Ethical Behavior and Pressure Groups (28.2)
Given all the impacts that business activity have on the environment and society, it is not uncomon for governments to create legal controls around business actions.
- Penalties, fines, closures, imprisonment when waste/pollution laws are ignored;
- Heavy Taxes on energy consumption to encourage energy-efficient methods;
- Standards / Limits for the usage of natural resources forcing the usage of renewable resources;
- Permissions may be denied to business considered 'unsustainable'.
Activity 28.2
Governments and legal controls are just half the battle for businesses. In today's day and age, pressure groups have a growing importance on the ethical behavior of businesses:
Pressure Groups are groups of people who join together towards a common cause (ethical or environmental). Such groups aim to change how business activity so that negative externalities are minimized.
Pressure groups pursue their aims through the use of:
Some businesses choose to follow a more defensive attitude towards pressure groups through legal actions or even through campaigns to defend their actions/opinions regarding a certain topic and change the public's perception of the company.
Businesses need to protect and improve their reputation to avoid losing customers, workers, and investors.
Is there anything good businesses can take away from pressure group actions?
If you look closely, there are opportunities from pressure group acts to businesses:
Cost Savings: recycling and energy-efficient equipment yield long-term savings;
Tax Credits / Exemptions: governments offer tax benefits to sustainable businesses;
Good Publicity: attracting customers, workers, and investors;
New Business Opportunities: recycling, energy-management, waste-management.
Sustainability in businesses is becoming more and more comon nowadays due to the many legal actions governments have been imposing as well as the action from pressure groups.
Sustainable Businesses are those that have been trying to minimize their negative externalities on societies and environment yet being profitable. Such businesses share a few common characteristics:
1. They contribute to the economy's growth and not only focus on individual growth;
2. They are profit making businesses;
3. They go beyond laws and regulations to not only being legal but also being ethical;
4. They are ethical on their treatment of customers, suppliers, society, and environmentally-friendly.
Business striving to become sustainable businesses can follow a few simple steps:
Usually there is a conflicting relationship between environmental and ethical behavior against profit. That does not mean, however, that business opportunities cannot be created from such trends.
To-Do-List:
Chapter 28, Environmental and Ethical Issues
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