Who would it benefit?
By being an ethical company, it would benefit a lot of different stakeholders. These include the business, the workers, suppliers, shareholders and the competition.
- The business- they will get a better reputation and more profit for being an ethical company. By having a better reputation, it will not only get a better rating in the newspapers, but may also get more customers and more repeat custom.
- The workers- because they’ll be happier for having better working conditions, higher pay and a better local community. They will also have better training opportunities and if they have children, be able to give them the future that they deserve. They will also get opportunities of promotion or side-stepping, if they so wish. The workers can decide on which path they can take and because BP cares about its workers so much, it will support them.
- Suppliers- because they’ll be happier for being connected with an ethical company. Suppliers to the business will also get better pay then with some other businesses as because BP is ethical, they can’t be corrupt as a business and has to be fair with all of its payments.
- Shareholders- because they’ll get more profits if the business is getting more money. The shareholders would also benefit from the reputation that the business has because of their amount of power that they have over the business. Shareholders can also have more power over how the business changes because of the money that they have invested in the business. This means that every change that BP makes to the business and how it operates must be run by the shareholders first and if they disagree, could cause conflict which may affect the business and, most importantly, its reputation.
- Competition- If the competition see that the business is getting more money than them, they’ll have to be more competitive to try and stop them going bust. The competition is BP’s biggest threat to the business and always has to keep in mind what they could do to the business if BP makes changes. For example, if BP decided to put prices up, the competition could damage the business by lowering their prices so that BP’s customers then go to them for their petrol. This means that BP not only has to keep an eye on their own business but also other businesses too. Also, if the competition decided to start a price-war, BP would be the first to know and how to react to it.
- Customers- because they’ll be happier knowing that the business’s workers are being treated properly. The consumer will also have peace of mind knowing that the product is made to a higher quality and also not produced unethically (e.g. by child labour or in sweatshop conditions). Customers are also the people that are affected by BP’s changes the most. If BP decides to raise the prices of its fuel, it means that the customer has to also make choices either or not to stay with BP and accept its price rises or go to another business that may be cheaper.
There are many different reasons that BP spends money in the local communities where the workers live. Obviously, the main reason that BP spends money in the community is so the locals can have a better way of life, and that the children there have more opportunities to get jobs, and so they can have a better way of life. However, there are other reasons such as getting a better reputation. If BP spends more money in the local area, this will make BP look like a more ethical business who not only care about their workers, but their families. This will also make people think that they are more ethical then other business, especially close competitors, who may make customers shop with them instead of other businesses. By having a better reputation, they will not only make the business as a whole look better, but also the people behind it. One other reason is so the business doesn’t have to pay as much tax on their business profits.
Conflict
Sometimes, when a business makes a decision, it can cause conflict between one or more group of stakeholders. For example, if a business decides to give its workers a pay rise, this will affect not only the workers, but the shareholders, because if affects the profits of the business.
If BP decided to give its workers a pay rise to keep them happy, and the shareholders argued their side, it would obviously cause conflict. However, if BP chose not to give the employees a pay rise, this will affect the business in many different ways. If workers aren’t happy, they can stop working, which will stop production on the sites. This means that there will be less oil in circulation, and in turn, will limit how much garages can be sold, and also sell. This means that the prices of petrol/diesel will rise due to the amount that can be bought. This means that either BP will lose money because customers will go to another competitor, or customers will have to pay more in the long run.
By having conflict in the business, I think that it might damage the reputation of the business because of what could happen in the meantime. If the business’s reputation is tarnished, then it could take some time to get it back to how it used to be. For example, when the business was found to be using child labour, the businesses reputation was damaged and it took some time (and a lot of promises) to get it back to the level that it is at today. By always advertising how ethical the business is and doing projects to back up this claim, BP make their reputation grow as a good business. By having a good reputation, BP won’t lose sales and their profits will grow year on year, depending on if they can keep their reputation at a respectable level and there isn’t any scandals or conflicts becoming public into the press. Also, if BP’s profits continue to grow, it gives them more money to invest into the local communities, which will continue to show how ethical BP has become since the child labour scandal.
The logo
In the past couple of years, BP have tried to change how they appear as a business and are trying to make the business look more ethical and also environmentally friendly. One of the changes that they have made is the changes of the logo. By changing the logo from a green and yellow shield (which represents their strength as a business), they have changed it into a green and yellow flower. This could represent the environment, but also how they have changed to make themselves appear friendlier towards the earth, as before they decided to make changes, they were damaging the environment around them. By having their logo looking like leaves, flowers and the sun, this gives the impression of a friendlier BP.