Chapter 12: Markplace In The Workplace Flashcards
Issues Associated with Key Stakeholders
There are four stakeholders to be discussed:
●Employees
●Consumers
●Competitors
●Suppliers
Employees in the workplace
Work conditions
●safety, working hours, work-life balance, wellness program, etc.
●Workforce reduction
●notice, severance, etc.
●Privacy
●health and drug testing, monitoring, etc.
●Unions
●anti-union tactics, change in work rules, etc.
Fair compensation
●pay based on performance, pay equity, pension plans, etc.
●Employee loyalty and duties
●complying with contracts, work quality, respect for property and use of resources, etc.
●Diversity management
●Freedom from discrimination and harassment, employment equity, etc.
Right to due process
●promotion and dismissal policies, access to employment files
●Employee participation
●freedom of speech and whistle blowing, right to join union, etc.
●Right to work
●fairness in interviews, non-discriminatory, etc.
LO
The Work Ethic
●Set of values which holds that work is important to members of society; is a purposeful activity; that some gain (e.g., money) is involved, and that through work person contributes to society and becomes better individual
●Contemporary implications on the work ethic:
●Workplace stress, fringe benefits changing, compensation based on performance, work balance, moonlighting, job insecurity, labour skills shortage
Employee loyalty
●Definition: Commitment by employees to the organization they work
●Employers can also demonstrate loyalty to employees
●Measuring loyalty can be difficult
●Loyalty can go to one’s self or one’s job, rather than the corporation
Managing Employment Diversity
●Discrimination: The preferential (or less than preferential) treatment on bases not directly related to qualification of the job or job performance
●Categories: race, gender, nationality, age (young and old), disability, marital status, physical appearance, sexual orientation, and health
Legislation to address discrimination:
●Employment Equity Act; Canadian Human Rights Act
●Employment equity
●The fair and equal treatment of employees
●Diversity Management
●voluntary initiative beyond what is required by law to eliminate discrimination
LO
Workplace Privacy
●Privacy of personal information is regulated by the federal government’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and other provincial legislation.
●Employees and CSR
●Employee engagement: The emotional and intellectual commitment of an individual or group to an organization that supports building and sustaining business performance.
Consumer and consumption
Consumer sovereignty
●consumers dictate goods and services to be provided
●elements of democracy are present
●consumers make their own choices
●economic system operates more efficiently when consumers determine production
●Consumers and the marketplace
●Concerns: high information costs, misleading advertising, unsafe goods
Consumerism
●A social movement seeking to protect and augment the rights and powers of buyers in relation to sellers
●Consumer rights
●To choose, to be heard, to education, to redress, to be informed, to safety, to a healthy environment
●Issue: But is the customer always right?
Consumers and CSR
●Examples of ethical products:
●Food (organic, local, Fairtrade); housing (energy efficient); clothing (organic cotton); cosmetics (natural ingredients, no animal testing; green weddings (catering); financial products (ethical mutual funds); travel (eco-resorts); jewelry (conflict free diamonds); energy (light bulbs); transportation (hybrid vehicles)
●Issue: But are socially conscious consumers willing to pay for ‘ethical’ products?
Competitors and competition
Competition and Ethics and Responsibilities
●Competition is necessary for an effective market economy and benefits the consumer
●But can lead to questionable practices:
●industrial spying, espionage, sabotage, eavesdropping, hiring competitor’s key employees
●Causes: cutthroat global economy, aggressive competitive tactics, and shorter product cycles
●Concentration of corporate power: Concern over collaboration and higher profitability
Government Influence to Encourage Competition
●Canadian Competition Act: Conspiracy, bid-rigging, predatory pricing, review of mergers, abuse of dominant position
●Factors determining competitive behaviour
●Entrepreneurship; deregulation and privatization; technology; decline of natural monopoly; global trends in trade; mergers/takeovers
Suppliers and the Supply Chain
Business-to-business: Commercial activity where one corporation sells goods or services to another corporation rather than to consumers.
●Buyers are increasingly recognizing suppliers who are committed to considering social and environmental responsibilities
The supply chain is regulated by the Canadian Competition Act to prevent suppliers not taking advantage of their customers:
●Exclusive dealing, tied selling and market restrictions
●Price discrimination
●Price maintenance
●Refusal to deal
Supply chain
Supply chain
●The route a product travels from the procurement of raw materials, the transformation into intermediate goods and then final products, and the delivery to consumer through a distribution system to its ultimate disposal by the consumer
●Extended producer responsibility
●“An environmental policy approach in which a producer’s responsibility, physical and/or financial, for a product is extended to the post-consumer stage of a product’s life cycle.”
Sustainability purchasing
●“The acquisition of goods and services (‘products’) in a way that gives preference to suppliers that generate positive social and environmental outcomes. It integrates sustainability considerations into product selection so that impacts on society and the environment are minimized throughout the full life cycle of the product.”
●Fair-Trade
●A term commonly used to identify products that are involved with sustainability purchasing; usually focuses on the beginning of the product chain.
