7.1 Preliminary remarks on the view on companies and organisations

We spend a large part of our lives in organisations, i.e. in formal structures in which we pursue one or more purposes together with other people. Companies are a prominent example of organisations that generally pursue their goals under economic conditions. The employees of a company pool their skills in and with this specific organisation. This is in order to make a joint effort to contribute to the designated goals. This applies to mining experts as well as other professional groups. Ideally, all areas and employees should work together in such a way that they make an effective contribution to achieving the company's objectives in the best possible way. Economic goals (profits) are of key importance for companies operating in a market economy. However, there are further aspects that are more or less part of the mission of a "good" company and that are also demanded by society. These are social (societal) and ecological (environmental) aspects that are incorporated into the company's objectives or strategy.

Over the past fifteen to twenty years, the term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become established as an umbrella term for the measures with which a company or organisation assumes general, social and ecological responsibility.

Ideally, the organization is structured in such a way that its CSR encompasses or permeates all areas of a company. However, depending on its individual understanding of its social and ecological responsibility or its previous development, different aspects of CSR may be focused on. Finally, the sector may also require a particular focus. For example, in a company committed to responsible mining, occupational health and safety and environmental compatibility are likely to be more important than in a global company of the music industry, for example, where diversity concepts may be more of a focus. Responsibility is a high demand placed on companies and their employees, which arises in many facets. In order to be able to meet these demands in business and professional practice, it is also necessary to know to what extent one's own organisation is responsible. The concept of core responsibility helps to determine the scope, and thus also the individual limits, of an organisation's responsibility in order to be able to act in dynamic and complex environments.

The model and concepts discussed in this learning unit condense the previous considerations on responsibility and ethics into the organisational area in which a concept of ethical mining is needed and should be applied. In a specific way, the theoretical foundations and reflections on responsibility in general, but also on the individual responsibility of mining experts, lead to concepts with which companies try to fulfil corporate ethical requirements in their everyday business within the scope of their possibilities.