InnocentFinancial aspects of
business start-up: Here
Ethics in
Business
Specification detail
The meaning of the term ‘ethics’ in
business and the complexity of moral
issues affecting organisations
Possible trade-off between ethics and
profit
The importance of the potential effects of
pressure group activity
Legal Vs Ethical
Being legal means operating within the
law.
Being Ethical means doing what is right.
Example: Trading Standards : Here
Definition of Business Ethics
Businesses which follow moral principles.
Ethical behaviour covers every aspect of
business including:
Who they buy their supplies from
How they treat its employees
How they act toward their competition
Their impact on the environment
Their impact on the local community
TASK:
What impact can businesses have on the
environment and communities? Here
Using the following examples, in pairs
decide what you could do to make your
business more ethical.
Cigarette company
Clothes store
Palmolive
Movie maker
Gymnasium
Green grocer
Hairdresser
Travel Agent
Cafe
Book shop
Trade off between
ethics and profit
Go Ethical: An advertising company who refuse to work for cigarette companies or clothes stores who produce items in a sweat shop.
Go Profitable: An oil company, Total, had a fire which ignited 300 tonnes of petrol in the UK. Some residents received compensation (money for their loss), but many were left. 1,300 claims were left outstanding. £370million.
Go Both: By becoming more ethical, you will attract customers with a ethical conscience. Product trial and repeat purchase.
The importance and effects of
pressure group activities
Pressure group: An organised group that seeks to influence government, legislation or business behaviour.
E.g. Greenpeace, Amnesty International, Searchlight
Nike suffered serious sales decline when its expensive trainers were produced by low wage far Eastern factories. Pressure groups lead consumers to boycott the business.
Here and Here
Revision clips
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) -
selling water: Here
Advertising online: Here
Healthy Business : Here