Business Ethics, Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Assignment

Business ethics, corporate
responsibility and sustainability

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK...............................................................................................................................................1
1. Examining and discussing key challenges related to corporate responsibility and
sustainability relating to your chosen sector..........................................................................1
2. Analysing and explaining the best practices within the clothing industry by making
references to ethical and moral issues. ..................................................................................4
3. Making recommendations for businesses in the clothing sector to show they are being more
responsible by taking into account global considerations......................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Business ethics is concerned with making moral decisions and distinguishing between
what is right and wrong for the business. It is basically concerned with studying the subjects that
create a matter of controversy in the business. Ethics are not only limited to just a business but
they also play an important role in an individual's life. Business ethics touches upon the subjects
like insiders trading, adulteration, over pricing, bribery, data breaching etc. Be it a small,
medium, large scale or manufacturing, trading, service based, business ethics are to be followed
by everyone (Hurley, 2017). Clothing and fashion industry is one of the largest and fastest
growing industries in the world. The industry has been growing exponentially over the past
decade and has been a part of several controversies and issues like deteriorating quality, over
pricing, child labour, environment pollution and human rights violations. Major UK fashion
brands like Marks & Spencer and Burberry have been openly criticized for not following
business ethics and practising unethical activities incessantly. The following report will
emphasise on key challenges related to corporate responsibility and sustainability and also
various recommendations and suggestions to solve this problem persisting in fashion industry.
TASK
1. Examining and discussing key challenges related to corporate responsibility and sustainability
relating to your chosen sector.
The clothing industry is one of the most profitable industries in the entire world. The
main reason being the low cost of labour. Corporate social responsibility (CSR, also called
corporate sustainability, sustainable business, corporate conscience, corporate citizenship,
conscious capitalism, or responsible business) is a type of international private business self-
regulation. There are various challenges related to corporate social responsibility that includes
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working conditions, human rights, gender equality and many more. (Budhwar, Kumar and
Varma, 2017)
It is the duty of every company to behave ethically and morally and contribute towards
the growth of society. Although CSR has been proved to be successful in implementing and
promoting the policies worldwide but besides this it has faced a lot of issues and challenges, now
a days organizations are required to reveal each and every detail to their stakeholders including
customers, shareholders, suppliers etc. they need to be transparent and obvious in all their
dealings and promises (Ashby, 2018).
In the modern era where more than half of the population is educated and aware,
consumers across the whole globe expect the companies to treat them fairly and conduct the
business ethically. This growing consciousness and expectation of the consumers have developed
a force which has drive the organizations to adopt the CSR policy . It has been found that
customers are more likely to be influenced by the image of the organizations and like to involve
in that firm which works sustainably.
Employees are continuously looking for the organizations which steps beyond the
boundaries of money and provide a greater means of achieving their personal objectives. They
want the organizations which are involved in the ethical conduct of business (Islam, 2016). There
are various scenarios where the government shows negligence in regulating the business ethics
and policies. In these situations, management are required to develop their own code of conduct
and regulate the ethical working which has led them into chaos of corporate social responsibility.
Shareholders are the owners of the company and they expect their company to perform in
an ethical manner.
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