Ethics and the Environment

Question 1

What is it like to be Ethical?

Answer 1

Being Ethical in production is a key feature of many modern businesses. This can take many forms, including:
Paying your employees a living wage.
Using Fairtrade suppliers.
Ensuring child labour is not used anywhere in your supply chain.
Purchasing materials from suppliers who treat animals well (eg buying meat from a farm with high welfare standards).

Question 2

What are the advantages of Ethics?

Answer 2

Improved reputation with customers.
Strong relationships with suppliers.
Opportunity to win awards.

Question 3

What are the disadvantages of Ethics?

Answer 3

The increased cost of paying employees more.
The increased cost of paying suppliers more.
Increased delivery time as there are fewer ethical suppliers so may be located further away.

Question 4

What is it like to be Environmentally Friendly?

Answer 4

Being Environmentally Friendly in production is also an important consideration. This can include:
reducing waste from production.
Reducing harmful carbon emissions.
Reducing the amount of plastic used in packaging.
Using recyclable materials in packaging.
Recycling waste parts from production.

Question 5

What are the advantages of being Environmentally Friendly?

Answer 5

Improved reputation with customers.
Helps to meet Government emissions targets.
Recycling can help to reduce the cost of buying more materials.

Question 6

What are the disadvantages of being Environmentally Friendly?

Answer 6

Time-consuming to recycle waste parts.
Employees may need training to recycle properly.
Recyclable materials in packaging can be more expensive than plastic.