Est1 Task 1

EST1 Task 1 – Ethical Issues in Business

Local businesses are an essential part of any community. Company Q has consistently shown a negative attitude toward social responsibility. As legal separate entities corporations are citizens in their own right with rights and responsibilities of their own. However since they are not human they rely on the people and policies of which they are composed to exercise those responsibilities in an ethical way. Also many people view corporations as moral agents that are accountable for their conduct to stakeholders and shareholders (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2010, p. 207). In this scenario company Q closed two stores in high crime areas citing loss of profits, offered limited healthy food years after numerous requests were made and declined donations to a food bank stating concerns about theft. By doing this. ****These three negative decisions can be changed to reflect social and corporate responsibility. Social responsibility encompasses the actions and moral attitudes of people within corporations. I believe company Q can solve these three issues by showing a willingness to operate in diverse socioeconomic areas, listening to customers’ shopping needs, and showing integrity and trust in their actions toward employees.

By closing two store in “high crime rate” areas, company Q is missing an opportunity to show the local community their commitment to operating in diverse areas both high and low income. When company Q closed their grocery store in the “high crime rate” area they were in fact lessening the amount of healthy food options that low income people have access to. This shows an unbalanced commitment favoring shareholders over local community stakeholders. Company Q can instead keep both stores open and adjust some policies to try and manage a win-win situation for both shareholders and stakeholders. Depending on what matters need to be addressed, there are many ways to go about remedying the...