What is the Difference Between Entine and Jennings' Eight Questions and Traditional Measures of Social Responsibility?s

According to Jennings (2012), “there are eight questions that should be answered about a company to determine the character of its soul” (pp. 104). Jennings reminds one by stating, “no company is ethically perfect,” furthermore, no individual is without his or her faults. (Jennings, 2012, pp. 104). However, a company’s soul can be determined by “conducting the examination to look beyond ever-changing political issues” (Jennings, 2012, pp. 104). Jennings believed these eight simple questions will help a person have an objective outlook at a company.

The biggest difference one notices by examining Jennings' eight questions model and also looking at traditional measures of social responsibility is the general outlook. A traditional measure allow a company to look at an individual person within the company and how his or her actions affect the company, but by looking at Jennings’ eight questions, allows a company to take a deeper look at the company as a whole. The eight question model looks at a company's own business practices and, if necessary, overhaul the organization’s business strategies to create an organization that is proactively more socially responsible. Jennings (2012) uses the example that “honesty in business dealings is a universal measure of a company’s soul” (pp. 104).  For a company to utilize Jennings’ eight questions will allow a company to take a closer “examination of ethics” within the company (Jennings, 2012, pp. 104).

Using traditional methods of measuring social responsibility or using Jennings' eight-question model does not matter because each method just gives a different perspective. Each model allows a person to see a different angle. 

References:

Jennings, M. (2012). Business ethics: Case studies and selected readings. 7th ed. Mason, OH South-Western Cengage Learning.

Chernev, A. & Blair, S. (2015). Doing well by doing good: The benevolent halo of corporate social responsibility. Journal of Consumer Research. 41(6), pp. 1412-1425.

Papasolomou, I., Kountouros, H. & Kitchen, P. J. (2012). Developing a framework for successful symbiosis of corporate social responsibility, internal marketing and labour law in a European context. The Marketing Review. 12(2), pp. 109-123.