Ethics: Case study of Primark

 
Business Ethics: Case study of Primark
Business Ethics: Case study of Primark
Introduction
Business ethics can be defined a set of principles and moral values that guide the behaviour of an
organisation and its employees. Business ethics are based on principle moral values that a
business and its employees embrace while conducting the business and pursuing business goals
and objectives. Most businesses have a code of ethics that is shared throughout the organisation
and is followed by both management and employees in conducting business activities and thus
become the foundation of corporate culture of the organisation. It is expected from the
businesses that they will not compromise ethical objectives while trying to achieve their business
objectives primarily profitability (Ferrell and Fraedrich, 2014).
The history of theoretical development in business ethics is rich and following is a
comprehensive summary of those developments. Moral objectivism refers to the values that
distinguish the rights from wrongs in terms of behaviour of a company. The decisions of a
company can either morally right or wrong. These moral values differ according to the moral
values of the society in which the business is operating in and are dependent on a wide range of
factors including religion, culture, and social practices of the society. Moral Relativism refers to
the general belief that it is wrong to declare one culture superior to another culture. The
corporations must acknowledge and respect the moral and cultural values of different culture in
which they operate and should not impose one culture of a society on another (Bernstein, 2011).
Consequentialism is described as a philosophy that if the consequence of a certain behaviour or
objective is morally correct then any means in achieving that goal are acceptable. Thus
regardless of the method the consequence of the behaviour should be morally right (Kreps and 
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Business Ethics: Case study of Primark
Monin, 2014). Deontology on the other hand stands on the opposite side of the consequentialism
and argues that one conduct in achieving a goal must be morally correct and acceptable. It
focuses on the moral duties and values of a company. Thus in deontology the rightness or
wrongness of the conduct and the character of behaviour are more important than the outcomes
(Sacchi, et al., 2014).
Absolute and Relative Ethics
Absolute Ethics refer to the concept that there is only one code of conduct which can be applied
to all people generally. This code must be obeyed by everyone and all people should be aware of
it and must adhere to it, whereas, Relative Ethics refer to the concept that there is no single moral
standard which can be applied to all human being. Relative ethics acknowledges the fact that the
moral ideas and belief of different societies may differ from each other and thus no single code
or standard can be devised that can be followed and adhered by all human beings. Following
table shows the differences between absolute and relative ethics (Singer, 2011)
ABSOLUTE ETHICS RELATIVE ETHICS
The general belief is that there is a universal
moral standard.
There is different between what is right and
wrong.
Relative ethics say there is no universal moral
standard in the world.
The relatives’ ethics says there is no difference
between what is right and what is wrong. 
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Business Ethics: Case study of Primark
Ethical Issues and Operational Activities
There are a number of ethical considerations that a business must follow while operating in a
country. For example the business must obey the laws and regulations as well as cultural values
of the society. In addition, the environmental concerns regarding the impact of operational
activities of the business on the ecological system of the society have also emerged as a
significant ethical consideration in few last decades. Lately the green house impact has been the
most debated environmental concern of business world. The impact of ethical concerns was
initially treated as additional costs for the business but latest research shows that ethical concerns
can in fact be used to increase the profitability of a business. Following are some typical ethical
concerns for the management in any organisation (Shaw, Barry, and Panagiotou, 2010)
Employment Law
A company has to follow the employment laws and regulations of the society. Typically
employment laws are related to working conditions, minimum wages, and fairness in wages,
anti-discriminatory policies, working hours etc. These laws and employment practices differ
from country to country and organisation to organisation respectively (Armstrong and Taylor,
2014).
Cultural Concerns
Cultural concerns in a society determine how employees and customers of an organisation as
well as other stakeholders determine the fairness in the activities of an organisation. The religion,
moral standards, treatment of women, workin