Sustainability Reporting and Business Ethics: A Detailed Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of sustainability reporting and business ethics, covering ethical principles, corporate codes of ethics, and moral management. It discusses the importance of integrity, professional competence, and due care in managing organizational resources responsibly. The report also examines potential bad ethical practices by directors and their impact on corporate culture. It identifies key characteristics of moral management and evaluates the ethical soundness of business decisions using Tucker's 5 question model. The document also differentiates between descriptive and normative ethics, suggesting approaches for businesses to implement ethical practices. This detailed overview aims to provide a thorough understanding of ethical considerations in business and sustainability, contributed by a student and available on Desklib for educational purposes.

Time Constrained Assessment – Answer Sheet
Department Accountancy, Finance and Economics
Module Title Sustainability Reporting and Business
Ethics
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Question 1
a) Discuss with examples what is meant by the following ethical principles:
i)
Integrity
ii)
Professional competence and due care
b) Explain how an organisation’s resources can be managed in a responsible
manner both socially and ethically
Answer 1:
a) i) Integrity – Integrity is one of the most important part of the modern day business ethics and
companies are slowly moving away from the thought process that profit making is the only way to
go forward. Integrity in context of business ethics means the following of proper ethics and
business practices and making them permeate through the entire framework of the company. The
value of integrity does not come from the ability to simply do what's right to make the business look
good in the eyes of the media but it comes from the ability to do so when there are no clear
monetary benefits involved and nobody's watching. Having an organization culture built on the
back of integral and ethical practices helps attract any retain talented employees alongside making
the business more profitable in the long run which is why more and more businesses are moving
forward with showcasing and incorporating integrity in their daily business operations. A major
example of such company is Unilever which is a British multinational retailer and has a separate
business department which takes care of the integrity in its daily activities.
ii) Professional competence and due care – In the modern business environment, it is no longer
sufficient to simply know the technical proficiency required to execute a particular task due to the
advancement which has occurred in the field of business ethics. In order to treat the various
stakeholders of the business in the best way possible, it it necessary to be extremely proficient in
one's specialization and domain which is also known as the concept of professional competence
and ensuring that tasks and exercises are executed to the best of one's ability to satisfy the people

involved such as customers is also known as the concept of due care in business ethics. Such
concepts in ethics are mainly found in the professional code of conduct for professional bodies
such as CA and accountants while also being in use for regulating and ensuring the performance
of the workforce.
b) Modern day businesses are managed quite comprehensively by the managers and the team of
senior executives which are hired to do complex tasks while managing these integral resources
such as the firm's financial pool, the talented workforce of the business along with the firm's size
and scope of production just to name a few. However with such extensive capabilities comes the
issue of building an ethical code and managing the resources in such a way that it fulfils both
ethical and moral obligation of businesses towards the society at large and their specific
stakeholders. Resources can be effectively managed in an ethically conscious manner by studying
the effect of using them on the stakeholders such as the general public and then carefully
implementing them after due analysis has taken place. Financial resources should be accounted
for charity and societal distribution beforehand and every resource which is extra and not needed
by the business should go towards community service to be more socially relevant.
Question 2
Organisations of different sizes are becoming ever more globally focussed and are
looking to expand into new markets internationally. With such opportunity, it’s
crucial for organisations to evaluate their internal ethical practices and corporate
codes of ethics.
Required:
a) Discuss potential bad ethical practice examples undertaken by directors
within an organisation and how would this impact the corporate culture?
b) Explain the concept of a corporate code of ethics and justify why an
internationally expanding company might look to develop a code of ethics.

c) Identify four characteristics of moral management and explain why each of
these are important to effectively operate an organisation.
Answer 2 a) Business ethics is a very complicated field and there are many variations of common
ethics in place in organizations which guide the official proceedings of the company along with the
culture according to which the employees of the workforce are regulated and their daily
performance is extracted. Just like there are examples of good ethical practices, there are also
certain bad practices which are used by directors of many businesses which has negative impact
on their culture and some of them have been listed herein.
 One of the worst practices which are put in place by directors of companies involves
increasing the work load of their employees in order to extract more work from them to build
their profits on a high margin. This however has a very bad impact on the company culture
as people become demoralized and there is habit of crunch and workaholism which is very
toxic
 Making employees go on for long hours without giving them breaks at work and giving them
less holidays and not approving their leaves are also examples of bad ethical practices
which the director of companies subjects these people to which makes them lose loyalty in
the company and results in an unhappy and unproductive work culture.
b) The scope of business ethics is quite vast in the modern world as there are many ways and
domains in which trade is conducted and rules and groundworks are necessary in order to ensure
that businesses are conducting their operations in a fair manner. Such rules and regulations along
with the general ethical guidelines which are followed by businesses around the world are also
known as corporate code of ethics and this is very important for any company looking to expand
their operations internationally. This is due to the fact that in order to expand internationally, the
firm in question needs the existence of a concrete and futuristic vision along with robust ethical
commitments to its stakeholders which are all listed and regulated using the corporate code of
ethics. One of the major examples of such companies which have gone through successful
international expansions through maintaining a strong code of corporate conduct and ethics is
Tesla which has quite an extensive corporate code of ethics along with the futuristic vision of Elon
Musk.
c) Moral management refers to the management of the personnel involved in the businesses along
with the broad business operations with an ethical frame of mind and also considering about the
well being of all stakeholders involved in the business alongside every business decision which is

taken by the organization. The four characteristics of moral management along with the way they
allow effective operations of the company are listed herein.
 Moral maximization which dictates the amount of moral goodness and correctness which
revolves in the internal operations of the company and it helps create a positive and ethical
upright environment
 Cultural consciousness which helps attract and retain a diverse workforce
 Developing a robust code of business conduct which helps develop effective policies at the
workplace
 Business ethics which form the backbone of all the ethical activities which are undertaken
by businesses
Question 3
The structure of an organisation is one of the major factors that determines how a
corporate culture is formed and how ethical guidelines are put into practice.
Required:
a) What are the benefits of introducing the role of an ethics officer within an
organisation?
b) Identify three moral principles a manager within an organisation needs to develop
and explain why is this important to operations of a business?
c) Discuss why a company should introduce correct ethical practices and what are
the risks if they fail to be implemented?
Answer 3 a) Business ethics is the study of an accurate business strategy and practices
regarding capable controversial contents including corporate governance and many other
things that impact the company and its goals . This is all about to implement a proper policy and
activity with regards to arguably disputable contents In an organisation there is various kinds of
professionalism that makes the operations more effective and achievable. Such as ethics officer
who serves internal control within the company . the company have numerous benefits of hiring
ethics officer that are as .

1. It assist in managing a working education of relevant ethics issues of professional or
industry ethics codes and conflicts resolution methods.
2. It aids in analysing the potential uncertainty and liability and develop legal compliance.
They also manages the relationship with stakeholders.
b) The objectives of unspecific observation that serves as a common justification for the various
particular ethical prescription and evaluation of human actions. Three basic principles among
those basically implemented in the business culture so that work can be done systematically. The
basic principles are listed in below -
1. Respect for others - In incorporates an individual must be treated as independent agents
.Moreover, that persons with reduced liberty are entitled to be secured.
2. Beneficence - persons are treated in an ethical ways not only by respecting their
decisions and saving them from harm, but also by making practices to secure their well
being. The term is often analysed to reach acts of kindness or helping that goes beyond
restricted cause.
3. Justice - the term is basically determines to all person an equal share. This concept is
relevant to explore including human and organisational context. These executives do not
deliberately mislead or deceive others by poor presentations and many others means
and when justices requires it they provides relevant details and accurate facts.
It is crucial for company to adapt all these action so that they can have a systematic functioning
and ethical working in company. It is more crucial to carry out operations in correct way. Ethics
events are an exceptions tools for promoting moral conduct business also requires workers
devoted to ethical decision making
c) Company introduce the business ethics and ethical officer to promote integrity among their
workers from key stakeholders just as investors and users. During business ehics events
have become basic, the quality becomes more impressive and attractive. This makes industry
more smart by having new technology and other instruments that makes an effective functioning
within the industry. It also helps in analysing the risk earlier. If company do not adopt the ethics
with in the company they will have a unethical working and also will face a various kinds of issues
that will tends in loss of the business goals . As business have a crucial goal in growing
business. If they want to make an effective functioning in company they have adapt an
appropriate business ethics and hire a skilled ethics officer
Question 4

a) Evaluate by applying Tucker’s 5 question model theory if building the proposed
oven and manufacturing extension is an ethically sound decision or not.
b) What is the difference between descriptive and normative ethics? Discuss
which approach Lincoln baking Co could implement and the benefits to the
business.
Answer 4 a) Tucker's 5 question model theory is one of the most basic models out there in terms
of forming an opinion regarding a business decision being ethically sound or not and in this model,
there are 5 basic parameters which form as the pillars which eventually decide whether or not a
particular decision is ethically sound to undertake or not. This model has been applied herein in
context of the problem presented in the case study in which a chimney oven and manufacturing
extension is being planned by the sole investor and their hired manager.
 It is profitable ? - Yes the decision to build a chimney oven and extend the production and
manufacturing line of the business is a profitable decision as it will help extend the business
their reach and also help in making more products
 It is legal ? - Yes the proposed business move is legal in the eyes of the law
 Is it fair ? - No the move is not fair at all to the stakeholders of the business as many of
them have resigned to show their hesitancy and the local community and resources are
being subjected to pollution
 Is it right ? - No it is not right as it harms the environment, goes against the interest of the
community, customers and the employees of the company which are its priority
stakeholders
 Is it sustainable and environmentally sound ? - No it is not sustainable at all as water
pollution is a serious concern and contains grim long term consequences for the local
community
According to the analysis developed through this model, the decision is not ethically sound
and should not be implemented on the ground of ethical violations.
b) There are many different branches of business ethics which are concerned with the way in
which companies and individuals are supposed to act in situations where their ethical integrity is
called into question like the way in which the case study has presented the ethical dilemma of
Lincoln Baking and Co. When it comes to business ethics, there are two basic approaches which

are known as normative and descriptive ethics which are broadly followed by businesses the globe
over. Descriptive ethics and normative ethics differ from one another on various grounds as they
are different as concepts as descriptive ethics is based on the belief of what is right or wrong and
focuses on what people think is right or wrong. Normative ethics on the other hand are concerned
with the actions and their resultant consequences and this type of ethics involves analysis of
actions rather than beliefs. According to the presented data in the case study, Lincoln Baking and
Co. should implement a normative ethical approach by carefully considering the long term impact
of its river pollution and air pollution through the proposed chimney which will undoubtedly help the
sole investor to get data to reverse his decision and the company can benefit in many ways such
as getting its veteran employees back and not upsetting the local community any further.