Ethical issues in Retailing

WHAT ARE ETHCIS ??

• moral principles OR set of principles of
right conduct.
• They could be also for some business.
• The societies can not make laws or codes
for each and every aspect of business
activity, Legislation by nature tends to be
reactive.
• Thus it becomes Imperative for the
organizations to behave in an ETHICAL
MANNER consistent with Ethical Norms of
society.
• High standards of ethical behavior is
regarded Positively by Society

• Creates a Positive impact on Business

• Influence the attitude of current and future

customers, employees, suppliers and
other stakeholders towards the
organization.
 Corporate social responsibility
• Retailers undertaking such activities that
benefit society overall.

• Retailers have an responsibility towards

the community where they operate and
towards the society in general
 Reliance - ADAG
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Organizations, like individuals, depend for their survival, sustenance and
growth on the support and goodwill of the communities of which they are an
integral part, and must pay back this generosity in every way they can...
• This ethical standpoint, derived from the vision of our founder, lies at the
heart of the CSR philosophy of the Reliance – ADA Group.
• While we strongly believe that our primary obligation or duty as corporate
entities is to our shareholders – we are just as mindful of the fact that this
imperative does not exist in isolation; it is part of a much larger compact
which we have with our entire body of stakeholders: From employees,
customers and vendors to business partners, eco-system, local
communities, and society at large.
• We evaluate and assess each critical business decision or choice from the
point of view of diverse stakeholder interest, driven by the need to minimize
risk and to pro-actively address long-term social, economic and
environmental costs and concerns.
• For us, being socially responsible is not an occasional act of charity or that
one-time token financial contribution to the local school, hospital or
environmental NGO. It is an ongoing year-round commitment, which is
integrated into the very core of our business objectives and strategy
 Be A Good Samaritan
Initiative Details
Institution
Aircel Mobilises public opinion
in partnership with WWF
India for the ‘Save Our
Tigers Initiative’
Coca-Cola Partners with government
India agencies and NGOs to
combat water scarcity
and depleting
groundwater levels
Dabur Its initiative, SUNDESH,
india in UP and Uttrakhand
aims for the overall socio-
economic development of
the poor
How to participate Contact info
Spread the word via www.saveourtigers.com
Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube. Donate through
WWF and Corbett
Foundation
Get in touch with Coca- Praveen Aggarwal
Cola India to help paggarwal@apac.ko.co
conceptualise, plan, m
implement and monitor
water harvesting project in
your locality
Volunteer in your areas of Sushil Kumar:
expertise—by teaching, sushil@dabur.com
providing technical support
or by participating in
health care camps  
Maruti Runs employee Contact Maruti Suzuki Ranjit Singh
Suzuki volunteering for support in launching ranjit.s@maruti.co.in
India programme, ‘e- such volunteering
Parivartan’, with NGO programmes in your
Literacy India, for locality
teaching
underprivileged people
 

Nasscom Promotes development If your organisation is a www.mykartavya.com

Foundatio through use of Nasscom member, you (for volunteering)
n information and comm- can volunteer or donate wwww.bigtech.in (for
unication technology, directly. You can software donations
provides tech register NGOs for
donations to NGOs  software donations
 Areas where CSR initiatives being
taken
• Community initiatives- charitable donations,
Sponsorship of community events, educational
initiatives,
• Environmental protection – energy usage
reduction, waste management, tree
plantation, avoiding GM crops
• Ethical sourcing – fair trade activities,
implementation of labor codes.
• Rising number of ethical and green
consumers- i.e. whose purchasing
behavior is motivated by their ethical
beliefs.

• They are concerned with protection of

environment . For example – they are
criticizers of GM crops.

• They had a motive to preserve

environment for present and future.
Retailer response to Environmental
Concerns:
• 2 broad areas :

1. Concerned with products they sell.

2. Related to their operations- 3 R’S –Re-

using, recycling , reducing
Concerned with products they sell:
• Increase range of organic foods they sell
• Avoidance of GM foods
• Go for Green-
concept is being
widely practiced in
Germany
• A study found 82% of
German supermarket
consumers make
environmental
considerations
whereas 67% in
Netherlands, 55% in
UK and 50% in
France.
Are consumers willing pay high for
Organic foods ?
• A certain number but even they are also
subject to Recession, and influenced by
Competitive Pricing and the Media.

• But an another segment who is having

cynical view about this ‘Green Game’ see
it only as an Trick used by retailers to get
more money out of consumers or as a
PUBLIC RELATIONS gimmick and cost –
saving practice.
Retail Operations and Environment
• Reuse- Using refillable containers.

• Recycling-makes financial sense also,

recycle plastic carrier bags, bottles, cans,
clothes, papers.

• Reduce –resource usage i.e. CO2

Emissions, energy usage, CFC, Reduce
transportation
 Ethical Sourcing
• Products sold by retailers do not exploit
workers and producers in Third World
Countries whether it be a fruit farm worker
in South- Africa, a toy worker in China, a
factory worker in Bangladesh.
 Some considerations:
• Working conditions should be safe and
hygienic
• Child labour should not be used
• Living wages are paid
• Working hours are not excessive.
• No discrimination is practiced.
• No harsh or inhuman treatment is allowed.
The invasion of privacy
 Privacy
 Unwanted emails from Database- SPAMs
on Personal Computers
 Disguised approach to collect data
 CCTV cameras in Retail outlets.