Unit II business ethics

Task I. Think over the following questions, give your answers then read the text and decide whether you were right:

a. Can you explain the word “ethics”?

b. What does it mean: “I am socially responsible and behave ethically”?

d. What does the phrase “ethical investment” mean?

c. Why are investors concerned about where their money is invested?

Text a. Ethical standards

Ethics are moral beliefs about what is right and wrong, and the study of this. Some actions are not criminal, bur they are morally wrong: unethical. Areas where choices have to be made about right and wrong behavior are ethical issues. Some organizations have a code of ethics or code of conduct where they say what their managers' and employees' behavior should be, to try to prevent them behaving unethically.

People want companies to be socially responsible and behave ethically. They don't run plants directly, for example, they buy trainers from plants in Asia. They often visit the plants to check that they don't exploit workers by underpaying them or making them work long hours: sweatshop labor. In management in the US, they have an affirmative action program, to avoid racial or sex discrimination. Every year, they ask an independent expert to do a "social performance audit' to see how they are doing in these areas. They always publish it, even if they don't like everything in it!

Sven Nygren is CEO of the Scandinavian investment Bank said:

'Investors are more and more concerned about where their money is invested. We take ethical investment very seriously. We don't invest, for example, in arms companies or tobacco firms. Environmental or green issues are also very important. Recently we were involved in a project to build a large dam in the Asian country of Paradiso. We discovered that large numbers of farming people would be forced to leave the area flooded by the dam, and that the dam would also be environmentally damaging, reducing water supplies to neighbouring countries. It was green activists from the environmental organization Green Awareness who told us this. We withdrew from the project and tried to persuade other organizations not to invest in it. We didn't want to damage our reputation for ethical investment.'

Notes: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – головний менеджер / адміністратор

Task II. Match these terms (1-3) with their definitions (a-c):

1. code (n) a) hard work, toil, task; manual work

2. ethics (n) b) a complete written formulation of a body of law

3. labour (n) c) scientific study of morals, system of morality

Task III. Complete these sentences with appropriate words (Task I). Translate them into Ukrainian:

1. Retailers say packaging that imitates the style and image of market leaders is wrong and has nothing to do with ………………..

2. A company is behaving……………..if it pollutes the environment.

3. We didn't want ... ... our reputation for ethical investment.

4. The television industry should adopt a ……………….. on violence in its programmes.

5. '……………behaviour is good for business,' says the vice president for ethics and business conduct. 'You get the right kind of employees, and it's a great draw for customers.'

Task IV. Discuss the following questions:

1. Do you know any companies that are famous for their ethical behaviour?

2. Do you choose to buy from them because of this?

3. What environmental movements are there in your country?

4. What environmental projects are they involved in?

Task V. Complete this table, using information about wrongdoing and corruption. The first row, as an example, has been done for you. You may wish to refer to a dictionary.

Noun:	Noun: the doer	Verb: what the person does (He/She)	Noun: thing made or done in the wrongdoing	Related adjective
counterfeiting	counterfeiter	counterfeits	a counterfeit	counterfeit
	embezzler
	faker	fakes	a
			a forgery
fraud	fraudster	defrauds	a
	money launderer		-	-
		racketeers	-	-

Which act of wrongdoing do you think is the most serious? Which do you think is the least serious? Is financial wrongdoing a “victimless crime”?

Task VI. Read the text and find answers to the questions:

a. ”Negative publicity”. Explain the meaning of this word combination.

b. Why did Gerber management decide to handle negative publicity?

c. How could Gerber avoid much of the negative publicity?

d. What company provides an excellent example in how to deal with a product tampering crisis?