Extra Topic Listening Activities

Video Transcript:

Section1: 0:00 - 1:56

Business ethics is about going beyond what is legally required by law and is about doing what is morally right. Being an ethical business means operating in a way that is fair to its employees, suppliers, customers, and the environment (1). This approach can sometimes be counterintuitive for a business as implementing ethical policies can sometimes come at the expense of profits (2). But what changes can a business make to be more ethical?

Well, the first thing a business can do to be more ethical is treat their employees well. This can be done through providing an employee with a safe place to work and by paying them a fair wage (3). This does not mean just paying the minimum wage but is about paying them a fair wage that properly reimburses them for the work they do and that allows them to live a comfortable life.

Companies can also provide other financial incentives (4) that benefit employees when the business performs well, such as bonuses or a share scheme where employees receive shares in the company they work for. By owning shares in the company the employee directly benefits from share price increases and dividend payments when the business is operating successfully.

One business that always tops the charts for employee satisfaction is Google. Not only do Google pay their employees well but they have a whole host of employee benefits that help create an excellent working environment for employees. Some of the benefits include free food, free medical and dental care, gyms, money towards student loan payments, flexible working hours (5) and excellent communal spaces (6) where employees can relax and socialise. Google does not have to provide these things by law but they do so in an attempt to be more ethical and treat employees well in the hopes of them being happier and more productive at work.

Section 2: 1:57 - 3:40

The second step to being more ethical is treating suppliers well. Paying fair prices and making payments on time are ways a business can act ethically towards their suppliers. Fair trade prices have been established to ensure suppliers are paid a fair price (7) for the materials they produce and sell. A popular industry that has fair trade products is the coffee industry. If a product has the fair-trade logo on the packaging this indicates that among other things the business has paid the grower fairly for the coffee they have produced. The fair-trade logo has become a symbol that a business is acting ethically towards suppliers.

Another way that businesses can move toward being ethical is by only using materials that are ethically sourced. Meaning that the materials have not been sourced through the exploitation of workers (8) and that environmental and social impacts have also been considered. One excellent example of a business that has a track record of treating their suppliers well and sourcing goods that are ethically produced and grown is Lush. Lush has an ethical buying policy that outlines exactly how they treat their suppliers (9), covering things such as making sure their suppliers have good workers’ rights, safe working conditions (including no child labour), that the products they buy are never tested on animals and that the materials have been produced in an environmentally sustainable way. By having these policies Lush is taking a stance against suppliers that act unethically in turn increasing their ethical credentials. Lush has built a business around treating their suppliers well but mainly around the ethical sourcing of the materials that go into their products.