Through your work in this module, you should have gained a robust and multifaceted understanding of corporate social responsibility, and gained experience using ethical principles to think through corporate social responsibility issues in a cybersecurity context. Next, we’ll be turning to professional ethics to think about what moral requirements you gain by becoming a cybersecurity professional.
Before going on to the next module, take a minute and write down:
- Something about CSR that makes sense to you now that didn’t before, or
- Something about CSR that you thought made sense before that you realize now does not, or
- Something that you’re still trying to figure out about CSR.
Something about Corporate Social Responsibility that I didn’t know about before is how crucial customers are in maintaining the social contract between businesses. Referring to Anshen, with corporations having the single purpose of only making a profit and not being accountable for any costs that they create is an old model that only creates more harm for society with things like environmental damage. An application of social responsibilities and constructive adaptations makes corporations more aware of the effect they have on everything around them and when listening to the concerns of customers, can create more beneficial change. Being aware of the customer’s desires will also bring in more people due to ethical practices.
I know now how important customers are for business and that they need to be respected for the social contract to be supported. This involves acknowledging security practices, not restricting people from having autonomy with their data or choices, and keeping them informed on what’s happening. Implementation of these types of practices can create a positive feedback loop for corporations, which is beneficial for aligning with stakeholders and societal needs. This also provides a sense of increased security that customers will be more inclined to stay with.