Ethonomics is a concept in business that requires businesses to put into consideration ethics in their operations. Economic decisions should be based on moral standards that are acceptable to the larger society.
Therefore, ethonomics is parallel to economics though emphasis is laid on ethics as opposed to price and quality of products in the market (Manuel, Filipe, & Ferreira, 2011, p. 610).
It is associated with adhering to fairness in conducting of businesses and participating in corporate social responsibility.
In the current world, ethonomics is turning out to be of great significance in dealing with problems associated with pollution, global warming, and human inequalities among many other things.
Organisations and business entities have the moral responsibility or should adhere to value systems geared at ensuring environmental sustainability in the course of their operations (Roland & Jean, 2010, p. 6).
Wind energy is one of the industries that should ensure environmental sustainability in their operations. Wind energy is transformed into various forms of energy known as wind power. Wind turbines are often used to convert wind energy into electricity.
Mechanical power is then generated through conversion of windmills to energy while sails are used for propelling ships. Production of this energy is important to the survival and enhancement of lives of people in a society.
Furthermore, it is a viable business in terms of economics since huge profits are accrued from the sale of power/electricity generated.
However, this energy generation has environmental implications that the companies in charge need to put into consideration (Manuel, Filipe, & Ferreira, 2011, p. 611).
Even though these wind plants have little impacts on environment compared to other forms of energy like fossils, they lead to noise pollution, which results from rotor blades movements.
They also cause visual/aesthetic impacts, leading to the death of bats and birds. This affects negatively on the number of birds. Therefore, ethonomics is the only solution to ensure that businesses operate, earn profit, and ensure sustainability of the environment.
Corporate social responsibility is a concept that has become popular in many business operations (Watson, 2011, p. 63). It is a term used to refer to initiatives of a corporate or an organisation in issues of social interest apart from the main objective of getting high profits.
Therefore, businesses sacrifice their profits by going beyond their legal and contractual obligations voluntarily to uplift their societies.
Corporate social responsibility consists of behaviours such as conserving environment, creating good working conditions and an employee-friendly atmosphere, upholding to ethical standards in doing business, respecting communities where the firm is located, and ensuring an investor-friendly environment among many others (Roland & Jean, 2010, p. 4).
There is a close relationship between ethonomics and corporate responsibility in the sense that the business or an entity is obliged to a certain degree to operate under the set value systems putting in mind the impacts of its actions.
Therefore, organisations such as wind energy companies can participate in corporate social responsibility by putting in place adequate measures that will ensure that the lives of the people in those areas where such plants are located are not negatively affected.
Ethonomics or ethics comes in handy here since, by doing such or putting in place such measures, the business will be putting in place measures that are in line with the set moral values (Roland & Jean, 2010, p. 5).
Sustainability and corporate social responsibility are very essential in the operations of any business especially in the wind energy. Sustainability is a term that relates to the conservation of the natural environment.
Every action that people do for their survival and well-being needs to promote their natural environment. Therefore, sustainability helps in attaining and creating of conditions that allow harmonious interrelationships that ensure that people are able to meet their social and economic obligations for the present and the future generations (United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2012, Para. 1).
Therefore, sustainability ensures that people’s actions contribute positively to the conservation of their environment thus protecting and safeguarding the health of their environment. Therefore, sustainability emerged to ensure or to safeguard pollutions that affect the well-being of people.
Corporations such as firms generating wind energy must undertake sustainability and corporate social responsibility initiatives in their programs. Even though they aspire to prosper in their economic experiences, they have a duty to adhere to ethics, as well as ensuring corporate citizenship (Paul, Craig, & Jared, 2007, p. 427).
The challenges that businesses face currently require that they continue to revise their actions to remain competitive and innovative. There are various initiatives that wind energy firm can employ to ensure sustainability and corporate social responsibilities in their operations.
One of the initiatives is to ensure environmental conservation through the employment of strategies that conserve the environment. For instance, wind energy pollutes the environment through sound/noise that has a negative implication on the health of the community or people living within such localities.
It is the duty of the firm to put in place adequate measures such as sound regulation gadgets to minimise the amount of noise that is generated (Paul, Craig, & Jared, 2007, p. 427).
Such initiative will reduce sound pollution hence helping curb health implications to the people in the locality. Other initiatives may include supporting evacuation of the residents to other safe areas to safeguard the health of the current and the future generations.
Other initiatives include supporting various projects initiated by the communities living in the locality. Examples of projects may include subsidising the cost of supplying electricity in the area, supporting construction of roads, and important infrastructures in the area among many others.
These are examples of corporate social responsibilities that the firms can undertake to ensure that they contribute to the social and economic wellbeing of the society.
Ethics and corporate citizenship are also major ingredients or factors in the sustainability and corporate social responsibility of the operations of a business entity like wind energy.
Ethics is also referred to as a moral philosophy that entails the making of decisions based on what one perceives to be right or wrong (Lin, 2012, p. 220). It stands out as a character that the society or individuals expect or conform to.
A character can be wrong or right based on the set standards by the society and or individuals. On the other hand, corporate citizenship is a term that closely relates to corporate social responsibility.
It refers to the role of that business or a corporate towards the society. Any firm that operates in a given society has the responsibility of demonstrating corporate citizenship through undertaking or participating in the activities of the local community.
The decisions of firm of this kind should be based on the positive side the company can initiate to the society. Therefore, ethics should enable or guide a business in making the correct decisions concerning its actions.
The wind energy firm should come up with programs that aim at assisting the society in uplifting its living standards. It has the responsibility of conserving the environment to ensure that the future, as well as the present generation, enjoys its lives.
It is becoming mandatory for business entities to incorporate social responsibility and sustainability in their operations. The idea of ethonomics, which requires that ethics in business operations be upheld, is also gaining popularity.
Business entities have a higher chance of gaining a competitive edge by taking part in sustainability and corporate social responsibility. For instance, a company dealing with wind energy requires a guide or strategies that can ensure sustainability of the environment to ensure that the lives of the people in the surroundings are well attended.
Environmental pollutions brought because of the production of energy should be mitigated for the benefits of the society. Appropriate technology can be applied to ensure that the sound produced does not cause negative impacts on the people living in the surroundings.
Firms have to make appropriate decisions that are in tandem with the expectations of the society to carry out their duty of corporate citizenship diligently in furthering their objectives.
Achieving objectives and becoming innovative nowadays is an issue that has remained so dear to corporations. Most of success they achieve is due to their participation in sustainability and corporate social responsibility, which translates to ethonomics.
Reference List
Lin, H. (2012). Cross-sector Alliances for Corporate Social Responsibility Partner Heterogeneity Moderates Environmental Strategy Outcomes. Journal of Business Ethics, 110(2), 219-229.
Manuel, C., Filipe, J., & Ferreira, M. (2011). Environmental sustainability as a dimension of corporate social responsibility: The case of cgd – caixa geral depósitos / Portugal. International Journal of Academic Research, 3(1), 610-617.
Paul, G., Craig, M., & Jared, H. (2007). The relationship between corporate social responsibility and shareholder value: An empirical test of the risk management hypothesis. Strategic Management Journal, 30(1), 425-445.
Roland, B., & Jean, T. (2010). Individual and corporate social responsibility. Economica, 77(1), 1-19.
United States Environmental Protection Agency (2012). What is Sustainability? Web.
Watson, M. (2011). Doing Well by Doing Good: Ray C. Anderson as Evangelist for Corporate Sustainability. Business Communication Quarterly, 74(1), 63-67.