Irrespective of the manner in which corporate governance practices define the responsibility and scope of the company’s activities, the notion has a different ethical character. This is reflected in the fact that corporate governance calls for companies to bear the responsibility for the impact of their actions on the societies and the stakeholders. Thus, the importance of corporate governance is consistent with the importance of business ethics. Management’s task is not restricted to dealing with various stakeholder groups in an ethical manner, but it also calls for resolution of conflicts of interest which occur between the company and its various stakeholder groups. As said by Elkington (1997), sustainability is regarded as following the “Triple Bottom Line” (environmental, economic, and social). This represents the idea that businesses do not have to focus on one single goal pertaining to adding economic value, but it is expected to meet the extended goal set of adding social and environmental value too.
According to Davis (1973), social responsibility refers to the obligation on decision makers to implement actions that protect and improve the society’s welfare as a whole, along with their own interests. Thus, this rationale suggests two active aspects of protection and improvement of social responsibility. Protection of the welfare of society calls for avoidance of negative impacts
无论以何种方式在企业管治常规定义的责任和公司的活动范围，这个概念有不同的道德品格。这反映在企业管治的事实，要求公司承担责任为他们的行动对社会和利益相关者的影响。因此，公司治理的重要性，是符合商业道德的重要性。管理的任务不仅限于处理与各利益相关群体在道德的方式，但它也要求该公司及其各利益相关群体之间出现利益冲突的分辨率。说的埃尔金顿（1997年），可持续发展被视为“三重底线”（环境，经济和社会）。这代表企业的想法，没有集中在一个单一的目标，有关创造经济价值，但预计增加社会和环境价值，以满足扩展的目标集合。
根据戴维斯（1973），社会责任是指决策者采取行动，保护和改善社会的福利作为一个整体，并与自己的利益的义务。因此，这个理念提出了两个积极承担社会责任方面的保护和改善。社会福利的保护需要避免的负面影响。
