Harmonizing Ethics and Sustainability in Business Operations

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The concepts of business ethics and sustainability are crucial in any organizations’ business. It is important for managers in the organization to follow ethical standards while making decisions concerning the organization. A number of theories exist to aid in this process including Utilitarianism. Other theories are applicable in business sustainability such as Elton Mayor’s Theories among others. These theories are used in this document to expound on the significance of ethics and sustainability in an organization. If you require additional assistance with your business dissertation, incorporating all these theories effectively, consider seeking business dissertation help so that you can ensure a comprehensive understanding and application of all these concepts.

The various benefits of applying Environmental Management Plan in an organization are also discussed in line with the ISO14001 Certification. A poster bearing these benefits is also designed and is to be displayed at the company’s reception.

INTRODUCTION

Ethics or moral philosophy defines what is morally right or wrong, good or bad. Ethics addresses issues and questions at all levels of life including the essential matters of practical decision making. Its major concern is the ultimate standards and value by which people’s deeds can either be treated as right or wrong (Wicks, Keevil, & Bidhan, 2012). On the other hand, sustainability is the ability of a resource to be maintained at a certain level or rate. It entails avoidance of depletion of the resource for the reasons of maintaining the ecological balance. Business sustainability is therefore, the ability of a company to maintain it operations in the market for a long time without exiting. The sustainability can majorly be classified as economic, social or environmental.

For a business to operate under favorable conditions in the industry, the concepts of ethics and sustainability must be taken into consideration as discussed in the following section. It is also important for any given organization to have a working and a reliable Environmental Management Plan for a more sustainable business.

1 BUSINESS ETHICS

1.1 Utilitarianism

This is a theory that focuses on the consequences brought about by the decisions made in an organization. It is equally compared with the ‘greatest good for the greatest number’ concept. This is at times referred to consequentialism where ethical decisions in an organization are attained based on the envisaged consequences. In order to attain an informed ethical decision, the management undertakes a cost-benefit-analysis (CBA) for each stakeholder. The decision is made with bias to the choice that produces maximum benefit to all the concerned parties. According to (Curtin , Gallicano, & Matthews, 2011), millennials apply utilitarianism in their reasoning and decision making processes so as to achieve consensus and in return avoid confrontation by their peers.

The application utilitarianism in ethical decision making is common in public policy formulation and implementation processes during which the involved team has to arrive at a decision that will benefit most of the stakeholders, such as the inhabitants of a region. This approach however, does not provide a 100% ethical solution and reliability for decision makers since it may harm a minority group to benefit the majority. It also forces decision makers to guess the outcome associated with their choice, which may be at times, difficult to predict.

Consider a situation where BAE Systems, a British multinational security, arms and aerospace company is faced with a dilemma on whether to give or not to give a bribe in order to secure a South African contract. The company is said to have secretly paid £100m to South African politicians in a controversial supply of Hawk and Gripen warplanes (Leigh & Evans, 2008) to the African nation. On one hand, the company needs the contract to ensure its growth and survival while on the other hand, paying of bribes is illegal. This amounts to corruption that leads to suffering of the South African citizens due to misappropriation of their funds. Refusing to pay the bribe would however, means the company loses the chance to grow further, which may result to redundancies hence negatively impacting the employees and their families (The Open University, 2020).

2. BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY

2.1 Elton Mayo’s Theories

Elton Mayo also referred to as the ‘father of HR movement’ did a number of scientific studies on organizational psychology on the onset of the 20th century. The theories generally suggest that employees are more motivated by social and relational forces as compared to environmental and financial conditions. That productivity can be increased by treating the employees as unique and valuable individuals rather than commoners at the company’s disposal. Elton’s idea has gained popularity over the years especially with entrance of large technological companies such as Cisco and Google into the market. Examples confirming Elton Mayo’s Theories include:

2.1.1 The Philadelphia Spinning Mill

Mayo made departmental changes at the mill including introducing and modifying breaks during work. This was motivated by his earlier analogy that ‘workers’ morale depended on their view of the social function of their employment’ (Ward, 2021). The effected changes resulted to increased motivation among employees resulting to high productivity equivalent to the company’s average within a period of one year. It was later discovered that the in-between-breaks during work only contributed partially towards the improvement (Wren, Daniel, & Arthur, 2009).

2.1.2 The Western Electric Company (Hawthorne Experiments)

This company in Cicero, Illinois invited Mayo to apply his analogy on its production at the said facility and location. The company wanted to inspire loyalty among its employees, unionization, discourage turnover and present a good public image. Mayo’s first test was to determine the effects of lighting on work efficiency. Others tested on impacts of work hours and rest periods on production (Wicks, Keevil, & Bidhan, 2012). From these tests, it was established that productivity increased due to formation of a cohesive and enthusiastic team by the individuals, which in turn increased satisfaction and cooperation on the job. Mayor was able to discover the significance of participative and supportive leadership, social cohesion, and interpersonal relationships at work. It was also established that groups form within organizations and create informal rules between them. The groups can either work with or against the company’s management depending on the attitude (Ward, 2021).

2.2 Recommendations

For more ethical decisions and for continuous sustainability, organizations may consider the following:

1 Be proactive and address issues on a case by case basis rather than batches, to minimize impacting the minority negatively for the sake of the majority.

2 Involve all the stakeholders in the decision making process in order to come up with more informed and universal decisions.

3 Review of rules and procedures to be holistic and more inclusive so as to accommodate the interests of all stakeholders.

3. BENEFITS DERIVED FROM INTRODUCING AN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN

An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a significant tool when it comes to improvement of business performance and reduction of organization’s carbon footprint. Various organizations around the world have implemented the EMS; not necessarily in efforts to conserve the environment but mainly to comply with the ISO14001 protocol. These companies later come to realize multiple benefits associated with EMS implementation. The realized benefits vary in magnitude depending with the nature of the business undertaking. For instance, a construction company implementing the EMS program reduces its impact on the environment much broader than a consultancy firm implementing the same program.

The following are benefits associated with implementation of an EMS:

3.1 Reduction in Waste Generation

Every organization can reduce its waste if it implements an effective EMS management system. A small company with a recycling plant or a large organization with a modified design through a creative and innovative process can get rid of a huge amount of waste. For instance, Leanne’s Landscaping improve hospital appearances through design and construction of recreation, garden areas and other public spaces within the hospitals (Mark, 2017). The company applies the use of recycled materials in its construction and landscaping processes. It also designs all the installed items including play equipment and seats to be completely recyclable or reusable upon disposal. During handover, the company also ensures to give a full guide on the items’ recycling or reusing.

3.2 Maximize Resources

This is closely related to waste reduction in that the company gets to use their raw materials in more than one application hence reducing the amount of materials to be disposed. The more is used out of one source the less is thrown away. This also results to decreased transportation costs for the generated waste, reduce emissions from waste transportation and decrease the amount of landfill, and its associated pollution. Maximizing the use of resources increases organizational efficiency. For instance, purchasing a single product saves time during the procurement process, reduces storage capacity requirement and the cost of delivery. The use of a single resource for multiple applications also promotes innovation since you see more possibilities when you look at resources differently. All these result in increased cost saving for the company (Mark, 2017).

3.3 Minimize Environmental Risk

These risks vary depending on the industry. A good EMS system determines the activities within the company that may have effects and the extent to which they impact the environment. The severity and longevity of the impacts are taken into consideration. For instance, consider a company, Sam’s Signs that produces large advertising posters for shop-front windows. Sam identified waste from the stickers backing and other environmental aspects, which were not biodegradable, reusable or recyclable. These items simply ended up adding on the landfill. Currently, Sam has 10 outlets performing about 5 jobs per day. This implies that 250 sticker backings go to waste within a week translating to 10,000 backings per year. If he only did 1 job a day then the impact would be much less (Mark, 2017).

Sam later approached the manufacturer of his stickers and together they developed an alternative biodegradable sticker that breaks-down after being exposed to moisture for 5 years. With the new stickers, the impact on the environment is now short-term and therefore, significantly reduced.

3.4 Improving Your Business Reputation

It is possible to build and improve your public relations through control of your impact on the environment and increased awareness in the community. Having a clear, reliable and implementable EMS system can help in proving your organizations’ green credentials. For instance, Amazon, an online retailer has gained a lot of popularity following its stringent measures in combating environmental degradation. The company gets the opportunity to improve its impact on the physical environment following the increasing interests in environmental programs.

These interests are driven by consequences associated with ecological challenges such as pollution due to energy consumption and waste management. The Amazon’s corporate social responsibility strategy may capture the external ecological factors to improve the company’s impact on the environment. The increasing need for business sustainability is another major opportunity for Amazon Inc. for instance higher sustainability criteria greatly strengthens the organization’s brand image as it further improves environmental impact (Greenspan, 2019).

3.5 Improved Sustainability

A good EMS system results to a sustainable organization. For instance changing of car engines from petroleum consumption to hybrid engines, transforming your business to paperless and use of solar water heaters to heat water instead of power from the utility company ensure more effective and efficient systems. In the process, an organization is able to save on cost and gain a more competitive edge against its rivals (Mark, 2017).

3.6 EMS Management System and ISO Certification

Environmental certification gives your business further credibility to help you achieve leadership in your industry. This is a plus especially for companies with other standards certifications such as Safety AS/NZS4801 and Quality ISO9001. Businesses that mostly tender for work may miss on many opportunities if they are not certified. This is because all organizations want to reduce their overall risk (including environmental) hence would opt to work with certified companies rather than uncertified ones (Mark, 2017).

CONCLUSION

It is notable that the decision-making in business is to be informed by a rigorous ethical process to be able to attain useful and holistic conclusions. Utilitarianism is based on decision making depending on envisaged consequences. It aims at achieving the common good for all but may end up hurting a few. The Elton Mayo’s Theories may be used to increase business sustainability. They suggest that productivity within an organization depends with the social aspects of its employees including rest, treatment from the employer, rules and procedures among others. That holding the employees highly increases their morale and performance hence more productivity for the company.

The Environmental Management System (EMS) is also important for any organization’s sustainability hence needs to be incorporated in all organizations. This kind of system comes with a range of benefits including reduced generation of waste, maximized use of resources, minimized environmental risk and improved business reputation among many others. Several companies in various industries have implemented the model and the fruits have been seen.

REFERENCES

• Curtin , P., Gallicano, T., & Matthews, A. (2011). Millenials' Approaches to Ethical Decision Making. Public Relations, 1-22.
• Greenspan, R. (2019, May 20). Amazon.com Inc. PESTEL/PESTLE Analysis, Recommendations. Retrieved July 23, 2021, from Panmore Institute: http://panmore.com/amazon-com-inc-pestel-pestle-analysis-recommendations
• Leigh, D., & Evans, R. (2008, December 6). The BEA Files. Retrieved August 28, 2021, from The Guardian for 200 Years: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/dec/06/bae-arms-trade
• Mark. (2017, September 17). Benefits of an Environmental Management System to Your Business. Retrieved August 28, 2021, from Business Basics: https://www.businessbasics.com.au/benefits-of-environmental-management-system/
• The Open University. (2020). Open Learn. Retrieved August 28, 2021, from The Open University: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-business/marketing-the-21st-century/content-section-2.2
• Ward, P. (2021). Elton Mayo Management Theories. Retrieved August 28, 2021, from NanoGlobals: https://nanoglobals.com/glossary/elton-mayo-management-theories/
• Wicks, A., Keevil, A., & Bidhan, P. (2012). Sustainable Business Development and Management Theories. Business and Professional Ethics, 375-398.
• Wren, Daniel, A., & Arthur, G. (2009). The Evolution of Management Thought. NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

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