Moral and social responsibility practices in small businesses (2023)

There are so many types of people in different countries of the world. Some people only care about themselves and unscrupulous to complete their goal and some people care about the future of the country. This kind of selfish person will destroy our country's economy. That is why ethical and social responsibility is so important to our country. From a conceptual framework, the impact appears to be a socially responsible and ethical approach to the financial and non-financial performance of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) in Malaysia. Ethical business practices and social responsibility are seen as a strong motive to build a harmonious multi-ethnic community among Malaysian business transactions, which can affect the overall performance of SMEs in key ways. In Malaysia, there were so many different types of businesses. In different business interests, ethics and social responsibility practices from different cultural perspectives and unique historical skills and understanding of the industry's business environment can provide a great deal of perceptual framework. Although it has been reported that there is minimal cultural distance between Malays, Chinese and Indians, you may face a variety of challenges in business environment, ethical awareness and social responsibility. Therefore, we can imagine that this study can provide a deeper knowledge and understanding of the cultural difference among the businessman in Malaysia to salute the values, ethics and practices of social responsibility and promote a better understanding of values. personals that are conducted in Malaysia.

According to (Noor Hazlina Admad, Azlan Amran and Hasliza Abdul Halim 2012) the study, for the introduction, was a prolific discussion on the behavior of existing entrepreneurs in business ethics and national culture. Some scholars seeking to go beyond national cultures suggest focusing on finer variations within a nation. In Malaysia, intercultural differences provide an important reflection on the existence and variety of values ​​and beliefs within a nation. Of course, it has been noted that there may be linguistic, regional, tribal, ethnic or caste divisions within nations which can sometimes make national data unrepresentative of the nation. Some values ​​are believed to still exist among the three main racial groups which were Malays, Chinese, and Indians. These three main racial groups can be markedly different from mainstream cultures, especially in business practices. This is because ethnic divisions tend to be reinforced by religious, cultural, linguistic, and economic divisions in Malaysia. The reason is that people's ways of thinking are behaviors, the personal and cultural values ​​of entrepreneurs can also affect the business environment in the prevailing social responsibility and moral cognitive practices.

After that, there are three important reasons why these practices at smaller companies should be looked at more closely. First, there is a great disparity in the number of studies on ethical and social responsibility issues between large and small companies. There has been work on ethics and social responsibility that has largely focused on large business, particularly in the Malaysian context until now. Second, small businesses have a strong interconnected community in which they operate. They typically deal with those who live locally and point to ethical and socially responsible business behavior as an important factor in creating a harmonious customer-business-customer relationship in the local community. Third, there is a growing awareness of ethics and social responsibility, leading to social disapproval, considered bad ethics or corporate irresponsibility. For the notion of “good ethics are good for business”, this means that if we want our businesses to last longer and be stronger, ethical behavior is the reason. If we ignore ethics, it will have an adverse impact on our own business.

According to (Noor Hazlina Admad, Azlan Amran and Hasliza Abdul Halim 2012), the Corruption Perceptions Index study (2009) reported that Malaysia ranked 56th^ºof the 180 countries studied lag behind other Asian countries. This means that Malaysia is just an average country in Asia. While the CPI report is not limited to small businesses, this is a general ethical standard that is reflected among the people of this country. Regarding social responsibility, it was reported that the Australian Small Business Organizing Board received a sample of 9,000 showing strong socially responsible behaviour, especially in terms of supporting the local community. "There was genuine enthusiasm for the notion of corporate social responsibility that was seen as a must," finds out the Australian. This was happening among SMEs in Australia. On the contrary, it was observed that regarding the moral sense of corporate and even less social responsibility, it is relatively non-existent in Malaysia. This is because the focus on these issues in Malaysia is often directed towards large companies as opposed to smaller companies. However, on the subject of ethics and social responsibility, small businesses may be due to larger peers and different characteristics of these businesses from nature to some extent. Small businesses are, by nature, independent and self-managed. Presumably, the main aspects of morality will revolve around personal values, of the owners themselves, and not tied to the ethical code of conduct as a belief of a large company. ‘Multitasking’ is another key criteria for small businesses.

Additionally, the variety of tasks small business owners face can leave them with less time to consider ethics in day-to-day management. Also, according to the notice, what constitutes personal and business ethics is likely to be closer in situations where the owner is also the manager of a business. In relative terms, the recession has a greater impact on small businesses compared to larger ones, making business survival a top priority among smaller companies. It means that ethics and social responsibility will make the small business survive the challenges. Due to these constraints small business owners face, it is therefore vital to carefully review moral and social responsibility to consider how appropriate it is for small businesses. In summary, the objective of this article is to address these issues, for example, ethics and social responsibility in SMEs, advancing in a conceptual framework that links the personal value of the owners-managers of SMEs, ethical and socially responsible practices. and business performance. Following a conceptual framework at the beginning of this article, some propositions are formulated in the discussion of the relevant literature and during use. Subsequent data collection methods will then be used to sample and measure the brief details present. Finally, this article summarizes the discussion of the research and its impact.

On the other hand, Malaysia is a multi-ethnic country containing 27 million people. Which have the three largest ethnic groups in our country, they are Malays, Chinese and Indians. Malaysia also has many minor ethnicities in the country. Due to this multi-ethnic composition of the communities, many people believe that the Malays have different cultural values, although there is evidence of a similar cultural value orientation. Malaysians often share examples of collectivism and relationships. The only difference found between the three races was in terms of religiosity, as the Malays considered religious beliefs much more important than their Chinese and Indian counterparts. However, people think of different communities and ethical groups within a country, with their diverse business interests, different cultural perspectives, and unique abilities and industry history to understand ethical practices and social responsibility in the business environment of the rich framework. perceptual. It was an assertion that the personal or cultural values ​​held by individuals can lead to different views of what is considered right or wrong, moral or immoral, and social responsibility or not. Interestingly, an investigation of cultural values ​​in Malaysia using the correct cultural values ​​suggests that Malays, Chinese, and Indians share similar cultural values. However, further pressure from economic development may result in changes in terms of cultural values. Therefore, even if there are reports of minimal distance between Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures, it is likely that there is a different business environment that faces cognitive challenges of moral and social responsibility in a certain direction.

Since SMEs in Malaysia are very labor intensive, they will create employment opportunities. Second, SMEs enhance regional development and create a more equitable distribution of income due to their location and continued expansion in the broader community. Third, SMEs play a vital complementary role to large companies. In many cases, large companies trust SMEs as suppliers and distributors. For example, many Malaysian SMEs supply components, tools and equipment to large manufacturing companies. Large companies also depend on SMEs for the distribution of their products to the consumer. Fourthly, SMEs serve as a training ground to develop the skills of workers and entrepreneurs. Finally, the presence of SMEs restricts the monopoly power of larger companies and gives greater flexibility to the structure of the economy. In this way, a country can strengthen SMEs and ensure their success in reducing their vulnerability to financial crises.

To promote harmonious business and social relations, we must suggest the word “ethics is not a luxury of advanced economies; It is an indispensable means of promoting economic development. Therefore, in developing economies, to understand your day-to-day business activities, such as the importance of structure, especially in the Malaysian context, small businesses are crucial. Here you can also provide information about the entrepreneur's personal values ​​that may affect cross-cultural variation in moral and social responsibility practices. As one of the leading corporate codes of ethical conduct, business ethics research has been in the spotlight. Keeping in mind that ethical practices should be the guiding principle of all businesses, large or small, researchers have begun investigating small business ethics as they gain traction. A study found that small business interests in the UK have experienced around stakeholders, protection of knowledge and information, legal and moral obligations, as well as conflicting issues of personal and business decisions is a moral question. It also uses a dilemma to determine what small business owners face, including profit maximization, life priority, enlightened self-interest, and the social priorities of the four issues.

When the concept was first developed over twenty years ago, companies found it difficult to operate their business practices because it requires financial sacrifice. However, recently, organizational leaders have begun to recognize the importance of social responsibility in business. Specifically, they found that small businesses expressed a willingness to take steps to meet social responsibility requirements, especially to their customers, employees, and the public. From a business perspective, ethical practices and social responsibility are seen as long-term, helping entrepreneurs in the economy. In a rapidly changing and unpredictable environment, socially responsible behavior helps companies gain support from diverse external stakeholder groups. Such behavior, to give them some protection against the unforeseen problems they face. It is also important to note that an organization's image and reputation can be based on good moral behavior that shapes public effects. Taken together, the benefits of ethical and socially responsible practices help achieve a competitive advantage as a company distinguishes itself from its competitors.

In addition to a business perspective, businessmen show that this subtle gesture is considered the mechanism to promote harmonious business and social relations. In particular, it can increase trust, cooperation and keep in mind that people can understand why other people behave the way they tolerate each other in three different ethnic groups. All three elements are intrinsically important because they are core characteristics that positively affect emotional and interpersonal aspects of work and life relationships. Because of this, research on moral and social responsibility should receive more attention and make people think that it is important.

The above discussion is a strong link between the moral imaginary and social practice, the results of operations, the harmonious relations of society, which indicates the theory of stakeholders, both from the instrumental and normative point of view. The instrumental methods of stakeholder theory address the interests of maximizing the firm's wealth through the interests of stakeholders, while the fundamental assumption of the normative approach of stakeholder theory suggests that “a firm should behave in a socially responsible way because it is morally right to do so. Based on this underlying theory, the conceptual framework for further investigation is advanced. Personal values ​​of SME entrepreneurs of the three main races in Malaysia are treated as the independent variable. The perceived role of ethics and social responsibility, as well as ethical and socially responsible practices in business, are mediating variables. The dependent variable is business performance in the context of SMEs.

From this article (Noor Hazlina Admad, Azlan Amran and Hasliza Abdul Halim 2012), we can create a step to solve this problem. First, in practice, we need to provide Malaysian entrepreneurs with values, ethics and social responsibility for a better understanding of intercultural differences. Second, we must promote a better understanding of the interaction of the three individual values ​​in the business practices and ethnic groups carried out in Malaysia. Therefore, we need to find SME entrepreneurs who consider ethical practices and social responsibility important. For the fourth point, we need to be sure if this ethical and social responsibility practice affects the results of operations, for example, financial and non-financial. After that, the fifth point is the benefit of society, it will promote harmonious business, and taking into account the related parts of this study, it will inspire the similarities and differences between them, the solid foundation of public relations in a multi-racial society.

In conclusion, the value of this study lies in its efforts to provide a practical moral and social responsibility and informed understanding of small businesses, especially in the Malaysian environment. Determine the sign of this "noble" approach because of your strong interaction with employees, customers, and the local community about this approach, especially an important message that is pervasive in small businesses. Ethical and social responsibility considerations are considered critical in view of the harmony of “corporate business”, “customer business” and “community business” relationships, which can improve the performance of the company and, to a greater extent, promote the establishment of trust. , respect for the solidarity and integrity of the community. It is important to stress that this study will alert to the similarity and look at ethics and social responsibility differently from each ethnic and business community, especially in Malaysia. Raising awareness of ethical business practices among smaller businesses can also provide a healthier economy, as they account for over 80% of all establishments in most countries. Above all, business professionals must realize that ethics, social responsibility and profit can go hand in hand; they are not conflicting agendas. Therefore, the challenge facing business education and policy makers is to recognize the unique aspects of these SME practices, and not through the lens of big business, the problem of corporate moral responsibility policy. and social, but how to create a competitive advantage for small businesses. . Training programs that can portray the relationships between strategic planning, ethics and the social responsibility of entrepreneurs are of great value. Finally, ethics is important for our country, because ethical and social responsibility can improve or worsen our economy. So all the people in Malaysia should unite and always help each other even if they are not of the same ethnicity to make our country a stronger country and grow our economy in the future.