Corporate Values as the Basis of the Company’s Activities

Abstract

This article explores the changing approach to the values in the field of business, primarily in transnational corporations. Just a hundred years ago, the German sociologist Max Weber noted for the first time that values directly affect professional activity. At the moment, society’s requirements for socially responsible business conduct have increased. Violation of ethical standards by the company and its representatives can significantly affect the value of shares, income and the very existence of the company. Adventure capitalism, which sought to benefit by any means, is increasingly being replaced by rational capitalism, built on the principles of ‘universal gain’, when the desire for profit is balanced with the interests of society, and solidarity prevails over competition. Modern large companies try to adhere to the principles of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance). The desire to be included in ESG ratings, in which a comprehensive assessment is made on environmental, social and managerial indicators of sustainable development, is explained by the increase in investment attractiveness and the overall prestige of the company. The percentage of participants in such ratings and rankings is growing every year. More companies consciously get engaged in their organizational culture, develop ethical codes, and publish corporate values in open sources. Ensuring the understanding and acceptance of the company’s values by each of its employees, so that they can implement them in their daily work, is a difficult task, which requires in-depth knowledge in a variety of fields. The use of values by corporations as a tool in management requires compliance with high moral standards, as it is introduced into the subtle and little-studied sphere of the foundations of not only human activity, but also of the entire human existence. There is a great risk of coming to a new form of slavery instead of freedom, creativity and development. In this paper, the author analyzes the conjugating of companies’ activities with their corporate values from the point of view of social philosophy.