Business Ethics and CSR Report: Bellway PLC's Ethical Considerations

This report, prepared by Greenleaf Consultants, provides a comprehensive analysis of the ethical considerations and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices of Bellway PLC, a prominent housebuilding company. The report examines Bellway's CSR policies, benefits, and associated costs, focusing on its environmental initiatives, construction practices, and societal contributions. It delves into the values underpinning ethics, exploring the application of utilitarianism and deontological theory within the organization. The report identifies and analyzes human resource management issues, conducts stakeholder mapping, and compares Bellway's approach with competitors. It concludes with recommendations aimed at improving ethical practices and enhancing the company's overall performance and sustainability. The research aims to provide insights into the ethical challenges faced by the company and suggest improvements.

ETHICS ORGANISATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Responsible management and CSR.................................................................................................1
Corporate Social Responsibility and its importance to Bellway............................................1
Bellway Policy of Corporate Social Responsibility...............................................................2
Benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility..........................................................................2
Costs or downsides to CSR activities.....................................................................................3
Values Underpinned by Ethics.........................................................................................................3
Ethical Theories and Principles..............................................................................................3
Exploring Issues...............................................................................................................................5
Human resource management issues......................................................................................5
Stakeholder Mapping..............................................................................................................6
Recommendations............................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Business ethics applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of
individuals and entire organizations. In accordance with this context, this report will cover the
aspects of ethical considerations which are meant to be followed by housebuilding corporations
(Murray, 2013). As an ethics/CSR consultant of Greenleaf consultants, the aim is to identify the
ethical considerations followed by the human resource management of Bellway PLC, one of the
renowned housebuilding company incorporating its operations in United Kingdom. The major
issues regarding business ethics will be identify and analyse in this report. The role and benefits
of corporate social responsibility will be examined in this assignment as well as the values of
ethics will be underpinned with the help of two ethical theories. In depth research will be made
in this report in order to analyse the ethical issues and recommendation will be provided so that
improvements can be made and organisation can achieve greater heights.
Responsible management and CSR
Corporate Social Responsibility and its importance to Bellway
Corporate social responsibility is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business
model. CSR policy functions as a self-regulatory mechanism whereby a business monitors and
ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards and national or
international norms (Tait and Inch, 2016). In today’s economy corporate responsibilities plays
essential role in growth and development of organisations and promulgating the reputation of the
business. The business entities conduct corporate social activities in order to protect and
rehabilitate the environment effectively and efficiently.
From the analysis of Bellway CSR management it was identified that since its inceptions, the
management of the organisation works diligently to provide housing and homes as well as
protecting the surrounding environment simultaneously. The CSR activities aid in increasing the
brand value of the company and also assist in increasing the profits and revenue. With the help of
specific strategies and efficient policies, management of the organisation increases their
productivity and improved their profitability effectively and efficiently (Preteni and Caratzas,
2016). Further, these strategies and corporate social responsibility polices leads the organisation
towards sustainable growth and development.
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Bellway Policy of Corporate Social Responsibility
After analysing the corporate social responsivity of the organisation it was identified the vision
of Bellway Plc is to provide high quality houses and homes to the customer in better and
efficient surroundings and to protect the environment simultaneously (Crane and Matten, 2016).
The management of Bellway has developed a long term approach named “Bellway4Good” to
consider the desire of their stakeholder groups and to make positive social, environmental and
economic conditions in the country effectively and efficiently. Corporate responsibility of the
organisation majorly focuses in the three key areas which are:
 Environment: To reduce the carbon emission, reserve the energy, implements
strategy for effective waste management, preserve the biodiversity and ecology.
 Construction: Effective focus on research and development to innovate and
formulate efficient strategies for waste management, planning, supply chain
management and site management (Reports. 2017).
 Society and Economy: The aim of the management is to focus on employee
welfare development, work health and safety, development of economy, engaging
stakeholders, customer support, charitable and community support.
Benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility
After analysing the policies and amount of activities conducted by the management of
Bellway Plc, it was identified that organisation able to acquire certain benefits after
conducting CSR activities. Some of the benefits are described below:
 Sustainable development: The aim and vision of Bellway is to provide homes to the
customer and also protects the environment so that they can drive on the path of
success and development (Stevenson, Dillon and Wals, 2014). Corporate social
responsibility activities conducted by the management in order to protect the
environment aid in sustainable growth and development. By allocating resources and
utilising them efficiently management increases its sustainability effectively and
efficiently.
 Increase in goodwill: The initiative taken by Bellway4Good increases the brand
reputation and goodwill effectively. Now the organisation is known for its
contribution given to the society. This not only increases the brand reputations, but
also leads to increase in customers and stakeholder. The human resource management
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of the organisation worked diligently in order to increase the brand reputation and
goodwill.
 Increase in Profits and revenue: CSR activities not only aid in increasing the brand
reputation and image, but also leads to generation of more profits and revenue for the
company. Customer’s loyalty and attraction increases after conducting CSR activities,
this leads to growth and development of the organisation effectively and efficiently.
Costs or downsides to CSR activities
After analysing the corporate social responsibility conducted by the human resource
management of the organisation, it was identified that Bellway Plc has faced minimum or few
issues which cost to the organisation (Swaim, Napshin and Henley, 2014). The wastage of timber
increases as the management was not able to formulate strategies. Further, the environment
protection campaign leads to heavy cost which reduced the profit ratio of the organisation.
Moreover, the aim of organisation was to score at least 35 points in average Considerate
Construction Scheme. But management fails to accomplish the targets. This impact on the
performance of the company greatly.
Values Underpinned by Ethics
Ethical Theories and Principles
Ethics plays an important role in growth and development of the organisation. The code of
conduct and code of ethics determine the authenticity and working structure of the organisations.
It is the responsibility of corporate governance and board of directors to formulate effective
ethical policies and framework on which the company needs to conduct their operations so that it
can move on the path of success effectively and efficiently (Ferrell, Ferrell and Sawayda, 2013).
While implementing ethical principles in the Bellway Plc, the organisation can work ethically
and efficiently. In accordance with this context, critique of two ethical theories which are
Utilitarianism and Deontological theory that can be used in order to understand responsible
management is described below:
Utilitarianism: Utilitarianism is an ethical theory which states that the best action is the one
that maximizes utility. "Utility" is defined in various ways, usually in terms of the well-being of
sentient entities. The theory was developed by Jeremy Bentham who said that being ethical is to
do the greatest good for the greater number. This theory aid in formulation of ethical rules and
code of conduct. It means that all the resources employed in the organisations must be utilised in
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a way that promote growth and development of the company as well as protects the rights of
customers and society. In a construction company like Bellway, utilitarianism played an
important and essential role in formulation of ethical laws and legislation. The corporate
governance of the company focus more on sustainable development without violating the
environment and rights of customers. This theory suggests that the managers and supervisors of
the company must conduct their work activities in a way so that goals and objective of the
organisation can be accomplish effectively and promotion of social development can be made
simultaneously (Monczka, Giunipero and Patterson, 2015). Utilitarianism provides moral
permission for the distribution of products and services as the sum of their contribution is far
greater than the negative impacts. From the analysis it was identified that the behaviours of
managers towards ethical policies is not very efficient, which creates frequent issues regarding
conflicts and disputes. Thus, by implementing utilitarianism approach in the organisation than
the management of Bellway improve their ethical practices efficiently. Complying ethical
principles by the mangers and management of the organisation is very important as it defines the
organisational values and also promote positive corporate culture in the premises.
Deontological Theory: Deontological ethics or ethics of duty is the theory which was
developed by Immanuel Kant in which he proposed that the actions are not right or wrong based
on their result, by rather they are inherently good or evil. In simple terms, the theory say that
results or outcomes generates by the organisations are not the factors to judge whether the
company is right or wrong (Alexander, Walker and Naim, 2014). Their intentions and morals
will be the factors to judge whether the organisation is right or wrong. Kant proposed that while
doing duty, managers and employees must be good from the starting in order to attain the goals
effectively and efficiently. This theory helps in guiding the managers of Bellway, as they have to
be faithful towards their duty and conduct their job effectively and efficiently. The human
resource management along with corporate governance body of the organisation is responsible
for formulating ethical principles and policies efficiently. This will not only aid in growth and
development of the organisations but also increases the commitment and loyalty of the
employees and managers effectively. From the analysis, it was identified that the human resource
management of Bellway is not managing the manpower of the organisation appropriately and
ethically (Preteni and Caratzas, 2016). This leads to reduction in the motivation of employees
and increase in stress in them. Further, they are not doing their duty efficiently thus, creating
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frequent conflicts in the company. This implies that management of the organisation needs to
focus on their ethical principles and code of ethics so that these issues can be minimised and
growth and development of organisation can be made.
Exploring Issues
As an ethics/CSR consultant, the research has been conducted in Bellway construction company
in order to identify the issues the management is facing which lowering their growth and
development. From the analysis it was identified that the organisation is facing issues in human
resource department (Melden, 2013). The workforce in the organisation is not coordinating
effectively and ethically, which degrading the reputation of the company. In accordance with this
context, this part will cover the issues of human resource management and evidence will be
provided to authenticate research. Further, approaches will be evaluated by comparing company
approach with other construction companies like Barratt Development Plc and Persimmon Plc.
The affected stakeholders will be analysed and stakeholder mapping will be produced.
Human resource management issues
Human resource management in the organisations is responsible for managing and allocating
manpower employed in the company in efficient way so that desired goals and objectives can be
accomplished effectively and efficiently (Booth and Erskine, 2016). Workforce plays a vital and
very important role in construction companies and managing them effectively is the challenging
and difficult tasks. Human resource management is not only accountable for managing
workforce, but also responsible for formulating and implementing policies and practices that
impacts on the work culture of the company. From the analysis, it was identified that human
resource management of Bellway is not working appropriately. The company lacks skilled
labour and workforce, further the needs and expectation of the current labour is not fulfilling
effectively and efficiently. This increases the labour turnover and reduction in the quality of
production of Bellway Plc. From further analysis, it was identified that the ethical policies and
principles are not following appropriately in the organisation.
Thus, this leads to increase in unfair practices and conflicts in the company. This affects
customers and society simultaneously as human resource management of the company is not
functioning properly (Payne, 2015). The human resource department of Barratt Development Plc
and Persimmon Plc is much more efficient due to their effective policy and employee friendly
practices. They focus more on employee needs and expectations which aid in attraction of more
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skilled labour and workforce and retention of existing employees. This is the reason they are the
top two construction company in United Kingdom. In Bellway Plc, frequent complaints
regarding discrimination and inequality has been filed by the employees (Finn and Wright,
2016). Further, in 2015, organisation faced major shortfall of manpower as many employees left
the organisation because of their inappropriate HR policies and principles. Thus, human resource
management plays important role in the organisation, it not only aid in growth and development
of the company but also promote employee welfare and development.
Stakeholder Mapping
Figure 1: Stakeholder Mapping
From the analysis it was identified that several stakeholders have been affected by the
issues. These stakeholder includes customers, suppliers, government and employees of the
organisation (Murray, 2013). Stakeholder mapping is made in order to provide information to the
organisation that which stakeholder needs to be satisfied and which stakeholder requires
monitoring. Stakeholder analysis is made in order to identify the number of stakeholders who are
directly and indirectly related with the organisations. From the analysis it was identified that in
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order to increase the growth and development of the organisation, customers must be satisfied.
Customer satisfaction is important as profitability of the company relies on customer satisfaction
only.
Employees must be managed thoroughly and effectively so that motivation and moral can
be increased. By formulating specific policies and practices that increases the employee
engagement will help the management to increase employee satisfaction. Government needs to
be informed about the corporate social responsibility activities that company conducted. This
will aid in increasing the governmental support and also increases the brand reputation and
goodwill (Tait and Inch, 2016). Government plays important role as they formulate the
legislation on which the organisation needs to conduct their business practices and activities
effectively and efficiently. Suppliers’ needs minimum attention and they must be frequently
monitored by the management so that flow of information can be maintained. Suppliers plays
essential role in supply chain management of Bellway Plc. They bring timber and other raw
materials on the basis of which management conduct their operations effectively and efficiently.
Recommendations
Recommendations and suggestions will help the management of Bellway plc to reduce and
minimise their issues and will aid in growth and development of organisation effectively and
efficiently. From the analysis it was identified that certain issues disturbs the functioning of the
company and reducing their productivity simultaneously. After deep analysis of issues solutions
of some issues are provided below:
 In order to improve the corporate social responsibility, management needs to focus on the
areas where other organisations eschewed. It will help in promoting the products and
services of the organisations as well as increasing corporate responsibility. Human
resource management of the company needs to formulate certain strategies like campaign
regarding environment protection, utilisation of resources, etc. in order to improve the
corporate social responsibility and increase the performance of the company effectively
and efficiently.
 The desired targets to reduce waste can be accomplish by redesigning the waste
management of the organisation. The current waste management strategies are not
efficient enough that promotes sustainable development. By implementing and using
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technologies effectively, waste can be reduced efficiently and desired targets can be
accomplish effectively.
 Ethics is very important in organisation. From the analysis it was identified that the
organisational ethical principles and polices are not effective enough. In order to create
more ethical environment in the organisation, management must focus on theories of
utilitarianism and deontological. This will not only reduce the conflicts and disputes in
organisation, but also leads to growth and sustainable development effectively and
efficiently.
 Human resource management deals with manpower planning and development related
activities in an organization. Arguably it is that branch of management where ethics
really matter, since it concerns human issues specially those of compensation,
development, industrial relations and health and safety issues. In the business world, legal
trouble can introduce additional challenges to employers, as news outlets and ethics
watchdog organizations spread the word about companies' misdeeds. Discrimination
issues, sexual harassment and unfair employment policies can land companies on the
front page of consumer- or business-focused publications, damaging a company's
reputation among consumers, potential strategic partners and potential future employees.
 From the analysis it was identified that organisation was facing shortage of skilled labour
and management was unable to fulfil current labour needs and expectations. It is
recommended to the human resource management of Bellway to create, formulate and
implement certain recruitment and selection strategies in order to attract skilled
workforce in the organisation. Further, they are required to formulate employee
engagement policy in the organisation such worker participating in decision making
process, so that morale and motivation of existing employees can be increased effectively
and efficiently.
 Stakeholders are vital part of Bellway. They must be satisfied and informed about the
company’s current policies and procedures. From the analysis it was identified that due to
certain issues, employees and customers were not satisfied. Thus, it is recommended to
the human resource management of the organisation to formulate strategies and
implement them in order to increase their satisfaction and loyalty effectively and
efficiently.
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Thus, if organisation follows these recommendations and suggestion, then they can eradicate
the issues and walk on the path of success. These recommendation will not only aid in
improving the productivity and profitability, but will also assist in improving the total quality
of the organisation. It is very important for Bellway to improve its productivity in order to
gain competitive advantages. Bellway plc is an emerging and one of the largest construction
company incorporating its operation in United Kingdom. The company was facing issues and
difficulties which impacts on their stakeholders and shareholders. Thus, these
recommendations made after analysing the consequences faced by the organisation and will
help the human resource management of the company to improve their functioning and
performance.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that ethical consideration and principles are very
important for the organisation. It will not only promote growth and development of the
organisation but also improve the brand reputation of the company. In accordance with this
context, this report covers the aspects of corporate social responsibility policy of Bellway Plc
and its importance and benefits to the organisation. Further, the values of ethics has been
underpinned with the help of two ethical theories. This help in providing brief understanding of
the code of ethics and policies followed by Bellway. Further, issues has been explored and their
impact on stakeholder has been assessed in this assignment. Further, recommendations and
suggestions has been provided so that human resource management of the organisation can be
improved effectively and efficiently.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alexander, A., Walker, H. and Naim, M., 2014. Decision theory in sustainable supply chain
management: a literature review. Supply Chain Management: An International
Journal, 19(5/6), pp.504-522.
Booth, K. and Erskine, T. eds., 2016. International relations theory today. John Wiley & Sons.
Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
Ferrell, O.C., Ferrell, L. and Sawayda, J., 2013. A framework for understanding ethical supply
chain decision making. Journal of Marketing Channels, 20(3-4), pp.260-287.
Finn, R.L. and Wright, D., 2016. Privacy, data protection and ethics for civil drone practice: A
survey of industry, regulators and civil society organisations. Computer Law & Security
Review, 32(4), pp.577-586.
Marchington, M., Wilkinson, A., Donnelly, R. and Kynighou, A., 2016. Human resource
management at work. Kogan Page Publishers.
Melden, A., 2013. Ethical theories. Read Books Ltd.
Monczka, R.M., Giunipero, L.C. and Patterson, J.L., 2015. Purchasing and supply chain
management. Cengage Learning.
Murray, M., 2013. Corporate social responsibility in the construction industry. Routledge.
Payne, M., 2015. Modern social work theory. Oxford University Press.
Preteni, M. and Caratzas, M., 2016. The Role of Financing Systems in Causal Reasoning-A
content analysis of companies from Germany and the United Kingdom.
Stevenson, R.B., Dillon, J. and Wals, A.E. eds., 2014. International handbook of research on
environmental education. Routledge.
Swaim, J.A., Napshin, S.A. and Henley, A.B., 2014. Influences on student intention and
behavior toward environmental sustainability. Journal of Business Ethics, 124(3), pp.465-
484.
Tait, M. and Inch, A., 2016. Putting localism in place: Conservative images of the good
community and the contradictions of planning reform in England. Planning Practice &
Research, 31(2), pp.174-194.
Online
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Reports. 2017. [Online]. Available through:< http://www.bellway.co.uk/corporate-
responsibility/reports> [Accessed on 3rd November 2017].
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