Category: Ethics

Instructions
In this module’s analytical reading journal, demonstrate that you h

Instructions
In this module’s analytical reading journal, demonstrate that you have an understanding of the concept of the encumbered self by:
Describing the concept in your own words
Explaining how this concept can be seen in the writings of Arendt and King (even if they do not use the exact phrase)
Consider the challenges and the potential positives of living ethically as an encumbered self
All reading and video material is included following instructions on the attachment.

Is Ethical to Increase Minimum Wage Essay

Minimum wage is a term used to define the minimum amount of money an employer is required to pay the wage earner for the work that is performed during a given period. The wages are set by the wage board, wage council, the competent authority, or labor courts or tribunals. The purpose of this minimum wage is to protect workers against low pay. This is to make sure that the workers get their share of the fruit that they have worked for. Minimum wage is one of the elements of policy that helps reduce inequality and helps overcome poverty. The help in inequality is to provide equal workplaces and wages for men and women. The national minimum wage was first introduced in 1998 in the UK; this act was put in place to help low-paid workers from exploitation. There is no accepted argument about what low pay is or what the minimum pay should be.

Ethical issue – This is ethical because with being paid fully people can afford to have a nice life. It also prevents slavery and poverty. This is one of the things that separate working-class people and slaves. It prevents people with no skills to get a job at a low price. Most employees have wages which is above the minimum rate so the law does not prevent the wage from adjusting. Having a minimum wage makes sure people get jobs. This law mostly matters to the least experienced members of the labor force, for example, teenagers. This is an ethical issue because when the salary increases most of the small business owners cannot afford to have a higher payroll and without the minimum wage, people may be forced to work overtime or multiple jobs, placing the kids into work rather than school, they will be denied basic human rights to nutrition, housing, health, education, food which can lead to deprivations. Everyone has their own opinion on this Act depending on their personal view and their job status. As an employer, they would want the minimum pay to be lower to keep the costs down but being an employee would want the wage to be as high as possible to have disposable income. It is very easy for people to be discriminated against if the workplace does not have a minimum wage which can lead to a very poor lifestyle.

Case study – A friend of mine (Nisha) was working for a care home in 2014. She was 23 years old at the time. The ongoing minimum wage at the time was £6.50 per hour for people aged 21 and over. She worked there for just over two years. Her hourly pay that she was receiving was £5.00 per hour which was £1.50 less than the minimum. She didn’t realize she was paid less until one day she spoke to her colleague about the pay raise and asked what pay she was receiving, the hourly pay for her friend was £8.00 as she was a senior worker. This still didn’t make sense how she was treated differently even after two years of dedication to her work. She then went to her manager to get an explanation and she was told that she was not experienced when she started working for the organization and she was provided with the training by the company free of charge. She was also offered to do a course in health and social care provided by the company. She came home and researched what her options were and with the research, she found out that the free course she was offered was funded by the government and not the company, and every employee is eligible for free training when starting a new work even if they have experience in the field they are still eligible for training. She went back to her manager to explain her research and the manager just ignored her. She then decided to go to the owner of the care home explain everything to him and request a pay raise. The Owner did not pay attention to her and just said that he would have a meeting with the manager and let her know. She was then given a few days off from work as holidays. When she came back she was offered a pay raise of £6.00 she accepted the offer even though it was not the minimum wage she carried on working there for a few months and around that time the minimum wages were increased by the government to £6.70 so the company had to evaluate again. The company decided to reduce her working hours from a 10-hour shift to a 6-hour shift and after a few more months, she was let off work saying that the work was not as busy as expected so we had to let you off. She knew the reason for this was the rise in minimum wage. She was given notice for 1 week to leave work and within that time she contacted the HMRC and her lawyer and explained her situation about how she was underpaid for over two years and now she is being fired. The lawyer took her case to court and she sued the company for wage discrimination. The court fined the organisation and she was provided with £10000 which was paid by the workplace and the company was also fined by the HMRC.

Utilitarianism -. This theory looks at all the fair choices to make sure very little harm is done to all of the parties. This theory requires you to decide which actions are right to take and what the outcome of it will be. It makes you make the decision based on the benefit or harm that the actions can cause without thinking of the cost of the action. An example of this will be if a person walks in a hostage situation with 10 people and that person is told that if she kills one person she can save the life of the rest of 9 people. This theory would encourage the person to kill that one person so the other lives can be saved, even though one of the people will lose the life. This theory relates to the case study because Nisha was paid less pay before and the rest of the employees were paid a minimum amount also when the wage was increased by the government all the rest of the employees were given a pay raise which was the greater good but from Nisha’s perspective, she lost her job for the company to keep the rest of the employees.

Just like the example, the theory helps employees be in the greater good and get fair pay even if they are unskilled or unqualified but being employer this is why some people might view this theory as unfair because if we consider the employee point of view for the minimum wage is fair as they get paid fully even though they might not have enough experience but with employers, they have to hire people with no experience and provide them with free training and still pay them the full minimum wage. For example, a company has 50 workers and their wage is £8, 00 per hour when the wage increases to £9.00 from £8.00 the difference of £1.00.

50 workers x £8 per hour = £400 per person. If due to the wage raise the company has to let go of one person then 49 workers x £9 =£441. Somehow both of the parties are affected in this case because 1 person lost the job but still the company has to pay more money even after letting go of the person. People do wonder if it is worth it.

National Minimum Wage Act 1998 – This act was introduced in the UK in 1998. There was no law regarding the wage before 1998. It is a legal requirement for the employer to pay the employee the national minimum wage and if the employer fails to do this then Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HRMC) has the right to take employers to court. The effect of the minimum wage depends on whether the minimum wage is binding or non-binding.

Non-binding- The minimum wage is not binding if it is below the equilibrium rate. No one wants to work or pay for the wage that the below the minimum. This means that the market forces and the forces of the law will not conflict.

Binding – Binding minimum wage is binding if it is above the set wage. The market forces and minimum wage law are conflicted in this case. Adjustment to the minimum wage will not be possible with a binding minimum wage. In the competitive labor market, the minimum wage that is above the equilibrium wage decreases unemployment. However, this does not occur in all types of labor markets.

In my opinion, the increase in the salary can help significant productivity improvements, the employees will stay longer with the same employer and can also reduce turnover. The employers tend to establish a team that is committed to achieving the goals and they have a vision of the company to achieve success, this is one of the reasons why 47% of the employers favor the increase of minimum wage. When the employees receive more salaries they are more dedicated to the work and employers benefit from the work. Sometimes it can cause economic stress to the business but having efficient workforce management can help companies turn the extra labor cost into more productivity and long-term benefits.

My approach is that everyone in the company should be paid equally as it is not fair to discriminate against employees on who gets more or less. The manager should give Nisha the minimum wage as she had worked for the company for over 2 years moreover she should have been given a raise in her pay and for her dedication on top of the minimum wage. If I was the employer I would provide all my employees with the minimum wage and in return, I would expect the employees to give 100% dedication to the work.

I know that the increase in the wage can also have disadvantages as according to my research people have reported having their hours cut due to the increase but there were 1.36 million people unemployed in the UK in September 2018 and this has fallen by 95,000 since September 2017. The employment rate from November 2018 to January 2019 was estimated at 76.1% which is higher than November 2017 which was 75.3%. There were around 3.9% of unemployed people in the proportion of all the people who were employed and have not been lower from November 1974 to January 1975. The number of self-employed workers also decreased by 46,000 to 4.8 million. This was the lowest unemployment rate in over forty years.

Current rates – In the United Kingdom, the wage rates are reviewed in April every year. Below are the current rates of the year 2020 and the previous year’s rates of 2019.

Year 25 and over 21 to 24 18 to 20 Under 18 Apprentice

April 2020 (current rate) £8.72 £8.20 £6.45 £4.55 £4.15

April 2019 to March 2020 £8.21 £7.70 £6.15 £4.35 £3.90

Conclusion

The national minimum wage should be increased even though it can cause unemployment but work should have dignity and this means employees getting paid enough to live a healthy lifestyle. In my opinion, this is an ethical issue because it prevents inexperienced people from getting jobs at a very low rate and it will help people gain experience and skills for a greater wage in the future. If the minimum wage act is not there it will shut people with no experience out of the labor market, which can lead those people to work illegally or for gangs which force them to lead a life of crime. This can be seen as unfair as the only people who will benefit from the minimum wage will be the people who are employed. Unemployed workers have to work very hard to look for new work. In my opinion, Minimum wage is a very good idea because people are treated the same and with fairness and they will all get the same wages, and there will be less discrimination or favoritism. Minimum wages can have complications in the economic environment in the future because if the wage increases that could mean the prices of the products will also increase which can lead to a higher cost of living.

How do Ethics Shape Value Trade-offs in the Pursuit of Security?

Ethics shape value trade-offs in the pursuit of security. Values are the importance something holds. Society is bound by these values. However, people hold many values; therefore, values must be traded according to hierarchical priorities. Security is seen by many as a fundamental value, one that must be held as a priority. Therefore, there are value trade-offs in the pursuit of security. Intertwined in these value trade-offs in the social construct of ethics. These are the moral principles guiding individuals when conducting activities to choose between the right and wrong decision. Ethics are very important when considering value trade-offs especially in the pursuit of security in order for the correct decision to be made. Ethics shape value trade-offs such as privacy and freedoms in the pursuit of security by considering the end result in order for the best outcome to occur which is usually achieved through a balance.

Society is driven by norms and values. Values are the things that are believed to be important. They should determine priorities Members of society must have a general agreement on the matter of right and wrong, values, and morality in order to function properly. Understanding human values is a never-ending process. Values serve as standards to guide action and judgement. According to Williams (1979) values are complex and multifaceted “pre-coding’s” that are a result of learn fusions of “cognitive-conceptual with imperative elements” the determination of values is the result of mental processes, either instinctive or logical. Instinct recognises the value of food, clothes, and shelter. “Logical adopts established forms and limits consideration of values to some one or all these forms” (Understanding Human values., 1979) Values should be determined by the desire to be accomplished. “When the value of such things is emphasised the very qualities are developed in human beings searching for a way to gratify their desires” (William F. Fowler., (1935)) Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper ‘A Theory of Human Motivation” Ranking values in a form of a hierarchy, of importance, one must achieve the lower levels before moving onto the next level. The most important is physiological such as food, water, shelter and sex. (Journal of Nursing Management, 2003). The next is safety needs (security), then belongingness and love, (need for belongingness, friendship and love.), then esteem, (feel competent, confident and self‐assured), and finally self-actualisation. (‘be all that one can be’.) Baldwin (1997) also put forth a hierarchical model of values which categories values in relations to their priority, as prime (first importance)., core (important)., and marginal (minor) (Concept of security., 1997) Examples of Australian values include democracy, human rights, equal opportunity, and rule of law. Security is seen as a value in society. Wolfers (1952,) defines security as: “the absence of threats to acquired values, in an objective sense, and in a subjective sense, as “the absence of fear that such acquired values will be attacked”. The purpose of security in society is to maintain freedom and peace, protect citizens and assets of society. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs express security as second in importance. Values are important to individuals and states however people hold many values and therefore necessitates the sacrifice of some values.

People hold many values; therefore, values must be traded according to hierarchical priorities. To help determine what values hold priority, Maslow’s and Baldwins theories can put the concept of trading values into perspective. Maslow’s (1943) hierarchy of needs is placed in the form of most important to less important. This theory can be used when looking at the concept of trading values as the higher less important values at the top of the hierarchy could be traded in return of a lower more important value. Baldwin’s theory (1997) facilitate social trade-offs against the various values that enable society to function. Puts values into categories in order of priority. This theory can also be used in relation to trading values as your most prime value would take priority. Everyday values are being traded in order to prioritise other values. In recent times with the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals are trading substantial values for safety and wellbeing. Trading the values of freedom of movement, and freedom of choice for wellbeing. As individuals now see health as a priority and more important than other values. (Coole & ABC news 2020) Security is valued by individuals, families and states. Security, however, is not the only thing they value; and the pursuit of security necessitates the sacrifice of other values. The concept of trading values can then come into play with the pursuit of security. The pursuit of security always involves costs, (The concept of security., 1997) Trading values doesn’t have to be an all or nothing concept, it can be gained or sacrificed to certain degrees. Security is about protecting its citizens and its assets of society. In order to have security and to have that protection, certain values are needed to be traded to a certain degree. It is natural to give up some liberty in order to have security. Wolfers (1952) suggests “the sacrifice of other values for the sake of security inevitable” In order to have protection, government/ countries need to be aware of certain aspects of the world and be able to watch, maintain or remove threats. This would not be possible without certain intelligences being conducted such as SIGINT with the interception of signal data. Having certain data intercepted means there is a certain degree of the value of privacy being sacrificed due to phone calls, emails etc being analysed. However, it could be considered more ethical to have less security in order to preserve some values such as privacy and individual freedoms. Citizens are not being watched constantly and individuals have the freedoms to move freely and exercise their human rights. Therefore, Security is a value that must be balanced. Individuals have so many values that some must be traded especially in pursuit of security.

Entwined in value trade-offs is the social construct of ethics. The moral principles guiding individuals when conducting activities towards a goal, regulating between right and wrong. Ethics comes in term with not only making ethical decisions but following a code of ethics (Fannon, K. 2001). Fannon discusses that while ethics can be an in- the-moment decision making it also follows a code of conduct that has ethical considerations already developed within it. Consequentialism is the class of normative ethical theories, “whether an act is right or wrong depends on the results of that act. The more good consequences an act produces, the righter that act is. It gives guidance when faced with a moral dilemma, to choose the choice that maximises good consequence. The classic form of results-based ethics is called utilitarianism. This says that the ethically right choice is the one that produces the most happiness for the largest number of people, (Ethics guide, 2014). When trading values the social construct of ethics need to be taken into consideration in order for the best choice to be made. When trading values, individuals need to consider the effect not having a certain value on a society, a community, or an individual. What are the end results in trading certain values? Would it be essential to have one value over another? Would this trade produce the most happiness? Does it respect individuals? Would the value trade-off have a positive or negative outcome? Examples of trading which may not be ethical is North Korea who trade privacy and freedom of movement for authority and power. They value authority and obedience and to get that they take away human rights of their people. Individuals liberty is traded in order for North Korean officials to maintain power. Individuals are not allowed to freely leave the country and they live in certain areas in relations to their social class. Values such as freedom of movement and privacy are traded for authority and power without any ethical considerations and therefore North Korea has breached human rights and have a negative outcome. (Human rights in North Korea., 2018). Ethics need to be considered when trading values in order to determine the moral choice between what values are considered important to individuals of society and which take priority in order to have the best outcome in which everyone is happy.

With the value of security being an important part of the community, ethics must be taken into consideration. Ethics shape value trade-offs in order to confirm the consideration of certain principles to make sure the right decision is made. These principles include consideration to life, the end result and the overall happiness of the people. Ethics help to consider the positive and negative effects of the value trade off. If there is a positive effect, then the value trade off was a successful trade. However, if there is a negative consequence then the trade-off was ethically incorrect. These ethical principles shape these value trade-offs in the pursuit of security in order for there to be a positive effect. This is usually achieved when there is a balance. Security is seen as an important value however there are other values to be considered. Security is a global issue that needs ethics applied to it for the benefit and safety of all to be maintained. Without the influence of moral principles, values can be breached. An example is CCTV footage, for the safety and protection of individuals, but also for the prosecution of law breakers. While security cameras can be useful for management of security, they could infringe values such as privacy if the cameras were placed in toilets. Metadata plays a critical role in serious criminal and national security investigations. However, the argument is whether breaching privacy, is justifiable for the pursuit of security (Responding to requests to access to CCTV Footage, 2015). In the Trade-Off between Civil Liberties and Security in the United States and Germany after 9/11/01, Zuegmann talks that people lean towards a balance of security with liberty (2009). When there is no balance, that’s when damaging effects can occur. Therefore, as an ethical consideration, the use of security is not an at all cost’s justification. Ethics help shape value trade off in the pursuit of security in order for there to be a balance. Security to be able to protect the freedom of society without suppressing society. It would be unethical to completely take away human right in order to gain security. A balance is needed as security is seen as a prerequisite for the enjoyment of other values. (Concept of security., 1997) Ethics shape value trade-offs in the pursuit of security in order for there to be a balance for a stable society, as pursuing security goals that infringe ethics, can lead to the elimination of civil liberties. In order for security to be beneficial, ethics need to be applied in order to determine if the end result creates the best outcome and society is happy. Although security is an important value it is not the only essential value and therefore ethics shape the trading of these values in the pursuit of security in order for the best possible outcome to occur within what is morally correct.

Values are very important to individuals, communities and states. However, people hold so many values that value trade-offs occur in which the less important values are traded for the values that take priority. This is seen in everyday life including the Covid-19 pandemic in which individuals are trading freedom of movement for their wellbeing (ABC., 2020). This is seen in the value trade-offs in the pursuit of security. Certain values such as privacy is sacrificed in order for the protection of security. However, value trade-offs are not an all or nothing approach. Value can be gained and sacrificed to certain degrees. Especially in the pursuit of security a balance is necessary for society to function properly. A balance in these value trade-offs also link with the social construct of ethics. Ethics shape value trade-offs especially in the pursuit of security in order to make sure the best positive outcomes occur, and the largest number of people are happy. It would be unethical to take away certain values or human rights completely, therefore ethics and the moral principles consider the positive and negative outcomes of each trade in order to make a decision. Ethics shape value trade-offs in the pursuit of security by considering certain principles of life and the end result, weighing the positive and negative outcomes in order for there to be a balance so the best outcome can occur.

References

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2. Milton Rokeach., (1979)., Understanding human values individuals and societal., the free press.,
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6. McLeod, S. A., (2007)., Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs., http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
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8. Daniel J., ( 2011)., Solve Nothing to Hide: The False Trade-off between Privacy and Security., GW Law Faculty Publications., https://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2092&context=faculty_publications
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10. ABC., (2020)., The High Court Rules Indigenous people can’t be ‘aliens’. Plus, is illegally obtained evidence allowed in court?., https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lawreport/high-court-indigenous-deportation-and-illegal-evidence-in-court/11948486
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17. ABC News., (2020).,Charting the COVID-19 spread in Australia., https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-17/coronavirus-cases-data-reveals-how-covid-19-spreads-in-australia/12060704
18. Cora Zeugmann., (2008)., Trade-Off between Civil Liberties and Security in the United States and Germany after 9/11/01
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20. Lucia Zedner., (2009)., Security
21. Responding to requests to access to CCTV Footage., (2015)., Maddocks., (2020)

The Ethics of Punishment

This scene makes one wonder whether or not this action is right, which is the point of Judge Dredd’s character. There have been many theories of ethics proposed that attempt to answer what makes a punishment right and justified. Three notable philosophers, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, and H.L.A. Hart, have all proposed their own theories. For our society to be one that is moral, we must analyze each of these philosophers’ theories to see which we should model our laws after.

The aforementioned scene seems to most clearly mirror “retributivist” ethics. Retributivism is hard to define as pointed out by Chin Liew Ten when he states in his work Crime, Guilt, and Punishment, “There is no complete agreement about what sorts of theories are retributive except that all such theories try to establish an essential link between punishment and moral wrongdoing” (38). The central idea of all retributive theories is that the criminal deserves some degree of punishment due to the criminal’s immoral actions. This leaves a lot of room for retributive theories, however, so much so that any further analysis of retributive theory overall is almost impossible. To simplify this analysis, I will simply analyse Immanuel Kant’s retributive theory.

The foundation of Kant’s retributive theory is that which he dubs the “principle of equality.” This simple principle states that when a criminal has committed a wrongful act, he has upset the balance of the scale of justice. He has inflicted one wrong on another and therefore has made himself deserving of wrong as punishment. Another core principle of Kant’s retributive theory is the “principle of retaliation.” This principle states that any wrongful act that a criminal has committed should be viewed as committed to himself. The easiest example to understand this principle with is that of the stimulus material: the criminal attempted to kill an innocent and therefore deserves to be killed according to this principle.

This theory of legal ethics is elegant and simple which has caused it to be one of the most popular in contemporary times, especially in America. The theory is crafted in such a way that innocents cannot possibly be morally punished with the theory’s principle of equality. It is also crafted in such a way that appeals to the average person’s most basic ideals of justice such as the age-old thought of an eye for an eye. However, many criticisms of this theory have been brought forth, these criticisms challenging the idea that punishment can be administered on the grounds of justice without taking into account the balance of happiness and unhappiness.

One notable criticism of Kant’s retributive theory comes from Gertrude Ezorsky. In this critique, Ezorsky calls upon one to imagine a world where punishment has no further effects worth achieving, meaning that victims get no solace from punishment, punishment entails no rehabilitation, and punishment does not deter crime. In this world, the retributivist would be condemned to punish wrongdoers despite the fact that nothing will ever come of it and despite the fact that nobody will benefit from this punishment. While this argument would not deter a retributivist, as Kant says, “if justice and righteousness perish, human life would no longer have any value in the world” (104), it still shows that Kant’s retributivism would be problematic to the average person. A more damning critique of retributive theory is the critique of the lex talionis, the aforementioned thought of an eye for an eye.

This idea is extremely problematic in almost every case where punishment must be given. For example, how should we punish a kidnapper? Applying the lex talionis, the proper punishment for a kidnapper is to kidnap them or one that they love, which many would identify as morally wrong. In many cases, the lex talionis is impossible to apply such as in the case of counterfeiting money. There are many cases where applying the lex talionis would be despicable as it would cause the government to perform heinous action. For example, using the lex talionis to punish a rapist would be utterly wrong. As a result, appeals to this idea have been replaced with the principle of proportionality, which differs in each retributive theory, making it hard to critique overall. However, one universal critique is that if a less heinous punishment can produce the same or better outcome for all parties involved, the retributivist will still, however, be forced to give out punishment that can be viewed as heinous due to the principle of retaliation.

As one can see, though, many of these critiques cannot influence a retributivist as a retributivist can simply shrug off each critique as retributive theory, at its core, states that the offender fundamentally deserves punishment regardless of all of these hypotheticals. This is very similar to how the character Judge Dredd acts as he cares only for the law and punishes all who break it. However, there is a theory of ethics which is much more open-ended yet equally as criticized as retributive theories. This theory of ethics prioritizes the utility of punishment rather than prioritizing the idea of justice. This is the theory of utilitarianism.

Utilitarianism is the theory of ethics, including but not limited to legal punishment, where the morality of an action is determined by the balance good and evil that is produced by that action. Much like retributive theory, there are many different brands of utilitarian theory. For example, Jeremy Bentham associated good with pleasure and evil with pain, and claimed that greatest amount of pleasure should belong to as many as possible. John Stuart Mill held nearly identical beliefs except that he associated good with happiness and evil with unhappiness. For the purposes of this paper, I will be analyzing John Stuart Mill’s version of utilitarianism.

Despite the fact that we are using a specific philosopher’s version of utilitarianism, there is still a lot of room for interpretation of how punishment should be given out given the terms of this theory’s morality. Traditionally, utilitarians focus on three separate ways punishment is used to maximize happiness through stopping crime. The first is detering potential defenders. In theory, knowing that there will be punishment for an action will deter someone from committing a crime. The second way is incapacitating offenders, meaning keeping them in a state where they can commit no further crimes. The third way is to rehabilitate offenders, which in theory makes them less likely to commit crimes once their punishment has ended. A fourth way that a punishment can affect happiness which is invoked less often is how society views the punishment given out to a specific offender, including whether or not punishment is given at all.

The fourth is often excluded because it opens utilitarianism to one of its most damning criticisms. H.L. McCloskey in his work A Non-Utilitarian Approach to Punishment states the following:

Suppose a utilitarian were visiting an area in which there was racial strife, and that, during his visit, a Negro rapes a white woman, and that race riots occur as a result of the crime, white mobs, with the connivance of the police, bashing and killing Negroes, etc. Suppose too that our utilitarian is in the area of the crime when it is committed such that his testimony would bring about the conviction of a particular Negro. If he knows that a quick arrest will stop the riots and lynchings, surely, as a utilitarian, he must conclude that he has a duty to bear false witness in order to bring about the punishment of an innocent person.

According to McCloskey, a utilitarian, according to their own moral code, must disregard notions of justice and must only care about happiness of the collective. This is a very problematic idea as it leads to situations such as the one above, where innocence is completely disregarded. A utilitarian, however, might counter this argument by saying that punishing an innocent causes unhappiness with certainty as the utilitarian knows the punishment will cause much grief to the innocent and his family while happiness is not guaranteed by the action as the projected results are based on a hunch. This argument is used by T.L.S. Sprigge in his work dubbed A Utilitarian Reply to Dr. McCloskey. This counter, however, is equally as problematic as it argues that the man should not be punished because it will not balance happiness and unhappiness, which is not why the man shouldn’t be punished. The man shouldn’t be punished because punishing him is unjust. Utilitarianism does not account for ideals such as justice and, therefore, is not an adequate theory.

A much more appealing theory than either utilitarianism or retributivism is Hart’s theory of ethics, which seeks to combine both utilitarianism and retributivism. Hart’s fundamental claim is that there are essentially two questions that must be answered in the ethics of punishment. The first question is, “What justifies the general practice of punishment?” The second, separate question is, “To whom may punishment be applied?” To the first question, Hart suggests that we apply utilitarian thought and to the second, retributive thought. Essentially, Hart suggests that the practice of punishment must promote the reduction of crime, a utilitarian ideal, but also suggests that punishment must only be allowed punish an offender for an offense, a retributive idea. These two principles combined create a theory where tangible benefits in society are pursued while the possibility of punishing those who do not deserve punishment is greatly lessened.

However, Hart’s theory is not without its flaws. Hart admits that, in the most extreme cases, that the latter principle may be overridden by utilitarian concerns only in the most extreme cases with the most grave seriousness. This process, however, cannot work in the reverse as according to Hart, some social good must be produced by punishment or else the punishment becomes unjustifiable. This leads to the situation where a heinous criminal cannot be punished for his crimes if it does not produce good social consequences. Many ethicists find this consequence unacceptable. Ten takes this further in his aforementioned work when he states, ““it would be unfair to punish an offender for a lesser offense and yet not punish another offender for a more serious offense” (80).

This criticism that Ten puts forward appeals to our intuitions of fairness. However, I and several others have found this criticism to be uncompelling upon further analysis. We must ask ourselves why it is unfair for a lesser offender to be punished while a more serious offender goes unpunished. Upon further analysis, it is clear that the minor offender has no grounds for complaint. Regardless of the punishment of the serious offender, the minor offender still committed the minor offense. The justification of punishment arguably should not be contingent upon the punishment of others as the minor offender is an offender nonetheless. Society has not failed him by not punishing the serious offender as the minor offender is owed punishment regardless of who else goes unpunished.

For the aforementioned reasons, it is clear that Hart’s theory of ethics bests retributive ethics and utilitarian ethics. While the latter two have large flaws, whether it be stating that punishment’s goal is to serve vengeance or stating that justice has no place in punishment, Hart effectively combines these two theories to make one where both justice and happiness play a role in punishment. While it is far from flawless, it is clear that it is superior to both of these other forms of legal ethics.

Upon further analysis, Dredd’s action is still unclear in terms of morality. While being nearly completely justified in retributivist theory, Dredd’s action is still morally grey under both Mill’s and Hart’s theory which is arguably the point of the scene. His action shows that despite coming up with a “perfect theory,” there will always be ethical dilemmas in a system of law.

Concepts Of Ethical Leadership And Their Potential

Leadership literature has not remained the same as over the years it has been developed by various researchers and there has been a strong belief that leadership is something that is modifiable as there is a transformation constantly happening in the way people think over the years. The principal theories appeared throughout the 19th century such as the Great Man Theory, the Trait theory, the Behavioural theory amongst many others. Leadership theories are adjusted due to the changes happening in the world however, it does not mean that any of the theories are completely irrelevant as it is important to apply them within a suitable context. According to Brown et al. (2005), ethical leadership is associated with the behavior, trust, and honesty of the leader. Following the downfall of ENRON, ethical leadership has become a crucial part of organizations as unethical practices have the ability to destroy the culture of an organization.

The study of leadership is complex and vast but also important to practitioners and academics as it helps the practitioners to gain knowledge and expertise through practice and helps the academic gain knowledge and understanding through research. The complexity of leadership can be understood through the words of Bennis and Nanus (1997) who state the following “Leadership is the most studied and least understood concept of any in the social sciences “and by Dan Wren (1994) who stated, “Despite the mountains of literature on leadership, we still know very little… leadership is still much of an art”. However, even though leadership is complex it is also flexible and can be applied in relevant contexts as mentioned above. Ethical leadership is according to Northouse (2016) a structure of guidelines that gives direction to leaders in order to make decisions and analyze what is right or wrong to do. For instance, Kanungo and Mendonka (1996) mentioned that when moral values are corrupted by leaders then the moral health of society is also corrupted. While Derr (2012) highlighted the importance of ethical leadership as without it there is a high chance of chaos happening in organizations which will also likely affect the world.

There are various approaches to ethical leadership such as:

Virtue based ethics

Virtue-based ethics is described according to Oakley (1996) as an act of action that an individual will perform either right or wrong which can only be justified through an example of a “virtuous agent”. The description of a virtuous person would be a person who seeks to do what is right and has positive characteristics such as honesty and fairness and would not fail at practicing these virtues when facing critical situations (Timmons, 2012). This suggests that a person must act based on the right motives for the actions to be right however, it is not enough for one to act with the right motives as it may fail to achieve a high standard of desired results and thus an appropriate motive before the action should be considered (Oakley, 1996). This, therefore, means, if the motives are right then the action will also follow suit. Moreover, Keller (2007) says that it is not enough to act as a virtuous agent but a person should rather focus on becoming the virtuous agent.

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism mainly focuses on the consequences of one’s action which will determine whether the action was right or wrong. For instance, if a person’s actions have been wrong but the results were good, then his actions may be considered as good and ethical. This can be called an act of consequentialism developed by utilitarians such as Jeremy Bentham (1789), John Stuart Mill (1861) as well as Henry Sidgwick (1907). Bentham (1789), emphasizes the value of pleasure against pain, however, Hinman (2013), criticized this logic and called it a pleasure-seeking theory that uses pleasure as a means of measurement. Mill (1861) adjusted Bentham’s philosophy by making a difference between the higher and lower quality of pleasure and stated that in utilitarianism the importance is not in the quantity of pleasure but in its quality.

Deontology

Deontology comes from the word “duty” and is largely associated with the philosopher Immanuel Kant (1785), who believed that a person must act with kindness and treat people the way the person would like to be treated rather than acting on self-interest. His work further says that even if the outcome of the actions is good, some acts are always considered bad regardless of the outcome. The Kantian perspective differs from Betham’s philosophy because it highlights the importance of the “duty to do what is right” compared to the selfish nature of humans seeking pleasure. However, there is some criticism of this theory which comes for instance from Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) who criticized this philosophy as unclear and focusing only on mere duty which does not give specific guidance on moral duties.

Justice based ethics

As Northouse (2013) states, there are five principles of ethical leadership which include the respect of others, serving others, practicing justice, be honest, and strengthen the community. This, therefore, makes Justice another ethical principle which according to Northouse (2013) is about the leaders acting in a fair and just manner because only with justice can followers be treated equally. This could also be understood as an egalitarian concept that traces back to ancient Hebrews where Jesus Christ said “Love your neighbor as yourself” which according to Goodman (2008) was classified as the “Bible’s core ethical imperative” emphasizing equal treatment of people.

Ethics of care

The ethics of care is largely associated with Nel Noddings (1984) who highlighted the importance of caring and sympathizing as a solid foundation for ethical actions. In this theory, Noddings (1984) states that a person should act with commitments to perceive the need and act with empathy to fulfill each other’s wellbeing. It has also been described as a feminist philosophy as other approaches to ethics were male-centered and focused on the masculine experience and Noddings (1984) states that other approaches such as utilitarianism and deontology did not provide adequate knowledge on how women address ethical concerns.

Furthermore, a critical view on ethical leadership has been written by Knights & O’Leary (2006), who mentioned the failure in ethical leadership that is attributed to the supremacy of individualism whose focus is on the self-image. The critical view emphasizes the need to change self-centered leadership as without it is not possible to achieve ethical leadership. After the scandal of large companies such as ENRON, the influence of business schools to educate managers have been questioned. However, Goshal (2004) stated the following words “’We – as business school faculty – need to own up to our own role in creating Enrons” which means that managers mostly learn from the various theories they have been taught. While Mintzberg (2004) claims that there has not been adequate training for MBAs to act as managers and therefore when they find themselves as leaders they eventually fail.

Ethics and Professional Framework

Even though the business world is becoming global, many organizations do not offer international Learning and Development. Dowling et al (2012) report that ‘a small proportion of European organizations provide a cross-cultural training to expatriates, and only around half offer briefings for potentially problematic international placements.’ Brownell (2006); Swart et al (2007) says that ‘many of the skills required for the international arena are generic but intercultural skills (cultural sensitivity, cultural intelligence and a global mindset) are critical to the international context’. Global mindset is the capability to connect and work within diverse cultures, to cope with uncertainty and global complexity.

Complexity comprises environmental concerns that vary widely from one region or country, such as the economic, social, political, religious and legal influences. Working globally entails an improvement of political skills and the capability to build up and endure relationships and networks McDonnell and Collings (2011).

As with other programmes of management development,

• one needs to assess what global leaders do that differentiate their work from that of domestic managers
• identify the behaviors associated with the roles in order to determine behaviorally linked competencies

According to Pinnington et al (2014), development openings for global leaders include:

• international assignments
• membership of international/global teams
• travel overseas
• action learning
• attendance at international meeting and forums
• L&D focused on international issues

The development needs of expatriates and their families are very important and different from those of global leaders. They act as representatives for knowledge transfer across geographical borders and many organizations rely on pre-departure training programmes which includes Pinnington et al (2014).

• ‘Expatriates training tailored to individuals and their destination
• Short – term overseas assignments
• Coaching and mentoring
• Assessment centres
• Personal security (health and safety, terrorist threats)’
• E-learning
• International job rotation.

Managing knowledge

Employees are recruited because of their ability to apply knowledge through their experience and skills development. This makes it necessary for organizations to know how to identify, harness, manipulate and incorporate into its structures and norms. Knowledge is either Explicit or Tacit. Explicit knowledge can be accessed since its expressed in written materials and is easily transferable from one person to another.

Tacit knowledge is normally known as ‘know how’ and is attained through experience, making it difficult to specify, quantify, capture and transfer. Tacit knowledge is critical to competitive advantage and can create high performance and is unique to individuals within specific organizations. Swart (2007) describes knowledge workers as ‘employees who apply their valuable knowledge and skills (developed through experience) to complex, novel and abstract problems in environments that provide rich collective knowledge and relational resources’. Further, she proposes that knowledge workers are found in vigorous, swift, unsteady environments, with new structures, dealing with unclear client demands, compared with more traditional, slow-growing organizations.

Assessing global leadership competencies

Assessing and measuring leadership competencies effectively is key to organizations operating in a global environment. Most of the tools used are questionnaires tests used to measure personality or attitudinal competency components with limited research on their criterion-related validity Bird and Stevens (2013). However, though more exploration is needed, on the assessment centres approach, it is proved to be the ‘best practice’ measurement tool because it assesses all the competency components – job specifics, behaviors and skills as well as personality and attitudinal dimensions of global leadership competencies Povah and Thornton (2011).

Generally, performance management, competency-based selection and leadership development programmes are known for their ability to enhance firm-specific expertise and skills as well as being adopted widely by HR professionals and those concerned with global leadership assessment and development Bird (2013); Brownell (2006).

It is challenging to identify global leadership competencies such as aptitudes, personal characteristics, knowledge and skills needed for success in global leadership positions Brake (1997); Felicio, Caldeirinha, and Rodrigues (2012).

It is important to use a separate competency framework for talent management of global leaders from that of global managers which measures different competencies related to global leadership skills in reading and responding appropriately to cross-section cues, norms and working in a diversity of cultural contexts to influence others to attain organizational goals. Identification and assessment of leaders’ competencies for development is essential. Difficult assessment of these competencies serves as the foundation of effective talent management practices for global leaders Conger and O’Neill (2012).

Effective assessment practices are essential for the selection and identification of current and potential global leadership talent like for succession and career planning purposes. It is also critical for the development and retention of global leadership talent which require a well-informed and deliberate commitment to organizational resources.

Ethical and professional frameworks and codes of practice

Professional ethics are doctrines that manage the behaviour of a person in a corporate environment. Like values, they offer a set of rules on or how a person group should act towards other people and business in such an environment. Ethics enlighten the important ground rules by which we live our lives and are directly linked to the values such as (respect, honesty, fairness, compassion, responsibility etc) which direct us how we believe and should behave.

Codes of conduct and ethics set out the important standards to guide performance. They help ensure the business is effective, open and responsible. Managing ethics in the workplace involves identifying and prioritising values to guide behaviours in the business. This is achievable through the development of codes of ethics and conduct and related policies and procedures.

Ethical principles may differ subject on the type of profession though there are some ethical principles that are cross-cutting. Ethics are referred to as a division of moral enquiry that relates to ‘choices made and the actions undertaken by the individual and how these impact on wider society’ McMenemy, Poulter and Burton (2007).

A code of conduct is a clear-cut of expected standards of behaviour and expectations. It specifies actions in the organization, while a code of ethics is a general guide to decisions about those actions.

Ethical and legal issues may overlap. However, the variance is that ethics are imposed by the entity’s own morality, while laws are applied by the powers of the government and its agencies. An example is the work of Liberians which involves offering needed information to different people from various libraries. Access to information is an essential element of a country’s development into a knowledge economy. Library associations show a vital role to activist on the ethical extents of professional matters and to fight for the ethical values that have traditionally guided the profession. Professional codes of ethics symbolize a set of principles for librarians to consider. A library association can develop effective approaches to allow library and information professionals to jointly support and promote society’s values. methods of self-assessment and self-development for management development practitioners;

Assessment or evaluation can be defined as the action of determining the worth of something and making suitable judgements on issues. Likewise, self-assessment is the capacity to scrutinize yourself to find out how much development you have made.

Ethical and skills needed in Consulting practices

The field of Human Relations training is developing rapidly likewise the increase of human relations consultants and group facilitators, making it more important to reflect what is ethical and not ethical and what may be ethical but imprudent, unprofessional and irresponsible. More concern is with the responsibilities of practical, competent professional consultants. This has been separated in to four areas of thought linking to: –

• (1) self and colleagues,
• (2) individual clients,
• (3) training groups, and
• (4) organizations.

Self and Colleagues

The major ethical concern for a consultant is the presentation of professional qualifications. The consultant has an ethical responsibility to clear all the implied inaccuracies in regard to his qualifications ones misrepresented or introduced wrongly.

Therefore, it is important for organizers to be careful when presenting their consultants to avoid eroding their confidence. They should always try to balance the representation of their professional competence giving equal weight to both their strengths and limitations.

Consultants ought to request what they are worth of and provide what their client pays for. It is their accountability to ensure that their agreement with the client is clear in terms of professional fee and agreed up expenses.

Consultants are responsible for monitoring their both physical and mental health because they are working with other people. It is immoral for a professional to criticize another professional either to another colleague or to the general public.

Never talk or show a negative non-verbal sign to consultants. Always say what you can in their presence. This way, you will have passed the test.

Confrontation

Never fail to confront the consultant in case you have reservations in their competence or behaviour of another consultant. You should approach the person directly and let him know what unethical behaviour you mean since you are ethically responsible. Normally, consultants cannot stand their effectiveness to be underpinned by somebody else’s incompetence or behaviour. This seems to be a serious problem hence, its best to collude. However, failing to confront when necessary can be irresponsible and ‘not to decide is to decide’. Again, as professionals, we must try to regulate ourselves as bars and medical associations do.

Individual Clients

Individual relationships also have ethical issues. Consultants are obliged to act in a responsible and professional way with those who are relying on their expertise. In case the consultant conducts a training with an aim of evaluating people, the ‘assessment center’ method can be ethical when everyone understands the rule. If he can be requested how a particular individual performed, the only ethical defensible response is to refer the inquirer to openly dialogue with the individual concerned. It is unethical for a consultant to reveal any information without previous clear understanding between him and the individual to the supervisor.

Confidentiality

When requested to keep information private, you agree and fail to do so, you behave unethically. Reviewing confidential data is an obvious breach because it can affect the situation. If someone wants to give you confidential information as a consultant, you can say that you do not accept confidential material and explain why. You can explain that you wish to keep the information secret. This makes it easier for the consultant to deal with.

Sexuality

Consultants or any kind of facilitator should never use their role to establish a sexual relationship with their participants because they would be violating the standards of ethical behaviour. The act leaves a consultant in a situation where he cannot distinguish accurately between the personal appeal and his role influence.

The truth is: if you are seriously involved individually with a participant (either sexually or emotionally), you are

• less able to attend to your professional commitments and
• less available to be responsive to other participants.

Majority of participants notice if there is a special relationship between the facilitator and a participant. Such a state time and again generates counterproductive energy that is knowledgeable as jealousy and resentment. A real world solution is to take sufficient time of about three to six months before getting involved in a sexual relationship with a participant since this can distract one’s work. Consultants commitment has to be the contract with the client, and anything unethical has to be avoided.

Training Groups

Consultants must explain clearly the training techniques to the participants to avoid surprises. They have to be sensitive to the norms of the setting in which the training takes place and not use techniques that swerve evidently from participants’ behaviour expectations.

When conducting training, consultants must pay attention to its application and content. Participants also must be responsive for its effectiveness.

Organizations

It’s important for consultants to check the values of an organization before they get engaged for acceptability. Their role is to assist leaders to realize their objectives. They use ‘value free’ techniques to know whether they are ethical. When consultants engage in secret actions which are not linked to the organizational objectives, they become unethical in behaviour. Live example is that when an RRA staff reveal information to a taxpayer regarding measures to be taken against him in regard to fraud beforehand, he acts unethically.

Assessing outcomes

It is important to evaluate interventions to identify the impact of work done and what could be further needed. It is good practice to assess consultants’ work because it is normally affected by either internal or external factors and leadership pressures. The results of their services may not be realized immediately and that’s why their work need to be evaluated to identify improvement difference. It is crucial to get the participants’ improvement feedback as one tool of measurement.

CONCLUSION

It is unfortunate to know that nowadays human relations training on ethic is not very clear. However, understanding ethics is embedded in words like: Power, sensitivity, responsibility, motivation and caring. Trainers or consultants are in a position of power due to their roles. They should be sensitive because people have high and different expectations and need to be clearly aware of their responsibilities. Facilitators monitor the working environment with openness to gain other people’s trust for exploration given that there is adequate room for group learning to take place.

The Aspects of Ethics in Marketing

Abstract

The main aim for this study is to understand what does it means for ethics marketing. The study focus on theoretical by use liter-ature review own ideas of researcher, and to define, examine the nature and scope, identify issues, provide a decision-making framework, and trace the historical development of marketing ethics from a practice and academic perspective.. Findings – good marketing is ethical marketing. Good marketing is about satisfying and developing a long-term rela-tionship with your customers. Caring about your customers not only results in profits (or achieving your organization’s objectives if an or-ganization is not-for-profit), it is the ethical thing to do.

Introduction

Marketing ethics came of age in the 1990s. (Murphy, 2002). Ethics is a difficult and controversial concept. Many businesses and nearly all professions have a code of ethics. Marketing is a key functional area in the business organization that provides a visible interface with not only customers, but other stakeholders. (Ferrell, 2007)

Though a complete review of ethics will not be undertaken here, a very brief review of moral philosophy as it relates to business and mar-keting ethics is useful to understand the philosophical approaches to this subject. Modern moral philosophy probably had its beginnings in G. E. Moore’s Principia Ethics in 1903 (Maclntyre 1998), though Adam Smith addresses the idea of fair business competition at an earlier date in his book The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759).

Formal ethical consideration found its way into business in the 1920s with the first code of ethics in the area of marketing being attributed to the advertising industry, which developed a code in 1928. Additional-ly, in academia some early advertising and marketing texts began ad-dressing ethical issues (Curtis,1931).

A few classic business ethics works were published as early as the 1930s, but as a distinct academic discipline, business ethics conceivably has its roots in the 1950s (Paul 1987). However, one of the first and most prominent, comprehensive empirical works in business ethics was by (Baumhart,1961), who identified eight major ethical problems that business people wanted to eliminate. As pointed out by (Chonko and Hunt, 2000), five of the eight ethical abuses fell in the domain of mar-keters’ activities.

In other words, most individuals do not feel they have the freedom to decide ethical issues independent of organizational pressures. This knowledge places significant pressure on organizations to develop codes of ethics, ethics training, and an ethical corporate culture that encourages appropriate behavior. Most organizational ethics programs focus on developing ethics codes and phonies and developing commu-nication systems and control mechanisms to encourage ethical behav-ior.( Terry, 2001)

The existence of a code of ethics in a profession means that unethical behavior may not be allowed or tolerated. (Yıldız et al, 2013)

Ethics marketing

Ethics is the standard that determines what is right and what is wrong (Kurtz, 1999). Ethics can be define as the inquiry into the nature and ground of morality, in which the morality is defined in the context of moral judgments, standards, and rule of conduct (Mason, Bearden& Richardson,1990). Velasquez (2002) stated that ethics is an important element in marketing decisions making. Dibb. et al (2001) defined mar-keting ethics “are the moral principles that define right or wrong behav-ior in marketing”. According to Yoo (2002), “marketing is considered as the most unethical of business functions and most marketing practic-es have been criticized as such, Dibb. et al (2001) have determined three factors that interact to determine ethical decision in marketing which are individual factors, organization relationship and opportunity, Singhapakdi (2004) defines Ethical Intentions as an individual predis-position to act in an ethical manner, In this sense, when an individual perceives an ethical problem, and he changes his actions favorably, there is a positive intention.

Normative perspectives for ethical and socially responsible marketing (Laczniak and Murphy 2006) outlined seven basic perspectives for ethical and socially responsible marketing. They are:

• a) Ethical marketing puts people first.
• b) Ethical marketers must achieve a behavioral standard in excess of the law.
• c) Marketers are responsible for whatever they intend as a means or ends with a marketing action.
• d) Marketing organizations should cultivate better (that is higher) moral imagination in their managers and employees.
• e) Marketers should articulate and embrace a core set of ethical principles.
• f) Adoption of a stakeholder orientation is essential to ethical mar-keting decisions.
• g) Marketing organizations ought to delineate an ethical decision-making protocol.

Connections between Ethics and Relationship Marketing

Chonko and Hunt (1985) conducted an empirical study relating to the ethical issues of marketing management. They tried to delimit, first-ly, the nature and extent of the problems of marketing ethics, and sec-ondly to examine the effectiveness of managers actions and codes of ethics in the promotion of the ethical behavior. They concluded that corruption, fairness, honesty, price, product, staff, confidentiality, ad-vertising, data manipulation and purchase are the ethical main issues confronted by marketing managers. Thus, ethics is a parameter which influences the effectiveness of marketing actions.

Murphy et al. (2007) believe that relationship marketing is inherently a concept with strong ethical roots, since ethics is the key to the sus-tainability of relationships. They recognized the existence of several ethical dimensions, but they proposed the use of the theory of “ethical virtues” based on good moral habits. They assumed that there are three fundamental ethical virtues in relationship marketing, which stress on individuals and the organization rather than on problems and dilemmas. These are: trust, commitment and diligence.

Takala and Uusitalo (1996) proposed on the basis of normative ethi-cal theory, a conceptual framework for the evaluation of relationship marketing in an ethical perspective. They suggested a program aiming at helping managers to plan and implement morally justified operations of relationship marketing. This program consists of four components name-ly: the ethics of keeping promises and truth-telling, the ethics of equal treatment of consumers, the ethics commitment and the ethics of com-munication. They add that it is necessary to establish a code of ethics to resolve ethical dilemmas of the everyday practice of marketing. This code must contain four elements and form a fixed part of the marketing program to ensure its effectiveness.

The introduction of codes of ethics within the company aims to cre-ate a climate of collaboration and cooperation between employees and the company and between employees themselves. Moreover, codes of conduct transmit ethical values of the company who are supposed to influence the behavior of employees and their decision making. (Amine, 2012)

Internal marketing seen as a process and a principal component of re-lationship marketing, promotes the creation, maintenance and strength-ening of relations between the company and its employees from the perspective of satisfying consumers. (Berry, 1981)

Code of ethics marketing

Establishing a code of ethics within an organization should not be left to chance. It is better to have a code of practice, and monitor the code in practice, so that employees and others know exactly what the firm is doing about its ethical responsibilities. As with any other ques-tion of marketing, the decision as to what the code should contain can be made by reference to the firm’s customers and consumers: what would these people regard as ethical behavior? (BLYTHE, 2005)

• a) Products should be honestly made and described; commercial pressures may tempt companies to use cheaper raw materials or to use new additives to make the product perform differently.
• b) Promotions can involve deceptive or misleading advertising, manipulative sales methods, and even bribery in selling situa-tions. While a certain amount of advertising ‘puff’ is acceptable and even expected, it is clearly not acceptable to tell outright lies or even to use misleading phrases, Likewise, salespeople of-ten face ethical conflicts: perhaps a salesperson is faced with correcting a customer’s mistaken belief about a product, and thus losing the business, or allowing the customer to continue with the false belief right up to the point of taking delivery of the goods.
• c) Pricing raises ethical issues in the areas of price fixing, predatory pricing (pricing below the cost of production in order to bank-rupt competitors) and not revealing the full cost of purchase.
• d) Distribution ethics involve abuse of power in channel manage-ment, and failure to pay for goods within the specified credit terms..

Ethical/Legal Framework in Marketing

A good starting point for understanding the nature and significance of ethics is the distinction between legality and ethicality of marketing decisions. While ethics deal with personal and moral principles and val-ues, laws are society’s values and standards that are enforceable in the courts. In general, what is illegal is also unethical. For example, decep-tive advertising is illegal. It is also unethical because it conflicts with the moral principles of honesty and fairness, But not all unethical con-duct is illegal. For instance, price gouging is usually not illegal but is often viewed as unethical. Marketing managers often find themselves in many situations where they must make judgments in defining ethical and legal boundaries. For some, the distinction between ethics and laws can sometimes lead to the rationalization that if a behavior is within legal limits, then it is not really unethical.

The moral problems in the marketing field

a) consumer behavior

Since the scientific sphere of consumer behavior aims to gather criti-cal factors for human needs in order to better guide the market to them, its importance can not be doubted because the theory becomes radical. (Murphy and Laszaniak, 1981). Singer et al. (1991) suggested that the risk that comes with knowledge of consumer behavior is that consumer needs can be guided by the companies themselves.

b) Product and Services Management

Laczniak and Murphy (1985) mentioned that some corporations im-port extremely short lived products in the market in order to benefit from the repurchase of that same product. The same thing applies to products that have been purchased by customers after being stimulated by advertising even though the products do not satisfy their actual needs and expectations.

c) Advertisement

Advertisement is primarily marketing’s most powerful instrument. It is, however, also the means that has suffered the strongest criticism and restrictions by legislative frameworks (Nwachukwu et al., 1997). For example, during the last few years with the appearance of products con-taining lower cholesterol or environment-friendly products, the case of ethics in advertising, which had been forgotten during the previous time, has been reopened (Landler, 1991)

d) Pricing

Among all the characteristics of the product, the price is most im-portant to the consumer. The consumer aims to increase the quali-ty ratio to the maximum price (Nantel Weeks, 1996). Although the pricing framework for pricing is specific and often strict, some companies do not refrain from trying to deceive consumers. Such practices are often encountered during sales events where the discount displayed is sometimes unreal and subtracted from a fictitious initial price that is actually higher than the normal price.

e) Delivery Channels

Direct marketing is the most controversial of advertising channels, particularly when approaches are unsolicited. TV commercials and di-rect mail are common examples. Electronic spam and telemarketing push the borders of ethics and legality more strongly. ( Boundless, 2014)

Resolving Ethical Challenges in Marketing

Improving the status of ethics in marketing for the future, especially in a global world, will require substantial effort on a number of fronts. Ones examined here are regulation, organization, communication and social responsibility (these headings are adapted from Shultz and Holbrook 1999)

a) Regulation

Several ethical issues facing marketing appear to be sufficiently in-tractable that some type of governmental regulation will be needed to find solutions for them. One is the area of bribery and corruption.

Dunfee et al. (1999) examined bribery in detail and contended that an ethical solution can be found. A major effort to put pressure on gov-ernments to reduce bribery and corruption is Transparency International

b) Organizational Leadership

Ethics at the organizational level obviously has a pronounced impact on decisions made in marketing. Leadership at the corporate and mar-keting level set the ethical climate for the firm. Organizational factors such as size, culture/climate and presence or absence of ethics state-ments need further investigation as to their influence on marketing ac-tions . (Murphy, 2002)

c) Social Responsibility

The relationship between ethics and social responsibility is one that is often discussed, but sometimes interpreted differently. For our purpos-es, ethics deals with issues pertaining to the organization and its stake-holders in day to day business transactions. Social responsibility refers to a company to posture relative to the community (either narrowly or broadly defined). Ethics tends to be more internal in orientation, while social responsibility is more external, but the orientation is not an abso-lute one. Ethics usually deals at the individual manager level, while so-cial responsibility is associated with the corporate/organizational level. . (Murphy, 2002)

d) Candid Communication

A common theme in both business and marketing ethics is the im-portance of communication to reduce unethical behavior or the percep-tion of it. This communication should be both internal and external. (Murphy, 2002)

Conclusion

Many consumers are aware that the ethics of marketing have shifted radically. In the mid-20th century, for example, advertisers made claims which simply were not true about the products they sold. Marketing ethics today frowns upon this practice, as does the law. Marketers are encouraged to find ways to promote products and services in a way which makes them appeal without being deceptive or coercive, and marketing ethics also includes professional relationships such as those between marketers and their clients.

Marketing ethics plays into corporate ethics and media ethics, both of which connect with marketing on many levels. Ethical business practic-es are an increasing cause for concern in many areas of the world as consumers become more active about identifying and pushing back against practices which they feel cross ethical lines. As a result, market-ing ethics started to become more clearly defined at the close of the 20th century, and marketers began devising ethical standards which they could utilize as guidelines for the industry

Ethics and Financial Markets

INTRODUCTION

Ethics in a finance and a financial markets a has perhaps a never been a as relevant a as it is today. In an industry a where the a conclusion and a enforcement of a contracts is based on trust – trust from the provider of capital that he is fairly rewarded for the risk of potentially losing some of his assets; trust from the borrower that he is charged a fair price for his access a to capital – any breakdown in that confidence can quickly lead to a incorrect pricing and in turn, improper allocation of resources. Lack of confidence in the financial a system in a general typically a means a rising counterparty a risks, and prompts a lenders of a capital to a require a higher risk a premium a in their a investment returns, raising a the overall a cost a of capital in a the a economy. In similar fashion, fears a that some participants in financial transactions a may prove to be ‘rotten apples’ would force all others to pay a higher price a for access a to resources, even a if the a broad a majority behave a in a proper manner. In a developing a country like South Africa, reluctance a to lend, or a demand for a an elevated risk a premium, for fear a of fraudulent a or information-withholding behaviour, can easily limit the ability of the a general public a to access a credit and, in a turn, impede the a path to a more a balanced a and inclusive economic a growth framework.

UNETHICAL PRACTICES IN INDIAN FINANCIAL MARKETS THAT LED TO SCANDALS

· 2G Spectrum Scam

Former Telecom Minister A. Raja is the prime accused who is considered to be the mastermind in this scam by CBI. He stands accused of under-valuing spectrum as the country’s Telecom Minister and selling it to companies he favored, though they were largely ineligible for licenses to run mobile networks. The loss to the national exchequer is pegged by the government auditor at a mind-boggling Rs. 1.76 lakh crore.

· Satyam Case

Mr. Ramalinga Raju, the former Chairman and Chief Executive of Satyam Computer Services admitted a to falsification a in the company a accounts and various a other irregularities. The a estimated fraud a was Rs.700 Crore billion. Coming on the back of global recession, this incident busts a the Indian Outsourcing a Industry and the stock market.

· IPO Scam

A number of key operators, including corporate stock brokers such as Karvy and Indiabulls, were involved in the IPO scam during 2004-05. The modus operandi of the scam was that the operators opened thousands of fake accounts to purchase shares in IPOs in the hope of selling later at huge profits.

ISSUES REFLECTING SUCH SCAMS

Those are the few scams which happened only due to various ethical problems or issue. This study has identified the following five issues influencing such scams.

Self-interest a sometimes morphs a into a greed a and selfishness, a which a is a unchecked self interest a at the a expense of a someone else. This greed a becomes a kind a of accumulation fever. If a you accumulate a for a the sake a of accumulation, accumulation becomes the a end, and if a accumulation is a the end, there’s no a place to stop. The focus shifts from the longterm to the short-term, with a big a emphasis on a profit maximization. For a example, swaps (where two a communication a companies a agree to a exchange the right to a use excess a bandwidth on a their networks) fall into this category. Each a company recognizes the a income generated in the a quarter a earned and a defers a the expenses a through a capitalizing a them as an asset and a logging the a cost as a recognized expense over time, resulting a in an a inflated bottom a line. Companies may make a money out of their a finance a department—not from selling a products, not a from a doing a what the company did, not a from a fulfilling the a company’s mission, but a from a playing a around with its a asset mix.

Some people suffer from stunted moral development: This a happens a in three a areas: the a failure to a be taught, the a failure to look a beyond v one’s own perspective, and the lack of proper mentoring. Business schools too a often reduce everything to an economic entity. They do this by a saying the a fundamental a purpose of a business a is to a make money, maximize a profit, or the really jazzy words „maximize shareholder value,‟ or something like that. And it a never a gets questioned. If the a fundamental purpose a never gets questioned, the ethics never get questioned, because a the fundamental a purpose of something gives you the reason for its existence. It tells you whether you’re doing it well or not.

Some people equate moral behavior with legal behavior, disregarding a the fact a that even though a an action may a not a be illegal, it a still may not a be moral. Everyone a must remember a that the a reason a for all laws is a that the moral a agreement a begins to break down, and the a way a to get other a people in a line is to legislate so that we can stipulate punishments. Yet some people contend that the only a requirement is to a obey the a law. They tend to ignore the spirit of the law in only following a the letter of the law. For example, Companies Act, Contract Laws etc, regulations repeatedly a single out a actions with a “no legitimate business a purpose” (like swaps.) If you are doing a things with no legitimate a business purpose in a order a to avoid a taxation, what a are you doing? You’re violating a the spirit, are you not? You’re staying a within the a letter, but there‟s no purpose there except a to get you a around the law.

Professional duty a can conflict a with company a demands. For example, a faulty a reward system a can induce a unethical behavior. A purely a self-interested a agent would a choose that course a of action a which contains a the highest a returns to him a or herself. For a example, consider a the misguided a practice a of a selling indexed a annuities to a the elderly. If a company is a paying a high a commission for a that product, say a 15 percent, versus a lower commission a for a more appropriate product, say 3 percent, a salesperson may disregard the needs a of the client and/or assume that a the company supports this product and its a applicability by a its willingness to pay fivefold the compensation. Sooner or later, people are going to give a in to that temptation. The purely self-interested agent is just responding to the a reward system a that is in place. “You need to take a look at what you are rewarding.” In general, organizations a get exactly a what they a reward. They just don‟t realize that a their rewards a structures are encouraging dysfunctional or counter-productive behavior or a turn a blind eye to the outcome.

Individual responsibility can wither under the demands of the client. Sometimes the push to act a unethically comes a from a the a client. It is a quite a natural and a acceptable a that people a who do a business are, for a the most part, highly ethical people trying to do the right thing most of the time. Most a of them a are trying to help their clients achieve their financial objectives.

INSIDER TRADING

Insider trading refers to the practice of “insiders” trading on shares of a company for which they have privileged “material” information not available to the “public”, and for which they seek to gain pecuniary or other benefits. “Insiders” refer to any person or group that is able to gain such privileged information about a company. Insiders can include directors, managers or employees of a company. Or they can refer to persons who gain privileged information indirectly from such managers or directors in a more intimate capacity, such as friends, family members, or close but external business associates. Or they can refer to persons who have a contractual or supply linkage to such a company, such as those who print annual reports or stockbrokers who may inadvertently gain an information advantage. Thus “inside” information can be gained from a multitude of sources from which such private information can be exploited for financial or other gain.

The Ethics Involved in Insider Trading

Insider trading has managed to earn itself a dreadful name in the recent years. People who engage in insider trading are thought to be completely devoid of ethical values. However, not all individuals who engage in insiders trading are unethical; studies have shown that some insider trading is useful to the investment society. Some researchers in philosophy, law and economics have not decided whether insider trading should be penalized at all while others state that it should be illegal in all situations. The best thing to do is to detach those who are illegally harmed by insider trading. If such people exist, then obviously worded legislation could be passed to stop any scheme from being faithful against these people and groups, while allowing non- fraudulent transactions to be completed without dread of action. Until it can obviously be shown that an insider trading fraudulently harms an individual, there should be no law or regulation limiting the practice, since such limitations breach individual rights, it will also destroy the competition between the people and the company, and will most likely have a negative market response.

People often confuse the marketplace with a game in which rules of play are set and put into action so that everyone involved gets an even chance. The market is more similar to life itself in the sense that diverse people come with special assets, talents, looks, genetic makeup, economic and climactic conditions; and the people have to do their best with what they have. In reality, however, the theory of “insider trading“ used in business ethics has a wider meaning, which includes anyone’s capability to make agreements based on not yet publicized information of the company’s opportunities. Insider trading per se, apart from its association with fraud or violation of fiduciary duty, involves engaging in financial investments based on information others do not know about. It is apparent that such actions should be considered to be ethically immoral since they affect others unfairly.

LIMITS FOR THE REGULATORS

With the ambitious efforts on the part of regulators to up their game as well, specialist skills have also been recruited from the markets into official institutions. Yet the extent to which regulators can enforce more ethical standards in the industry, and avoid a repeat of the excesses that contributed to the global financial crisis or the other major crisis, may have its limitations.

The first problem resides with the ability of regulations to envisage all possible infringements. In a world where financial innovation has been moving fast, and new and more sophisticated products continue to be developed, there is always the risk that unethical market participants remain one step ahead of regulatory authorities, in the same way as unethical athletes and sport physicians attempt to be one step ahead of anti-doping agencies. And indeed, new transgressions in the recent past have been committed after the promulgation of legislation aimed at curbing improper practices – providing evidence that legislation will not completely prevent the occurrence of improper or fraudulent behavior.

The second issue is one of finding the optimal degree of regulation. While the events of the past decade have clearly demonstrated the limits of ‘light touch’ regulation and reliance on the market’s ability to self-regulate, there may equally be a risk that too much regulation will stifle financial innovation, result in elevated compliance costs that will be passed through to the end-customer, and limit the willingness of institutions to provide funding to all but the most creditworthy borrowers.

Furthermore, ‘top-down’ regulation brought about by international bodies like, for example, the G-20, may not be appropriately tailored to all jurisdictions in which they would apply. It would be undesirable, for instance, for regulations initiated in response to developments witnessed in the world’s largest economies to end up stifling financial development in an emerging country like India. A push for elevated regulation may also easily break the fragile consensus achieved by most countries after the global financial crisis.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, while a lot of work remains to be done, it is nonetheless very encouraging to note that key steps have been taken by regulators and financial institutions alike to tighten behavioural standards in the industry. It is equally encouraging that South Africa, while largely sheltered from the global financial crisis, is embarking on measures to limit the risk of such crises occurring locally in the future, including strengthening market conduct regulations as part of the move to a twin peaks system of regulation. Nonetheless, the future evolution of the financial industry will bring new challenges for regulators and professional bodies alike. I will only mention a few potential examples here. Much has been written, for instance, about the growing role of non-bank institutions in financial intermediation, and indeed, one potential consequence of stricter regulation of banks may be to shift a greater share of transactions towards the non-bank sector. Extending codes of good behaviour and governance to a broader swathe of financial market players will be a continuing task for regulators and professional bodies.

The Aspects of Ethics in Management

Today, managers at all levels, top, middle or lower, in their daily activities face some sort of ethical issues in their leadership responsibility. These issues can be related to different activities managers are engaged in, from planning and organizing of work activities at the workplace to motivating and communicating with employees. Manager’s role is not easy, they countenance with matters of right and wrong, matters of fairness and unfairness or matters of justice and injustice while decision making and acting. Managers of all functions and at all levels, as mentioned above, face many different situations where making ethically acceptable decision and consideration play an enormous role. The topic of ethics is crucial from the aspect of management. Observance and professional ethics may lead to an increase in the capability of an organization’s performance; this is important since most of the companies are profit-oriented and look for profit maximization.

Ethics in management is very broad subject and it deals mainly with different situations managers encounter while making decisions important both for the company they work for as well as for the employees and the management of the company or organization. To better understand what managerial ethics is, we should be able to answer a few questions such are:

• Why should managers be ethical?
• What are the ethical issues managers face the most?
• What is ethical decision making?
• What is a manager’s role in making a working environment of organization ethical one?

The best form of ethical training that a company can provide to its employees is an example itself sets as a leader and the type of behavior that is acceptable within the organization and towards its subordinates. If the leader or high-level management behaves ethically other employees can follow their example. Managers many times face situations in which they must decide about what is correct or ethical at the moment of action or decision making. Since many of these decisions must be made in a matter of minutes, managers are exposed to high levels of stress. When we are speaking of what managers “should” be doing, it is classically referred to as normative ethics. That means what managers are typically doing to increase their own ethical behavior as well as an ethical environment in the organization.

Social responsibility is one way how organizations show their ethical awareness. Nowadays it is even more expected of organizations, especially companies to be not only profitable and obey the law but also to be ethically and socially responsible. While profitability and legal obedience are what the company in the first place does for own benefit, ethical component and social responsibility of the company is more of what the company is doing for society. The logical answer to the first question of why managers should be ethical is because it is anticipated form them by the society they are operating in. The society and the stockholders both expect managers to be ethical, and if managers want to maintain a good reputation and legitimacy they must act ethically. Next to these, there are many more reasons why managers need to be ethical. Here are some of the reasons:

• When the same good values are shared, trust and confidence are easily built within the organization.
• Confidence and trust build loyalty towards the organization and its collective.
• Both customers and shareholders care about values.
• Organizations and companies are as good as their employees are.
• Ethics is characterized as a form of insurance, good insurance leads towards good and effective partnership.

In general opinion, companies should sacrifice some profit for the sake of making things better for their workers and community. It is believed that ethical behavior is in the company’s and manager’s best interest and that it will keep them out of the trouble.

There are many ethical issues that managers face. Those might be a problem, situation or even opportunity that will at some point require from manager or company to make choice between different actions that must be evaluated as right or wrong, or to say ethical or unethical. To better understand the question of an ethical issue we might consider to what extent or how significant dimension of dishonesty, disloyalty unfairness or illegality is represented.

Ethical issues might be grouped to different levels at which they occur. In that sense, managers experience those issues on a personal or organizational level, but they also can be traded professional, social or global level. A specific ethical issue might arise from situations such are giving a gift, discrimination, and fairness, sexual harassment, unauthorized payments, fringes, and layoffs, etc.

Following are many times categorized as specific topics that might constitute ethical issues:

• Equity (such are: executive salaries, product pricing, etc.),
• Rights (such are: privacy, health screening, equal employment opportunity, sexual harassment, etc.),
• Honesty (such are: inappropriate gifts, unauthorized payments, security of employee records, etc.)

Based on the research that used open-ended interview questions, to the question “What ethical questions came up or have come up in the course of your work life?”, Waters, Bird, and Chant in their study from 1986, found that following ethical or moral issues were identified as most frequent:

1. Regarding employees, the feedback about their performance, employment security, and appropriate working conditions came as the most frequent ones.
2. Regarding peers and superiors, the truth-telling then loyalty and at the end support were identified as most frequent.
3. Regarding customers, the most frequent issues were about fair treatment, truth-telling, and collusion.
4. In regards towards suppliers, impartial treatment, balanced relationship and unfair pressure tactics came up as most frequent issues.
5. Toward other stakeholders, they identified respecting legal constraints, truth-telling in public relations and stockholder interests as the most frequent ethical issue.

As mentioned above, managers face ethical issues and, most of the time they are characterized as a conflict of interest. Those conflicts are mainly between manager’s personal values or ethical views and those of his superiors or subordinates, or with some of the stockholders.

We can say that decision making is the essence of every process in management. Therefore, every manager needs to constantly improve its ethical decision-making process and there are many reasons to do so. For example, cost of unethical conduct, erosion of integrity and corruption pressure that threatens manager’s and company’s reputation, etc. Majority of the top business managers would most probably advocate anyone to use ethical principles while running an organization and bringing the decision. These principles, the principles of business ethics, are guidelines or a rule that will help when faced with an ethical dilemma to bring the right decision. Laura Nash in her study “Ethics without the sermon” from 1981 suggested a very practical approach to a decision-making process. In order to make an ethical decision, she recommends that managers ask the following questions before making any decision:

• Have you defined the problem accurately?
• How would you define the problem, if you stood on the other side of the fence?
• How did this situation occur in the first place?
• To whom and what do you give your loyalties as a person, and as a member of the corporation?
• What is your intention in making this decision?
• How does this intention compare with the likely results?
• Whom could your decision or action injure?
• Could you engage the affected parties in a discussion of the problem, before you make your decision?
• Are you confident that your position will be as valid over a long period of time as it seems now?
• Could you disclose without qualms your decision or action to your boss, your CEO, the board of directors, your family, or society as a whole?
• What is the symbolic potential of your action if understood? If misunderstood?
• Under what conditions would you allow exceptions to your stand?

Blanchard K. and Peale N. V. in their study “The Power of Ethical Management” published in New York in 1988 proposed another set of question that is helpful while deciding what would be ethical or unethical. “Ethical check” is called the set of three questions that these authors recommend managers ask before making any kind of decision:

1. Is it legal? Will I be violating either civil law or company policy?
2. Is it balanced? Is it fair to all concerned in the short term as well as the long term? Does it promote a win-win situation?
3. How will it make feel about myself? Will it make me proud? Would I feel good if my decision was published in the newspaper? Would I feel good if my family knew about it?

These two authors think that any “wrong” answer to the above-mentioned questions should trigger manager’s conscience to make the right choice or reconsider the decision they made.

Another major responsibility that managers have is to shape an ethical climate in the working environment. When managing a company’s ethical climate, managers need to take into consideration the overall corporate culture. Recently, the company’s moral climate and working environment of organizations both become a very complex social phenomenon. They both can be greatly affected by the decisions, actions, and different examples that managers set. Carroll A. B. in his book “Business and Society: Ethics and Stakeholder Management” published in 1996 states that some of the important components in company’s ethical environment or culture also include, but it is not limited to:

• Top management leadership,
• Codes of conduct,
• Ethics programs,
• Realistic objectives,
• Processes for ethical decision making,
• Effective communication,
• Disciplining of ethics violators,
• Ethics training,
• Ethics audit, and
• Whistleblowing mechanisms.

Many of the studies showed that the manager’s behavior is the most important factor that can and will give a contribution to a positive ethical climate in the organization.

We see that in the last several decades, ethics in management has become of very important concern to all companies and organizations. To have moral management within a company, there must be an individual who will have to avoid making unethical decisions and keep away from immoral management. All level managers must integrate ethical wisdom in their decision-making processes and work in favor of a positive ethical climate in the organization if they want to have high moral management and achieve the best possible model of leadership. When done this way, any of the desirable goals set by management, moral or ethical are surely attainable.

Ethical Issues in Walmart’s History: Analytical Essay

Introduction

Walmart started as a small-scale company with a solo discount store that had the simple idea of selling more products at less prices. Ultimately, it grew into one of the top retailers in over a half-century in the world. In other words, it has around 11,200 stores with approximately 265 million customers under 55 posters in 27 nations and has an electronic Commerce website in 10 countries. Moreover, according to 2018 fiscal year survey, Walmart hires over 2 million sales associates globally. Walmart pursues to become a leader in sustainability, organization opportunities, and employment opportunities. This work outlines the history of the company, role of CSR, ethical issues, and other recommendations to be made. Walmart faces a lot of criticism concerning business ethics which include predatory price, acting inhumane, gender stereotypes, supporting unethical decisions, and policies against the union which can be overcome by working more on corporate social responsibility, sustainability conferences and projects.

Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility

The term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Refers to the influence of any corporation on the stakeholders including employees, customers, suppliers, community (Jiwani, 2019). Regarding to company’s culture, beliefs and values CSR may differ from one to another but in general, it is all about what action is right or wrong (Jiwani, 2019). Each organization to maintain its success in long term should make sure that it has meet the requirements of these groups and make them satisfied since they can harm the corporation if they don’t follow CSR (Jiwani, 2019). Each stakeholder can harm the organization by refusing them and not continuing to support them. Therefore, CSR is a particularly important part of any organization which they should take into their account. Though the existence of profit-based companies is to maximize their profit, it is clear that achieving profit in long term is impossible for firms without behaving socially responsible. As Porter & Kramer (2006) explained nowadays company’s ranking highly depends on how they follow CSR in their activities and this ranking is the center of concentration for the public, so CSR plays a significant role for business owners in every country. As Porter & Kramer (2006) have described who advocate that CSR is important for every company have four arguments:

• Moral obligation: refers to the fact that companies should act as a good citizens and care about their stakeholders and do the right things
• Sustainability: “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Brundtland, 1980 as cited in Porter & Kramer, 2006). Sustainability has an economic, environmental and social aspect.
• Licence to operate: refers to the fact that every business should perform its operation with the permission of governments, communities and other stakeholders.
• Reputation: CSR should be implemented by companies since it can increase their view in public and provide a good vision for their brand.

In fact, CSR mostly is important in the so-called triple bottom line of environment, economy and society (Porter & Kramer, 2006). To exemplify the environment, we can refer to global warming, an example for economics can be the overuse of natural resources and example of society can be tribe and its custom. Moreover, CSR is important within every organization since it forms individual behavior, as a result, every individual might have a positive or negative impact on communities, the environment and other citizens (Jiwani, 2019).

All in all, CSR play an important par in each and every organization due to its great impact on stakeholders and this is why CSR report has been becoming as important as financial report in many countries and companies without considering CSR in their policy can not maintain their business in a long-term period.

Walmart’s background

Walmart started its business with a small retail store and has kept expanding during 50 years to one of the largest retail stores in the world. On July 2, 1962, Sam Walton opened the first Walmart retail store in Rogers, Arkansas with the mission of lower price and great service. After the firs Walmart store Walton kept opening new stores and in 1967 Walton’s family owns 24 stores. Walmart become public and national in 1970 and Sam Walton associated it with lots of partners. At the beginning of 1980’s Walmart owns 276 stores and employs 21,000 associates. At late 1980’s Walmart opened its first supercentre in Washington, Missouri which was a combination of general merchandise and full-scale supermarket to produce convenience shopping and this made Walmart the nation’s No.1 Retailer. Sam Walton was awarded on 1992 by President George H. W. Bush, shortly before he passed away. Walton family and Walmart stores kept the mission of “Save money, Live better” inherited from Sam during these years. In early 1990’s Walmart Started working in Canada and in 1996 expanded into China. In 2000, Walmart.com was established, giving Walmart’s customer the opportunity to shop online. Moreover, at that time Walmart owned 3,989 stores and clubs together with employing more than 1.1 associates all around the world. In 2000s also, Walmart ranked as the fortune 500 US’s biggest companies. From 2000 to 2010 Walmart opened stores in Japan and India. Now Walmart’s official name has changed from Wal-Mart store Inc. to Walmart Inc. Judith McKenna is the president and CEO of Walmart. These days, almost 265 million customers and members visit Walmart in every single week, and it owns more than 11,200 stores in 27 countries. Moreover, it has E-commerce websites in 10 countries and employed 2.2 million associates around the world (Walmart history, n.d).

Ethical Issues in Walmart’s history

Walmart over the many years faces many ethical issues which can be listed below:

1) Predatory Price.

It is an unethical strategy adopted by Walmart since 1993 which means minimizing the prices of its products in order to eliminate the competition in the market. Therefore, various department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection fill a petition against this illegal act and suspects them of violating the state antitrust law. Apparently, Walmart has been using such practices in order to gain a monopoly in the market (Jones, 1993).

For example, in 1995 American pharmacies accused Walmart of selling items at extremely low prices. In a 2000 case study department of agriculture, trade, and consumer protection accused Walmart of selling items like butter, milk and detergent at relatively low prices with the intention of becoming a monopoly on the market and failing other businesses.

However, many countries fight against the malpractices of Walmart. But unfortunately, Walmart has not been proven as guilty or penalized for its strategy of predatory pricing in the face of legal constitution.

2) Acting inhumanely.

According to New York times (Abrams, 2017) report states that Walmart refuses to accept and grant medical leave for its employees. In this particular case, according to the survey of 1000 employees, they assert Walmart of not following the law related to the Americans with Disabilities Act and the family and medical Leave Act. With this, Walmart has been confronted with a major issue related to employee and labor relations. It includes low wages, poor-quality of working conditions and underprivileged health facilities. As a result, group of Walmart workers also reported their complaints to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In this complaint, it states that the company is inequitable against workers and pregnant women. It leads to 70% turnover annually among Walmart workers (Drake, 2013).

3) Gender Stereotypes.

Walmart generally conducts unfair and partial allotment practices towards male and female worker level of job positions. Hiring faculty usually perform unethical practices towards women by replacing them from order-filling positions with comparison to 18 to 25-year-old men workforce in this respective position. It shows how discrimination is held in terms of salary and job position. However, still Walmart is considered as one of the best retailers in the world and has millions of consumers in demand. Most importantly, Walmart employees is well known for various protests and walkouts (even on black Friday) across the country in order to build awareness about the company’s conduct of low wage and poor quality of working conditions (Jacobs, 2016).

Supporting unethical decisions.

Walmart has been accused of supporting managers and supervisors who have been making untrustworthy choices for the organization. For example, when an executive made up a report for Walmart stating that employee wages could be reduced by eliminating unhealthy people from Walmart, hiring more of part-time employees and also reducing the financial build-up for the retirement of employees (401K benefits). All of these changes would have benefited Walmart in monetary terms for up to 1 billion dollars. Walmart did not see any kind of issues with the report provided by the executive and later offered her a position as the head of the human resources department in the following year (Jacobs, 2016).

Walmart against unions.

Walmart is constantly against unions and threatens their employees to fire them if any of the workers attempt to form unions. In addition, if workers in any Walmart store decide to vote for becoming a union, Walmart is not going to support them. Walmart chooses to close down those stores rather than forming unions. For example, in 2000 some employees in Texas’ store from the meat packaging department chose to vote to become a union, but instead, Walmart switched to pre-packed beef in several states and closed down its meat packing divisions. Same thing happened in Quebec in 2005 when Walmart decided to close down stores because of the decision made by workers to vote for unionization (Basker, 2007, p. 186). However, nowadays in more developed countries, if employees want to form unions and Walmart resists to it then there is a fight back from the local, state or government organizations, which in the long run makes a difference in Walmart’s conduct. For example, when Walmart entered Argentina in 1995, they fired two employees who tried to form unions, but after a lot of negotiation, Walmart proceeded onward to adjust to the Argentina culture and did not prevent workers from forming unions (Jacobs, 2016, p. 10).

Changes to be made

In 2017 Walmart introduced its new program Project Gigaton. It is Walmart’s initiative to reduce emissions in the global value chain by 1 billion metric tons – a gigaton of greenhouse gas emissions from global value chains by 2030. Project Gigaton is designed a way that every supplier can participate. The supplier can set a goal in one of six key areas: energy, agriculture, waste, products, deforestation or packaging, or just set a pure emissions reduction target. For example, cut carbon intensity per revenue in half by 2030. The goal is set is up to every supplier. Each year supplier has to submit an impact report. And Walmart will announce total progress annually (“Project Gigaton”, n.d.).

Once a supplier is signed up got Project Gigaton, the supplier becomes Giga Guru. Currently, there are 128 Giga-Gurus and 83 others sparking change who haven’t reached Giga-Guru yet but started taking meaningful steps and reporting those.

Also, Walmart is launching its Walmart Private Brands, its goal is to have a 100% of recyclable packaging by the year 2025.

In the last annual Walmart Sustainability conference, it has been announced that Project Gigaton is launching in Canada. Over 200 suppliers already signed up for Project Gigaton in Canada. Walmart Canada has driven to be a leader in sustainability. In 2018 Walmart Canada diverted 87% of waste away from land field. Walmart Canada is on the way to achieve zero food waste by 2025. In September 2018 Walmart Canada announced its plans to use 100% alternative power for all fleet vehicles by 2028. Since 2016 Walmart Canada reduced use of plastic bags by 50% (“Project Gigaton”, n.d.).

Walmart thinks that it is very important to educate its customers on how to recycle the products they buy. That is why Walmart will start putting “How2Recycle” labels on all their products. By the end of 2021 all the packaging will be labeled.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Walmart has implemented a lot of ethical issues which was not in the best interest of the employees. Since Walmart is a huge organization it unethical practices has affected not only its employees in the work place but it has also impacted the market around it. This has an effect on the company’s image. If companies like Walmart follow ethical practices it can not only build a good reputation but also it can get determined employees who will be happy and willing to work for the company without any hesitation and also be an example for other small organizations to implement and follow their business ethically. Walmart has to keep working on for the betterment of its employees, consumers and itself. They need to come up with various strategies to build up their ethical practices and turn down their unethical practices.

References

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