Evaluating the Ethical Practices of BHP Billiton in Mining Operations

The study of ethics is crucial for understanding a company's social responsibilities and guiding principles within its industry. BHP Billiton serves as a pertinent case study in this context, demonstrating how business ethics can shape stakeholder relationships and corporate governance. This essay evaluates BHP Billiton’s commitment to ethical practices across several dimensions: environmental sustainability, community engagement, and transparency in operations. By aligning with deontological ethics, the company emphasizes duties over outcomes, ensuring that its actions are consistently ethical regardless of the consequences. Furthermore, it highlights a teleological approach by aiming for beneficial long-term impacts on both society and the environment. The analysis underscores BHP Billiton’s strategies to enhance stakeholder trust through accountability measures, such as comprehensive reporting on environmental impacts and proactive community consultations. These practices reflect an integrated approach combining Kantian duty-based ethics with consequentialist perspectives, illustrating how ethical principles can foster positive corporate behaviors. Ultimately, this examination reveals the essential role of business ethics in driving sustainable development and fostering respect among all stakeholders.

NAME
STUDENT ID
SUBJECT
TOPIC
DATE

BUSINESS ETHICS
Table of Contents
TASK I- LO1.............................................................................................................................................2
Introduction to Business Ethics............................................................................................................2
Ethical Theories Discussion..................................................................................................................2
Ethics Explanation and Differences.....................................................................................................3
Business person and License Application............................................................................................4
Corporate Social Responsibility...........................................................................................................4
Effects of Ethical Issues towards Business Operations.......................................................................5
SECTION 3: TEA BOARD OF INDIA ORGANIZATION...................................................................5
Ethical issue affecting Tea Board of India...........................................................................................5
Improvement of Operations Ethics......................................................................................................6
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Ethics and moral codes are crucial aspects of a community that guide and govern the community
members. Ethical principles are used to ensure that people in the same group, same situations
and with similar thoughts to feel equal and valued. There are different types of ethics, e.g.
business ethics, professional ethics, community ethics to name a few. Additionally, there are
different theories that are referred to as the origins of certain ethics, e.g. deontological developed
by Immanuel Kant, teleological developed by John Stuart Mill, natural law among others. There
are also other theories that basically produced ethics that are used a guide to community
members like the absolute and relative ethics. In the business world, the business ethics have
recently been some of the main and crucial aspects that are being relied on by most stakeholders.
This is simply because the ethics involved are capable of directly affecting most of the business
stakeholders at one time or the other. However, besides putting more effort and focus on the
business stakeholders, business are supposed to also focus on ensuring that the surrounding
environment is also fairly treated.
TASK I- LO1
Introduction to Business Ethics
Ethics is the discipline of practicing moral principles and standards that are used to govern a
specific group of individuals. Business ethics can be referred to as an organization’s policies and
principles that guide them on their moral and ethical practices. Business ethics helps unite every
party involved in a business towards solving some f challenges, problems and differences that
may arise between the business partners, employees or even stakeholders. They are responsible
for ensuring a certain level of trust and team work among all the business participants (May et al,
2014). Therefore, business ethics are responsible for setting the business code of conduct, values,
norms and standards that guide all organizational parties. This means that they help the
organizational employees, managers, stakeholders and business owners to have a sense of
belonging and value because they are all expected to follow and be guided by the same ethics
(Beets et al, 2016). They take a major part in ensuring that business parties work together
towards a common goal and with same mentality. In that case, every business must ensure that
its ethics are known, acceptable and followed by every party involved in the organizational
operations.

Ethical Theories Discussion
John Stuart Mill is one of the first and most famous and influentialBritish philosophers to write
about ethical theories in the human life. His theory was based on his own believe and called it
utilitarianism which stated that everyone should act in such a way to bring the largest possibly
balance of good over evil for everyone involved (Belak and PevecRozman, 2012). This principle
says that a person’s actions can only be right only if in end they cause overall happiness to
anyone involved(Johnston, 2011). The theory developed from being an idea of one individual to
a principle that is factual, true and one that can be proved in the end.
Immanuel Kant was one of the first German philosophers to write about human ethics. Immanuel
Kant’s ethics theory represents one of the deontological theories or principles that he begun since
16th century to date. The theory revolved around three major principles (Misselbrook, 2013), i.e.
a person’s good will, the notion of duty and the nature of imperatives. This means that an action
can be referred to as a good thing only when its main purpose or objective is to be performed out
of good will and towards achievement of duty or responsibility to the moral law. This theory has
grown and is being used in many scientific grounds in the current world.
Deontological/ Non-Consequentialism
It is entirely based on judging human actions based on whether they are consistent in doing what
is morally right. The theory focuses mainly on the motive or objective of the action from the
beginning (whether it is someone’s duty or nature) which means that the end effect is not
important (Baumane-Vitolina et al, 2016). Therefore, if the motive is positive, then the action id
deemed right and if the motive is negative the action is deemed morally wrong. This theory
follows the principle of Immanuel Kant’s theory. The theory developed from being a dominant
aspect of determining growth and understanding of a human being to being a major determinant
of how humans react and act when it comes their moral behaviors and perceptions. Originally, it
focused on finding the human behavior in terms of morals but now it focuses on determining the
results of a person’s moral behavior, which is basically the motive that leads to a certain moral
behavior or action.

Deontological/ Non-Consequentialism
It is entirely based on judging human actions based on whether they are consistent in doing what
is morally right. The theory focuses mainly on the motive or objective of the action from the
beginning (whether it is someone’s duty or nature) which means that the end effect is not
important (Baumane-Vitolina et al, 2016). Therefore, if the motive is positive, then the action id
deemed right and if the motive is negative the action is deemed morally wrong. This theory
follows the principle of Immanuel Kant’s theory. The theory developed from being a dominant
aspect of determining growth and understanding of a human being to being a major determinant
of how humans react and act when it comes their moral behaviors and perceptions. Originally, it
focused on finding the human behavior in terms of morals but now it focuses on determining the
results of a person’s moral behavior, which is basically the motive that leads to a certain moral
behavior or action.
Teleological/ Consequentialist Theory
This theory is entirely based on judging a person’s actions according to the consequences from
those actions. It states that any action that causes positive consequences are morally right while
those that cause negative consequences are morally wrong. This theory is based on John Stuart’s
principle because they both judge actions according to their end effects. Originally, the theory
was focused on finding out a person’s moral behavior and the things that drive people into
behaving in a certain way. However, currently, the theory focuses on ensuring that people
understand the result of their actions before they act, especially when it comes to performing
moral actions.
Natural Law Theory of Individual Right and Duties
The natural law theory basis its arguments against the moral authority of the government towards
its citizens and the duty of the citizens to abide to the authority. The natural law theory is based
on the legal standards and responsibility of the government to govern the human life. However,
the principle says that the moral standards that govern human behavior are determined by the
human and environmental nature. The theory rests upon the idea that the legal authority that
should adhere to the rules and standards of nature to govern the human behavior. Originally, the

theory was based on two aspects which are nature and legal authority and human beings are
supped to be guided by the nature but governed by the legal rules. However, the theory has
developed and now its principle states that the laws should be based on morality and ethics.
Which means that the nature should not only determine the legal governance but so should ethics
and morals of a person.
Ethics Explanation and Differences
Absolute Ethics
Absolute ethics look These are laws that focus only on the motive of an action and not the
consequences caused bythe action in the end. Therefore, it looks for ethical principles and
practices that will make people in the group choose between what is right and wrong (McDonald,
2010). Operates under a universal moral code where by every individual is aware of what is right
and wrong. In this principle, any environmental aspect/situation change does not affect the moral
principle of this ethics, it is totally independent and intactAbsolute theory bases its principle on
the need to feel comfortable and equal on all occasions and time.
Relative Ethics
The principle in this ethics is that what is right and wrong changes according to a community or
society. In other words, the society defines what is right and wrong according to what they
believe in. These ethics portray a society’s believes and code of conduct that should be adhered
to by every individual. However, they seem to change with scenarios and regions which means
that every society has its own different ethics that govern and guide every situation and decision.
Differences
The absolute ethics focus mainly on the ability to ensure that every individual is comfortable and
has a right to choose between what is right and wrong in all circumstances. It mainly focuses on
ensuring that every individual adheres the moral code of wrong and right.
In relative ethics, the code of conduct and the rules are meant to govern a society as a whole and
the decisions made by the community individuals. This means that it is focused on ensuring that
the whole community is protected and that the community people follow the ethics set for them
which they consider morally right e.g., it is right for a man in the Muslim religion to have more
than wife but is completely unethical and immoral for Christians to have more than one wife.

Business person and License Application
If the business person applied the absolute ethics, his reply would be not to accept the bribe
payment. He would say noyes to the offer to encourage the principle of equality in the business
world. Basically, it doesn’t matter whether the intention is just. This is because his motive is
good, to get a license but absolutes ethic’s principle is never wavered by any change of situation
or viewsthe license.
If he applied the relative ethics principle he would say yes or no to the offer. However, he can
only say yes if the community the business person is operating in or the community in which he
belongs believes taking bribes is not wrong. Also, he can say not to the bribe if the community
he belongs to or operating in deemed taking bribe as a wrong act. This is simply because, in
relative ethics, what is considered right or wrong differs depending on the community.
Corporate Social Responsibility
This is basically an organizations responsibility to take charge of the effects its operation cause
to the environment or the society. It is a model used by every business organization to take
responsibility of the impacts its operations and decisions have caused to the surrounding
environment and community (Mason and Simmons, 2014). For example, a business can take
actions to reduce or avoid environmental pollution if its operations are capable of causing
environmental pollution. Also, by participating in community development activities without
expecting anything in return, e.g. building schools and infrastructure.
If the impacts of an organization are negative, then the business operations will be negatively
affected and vice versa. This means that a business’s CSR is directly related to its effects to the
environment or society.
Effects of Ethical Issues towards Business Operations
Corporate Governance- This refers to a business’s top management team. The implementation of
ethics and their principles will basically force these individuals to perform their roles and
responsibilities in a more effective way, which is to check on the shareholders’ interests. The
ethics enable the corporate governance to put more effort on keeping the shareholders happy and
promises fulfilled. Corporate Governance- Moral rights between company and stakeholders,
ethics governing society protection. These ethics may hinder the organization management team
from making the decision that profit only the business and instead they should include the other

parties.E.g. building a social amenity for the community benefits the society but is a cost expense
to the business. Also, because it will not bring profits to the business the business decision
makers are faced with a difficult situation at such a scenario.
Environment- ethics that protect the environment. Businesses always conduct operations that are
not harmful to the environment and in case of any harm, they take responsibility for that. To
reduce soil erosion or disaster occurrence in the community does not benefit the business directly
which will certainly be a difficult decision for the decision makers to make.
Customers- ethics governing product safety, quality, marketing and advertisements. Every
business must take all these into consideration before they conduct any operation related to
customers and products. By adhering to the ethical principle, the business will ensure perfect
features for the product but may not get customers to buy the product or rather the cost may
increase therefore leading to price increase. In this situation, the company may be torn between
losing customers due to high prices and not producing the product as per the ethics.
Employees working conditions- ethics concerning employee safety and conducive working
environment. The business must ensure that all these ethics are adhered to. By purchasing the
protection materials like helmets, aprons, gloves and boots among others will cost a business a
lot of money. It will be a way to benefit the employees and not the business directly.
SECTION 3: BHP BILLITON Pty LIMITED COMPANY
BHP Billiton is an international business whose headquarters are located in Melbourne Australia.
The company specializes in mining and production of minerals, oil and gas and other products
which are sold all over the world. This therefore makes it a business in the construction industry.
Ethical issue affecting BHP Billiton Company
Being a global organization, BHP Billiton operates in most part of the world which means that it
has a great opportunity to use and implement most of the laws that are set for various countries.
However, the company also has to keep its ethical practices in check even when they collide with
the country’s ethics and laws. There are some ethical issues that are currently affecting the
business operations of BHP Billiton Company. For instance, the ethical issue on employee
welfare, health and safety and the ethics that govern the surrounding environment.

As for BHP Billiton, it specializes on the mining and production of minerals and oil and gas and
other related products. The mining operation of the business is done by use of effective machines
but coordinated by a skilled and experienced employee. This basically means that the business
operations are liable to destroying and destructing the environmental beauty and conditions.
When mining, the excavators dig deep into the ground to be able to extract the mineral or oil or
gas which creates a bad picture to the environmental beauty. Additionally, the operation is likely
to cause air, water or soil pollution especially when the gas or oil spills to the ground which is
environmental pollution. In the case of the employees, back in 2015, the company’s mining site
in Brazil (which was a joint venture with Vale Mining Company) was involved in a catastrophic
accident where by around 25 employees were killed due to the poor design of the dam and the
poor geographical conditions. This means that the working environment for the employees was
not really safe and therefore the company never seemed to mind about their welfare, health and
safety. The ethics did not protect the employees well enough to save their lives or keep them safe
but saved the company’s name and brand. These two ethical issues have been used against BHP
Billiton since then which has cause great negative effect on its operations and performance in the
area.
Improvement of Operations Ethics
The best for the company to go past its ethical issues, it had to address them by coming up with a
clear, simple and understandable code of ethics that was to be applied in any scenario that
resembled the Brazil joint venture scenario.To do that, the company performed an analysis and
evaluation on various business aspects (especially those that were involved in conducting any
operations on the dam) to be able to point out what actually caused the accident. For instance the
type of technology that was used in the mining and production processes was evaluated on strict
conditions and ways to determine whether it had any impact on the cause of the disaster.
Additionally, the business investigated also whether the location of waste storage piles close to
the dam had any impact to the cause of the accident.
Ethics on Environmental Protection
Future disaster Prevention
Additionally, besides the investigation on the aspects that caused the disaster, BHP Billiton also
came up with new strategies on how to avoid an prevent such a disaster in the future. The

company created suitable strategies that would protect both the environment, employees and the
people living around the mining sector. The company promised on initiating and implementing
transparency and openness towards anybody who was to be involved in any project as such. The
company would train and educate the employee on possible effects and dangers that may arise
from such mining conditions and sectors. However, the employees would be given protection
equipment and be trained on emergency and protective measures that were supposed to be done
whenever a disaster occurs. By doing this, the company will be focusing on improving the
employees’ and the community’s welfare, health and safety standards. It promised to ensure that
the employees’ healthsafety standards are adhered to, which was to be possible by providing the
employees with masks, head helmets, protective clothes and other equipment that may be
necessary and effective. With these kind of ethics, the company’s aim to actually rebuild and
improve its relationship with its employees as well as the trust they had in it. When the
organization seems to care about its employees’ health, they will seem to care about what the
employees think on other organizational issues.
Environmental cleanness
In addition to that, the Board should focus on ensuring that their production methods do not
interfere with environmental cleanness. It is the nature of a mining operation to destroy the
environmental look and cause some type of pollution like air, water or soil. This is especially for
a company like BHP Billiton that extracts and produces mineral, oil and gas among other
things.The company’s stakeholders and the management team promised to ensure that there
would be no form of pollution that would be involved with any operation in the future or if there
is, it would not cause any harm to the environment. To achieve that, the company came up with a
work ethic that governed the mining operations by ensuring that there was real time upgrade
information on any mining operation, waste and seismic activities. This would increase the
chances of reducing the environmental destruction as well as the effect of any disaster in case it
occurred. By giving an update on any mining operation would help the management team to be
aware of all the proceedings and activities going on in the mining sector.
These two ethics were created mainly to build the trust and relationship the company had with
the employees, surrounding communities around the mining areas all over the world and the
authorities or organizations that protect the environmental safety, basically the environment.

Ethical Code
The company is focused on maintaining and practicing the highest ethical standards in a
professional conduct of the staff, contactors, investors, shareholders and consultants.
A) Honesty and Integrity
i. The company has to give required respect to every legitimate interest of any individual
with a relationship with the company at any level.Honesty with the people living around
the mining areas
ii. Honesty when it comes to possible effects on the environment
iii.[ii.] BHP Billiton does not give or receive whether directly or indirectly bribes or any other type
of illegal advantages with the aim of gaining financial benefit. No employee should offer
or receive any form of gift or payment that can be categorized as a bribe.
B) Environment
Encourage environmental cleanness especially around the mining sites
BHP Billiton is focused on ensuring that there is continuous improvements in the management of
the environmental impacts or effects (especially when there is damage related to the business
operations) for the long-term goals of creating and developing a sustainable business
environment.
C) Accountability
i. Should always count itself accountable for any incident that may take place in the
company’s mining sites
ii. Should be ready to take responsibility of any effects caused by any accident around the
mining sites
iii. The company should ensure that all employees are always competent (skilled and
experienced), protected and compensated accordingly
D) Staff
BHP Billiton is focusing towards providing a friendly environment with promise of potential
growth in career, talent and skill adversity and equal opportunity for every employee. The

company also offers an environment where there is mutual trust and respect for human rights for
all the parties involved with the company.
The company is committed to a safe and healthy working environment for all the employees.
CONCLUSION
From the study, I can say that ethics and moral codes of conduct are a very fundamental aspect
of any situation and community. The implementation of these ethical and moral principles in
every aspect of life is also an effective and efficient move because it ensures both equalityand
respect to every person. Ethics are not only a guide but also a pathway towards positive results in
the end. When it comes to business ethics, they help the stakeholders to keep up with the
business’s development (e.g. the BHP Billiton Company and Cocoa Company case) while the
ethics that relate to community guidance and governance focus on ensuring equality, respect,
responsibility performance and general community development.

REFERENCES
Junkus, J.C. and Berry, T.C., 2010. The demographic profile of socially responsible
investors. Managerial Finance, 36(6), pp.474-481.
Baumane-Vitolina, I., Cals, I. and Sumilo, E., 2016. Is Ethics Rational? Teleological,
Deontological and Virtue Ethics Theories Reconciled in the Context of Traditional Economic
Decision Making. Procedia Economics and Finance, 39, pp.108-114.
Beets, S.D., Lewis, B.R. and Brower, H.H., 2016. The quality of business ethics journals: An
assessment based on application. Business & Society, 55(2), pp.188-213.
Belak, J. and PevecRozman, M., 2012. Business ethics from Aristotle, Kant and Mill's
perspective. Kybernetes, 41(10), pp.1607-1624.
Johnston, A., 2011. A matter of ethics: management. Without Prejudice, 11(6), pp.62-64.
Mason, C. and Simmons, J., 2014. Embedding corporate social responsibility in corporate
governance: A stakeholder systems approach. Journal of Business Ethics, 119(1), pp.77-86.
May, D.R., Luth, M.T. and Schwoerer, C.E., 2014. The influence of business ethics education on
moral efficacy, moral meaningfulness, and moral courage: A quasi-experimental study. Journal
of Business Ethics, 124(1), pp.67-80.

McDonald, G., 2010. Ethical relativism vs absolutism: research implications. European Business
Review, 22(4), pp.446-464.
Misselbrook, D., 2013. Duty, Kant, and deontology. Br J Gen Pract, 63(609), pp.211-211.
Mayes, R., McDonald, P. and Pini, B., 2014. ‘Our’community: corporate social responsibility,
neoliberalisation, and mining industry community engagement in rural Australia. Environment
and Planning A, 46(2), pp.398-413.