Understanding Business Ethics

Explain the implications for the business and stakeholders of a business operating ethically. A stakeholder is a person, group, or organization that has direct or indirect stake in an organization because it can affect or be affected by the organization's actions, objectives, and policies. Key stakeholders in a business organization include creditors, customers, employees, government, owners, suppliers, unions and the community from which the business draws its resources. Tesco is committed to conducting business in an ethical and socially responsible manner. This relates to all aspects of their business, treating employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders in a fair and honest manner and ensuring that there are constant and open channels of communication. Tesco has Codes of Ethics for its employees, which includes a policy on the receipt of gifts and a grievance procedure that covers employment issues. Similar essay: How Does Tesco Communicate With Their Customers Tesco has a confidential telephone help line, Protector Line, for any employee who wishes to raise concerns relating to alleged criminal offences, failure to comply with legal obligations, miscarriages of justice, health and safety, damage to the environment and concealment of any of these issues. These are Tesco’s stakeholders: Customers: The employees hear customers' views on everything from how Tesco are serving them in their stores to their role in the community. Customers are looking to buy products; they are looking for a wide range of products. They also want easy accessibility to the premises and hope to buy quality products at competitive prices. They are really important because they provide the money for the store to be successful. Also an expanding amount of customers mean more profit for the business. Most customers expect fresh fruit and vegetables at high quality for good value. Employees: Employees gives Tesco their feedback through the Viewpoint staff survey, Staff Question Time sessions and their Staff Forum process. May want an increase in pay rise. Employees have a very big interest in Tesco; they have an interest in the business in the form of wages, bonuses, discounts, and holiday pensions. The business may be affected by how well their employees do in customer service. If a customer experiences poor customer service, it is more like that they will tell someone else that if they got a good customer service. Therefore employees need the right type of customer training in order to be successful to the business. Suppliers: Tesco’s core value is â€Å"treat people how we like to be treated†, and it's something they apply firmly to their supplier relationships. Suppliers stock the business with all its business supplies; if they are late then it causes conflict between business and suppliers. Therefore, it is vital that all the business supplies are on time. Suppliers are probably the third important part in a business, they provide the products and if they are not on time it poses a great threat to the financial state of a business. On the other hand, suppliers aren’t that important in decision making because they’re scared of losing their contract with Tesco. The main jobs of the suppliers are to sell fresh stock daily at market price. Investors: Tesco’s Investor Relations team regularly meet analysts from the financial institutions which invest in them or represent their shareholders. In contrast it may want a decrease in pay rise for their employees. The owners are probably one of the most important people in a business, they set rules. More importantly they expect repeat business profits and respectable customers.