How Marks and Spencers applies business ethics.

by marrtiniss (student)

B)conflicts of interest can include:

Shareholders vs. management- management could do a lot of things share holders disagree with, especially with money for example Marks & Spencer is a very profitable business and could be raking in more profit than it expected to. This can create a cash surplus Managers may want this money as a bonus and the shareholders could want this money as a stock dividend. This is a huge conflict

Employees vs. stakeholders-a shareholder may want to take money out of the business, but the employees may feel a bonus for them would be a better use of the money.

Pressure groups vs. management & shareholders- like the majority of supermarkets Marks and Spencer’s replaced the oil-based plastics that fruit and veg was based in and started using a new bio plastic one which is made from plants, but this is still causing on going conflicts with pressure groups e.g. friends of earth protest that the new substitute increases emissions of greenhouse gases on landfill sites, as some need high temperatures to decompose and others cannot be recycled in the UK, but management and shareholders are saving money by using this new bio-plastic and their main aim is to maximise profit

Fair Trade pressure groups could protest whether or not M&S use fair trade coffee in their cafes or sell it to their customers

C)area’s the business had to change/ re-think in response to the ethical issues that it is facing:

responding to lobbying from pressure groups:

In response to conflicts between Co2 emissions Marks Spencer become the first chain to order the world's biggest zero-emission delivery truck.

Switching oil based plastics to bio plastics

encouraging small suppliers, including farmers, to build renewable energy generation. In order to lower the energy that they use

Most recently charged ...

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Fair Trade pressure groups could protest whether or not M&S use fair trade coffee in their cafes or sell it to their customers

C)area’s the business had to change/ re-think in response to the ethical issues that it is facing:

responding to lobbying from pressure groups:

In response to conflicts between Co2 emissions Marks Spencer become the first chain to order the world's biggest zero-emission delivery truck.

Switching oil based plastics to bio plastics

encouraging small suppliers, including farmers, to build renewable energy generation. In order to lower the energy that they use

Most recently charged customers to use their plastic bags in a hope to cut plastic waste so that they can reach targets, which is to reduce carrier bag usage by a third, send no waste to landfill, and become carbon neutral by 2012

has become the first major high street name to sign a new charter that aims to protect Europe's waters from over fishing.

adopting fairer trading practices:

Marks & Spencer’s have their own fair-trade range, which includes:

Fair trade cotton clothing range, which is apart of the ‘look behind the label’ campaign, a campaign that informs customers about where its products where sourced from

The company are also working towards cutting salt and fat in all own product foods

Marks and Spencer have also announced that they want to build on the success of their Fair trade coffee and tea by offering customers Fair trade bananas, jams and bagged sugar and that they want all individual M&S food, clothing and home items to carry at least one certification label such as Fair trade by 2020.

adopting different behaviour in terms of its workers and competitors:

Marks & Spencer’s have adopted a caring approach when it comes to internal and external customers they have a unique way of hiring staff, and believe that their new caring ways are allowing them to retain staff because of this new approach and have even committed to treating competitors firmly, when dealing with competitors they make sure they stick to the law

improving its public image:

Following a detailed strategic review of its business M&S Have done a number of things to improve its image this includes, Introducing a new format for all its stores, Introducing self check outs And even updating their product line from just selling their own branded products to introducing well-known products, such as Heinz, Cadburys, coca-cola etc in order to improve sales

complying with UK and EU laws and industry codes of conduct:

how the business could be seen to be behaving more ethically in its operational activities(M1):

Marks and Spencer don’t really need to act more on behaving more ethically they are the greenest company out their all thanks to Plan A, I can only just suggest a few things that will make them more ethical, such as:

Turning off equipment when it's not being used. To help reduce energy

If staff communicate by email, they should be encouraged to read messages on screen then make a decision about whether or not it needs printing. E.g. Directions to team meetings and order summary are things to print. Chain letters are not

Invest in a printer that prints double sided to save paper

The smaller delivery vans, who take customers shopping to them are creating pollution for short journeys, they could try ones that are more environmentally friendly or use ones for people that live further away

Finding a supply of paper with a high recycle content.

Choose suppliers who take back packaging for reuse. And just generally use environmentally friendly suppliers

before getting rid of old furniture the company can see if it can be refurbished. It's less expensive than buying new and better for the environment.

As I explained before theses basic things could make a huge difference and big improvement, as Marks and Spencer’s believe that this new caring approach already helped them cut recruitment and could even help them gain a loyal customers base, if they haven’t done so already with Plan A, continuing to “go green” will benefit the company not only in the community but worldwide helping them in the long run by increasing profits and making them successful