Ethics application in Anglo America and Primark

Ethics application in Anglo America and Primark

Introduction

Ethics business behavior involves moral principles and values that guide you to the right way of doing business. It identifies the difference between right and wrong, and makes a person choose the right behavior. However, knowing 'what is right' is not easy always, therefore businesses must posses knowledge and courage to identify the 'right'. The ethical business practices ensure that right legal and moral standards should be applied. According to Kirk O. Hanson, renowned ethics expert, “business ethics is the study of the standards of business behavior which promotes human welfare and the good.” (Merchant, 2012) Ethical decision making develops trust in your business among your business associates and suppliers. Many businesses practice ethical behavior today, in order to meet the ethical demands of the society, Anglo-American and Primark are also among them. These two companies are among the world's leading companies and also hold the prestige of adhering to the ethical practices. Both of these companies promotes ethical behavior and contribute positively in the communities and regions where they operate, and demonstrate good social responsibility. Anglo America and Primark look creatively for the betterment of the society and the environment they are operating in.

Discussion

Anglo-American

Anglo-America is one of the leading mining companies of UK and operates across the globe. Anglo-America makes profit with taking an account of ethics. It has its own set of Business Principles of their core values and standards that they follow, and it is called “Good Citizenship”. It also follows the codes of practice set for its industrial sector. The major role Anglo-America has played by is its participation in the initiatives like Extracting Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and Global Reporting initiative (GRI). EITI ensures that what the company pays for raw material and the revenues received by government must be published. The UNGC shows the adherence of the company with the UN's core principles including labor rights, human rights, anti-corruption, and environmental good practice. The company reports its activities using GRI framework (www.thetimes100.co.uk).

Anglo America's core values and standards also include the principle of ensuring the security of its employees and operations across the globe doesn't impact adversely on the society. Company's ethical practices also involve the assurance of the protection of human rights of its employees and the local population of the countries it operates in. It follows and adheres to the principles declared by Universal Declaration of Human Rights. One of the important ethical practices by Anglo America is its stakeholder's engagement. This practice enables the company to understand the expectations and demands of its stakeholders and to consider them while making decisions. Recently, Anglo-America has taken relocation programmed in South Africa, voluntarily, which have built new villages with better infrastructure, and houses, and more land for farming (www.thetimes100.co.uk).

Primark

Primark is an Irish clothing retailer, it is a part of Associated British Foods (ABF) and works with manufacturers across the ...