2.2 Ethical And Environmental Issues Flashcards
Whats Ethics
Moral principles
Ways a business could become more ethical
• Paying workers higher wages
• Improved working conditions
• Reducing pollution
• Buying Fairtrade supplies/agreeing to pay
more to suppliers
• Donations to the community
• Reducing packaging
Benefits to business of trading ethically
• A business may get increased sales from their
reputation of ethical trading this may mean higher sales revenue and that may
mean higher profits
• Businesses that trade ethically tend to have more loyal and motivated staff
• If consumers trust a brand to be ethical, this can
mean competitive advantage for the business
Drawbacks to business of trading ethically
• Having to be an ethical trader may mean the
business is unable to maximise profits for the
shareholders
• Moving production into some countries where
child labour and poor health and safety are
the norm may be very expensive for the
business to put right – UK consumers will no
longer tolerate these practices in the supply
chain
What is a trade-off ?
• A trade-off is a compromise between one
thing and another
• There has to be a trade-off or compromise
between making a profit and being ethical so
everyone is happy
Benefits of business trading with the environment in mind
• Businesses can use their green credentials to
market their products, it can be the USP for the product
• Investing in greener energy can result in a cost saving eventually
• There is a huge “green market” for products
which meet customers needs for greener
living
Drawbacks of business trading with the environment in mind
• Greener products may involve more expensive
production methods, this could mean the
goods are more expensive for customers
• Items like solar panels can mean a huge
investment at the start, which can push up the
costs in the business
What is sustaniablity ?
• Sustainability can be defined as; avoidance of
the depletion of natural resources in order to
maintain an ecological balance
