Task 1: Ethical Situations in Business
Assessment Code: EST1
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Task A Peter Drucker once wrote (n.d.), “profits for a company is like oxygen for a person. If you don’t have enough of it, you’re out of the game. But if you think your life is about breathing, you’re really missing something”. What Drucker meant is it’s not all about the almighty dollar; today’s businesses are expected to participate in corporate citizenship to fulfill its responsibility to contribute financial and human resources to the community to improve the quality of life. Unfortunately, Company Q operates as if their purpose is breathing. Gross profit margins for grocery stores are very low, especially in high crime districts. In order to survive businesses must be able to sell products customers want and be able to promote their store throughout the neighborhood to differentiate themselves from the competition. Company Q attitude toward social responsibility is very poor. A decrease in customer retention has clearly affected store sales because they hesitated offering healthy related foods. Selling high margin organic food products in a poor neighbor shows a lack of common business knowledge. The lack of sensitivity Company Q has towards their customers has forced them to buy from other stores. The absence of top management driving social responsibility has allowed the store workers to become poor corporate citizens. Company Q’s lack of social responsibility was enhanced when the store refused to donate day-old products to the local food bank. Instead they decided to throw the food away citing worries over lost revenues due to the possibility of employee theft. Company Q made this business decision based not on facts, but what might happen and what ifs. Food banks are well organized and dedicated to making the donation process as