Ethics

• Ethics refers to a decision being morally right or wrong.
• Fair-trade products are those for which customers pay higher prices in order to improve the living standards of farmers in poorer countries.
• Social responsibility is an approach to managing businesses in which the interests of all groups in society are taken into account when making decisions.
• Ethical marketing

  • Designing new products to reduce the damage they do to the environment
  • Avoiding targeting children with adverts for unhealthy products
  • Not abusing their market position by charging much higher prices
• Ethical business operations

  • Managers may not choose to buy resources from suppliers that are involved in unethical practices
  • Manufacture products that can be recycled
• The external costs of production are the environmental consequences of the businesses activities
• Non-renewable resources are those which are being used faster than they are being replaced.
• Sustainability refers to the methods of production that can be continued in the long term without damaging the environment.
• Pros and Cons of Ethical policies

  Pros:

  • Positive publicity
  • Can charge higher prices
  • Attracts customers

  Cons:

  • Increase costs
  • Business can't say they are something that they are not (if they say they are ethical, they must act ethically)