P4 | Examine the ethical concerns of the communities in which a selected business operates.
There are many different types of ethical concerns within a community in which a business operates. For my chosen organisation Adidas there a many ethical concerns which have been raised in the locations they operate. In 1990 there was a boycott of Adidas products as they were caught forcing people to work in sweatshops and in very bad conditions. This was seen in Indonesia, Philippines and China. They were using cheap labour and forcing people to work 65 hours a week with no breaks and also giving them physical and verbal abuse. There were concerns that they are treating workers very badly and also exploiting those who are in need of money, these were going against the human rights and also making a mockery of poverty around the world.
Before the 2002 Olympics held in the UK athletes boycotted adidas products as they aware of the ethical issues which were raised against adidas in different countries. This had a major impact on Adidas as it lost a lot of money and also lost respect from most of their customers around the world.
Other ethical concerns with Adidas in communities are the local amenities and getting rid of land in order to build factories. This is affecting a lot of people as they are coming in and buying cheap land and taking away useful resources from a community. Adidas have also gone into places and got rid of green field sites which have angered many people within communities. The more factories Adidas are building this is causing more and more pollution and increasing the carbon emissions. This is then assisting the deforestation as they are using up natural resources.
Some facts about pollution due to factories are that by 2020 in China there is a high possibility that over 15% of people will be affected with some sort of lung disease due to the pollution. Also the annual premature deaths in China are caused by just breathing is over half a million, when people see these figures then they have more concern with businesses operating in their countries and communities.
Many businesses are of national importance and their activities have a crucial significance to local communities. Local communities have many concerns when a new business is given permission to operate by local authorities. This is because the factories will cause a lot of pollution and many businesses around the world because ethical concerns to a community. Businesses will buy up cheap land and also there are concerns over noise and waste pollution. Businesses can end up using up all natural resources from a community.
Adidas has a national impact on ethical concerns as they are using sweatshops. Cheap labour and also they have been boycotted from major companies and individuals. They have been operating worldwide and it has been seen that they forced people to work in very bad conditions, doing 65 hours a week with very low pay. Many communities are faced with serious problems when multi-national corporations like adidas set up local operations and later take decisions that are purely commercial.

Pressure groups will put pressure on Adidas and the government by highlighting issues to the public. This can therefore because Adidas and government bodies to have to take action. One of the most well-known pressure groups is Greenpeace. Pressure groups like Greenpeace may say to the public that Adidas is burning too much oil, polluting water and therefore harming the planet. This could lead to Adidas having a bad public image, so Adidas would be forced to try and cut down its emissions.
Greenpeace has had an impact on other organisations too, such as Nike. They managed to force adidas into committing to a detox, in which they agreed to eliminate all hazardous chemicals from its supply chain by January 2020. They would campaign against unethical organisations such as Adidas as Adidas buy from companies who cut down trees as they need natural resources and it would be Greenpeace that are going try and stop them and speak against companies who are unethical.
There are organisations like Friends of the Earth FOTE who seek to influence policy and practice through what it describes as an honest and accurate approach. FOE try to find an credible alternative solutions to problems and enabling campaigning against unethical businesses such as Adidas.
The United Nations was set up in 1945 and is comprised of 191 countries around the world. It is based in New York. It was set up to bring people together to avoid war after the Second World War. The United Nations brings world leaders together to also try to combat ethical issues such as climate change. In December 2009, the UN attempted to get all the countries around the world to sign an agreement to start fighting climate change in their countries. All the countries in Europe are part of this agreement, which is known as The Copenhagen Accord. This means that Adidas had to change the way in which it operates to comply with this.