Business Ethics in action

When organization set their laws and regulations then they have to ensure that all employees of the different department should perform their operations ethically. Some key ethical issues are there that can degrade the performance of the firm. Some of these are compliance, decision-making, and fundamental and diversity issues (Chang, 2011). Decision-making issues are related to consumer rights and protection. It is the responsibility of the manager to make an ethical decision so that their level of satisfaction can be increased. Fundamental issues are related to the trust that should be built among all the people who are working in the enterprise.

The present report is based on Waitrose, which is a retail industry that performs its operations in the United Kingdom. Supermarkets have to perform their operations based on ethical principles so that their overall performance can be improved. The below-mentioned report is based on business ethics, which explains the stakeholder analysis and normative theories so that overall issues can be resolved.

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STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS

Stakeholders are groups of people, individuals, and organizations that have an interest in the business activities. These people can affect the operations of the enterprise, and along with this, they also get affected due to the activities of the company. As per the viewpoint of Swanson and Frederick (2016), he said that there are some internal and external stakeholders.

Internal stakeholders are employees, managers, executives, and so on. These people can affect the performance of the company. The manager has to change the objectives of the enterprise so their overall performance can be improved and they will be able to increase their profits. Along with this, they have to follow the principles and rules that are made by Waitrose so that their brand image gets better in the country than any other competitors (Giacalone and Promislo, 2013). These stakeholders are:

Employees: These are an important asset of the firm who help them in achieving their objectives and goals. When they performed their operations, then they had to follow all the legislative laws and rules so that smooth functioning could be ensured in the market. The manager has to provide tasks in the team so that trust can be built among all the people, and through this, the overall performance of the firm can be improved. Along with this, they should not give priority to an employee over others; through this, demotivation can be increased among other workers (What Is Business Ethics?, 2017).

Managers and leaders: These are the people who will direct their followers so that overall performance can be improved. They have to make an effective decision so that the overall rights of the staff members can be ensured. Sometimes, the ethical issues can be related to the decision-making process of the higher authority (Choi and Pae, 2011).  Further, they can ask for the views of their staff members and implement those so the overall performance can be improved.

There are some external stakeholders, such as the government, customers, suppliers, competitors, and so on. These can influence the performance of the companies so objectives should be made as per the need of the people who are associated with the firm. These people are:

Customers: These are the external stakeholders of the company who can affect the activities of the business organization. Waitrose should identify the needs and demands of their customers so their overall performance can be improved and they will be able to get success in the market.

Competitors: There are many rivals of Waitrose, such as Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda, Mark and Spenser. These all make the strategies and use the promotional activities to increase the number of customers towards their services.

Suppliers: These are the ones from whom the firm purchases their raw materials, so they have to maintain their relations with them to get the resources on time. Suppliers have to follow all ethical principles; then only the retail industry will make purchases.

Government: They are the ones who make some laws and regulations so that all business organizations efficiently perform their operations. For example, Tesco uses unethical practices to get the land and make the building for their new stores. They don't follow the laws and regulations that are made by the government.

NORMATIVE THEORIES

Normative theories are used by supermarkets in the UK so that they can resolve all their ethical issues. Through these, they will be able to know how things can be done in the right or efficient manner so their overall performance can be improved. Giacalone and Promislo (2013) 201 say that normative is the study of the ethical actions that are performed by the organization. Along with this, it says that the firm has to perform its actions based on the principles and code of conduct so that its growth can be improved (What is normative ethics? 2017). Some of these theories are:

Utilitarianism: This theory is based on the consequences of the actions that are performed by Waitrose in their business environment. Desjardins and McCall (2014) said that actions are correct if their consequences are in the favour of the company. Along with this, all the operations that are performed by the firm should produce pleasure for those who are associated with those actions. For example, Sainsbury is following employability practices in their working environment so that they will be able to provide a healthy and safe environment to the workers. Through this, a peaceful environment can be created where staff members will feel safe while doing their tasks. Some of the enterprises perform such practices that are not beneficial for them but to spread happiness so that overall performance can be improved.

Egoism: This is related to the practices that are performed by the business organization for their self-interest so that they can increase their profits in the market more than any other market players. They are not taking care of the happiness and pleasures. It has been critically argued by Audi (2012) that this theory does not apply to all people because all humans are not selfish. Along with this, it is not a theory that can increase the morale of others. For example, Tesco, which is a supermarket in the UK, pays less to their suppliers to increase their profits.

Ethics of duty: It is the responsibility of all individuals to perform their duties efficiently while following all the laws and regulations. All staff members have to perform their tasks based on their actions with the right intention so that overall performance can be improved. Along with this, it has been analyzed that good outcomes can be achieved if all actions are done with the right intention (Trong Tuan, 2012). For example, Mark and Spencer face some of the issues related to their clothing brand and their prices, so they will not be able to increase their market share. The theory of ethics of duty is not clear, as the manager will not be able to know about the intentions of the people who are doing their work in the firm.

Ethics of rights: This theory is related to the rights of an individual. Some of the rights may be related to the legal, and some are natural. So, every organization should follow the laws such as the consumer protection law, the employment act, and so on. Through them, their level of satisfaction can be increased efficiently (Singh, 201Many supermarkets in the UK are following these laws so they can increase their growth and their brand position at a global level. Along with this, the firm will be able to sustain its competitive advantage in the market. It has been critically argued that through these laws the firm will not be able to spread happiness and pleasure in the firm. 

Virtue ethics: This theory is based on the behavior behavior people rather than their actions. This is also based on the view that actions will be performed based on the behavior of an individual. Along with this, this theory places less emphasis on the laws and regulations. It has been criticized that a human should develop these traits to increase their efficiency and their performance in the enterprise. It is the same as consequentialist theory that all actions are based on their consequences (Stanaland, Lwin, and Murphy, 2011).

According to the view of Crane and Matten (2016), all business organizations have to perform ethical practices in their work environment so that overall performance can be improved. When some ethical dilemmas occur, then they can use some of the strategies to resolve all issues. Fassin, Van Rossem, and Buelens (2011) say that companies should perform their actions based on principles and morale so that competitive advantage can be achieved. Through ethical practices, supermarkets in the UK, such as Waitrose, Tesco, and Sainsbury, can generate more revenues.

When any firm performs its business environment, then its performance is affected due to some internal and external factors (Bishop, 2013). Through these factors, the enterprise has to face some of the ethical dilemmas. To resolve all the issues, they can hire experts who can help them improve their performance. For this, the expert can provide an appropriate approach that involves some of the steps. In the first step, the expert will analyze the situation and explain why these issues occur in the firm. After analyzing the situation, they have to gather the facts and figures so that a proper solution can be generated. For this, they can generate alternative solutions, and based on that, they can select the best solution. In the second step, the person has to identify the consequences of their actions so that happiness can be spread in the enterprise. In the last stage, the expert should take their actions based on their consequences so that overall performance can be improved and Waitrose will be able to get success in the market.

CONCLUSION

From the above-mentioned report, it has been concluded that all organizations should follow ethical practices to get success in the market. These business ethics are based on the key principles and values so that they will be able to know how they have to perform their operations in the market. Along with this, there are some ethical issues such as fundamentals, decision-making, compliance, and diversity. The manager has to focus on these problems so that their overall performance can be improved. Some organizations, such as Tesco and Morrisons, can use normative theories to resolve the ethical dilemmas that occur in the enterprise. Some of these theories are utilitarianism, egoism, ethics of duty, ethics of right, and virtue ethics. Utilitarianism theory is based on the consequences of the actions that should be favorable for the business organization. Egoism is based on the self-interest of the employee, and virtue theory says that all actions are based on the behavior of the people. Along with this, some internal and external factors may affect the performance of the business organization. For this, Waitrose can hire an expert so that overall ethical dilemmas can be resolved and performance can be improved. 

REFERENCES

• Audi, R., 2012. Virtue ethics as a resource in business. Business Ethics Quarterly. 22(02). pp. 273-291.
• Bishop, W.H., 2013. The role of ethics in 21st century organizations. Journal of Business Ethics. 118(3). pp. 635-637.
• Chang, C.H., 2011. The influence of corporate environmental ethics on competitive advantage: the mediation role of green innovation. Journal of Business Ethics. 104(3). pp. 361-370.
• Choi, T.H., and Pae, J., 2011. Business ethics and financial reporting quality: Evidence from Korea. Journal of Business Ethics. 103(3). pp. 403-427.
• Crane, A., and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
• DesJardins, J.R., and McCall, J.J., 2014. Contemporary issues in business ethics. Cengage Learning.
• Fassin, Y., Van Rossem, A., and Buelens, M., 2011. Small-business owner-managers perceptions of business ethics and CSR-related concepts. Journal of Business Ethics. 98(3). pp. 425-453.

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