Business Ethics

With all the turmoil that the great crash of the last few years has created has made me think about ethics. The problems were created by greed. Corporate and individual greed. The more I have thought about this, the more I have begun to feel there is a need for a debate about the ethics of business.

Reading on Wikipedia, I came across the following statement: "If a company's main purpose is to maximise the returns to its shareholders, then it should be seen as unethical for a company to consider the rights and interests of anyone else." The source of this statement is Milton Friedman (The Social Responsibility of Business is to increase its profits).

This approach has dominated the last thirty years. I believe that this is actually unethical. A company that only considers profit and shareholder return, I would consider to be unethical. Companies operate in communities - consideration of local impacts has to be built into decisions.

The impact on the environment is a must do - just putting in a few recycling bins is not enough. There are many ways to raise your "ethical score". Some areas to consider:

- Sourcing of materials/products
- Dealing with waste
- How you deal with employees
- Day to day activity of business - Accountancy, Sales, Marketing, Production

I plan to publish 1001 ways to be more ethical in business. Here is #1

#1 Sourcing products from Prison Service

My local garden centre (Wych Cross near Forest Row in Sussex) has a range of garden furniture made by inmates in Scottish Prisons. Research shows that giving prisoners meaningful work (and in many cases skills) results in a significant reduction in reoffending rates. The Scottish Prison Service has set up a business in making and supplying a range of wooden garden items. The wood is from sustainable sources.

So one simple way to raise your ethical score - buy your next garden shed from SPS and not the local DIY store. The link for more details is: http://www.sps.gov.uk//Default.aspx?DocumentID=44ffe320-1fcb-4be7-93cc-2b26d3bf54ca

I am looking for more ideas (we are only upto #32) do leave a comment

Enjoy the start of Advent - I know that the true meaning is somewhat lost in the chocoloate calendar. That said, I am sure that we all can enjoy preparing for Christmas that Advent signals. Enjoy!