*Socially Responsible and Ethical Decisions
Employees can respond in different ways when making decisions at work. Researchers at Cal Poly Pomona have defined social responsibility within the context of the workplace as the duty of the manager or employee to enhance and protect stakeholders. They categorize the response to this duty into several categories. According to them, a resistive or defensive response where the employee is looking after her own needs is not considered socially responsible. A proactive response where the employee is standing up for herself and others on her team is deemed socially responsible as the employee is actively watching out for the welfare of stakeholders within the company. Allegheny College researchers divide personal and social responsibility into the five dimensions of striving for excellence, integrity, community contribution, taking into account other perspectives and developing ethical reasoning. All five of these dimensions should be taken into account when making socially responsible and ethical decisions.