Business ethics, stakeholders and Tescos

In this assignment I am going to assess the implications of the ethical issues and examine how they are dealt with and the consequences for different stakeholders. I will also highlight to what extant these issues are a real problem in relation to my business. Adapting business behaviour In today’s society people don’t always do what’s right. They may know that doing certain thing will cause greater consequences but for short term benefits they still do it. In Tesco, it is the top managers responsibility to ensure the organisational culture supports ethical conduce and social responsibility.
Because, they are who the team members look to for guidance. Business leaders now fear the consequences of unethical behaviour. Most large scale businesses like Tesco take their ethical responsibilities very seriously. They are therefore, prepared to adopt the ethical behaviour to avoid the consequences as the following statement from Tesco show: “Each Tesco store has waste targets that must be reviewed and reported every week. Achieving a balance between product availability and waste is a key part of a store management team’s daily routine” Responding to ethical pressure
Ethical pressure is when your ethics have been challenged in a way that forces you to consider what is right and what is wrong. The first step in responding to ethical pressures is to determine the nature of the issue and assess its ethical dimensions. Ethical pressure, for instance, can arise if business is called upon to act in unethical way. In this situation, identifying the issue requires understanding how the action is unethical and what its consequences might be. The Corporate Social Responsibility ‘CSR’ programmes of business are there to response to the growing pressure placed on managements to take account of ethical concerns.

In order to make sure that business is following the CSR policies Tesco exert pressure on their own shareholders. Implementing ethical practices Tesco is a British success story, it has used the global market place to push down prices for consumers and grab more market share. If they are not profitable, they cannot do the things they and their stakeholders would like to do. Tesco operate in a free market and believe in the power of the market to deliver worthwhile change. But the social and environmental costs of Tesco’s behaviour are clear.
That’s why Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to act now to stop the Tesco Takeover and bring this market giant under control. It is not enough to expect shoppers to revolt and shop at their local stores to keep them going as long as possible. The public should be able to rely on regulation to maintain fair trade and a diverse high street. Tesco is failing its very own standards for the Ethical Trading Initiative by making suppliers pay the costs. They should implement more ethical practices in order to gain good reputation just like McDonald’s have started to offer healthy options.