Ethical behaviour in business Essay Example for Free

Ethical behaviour in business Essay In this task I will be explaining how my business (Ben and Jerry’s) could change or alter some of its practices and showing how these changes would contribute to improved ethical behaviour. The ethical issues I will be working on are CSR and trading fairly. Corporate social responsibility: Businesses do not exist in isolation nor is it simply just to make money; a lot of factors come into play. Customers, suppliers and the local community are all affected by the business and its operations. Ben and Jerry’s products, and the way they produce them all have an impact on the environment. CSR is all about businesses understanding the effects that they have on the community/wider world. Businesses will use this impact in a positive way to benefit both their business and the wider world. CSR means that business such as Ben and Jerry’s will have to take responsible attitude, going beyond the minimum legal requirements (as being ethical is strictly something you don’t have to do by law) and following basic principles that apply. How Ben and Jerry’s are responsible to society? Ben and Jerry’s take on corporate social responsibilities, taking action to achieve more desired goals to expand their business growth and also maintaining open line communication with employees to gain a better outcome. Ben and Jerry’s conduct various CSR activities, some of these include: Use of Fairtrade ingredients- Ben and Jerry’s first started using Fairtrade certified ingredients in 2005; they pledged in 2010 that by the end of 2013 they will go fully Fairtrade. Ben and Jerry’s work with dairy farmers and other farmers from third world countries, they source ingredients like cocoa, vanilla pods and various other ingredients. Fair Trade standards ensure that employees in these countries have good and safe working conditions, work reasonable hours and paid a fair amount for their work. Corporate Philanthropy- Corporate philanthropy in simple terms means a business’s care/love of humanity. Ben and Jerry’s a portion of its pre-tax profits to corporate philanthropy in attempts to become more socially responsible. Corporate philanthropy is led by employees through the BJ’s foundation and community action teams. Ben and Jerry’s award 1.8 million dollars to a philanthropy (an organisation that helps communities and the welfare of others) every year in and around Vermont, where Ben and Jerry’s  was initially set up. Engaging the Community through Community-based Projects- Another way in which Ben and Jerry’s is engaging in corporate responsibility to society is by setting up community –based development projects. The Vermont Dairy Farm Sustainability Project, which was launched by Ben Jerry’s in 1999, set out to develop practical methods that could be used on day-to-day dairy operations to keep the water quality safe from nitrogen and phosphorus while not sacrificing the economic viability of the farm and making the farm a sustainable business. How can Ben and Jerry’s change/alter corporate social responsibilities (listed above) to contribute even more to improved business ethical behaviour? Ben and Jerry’s do all they can to make sure that they are socially responsible to stakeholders. They have engaged in a wide variety of activities/projects to insure that they do what they claim to do and that is to be as responsible to the wider community as much as they can, this includes Fairtrade, good working conditions, humanitarian concerns and other key factors in making sure that the community is affected in a positive manner. There is no denying that Ben and Jerry’s are very successful in their business operations and also their responsibility toward the society. But there are instances where they can improve on certain things. First of all the business follow all ethical procedures from Sourcing ingredients fairly to protecting the environment to the best of their ability’s, but if you were to be p icky Ben and Jerry’s are unethical in the sense that they are promoting unhealthy food. Now to most people this will not seem like a huge deal, but because obesity levels are on the increase and campaigns have been set up to tackle obesity and unhealthy eating, it seems somewhat of a contradictory move by Ben and Jerry’s to promote and sell Ice cream. This is being very, very picky however as they, like mentioned earlier, they ensure various factors are done ethically. You can argue that their advertisements and marketing techniques do not in any way state the products are healthy, so it’s not that they are misleading people. Some people may say that all Ben and Jerry’s do is sell unhealthy, fattening, chocolate rich ice creams, which can be considered a bit unethical. So in order to tackle this issue and make the company an even more ethically operating organisation, they can introduce healthier ice-cream or produce something alongside their standard ice-creams which is significantly healthier. They can use ingredients that  are healthier/low fat and implement a recipe that is just as good if not better than the original. This would contribute to better ethical behaviour by Ben and Jerry’s because it allows them to give people concerned an option of purchasing healthy (healthier) ice-cream. This will also mean that they are somewhat promoting healthier eating as people will look at them and think highly of them as they are taking these obesity concerns into consideration and doing something about it. Trading fairly: Trading fairly is a movement which strives for fair treatment for farmers. In a fair trade agreement, farmers will negotiate with the purchasers in order to receive a fair price for their products. Farmers who engage in fair trade also aim to pay their workers a fair price, and engage in environmentally-friendly practices. How Ben and Jerry’s trade fairly? Ben and Jerry’s have multiple tasks/missions they conduct to ensure that their operations are done fairly. First of all they are using fair trade. Using the Fairtrade method means that farmers who supply the ingredients get a fair pay, working and living environment. Another way in which they trade fairly is that they give back to society. This may seem like it is not directly trading fairly but Ben and Jerry’s do give something back to society. What they do is that they â€Å"operate the company in a way that actively recognizes the central role that business plays in society by initiating innovative ways to improve the quality of life locally, nationally and internationally† ( Source Ben and Jerry’s website). So while they are producing high quality ingredients at the same time they are giving back to society locally, nationally and internationally. How can Ben and Jerry’s change/alter trading fairly (listed above) to contribute even more to impro ved business ethical behaviour? Like with the previous point I struggled to really find an area within Ben and Jerry’s that they need improving on so I had to be picky, the same goes for trading fairly. Ben and Jerry’s seem to tick all the boxes when it comes to trading fairly; I mean they do everything from Fairtrade to providing the community that little something back. But If I were to be picky I think there is one thing that they might have to improve on ever so slightly and that is the marketing of  the products. The criticism that I have for their marketing is that they have allegedly a couple of times offended customers with the names of their ice creams. Now this may not seem like it has nothing to do with trading fairly but it is. The reason as to why it is because customers are ultimately the ones keeping your business going, now if they were offended with the marketing techniques such as naming then they will be put off in the future. Although Ben and Jerry’s have admitted to using â€Å"cheeky names† on their ice creams they do not do this with the intention of offending people although they have mislead/offended a few. Although they have now changed the names of those products and it was a one off incident they’ll be keen to make sure that this does not happen in the future. (The source where I found out about the names of products offending customers- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/19/hazed-and-confused_n_5845650.html) So in order to alter the trading of products Ben and Jerry’s can make sure that in future releases of new Ice cream they choose names carefully and make sure that they do not refer to anything in a bad light . Ben and Jerry’s are known for their innovative names but in order to prevent people from getting offended they can make sure they choose names that are simple in the sense that people won’t get offended. They will have to take into consideration various factors that could offend people and make sure that names that are obvious to offend people are not used and well away from the products they make.

Making Money When the Market is Mistaken! :: essays research papers

Making Money When the Market is Mistaken! Part 1.) I did my program review on a one-hour show I watched straight through. It was called, â€Å"Making Money when the Market is Mistaken.† The lead man basically running the show was Conrad De Aenlle. He is also a writer for the New York Times and is an expert on making money. The show was basically on Stocks and how J.P. Morgan runs their company. Now nobody has ever gone broke by thinking others where stupid. There are many managers that work for J.P. Morgan and many of them agree that there is good money to be made underestimating others ability to get the job done right. Now what does that mean? Sounds wrong to me, I was taught to never underestimate others. Now during the entire show they would focus in on this point and try to prove that J.P. Morgan could and would make me money off others mistakes. The funds in most companies are run according to principles of behavioral finance, which means they are run according to behavior repetition. They believe that people are illogical, yet predictable. Followers of this approach do not ignore the nuts and bolts of business - profits, sales, cash flow and so forth. Basically all the functions of the daily business, But they say that investors consistently have errors in evaluating such information, and that professional portfolio managers, wink, wink (J.P. Morgan) can profit from the ways that others make mistakes. Conrad would constantly remind the viewers that he was a part of J.P. Morgan and he was trying to make me money. "Traditional finance theory tells us markets are efficient and rational," said Silvio Tarca, one of the managers of the Morgan funds and one of two people interview live on the show. And basically she says that human behavior leads to irrational decisions and that J.P. Morgan makes a lot of money off of and so should you or me. People when wrapped up in the stock investment life, start to invest based on feelings and emotions instead of logically reasoning. She said J.P. Morgan is practicing sociology instead of just stock investments to become a step ahead of everybody else. The five Morgan portfolios sold under their own brand all produced better than the Standard & Poor 500-stock index over the 12 months through March. Which would mean their theory is working. The flagship Intrepid America a stock of J.

Influence of celebrities X parents Essay

Invasion of the celebrities in homes around the word have an impact in children life. Celebrities are everywhere. Media like television shows, Internet, and magazines make the presence of celebrities constant in daily live, and this presence result an influence under younger. Sometimes this impact agrees with parents’ values but sometimes diverges. While parents work hard to give a good education for their children, the widely spread of some celebrity behavior make a mess in younger minds. As well as parents, personalities have a meaningful presence in young lives. Appearing al the time celebrities concur with parents for children attention. Occasionally, teenagers prefer to be in front of television watching their favorite shows than spend time with family. In some cases, celebrities can have a positive influence under children. Teens might admire a disciplined athlete, a philanthropic actor and also they might be impressed by parents ethical conducts. It is known that misbehavior of celebrities is widely divulged, and adolescents that are exposed to these behaviors might change their comportment. Young usually follow the celebrities tends like hairstyles, clothing, and even ideal. Opinions and values may change and sometimes can go against the father and mother principles. Family usually teaches their successors what is right and wrong. However, celebrities behavior like the singer Justin Bieber, that get involved in a minor scuffle with paparazzo, may give to children an impression that it is normal, and also they may think that these conducts are acceptable by society. The disclosure of celebrity lives may make children mind sometimes resulting in a divergent values of their parents, in other perspective agree with parents education. The incessant presence of personalities involves the younger mind and leads boys and girls to change their behavior. Comportment example tends copied from children. The comportment can come from TV stars and parents. Depending the type of example, younger shift their thoughts to better, but maybe it can prompt in a behavior in opposite to their parents. Notably, as well parent celebrities easily influence children. For this  reason, parents cannot underestimate their power, and they have to assume the control of their children.

Cultural Appropriation And Culture Appropriation - 1965 Words

Culture Appropriation ISU Rachael Pang Cultural Appropriation is not talked about enough and why it is an issue today. Pop culture is more popular and people are paying attention to the trends online of what certain people wear, what they put on their face, how they wear it. Some mistaken Culture Appropriation as Culture Appreciation but they are not aware to what they are doing wrong. Appropriation occurs when a style leads to racist generalizations or stereotypes where it is deemed as high-fashion, cool or funny when others make it their own style and imitating it. Many people need to learn what Culture Appropriation is and why they need to stop and ways of preventing it. The discussion about cultural†¦show more content†¦When you are taking their culture’s aspects and adding it into yours, you are discriminating their culture. An example in today’s news about culture appropriation is Kylie Jenner, famous teen on social media for sharing her life in pictures on Instagram and posting what every girl post, their outfit, what their makeup looked like and so forth. In the year 2015 and also today she has been accused for cultural appropriation. On Instagram she posted a picture of herself sporting cornrows in her hair without hesitation she posted the photo. Cornrows are a popular hairstyle; it’s a tradition African style of braided hair that is close to the scalp. Many who wear that hairstyle in the workforce gets fired or get told to not wear their hair like that because it’s not appropriate but it’s their culture but when a teen with a massive following wears it, it is instantly stylish, hip and cool. The negative consequences of cultural appropriation can be minimized by increased understanding of what those impacts are, ensuring the positive recognition of the appropriate cultur e, and not mocking the cultural identity of a people for a fashionable trend. Black culture has always been a controversial topic because black culture is supposed to be the epitome of â€Å"cool† â€Å"swag† and they do set popular trends and everyone does follow the current trend. Society cuts and commercializes pieces of Black culture for white consumption. If