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March, 2011

03

Business Ethics ! Business Ethics and The Environment

! Authors: Nabil Ishak [2177301] ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Fontys University of Applied Sciences !

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International Business and Management Studies 2010 2011

!"#$%&'()"*&+&,-../0-& Business Ethics and the Environment Introduction Business enterprises today are expected to meet standards of responsible business conduct that go beyond what had been expected traditionally. Although people more often than not still speak of business in terms of products, jobs, and profits, it is understood and accepted across the globe that a business enterprise remains a member of its community. The pursuit of profits and economic progress is not a license to ignore community norms, values, and standards of respect, integrity, and quality. Improved business performance, profits, and economic progress come to those who effectively and efficiently foster and meet the reasonable expectations of their primary stakeholders which are customers, employees, suppliers, investors, and the environment, as well as the owners and managers themselves. Moreover, many businesses now concern for the impact they have on all their stakeholders, including their social impact (how they deal with employees, suppliers, and the community) and their environmental impact (how they treat the environment). Instead of showing a lot of ways that business, ethics, and environmentalism conflict and lead to impossible choices, it is more useful to ask, How is it possible to put these ideas together? Businesses must continue to create value for their financiers and other stakeholders. To leave a livable world for future generations, business leaders also must pay attention to environmental matters. Yet most of the methods, concepts, ideas, theories, and techniques used in business do not put business, ethics, and the environment together. In addition, environmental considerations are frequently viewed as barriers to profitability. The environment is rarely considered central to business strategy unless there is some regulation that constrains business goals. Code of Conduct in Protection of the Environment A code of conduct is often the primary means by which management gives guidance to its employees and agents as to what is expected of them by way of business conduct. A code of conduct addresses minimum standards of conduct and procedures to reduce the enterprises risk of liability and damage to its reputation. A code of conduct should address the enterprises standards, procedures, and expectations regarding the environment. A code should include a statement that the enterprise will abide by both local and international laws and regulations designed to protect the environment. It should address how the business balances production objectives with environmental protection in general. In more detailed standards, procedures, and expectations, the enterprise might discuss how to reduce waste products, how to avoid polluting air and water, and how to manage and report chemical use and disposal. In this case, Global Warming is one issue that we focus on. Global warming is not a 20th century phenomenon. It has, in fact, occurred in the past more than once, along with periods of extreme cold known as the ice ages. With so much written and reported about global warming, sometimes its difficult to detect which is fact and which is just part of scientific scare tactics. Global warming has and will always occur naturally. Why it has become such a concern in our lifetime is due to the fact that human activities and practices have contributed significantly to its occurrence and severity. With the advent of industrialization and careless environmental practices, we have caused the increase in the average global temperatures by contributing negatively to the greenhouse effect as explained in the first movie.

Fontys University of Applied Sciences International Business and Management Studies 2010-2011

!"#$%&'()"*&+&,-../0-& Now, most businesses try to dismiss the global warming issue as hyperbole because they do not want anything to disrupt their exploitation of developing countries. If we do a research we will see that the further industrialization of developing countries such as India, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, and other countries is contributing to global warming. Eventually, businesses have to come up with environmental responsibility as one of their business ethics. Environmental responsibility is a vital component of a business strategy as it not only helps the environment, but it wins the trust of communities and gains the respect of the governments of the countries in which the business operates. The environmental responsibility can be shown through creating a product life cycle, which is oriented to environmental policy. This is aimed to avoid the shift of environmental problems from one stage of the product life cycle to another. All stages of product life cycle need to be addressed, e.g. design, raw materials utilized, production processes, transport/distribution, use/consumption, and waste/disposal phases. For example, enterprises should take into consideration the use and waste phases when designing a product so as to minimize the overall environmental impact (including pollution). In addition, enterprises must also implement eco-efficiency strategies, as these have immediate positive effects notably in terms of reducing energy and resources consumption, minimizing waste generation, etc. As we saw from second movie, however, business ethics (environmental responsibility, as a part) is not a simple as it looks as there is no longer one agreed moral code and multinationals operate in different parts of the world, employing and serving people from different cultures. Profit will still be the main motivating factor for businesses and this affects all the people who work there, generating its own culture with its own standards, so it becomes difficult for individuals to stand up against any attitudes and decisions they disagree with. Conclusion Recently, there has been a rapid growth in knowledge and technology, so that humans now face choices we have never had to face before that affects the continuation of humanity and the world within which we live. Global Warming is one of those issues. This issue pushes the businesses to consider all their impact on the environment such as emitting pollution, producing waste and the use of resources. So they must be able think about their business ethics since the importance of environmental ethics is brought home daily by the news of global warming and its effect on our lives, both now and in the future. Through this, for me the first movie is more credible. In addition, balancing business growth and environmental responsibility are always going to be a challenge for business. Businesses are encouraged to have an environmental responsibility, just as they do for many other issues again this has often been a reaction to consumer pressure, and also international pressure from organizations. Finally, as consideration, global warming will probably be one of the greatest threats to long-term human survival and our future will depend on how we respond today.

Fontys University of Applied Sciences International Business and Management Studies 2010-2011