter? (ii) What is my view on that?

It is anachronistic to talk about what Bentham and Kant or even Mill themselves would say – these are modern matters. Globalisation is a very recent phenomenon in the grand scheme of things. Corporate Social Responsibility is a very hot topic right now. OCR want you to show you can apply these ethical theories in the modern day to real world issues.

What should you consider in studying this topic?

First, have LOTS of examples…here are some ideas, plus key questions:

• Corporate Social Responsibility (towards the world/communities/any stakeholders) is a question of a business’ accountability for how their business affects any stakeholder. What is owed to them? What duty, if any, does a business have to do good? For example, a duty to pay taxes and contribute to wider society.
• Consider who the stakeholders are – this is very wide-ranging.
• Consider ways in which businesses affect the world e.g. the impact on the environment, worker’s right and working conditions, how whatever the business sells is produced, exploitation such as using cheap labour and how that affects a local economy, slavery, sweat shops and so on.
• On the other hand there may be many ways in which a business does good! Look at some early models of corporations building systems to support workers – Cadbury’s Bourneville village, Sunshine Soap building Port Sunlight near Liverpool and Titus Salt’s factory in Saltire, Joseph Rowntree in York – where a wealthy business owner prioritised the lifestyle of their workers.
• Another useful contemporary example to debate for CSR could be the resignation of one of the founders of Ben and Jerry’s over a dispute with their parent company Unilever, because they wanted to stop selling their ice cream in the illegally occupied West Bank of Palestine. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g58xx1eero

• Can we successfully apply Kantian/Utilitarian ethical theories to a corporate model? In other words can a business ethics ever be a good ethics or is that a contradiction in terms? Do businesses always do at least some harm/more harm than good?

• Globalisation – can we meaningfully talk about ethical business in a globalised world or is exploitation inherently built in?
• Examples: moving a HQ to a tax haven and off-shore banking. Sweat shops. Using cheap labour.

• Whistleblowing – use real life examples such as Edward Snowden releasing files about spying in the USA/UK.
• Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning releasing on Wikileaks data about US Military abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Any of your own examples when you have had to speak up about in justice at work, or at school…
• You can even invent one!
• Careful with applying Kantianism here – it is tricky. On the one hand the second formulation of the Categorical Imperative forbids us to use even ourselves as a means ot an end, because we too belong in the Kingdom of Ends. This is puzzling. We cannot self-sacrifice to do good? Yet surely, in accordance with the first formulation of the Categorical Imperative, we would like to live in a world where everybody whistle-blew if they needed too. Moreover, it coheres with Kant’s general commitment to honesty though conversely, it conflicts with his similar commitment to keeping promises, which contractual obligations seem to fall under. The jury is out.

Good luck and don’t be daunted, this is a fun topic which can also give you lots to talk about in future job interviews and your UCAS application!