Business Ethics at KFC.

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Executive Summary

Introduction

The word ethics is derived from the Latin language where it denotes a moral philosophy. In the English language, ethics is the study of values and customs governing a given social group. Ethics requires a differentiation between wrong and right, acknowledgment of responsibility and knowing what is good or evil. Ethical norms assist human beings in the process of judging rightful acts. Consequently, the concept can be applied in the practices and policies used by large organisations. (Walton, 1992)

The company chosen for analysis is Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) fast food restaurants. The company's headquarters are found at Kentucky in the US. Additionally, it is one of the most well known restaurant chains in the world especially with reference to chicken. It boasts of over eleven thousand restaurants located in over eighty countries of the world. Examples here include, UK, China, Thailand, Kuwait, Spain and Barbados, Puerto Rico, Pakistan and many more. The company's major product is chicken. These are served in various forms such a Chunky chicken hot pie, chicken fillets, chicken sandwiches among others. On top of these, the company also serves a variety of burgers and other non-chicken related foods. In total, there are three hundred products that the company offers the public. KFC is part of a global restaurant system known as Yum! This is the reason why the company normally teams up with other restaurants under the Yum! brand like Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.

Constructive aspects of ethics at KFC

Kentucky Fried Chicken is very keen about ethical standards both within and without the company as asserted by their company representatives. For instance the company is strict about is vendor engagements. Before a supplier can secure a contract with Kentucky Fried Chicken, they have to comply to similar ethical standards as KFC. This means that the supplier must not utilise under age labour to producer their commodities, they must pay fair wages and must also avoid placing harmful chemicals in their commodities. These concepts have governed the way KFC chooses other business partners too; they include contractors and manufacturers. By doing, this, the company is protecting human rights. (Montgomery, 2003)

The company also looks out for the health and safety of their workers. Since KFC is a fast food chain, then its workers are very busy, the company's representatives affirm that they are always trying to protect their respective employees from detrimental hazards in the workplace. In line with this, KFC always ensures that their employees work for them voluntarily. This means that the company detests forced labour.  They also believe in according their employees justice in case of any eventuality. Their disciplinary measures have always been fair and few employees complain about how their administration handles such unusual occurrences. It is a known fact that some employees in the corporate world utilise mental punishment as a way of repressing their employees and keep them subservient. However, this is not the case with KFC as no cases have been reported in the media.

Kentucky Fried Chicken employment practices are also ethical. This is due to the fact that the company does not discriminate against individuals on the basis of race, gender, disability or any other factor. The company's recruitment practices largely focus on the capabilities of the potential candidate rather than on their respective race, cultural backgrounds etc. In line with these practices, the company usually offers overtime for employees who decide to work beyond the normal working hours. Besides that, the company has created shift arrangements so that it can avoid overworking employees at any given time. (Bowie & Beauchamp, 1983)

The issue of wages is also top on KFC's list. The company believes that workers should be paid according to their efforts. Consequently, there is an element of fairness when it comes to the way the company treats its employees. The company depicts this attitude in some of its restaurant outlets such as the ones here in the UK and also in Canada. The company has exceeded minimum wage by close to eight pounds per hour. Also, in the Canadian outlets, the company pays most of workers a favourable amount and has even allowed for unionisation of employees. All the latter deeds go to show that KFC is committed to providing its employees with good working conditions.

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Despite the positive moves made by KFC Canada, with regard to chicken products, the company has still been grappling with controversial issues owing to their vegan burger. The company faced a lot of opposition from animal rights activists who were trying to protect the rights of chickens. Consequently, those activists suggested that KFC should provide non-chicken alternatives in their diets. KFC responded to these law suits by creating a vegan burger made of eggs. However, many consumers still complain about the ingredients in the burger and they also assert that there are problems with the way the company prepares the ...

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