Ética e responsabilidade social: o melhor investimento

Abstract

On the third millennium's eve, with the internacional economy, the planet surrenders to the Era of Information. So much information crossing our heads in an impressive web of technological process would be fascinating, profitable and evenentertainment if it did not bring significant changes to the human being's way of life and mainly to the economic standards porformed. Paradoxical as it may seem, "the companies have to go slowly to arrive faster" (Ury, 1999). In this process, they lost important values for the quality of the human being's life, which directly or indirectly is the reason of existence of such companies. Then, the quest for understanding the roads taken by those companies begins. If they are directly responsible for the people connected to them (employees, suppliers, customers, investors) and for the community where they are settled, their decisions, although they are still seeking a way of earning money, should at the same time contain ethical values. By adopting an ethical posture, companies develop the social accountability which represents citizenship for the individuais. KEYWORDS: Social accountability; Ethics; Moral values