Exercise2 Spendapproximately 15 minutes on thisexercise.
Imagine you areamanager leading the project outlined earlier to buildnew homes in theLondon area on unused land owned by TheNational Grid.In order to make sure youmakethe right decisions you want to consider what the main concernsofthe key stakeholders(i.e. individualsorgroups of
Readings46–55
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peopleaffected by thisproject) are. Make some notesonone main concern you think each of thefollowing people might have:
. an employee of the housing company that will build the new homes
. ashareholder of the housing company
. apotential homebuyer
. amember of an environmentaladvocacy group.
Comment
Here are some concerns thatthe groups mentioned above might have:
. An employee would, of course, want to be treated in ahumane way,with adecent wage and working conditions. An employee wouldbeinterested in the projectgoing ahead as this is likelyto make theiremployment more secure.
. Ashareholder will want agood return on investment. If the project goes aheadthisislikelytolead to improved profits for the housing company and thereforeabetter return on shareholders’ investment. Onthe other hand,ifanything went wrongwiththe project, for exampleaserious work accident, environmental pollution in the course of the buildingwork, or the discoveryofillegal working practices, such ascandal wouldaffectthe reputation of thecompany and couldhave anegativeeffectonthe share price.
. Ahomebuyer would be concerned withthe socialissue of the affordability of housing,anissuethat is especially pronounced in the Greater London area.The buildingofnew homes couldbegood newsinthisrespect because it willincrease the availability of houses and thus might reduce prices. However, if the new homes wereonlyaimed at rich peopleand priced accordingly, thiswouldnot helpordinary house buyers.
. An environmentalgroupwillbeconcerned with the extra pollution and environmental impact created by the development and wouldbeseeking reassurancesthat the development will be abiding by environmental regulations and will be usingthe latest, eco-friendlytechnology.
Each of these perspectivesmay be valid and you can probablyalready see that it couldbe difficulttomakesure that allthese different interests are being met. Youwillbestudyingsomeofthese issues in moredetaillater.
In conclusion,adopting an ethics perspective is concerned with refining judgementand finding away of balancing and evaluating competingclaims.
This balancingact ofteninvolves aset of key questions:
. How do businessesbalance their need tomake aprofitfortheir owners with theneedtocontributetothe broader good of society?
. Howfar shouldbusinessesgoincontributingtothe wellbeing of society?
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Reading 46: Introduction to business ethics
. Wheredothe responsibilities of business begin and end?
Businessesmight, more often thannot, want todothe rightthing but are constrained by livingwithlimitedresources,timepressures andbudgets. Theseissues will be discussedthroughoutthe readings that follow.