These days, organizational responsibility and ethics play a huge role in all aspects of a business, but planning is vital to the success of anything, and so is of paramount importance in this area.
It was not that many years ago that the majority of businesses viewed having a responsibility towards anything other than their own turnover and profit margins as something only the goody two shoe businesses did, and ethics meant not breaking the law (or at least not getting caught).
These days, however, more and more attention is being paid towards having social responsibilities and ethics in the business world, possibly not due in all cases to a heightened sense of moral outrage, but to a heightened awareness of what customers will and will not tolerate in a business' actions.
There has never been a greater demand for businesses, corporations and institutions to make themselves accountable for their actions and the decisions that they make, and successful businesses are aware that if they do not comply, their customers will go to a business that does.
This means that all new ventures undertaken by any organization have to make sure that their actions will stand examination when their ethics are looked at, and so have to be planned very carefully.
Years ago, Nestle came under a lot of scrutiny for the way that they marketed baby milk in third world countries. They actually persuaded parents by implication that it was better than breast milk, and many parents who could not afford it, bought it. This had disastrous consequences; many parents diluted the milk to make it go further and huge numbers of babies died from malnutrition.
Nestle were aware of the situation and carried on regardless. It was only public outcry (over a long period of time) that stopped that practice. Incidents like this one have ensured that companies are more accountable and careful planning is needed to ensure that success does not come at any price.
It was not that many years ago that the majority of businesses viewed having a responsibility towards anything other than their own turnover and profit margins as something only the goody two shoe businesses did, and ethics meant not breaking the law (or at least not getting caught).
These days, however, more and more attention is being paid towards having social responsibilities and ethics in the business world, possibly not due in all cases to a heightened sense of moral outrage, but to a heightened awareness of what customers will and will not tolerate in a business' actions.
There has never been a greater demand for businesses, corporations and institutions to make themselves accountable for their actions and the decisions that they make, and successful businesses are aware that if they do not comply, their customers will go to a business that does.
This means that all new ventures undertaken by any organization have to make sure that their actions will stand examination when their ethics are looked at, and so have to be planned very carefully.
Years ago, Nestle came under a lot of scrutiny for the way that they marketed baby milk in third world countries. They actually persuaded parents by implication that it was better than breast milk, and many parents who could not afford it, bought it. This had disastrous consequences; many parents diluted the milk to make it go further and huge numbers of babies died from malnutrition.
Nestle were aware of the situation and carried on regardless. It was only public outcry (over a long period of time) that stopped that practice. Incidents like this one have ensured that companies are more accountable and careful planning is needed to ensure that success does not come at any price.
