Conor Cunningham P4 M3
LEARNER ASSESSMENT SUBMISSION AND DECLARATION
When submitting evidence for assessment, each learner must sign a declaration confirming
that the work is their own.
Learner name: Conor Cunningham Assessor name: F. Mooney
Issue date: 03.12.16 Submission date: 23.12.16 Submitted on: 23.12.16
Programme: BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Business
Unit: Unit 37
Assignment reference and title: Understanding Business Ethics
Please list the evidence submitted for each task. Indicate the page numbers where the
evidence can be found or describe the nature of the evidence (e.g. video, illustration).
Task ref. Evidence submitted Page numbers or
description
Task 4 Word Document – P4 M3 18 pages
Learner declaration
I certify that the work submitted for this assignment is my own. I have clearly referenced
any sources used in the work. I understand that false declaration is a form of malpractice.
Learner signature: Conor Cunningham Date: 23.12.16
Task 4
Representatives of communities, affected by the operations of your client company, have
requested ‘Ethics-Care’ to write newsletters for the communities’ website on the internet
on the ethical concerns facing the communities.
You are required to a newsletter, with images, which:
a) Lists and describes the communities which are impacted by your chosen
business, to include where applicable: local; regional; global; pressure groups;
and the impact of overseeing bodies e.g. UK Government, EU, United Nations,
WTO, WHO etc.
,Conor Cunningham P4 M3
- Examines the ethical concerns of the communities in which your client
organisation operates. Issues should include: corporate social responsibility,
globalisation, cultural imperialism, ecology, environment, fair trade, corruption,
child labour, outsourcing, personal attitudes, whistleblowing (P4)
b) Prepare an informal report which investigates what the business is doing to
deal with their concerns and suggest measures that the organisation could take
to improve corporate responsibility (M3)
This provides evidence for P4 & M3
P4
Communities concerned with different ethical issues in society
There are many different communities which have many different ethical concerns for
different issues taking place in society. We speak of a community to refer to the localities
we live in, regional and national areas and the whole of Europe and beyond. Below will look
at these communities and the issues they are concerned about.
Local communities – Many businesses are of national importance and their activities have a
significant impact to local communities. For many decades, the British coalfields offered
mining work to the local communities around them. However, these communities were
scarred for generations because of them. Mining communities suffered a lot of
environmental damage and serious coastal damage. Miners suffered long-term health
problems too and today still suffer from illness caused directly by their job. Even today
modern businesses such as Tesco leave their mark on local communities in many different
ways. Despite the environmental and other negative effects, local authorities still welcome
new business as they bring jobs and economic growth to areas.
Regional and national communities – Typically, regional communities refer to a region
where national communities refer to the whole county. While local people can be affected
directly from the activities of a business, an entire region can be affected too when an
industry faces ethical questions. Environmental issues do not stop at local, national or
international boundaries. However, specific regions tend to contain particular industries
such as Fracking which takes place in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland – which will be
studied in greater detail below.
When industries go through difficulties, there are regional and often national effects. For
example, the UK car industry suffered from poor planning, inefficiency and bad industrial
relations. Many communities are faced with serious problems when multi-national
businesses set up local operations and take decisions that are purely commercial. This may
affect people regionally and nationally as in some cases, complete closure of an important
employer leads to significant job losses and redundancies. On the other hand, multi-
nationals often set up in low-wage economies and pay wages that are much higher than
those paid by local businesses.
, Conor Cunningham P4 M3
Global communities – Many of the larger businesses in particular industries carry out
activities which have a significant impact on global communities. Their activities may have
impacts on the European Union or the world at large. Huge companies such as Apple are
leaders in the technological industry and so when they make huge business decisions, the
ethics surrounding that decision are questioned around the world. When Tesco’s meat
products were found to contain horse meat, it impacted global communities as this is a
multinational grocer. People in the UK and all across Europe shared their views and
concerns and this lead to a 1% decrease in Tesco’s sales – which shows the huge impacts
global communities can have on particular organisations.
Pressure groups – Environmental pressure groups force issues into the public’s attention
and therefore pressure both governments and business leaders into action. Two well known
pressure groups are Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. Greenpeace campaigns on many
issues to defend the natural world. It is committed to halting climate change cause by
burning oil, coal and gas. It supports renewable technologies and energy efficiency. Friends
of the Earth seek to influence policy and practice which is honest, accurate and with an
open approach. It does this by working local to global, using solutions-based research and
enabling campaigning to provide information and tools to help people act. Pressure groups
can be the difference between customers shopping with one business over another due to
their campaigns which can sometimes ridicule the unethical behaviour which a business has
conducted.
Overseeing bodies – More recently than ever, many of the ethical questions that concern us
cannot be dealt with just national boundaries. This means that national, continental and
international bodies are taking action to oversee the activities of businesses all over the
world. Some of these overseeing bodies will be looked at below.
UK Government; The UK government tries to pass laws or create regulations, codes and
practices for as many areas of ethics as possible. They oversee professional practise as well
as selling, trading, employment, health and safety and pollution. The UK government is also
aware of the wider concerns about global warming. There are several regulatory bodies that
exist in order to protect the ongoing interests of UK businesses which include the Financial
Services Authority, Food Standards Agency and the Advertising Standards Authority.
United Nations; The United Nations is an international body made up of 191 countries. In
1948, the UN issued its Declaration of Human Rights which sets out the basic expectations
that anyone, wherever they may be, should be entitled to expect from employment. The
countries within the UN have signed an agreement to start tackling climate change. The UN
has also urged richer nations to contribute to a massive fund to help poorer countries cope
with global warming.
European Union; The EU now covers almost half a billion people in 27 nations. The EU can
issue directives to member states, effectively instructing them to implement law. This may
include a change in company policy or a change to a national living wage in a particular
country.
