Contemporary Consumer & Business Ethics
Milan 3 - 6 May, 2010
Dr Neil Connon
Contemporary Consumer & Business Ethics
Milan 3 - 6 May, 2010
Dr Neil Connon
Scotland
Aberdeen
Around Aberdeen
See handout 1 -
Actors needs and influences
Day/time Topic Notes Monday
3 May
16.00 – 19.00
An introduction to contemporary ethics What is/are ethics
What ethical decisions do we make
What are the implications of these
The actors model
Tuesday
4 May
15.30 – 19.00 Current consumption and the consumer perspective
Implications and reactions of business Government/media/ pressure groups A worked example: music
Consumption patterns – national/international
High consumption and the implications of this
Rationale for an ethical approach to business Wednesday
5 May
11.00 – 13.30
16.00 – 17.00 Implications and reactions of business Government/media/ pressure groups (cont’d)
Case studies (Primark) Legislation, national/international
Government involvement in ethics Media reporting and the influence of the press (a UK perspective)
Pressure group activity and their impact
Presentations Thursday
6 May
09.00-11.00 Linking the actors and conclusions
Likely future implications
Conclusions
An Introduction to Contemporary Ethics
Session 1
Monday 16.00 – 19.00
Defining ethics
What changes ethics?
Culture and ethics
Consumer ethics
Business ethics
Government ethics
Conclusions Lecture Outline
Part of philosophy
defn: search for understanding of the basic truths and principles of the universe, life and morals
Ancient Egyptian and Sumerian civilisations
Philosophers/idealists/academics have attempted to clarify, make sense of and define
Perceptions change, people look at ethics in context of contemporary surroundings
Morality is constant theme, as is code of ethics
Often introduced/defined by non/religious
Defining Ethics
“the science of morals”
with morals being defined as: “conforming to, or regulated by what is right”
The Cassell Concise Dictionary
Let us regard this as settled: what is morally wrong can never be advantageous, even when it enables you to make some gain that you believe to be to your advantage. The mere act of believing that some wrongful course of action constitutes an advantage is pernicious. (p.177)
Cicero: Selected Works, Penguin Classics, Harmondsworth, England, 1971
Defining Ethics
Defining Ethics See handout 2 -
Do questions 1, 2 & 3
(c.15 minutes)
Study of ethics
history of ethics: Aristotle - Nietzsche - ‘existentialism’
medical ethics
legal ethics
environmental ethics
consumer ethics
business ethics
political ethics
Types of Ethics
religion - a higher calling, judged in next world
culture – dynamic, despite cultural awareness ethics of individual are still subjective (traits)
events - events change viewpoints
philosophy e.g. existentialism: ‘existence is the only concrete thing, the rest is mere abstraction’. (Lundin p. 379)
acceptable norms of behaviour - dynamic
economic development - see next slide
What changes ethics?
Definitions Consumer Policy and Maslow e.g collector’s pieces luxuries that define you buy gifts for others expectation that they are safe ability to buy products
culture - customs and civilisations
Burke (1995) - modern idea of popular culture associated with ‘burgeoning forms of national consciousness developing after 18th c.’
is culture more definite and collective consciousness more apparent than before?
better communications
influence by globalisation
Culture
Defining Ethics See handout 2 -
Do question 4 & 5
(c.15 minutes)
what is an ethical product?
what is ethical purchasing behaviour?
‘ethical purchase behaviour can mean people not buying a certain product’.....or......’a deliberate restriction of choice in purchase behaviour’
Smith (1990) Morality and the market p.2
the purchase of a good is viewed as a bundle of considerations, ethics may be one of these (Holbrook, 1995)
Consumer Ethics
individuals have little influence
groups exercise considerable power (consciously or unconsciously)
culture has developed to where minority interests have been voiced often turning into powerful interest lobbies, wielding power at the very centre of government
e.g. western markets have been affected by green consumer behaviour, that means by behaviour that reflects concern about the effects of manufacturing and consumption on the natural environment. (Wagner p1.) Consumer Ethics
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