A call for an ethical focus in business

This paper looks at the traditional issues of bottom line reporting and takes us through the development stages of recent years. The consideration of the bottom line is the economic responsibility of the firm. Legislation has seen the dual bottom line – legal and political responsibility, take business to acknowledgement and compliance of environmental concerns and sustainable consideration. The triple bottom line – Social Responsibility looks at the issues of globalisation and the impact of multi national companies, in terms of their responsibilities to the communities in which they work. Financial considerations are also driving a social conscience. The quadruple bottom line – ethical responsibility is the focus on employees, on stewardship and on leadership fostering and nurturing employees. Communities are continually appalled by the lack of ethics in boardroom disclosures and this is having an impact on the business and contributed towards the recent fall of American and Australian giants. Business has no choice but to seriously consider the creation of an ethical culture and focus on organisational ethics.