1. Determine two ways in which the chosen company behaves in a morally responsible way towards each of the following:
a. Consumers
The ethical fruit company is dedicated to its consumers by providing organic produce of highest integrity and quality, ensuring that they reach legal and regulatory standards as we as improving services to the customers and also reducing customer complaints. The company meets the needs of their customers and balancing the need for investment and affordability.
b. The environment
The company is committed to maintain the operational standards to protect the environment and also to manage the waste properly to reduce pollution. They comply with the current legislation through training their staff effectively.
c. Employees
Regardless of age, gender, race, disability, religion or sexual orientation, the company recruit and invest in the committed employees. The staff is given provision of necessary skills to fulfill their job and also develop.
2. Predict the effects that these morally conscious decisions would have on the company’s bottomline
Morally conscious decisions can add great value to the company. When the morally conscious decisions have been adopted, the company would often find bottomline benefits by demonstrating high ethical standards. Morally conscious decisions protects and improves reputation of the company by creating an efficient and productive work environment.
3. Review the company’s policies from a critical perspective, and list at least (2) areas where the company could improve its treatment of consumers, the response with specific examples
The Ethical Fruit company needs to take responsibility for communicating the benefits of their products to their consumers, additionally, they need to increase credible scientific evidence as to the benefits. They further need to increase customer and consumer awareness and the benefit of organic produce and also maintenance of business relationships based on fair treatment. For instance a prompt response to consumers will immediately create trust and loyalty. The complimentary follow up program to help consumers maintain success. Such small things would stick in consumers’ mind.
Recommend a viable policy options that address the selected business areas, reflect key thical considerations, and foster an ethical work environment
The Ethical Fruit Company is committed to develop and maintain of business relationships based on fair treatment of all the workers in the Ethical fruit Company supply chain. They expect all suppliers to conform to all of the laws relating to employment and social issues. The company encourages suppliers to extend similar policies to their sub suppliers and growers. Immediate remedial action is required for any supplier found disregarding any aspect of socially responsible trading. The company expects their suppliers to be registered and reviews commercial relationship witth suppliers who refuse to implement measures regarding socially responsible trading and in extreme cases this would result in the termination of trading relationship. The company has the belief that all workers should be treated equally irrespective of race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, disability, marital status, ethnic origin, political affiliation and union membership and they all have a right to fair and safe employment condition. They further believe that the implementation of this policy would help deliver the objective to their staff and customers.
The Ethical fruit company also provides an appropriate return for their shareholders and meets their commitment to providers of debt finance by ensuring that their business generates an appropriate level of profit and is sustainable. They recommend the preparation of accounting statements on timely basis and strictly in accordance to the applicable accounting standards.
The company is committed to serving the local community by proving employment opportunities and enhancing the environment.
The company complies with all the applicable law and regulatory standards as well as statutory obligations in relation to direct and indirect taxes, maintaining all professional relationships with the authorities and all regulatory bodies.
Recommend ways in which businesses can be partners with nature by applying the concepts of business ethics, business ecology and environmental ethics
Businesses are encouraged to work with the govenements to realize approppriate solutions. It should lobby for good environmental legislation and also lobby against bad legislation.
Government structures should include the people having appropriate skills to scrutinize the performance and strategy across the social, ethical and environmental issues.
Finance professionals too need to take social environmental and ethical factors into account when allocating capital, so that sustainable innovations is encouraged.
Business ethics
Business ethics are moral principles that guide the way that business behaves. A business should follow relevant codes of practice that covers all its sectors. Business have great potential to transform the lives of the people and also alleviate poverty through generating economic growth. The business produce goods and services that customers would like and also create jobs. Through paying taxes, the business contribute to government revenue that can be used to develop schools, hospitals and other public services. Business must become aware of the ethical diversity of the world due to increasing globalization of the economy. The business must learn the values of other cultures, and their application to the business decisions, and ways of combining them with the busniess values.
Business ecology
Business ecology is the application of the use of technology beyond automation. The technology is used to identify, measure, model and try change in the business. It needs a cross functional team comprising business and information technology professionals, key team capabilities include business process thinking, performance measurement and financial analysis and as well as information technology architecture.
Mesurement needs to be defined and reported in business terms. Funding and governance decisions and mechanisms should be able to reflect a resources that are shared, and also investment portfolio approach.
The objective of business ecology to reduce pollution and waste.
An understanding of interaction of business with communities and ecologies can be communicated through numerous developments and experiences. It can then be applied to new enterprises, particularly when an organization has an integrated a triple bottomline approach ( people, plant, profit) into its operation.
Environmental ethics
Environmental ethics applies to the study of human interactions with nature. In a business sense, environmental ethics is concerned with the responsibility of a company to protect the environment in which it operates.
Public awareness of the damages caused to the environment by human acts has driven a demand for governemental regulations directly affecting the ability of businesses to conduct their operations. Coporate response to government regulations is a primary area of concern in environmental business ethics. Accepting the responsibility towards environmental ethics is demonstrated through the development of corporate environmental approach.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in business ethics
Fundamental issue
The most important issue in business is the integrity and trust. The basic understanding of integrity ranges from the idea of conducting business affairs with honesty to the commitment of treating every customer fairly.
Diversity issue
The world is a rich but also a diverse place full of various cultures of people, who should be treated with respect which has a great deal to learn. An ethical response to diversity commences with employing a diverse work source, enforces similar opportunity in all training programs and is fulfilled when every employ is able to enjoy work in an environment that values their contributions.
Decision ‘ making issue
The framework for ethical decision making is a very usefull method for exploring ethical dilemmas and also helps to identify ethical courses of action; recognizes ethical issues, gets the facts right, evaluates alternative actions, makes decisions to test it and reflects on the outcome. Ethical decision making processes centers on protecting the employees and customers right, making sure all business operations should be fair and just, and also protecting the common good and making sure that individual values and benefits of workers given protection.
Compliance and Governement issues
Businesses are expected to be fully compliant with environmental laws and state safety regulations, fiscal and monetary reputation statutes and all applicable civil right laws.
Write clearly and concisely about business ethics using proper writing mechanics
Business ethics are moral principles that gives guidance to the way a business behaves.
Acting in the ethical way involves distinguishing between right and wrong and then making the right choice
Fairness in business dealings means being objective and having an interest in creating a win-win situation for both parties either employer-employee or company ‘ client. Honesty should be applied to every part of running a business while also making a profit.
Ethical behaviour and corporate social responsibility could bring important benefits to a business, for instance, attracting customers towards the firm’s products, by boosting sales and profits.
Make employees want to stay within the business, reduce labour turnover and therefore increase productivity.
Attract more employees who would want to work for the business, reduce the recruitment costs and also enables the company to get the most talented employees.
Attract investors to be able keep the company’s share price high, by protecting the business from take over.
Advantages of Business Ethics
Business ethics offer companies competitive advantages.
Good will of the firm hikes depending on its response towards ethical issues
Productivity through rigid firm and sincere workers as well as other business chain member.
Through increasing the morale and trust business can also increase their market share.
Publicity because of well and ethical performance of the company. Words of mouth is the fastest and also the best source to gain market. Thus a good performance would assist in publicity through the words of mouth by the general public.
Acceptance of products, for instance, most consumers prefer classmates notebook of ITC just because it is eco-friendly contributes a part of its profit for social welfare.
Disadvantages of Business Ethics
Business ethics leads to the reduction of a company’s freedom to maximize its profits.
Diversity in achievement, for instance, a company may diverse from its achievements and turn towards other directions
Extra expenditure in some cases, for instance, a company may incur extra costs for solving certain ethical issues like accidents, compensation and solution for pollution.
References
Duska Ronals F. (1937)
contemporary reflection on buisness ethics
dordrecht. The netherlands: Springer . C. (2007)
Thyssen. Ole (1944)
Business ethics and organizational values : a systems theoretical analysis
Basingstoke (England): new York Palgrave macmillan, 2009
Jim Stingel (2000)
How ideals power Growth and profit at the world’s greatest companies
Crown Business
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