7 Steps of Ethical Decision Making

7 Steps of Ethical Decision Making

Social enterprises must focus on the triple bottom line to ensure that they generate profits for the business's survival and fulfill other bottom lines regarding people and the planet. To achieve this, social enterprise leaders must incorporate ethical thinking and decision-making to ensure they meet all their bottom lines. This is especially important when social enterprises are considering expansion into new markets. This paper summarizes the case of Urban Spring, discusses some of the key challenges faced by its leader, and provides solutions guided by ethical decision-making.
Case Synopsis
The case presented in this paper concerns Urban Spring. To better understand this case, the 5W will be used as a source of information-gathering.
Who
Urban Spring is a Hong Kong-based social enterprise that focuses on providing water to the residents of Hong Kong without compromising the environment. Specifically, it provides water stations known as Well units around Hong Kong. Also, it provides water for free to individuals who use reusable water bottles to refill water at the various Urban Spring water stations. The key stakeholders of Urban Spring include its founder, CEO, employees, consumers, and investors. All these stakeholders benefit from the social enterprise in one way or another (Lam & Piper, 2020).
What
Urban Spring supplies chilled, filtered water in Hong Kong. Recently, the CEO realized there is room for Urban Spring to grow beyond Hong Kong and serve markets in Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States (U.S.). It would continue offering the same product but on a larger scale. These markets have a demand for the product provided by Urban Spring. In addition, the European and U.S. markets already have companies that provide a product similar to Urban Spring’s with only one difference; Urban Spring’s product collects relevant data that the competitors in these new markets lack (Lam & Piper, 2020). The enterprise needed new investors/ partners to help with the expansion into overseas markets.
When
Urban Spring was launched in 2015 and had been operational for five years at the time of the publication of the case study. After five years of operation, the CEO decided it was time for the company to venture into new markets outside Hong Kong. The company has acquired some resources and capabilities, such as its second-generation Well units, launched in 2021. The CEO planned to have ventured into overseas markets within two years of the launch of the second generation Well unit and produce 2,000 units for the Hong Kong and overseas markets (Lam & Piper, 2020).
Where
Urban Spring operates out of Hong Kong and has managed to install its water stations in schools, shopping malls, universities, hotels, recreational facilities, and offices. However, the enterprise needed to expand into markets outside Hong Kong using the same model. The new target markets included Thailand, the Philippines, Europe, and the U.S.
Why
Urban Spring has one environmental and one social goal. Its environmental goal is to reduce plastic waste from single-use water bottles contributing significantly to pollution (Lam & Piper, 2020). Single-use bottles present an environmental challenge because they end up in landfills and become a source of pollution. Its social goal is to offer free water to consumers more sustainably. This goal is informed by the challenges people living below the poverty line face when choosing between buying safe drinking water and food (Lam & Piper, 2020). Urban Spring hopes that providing free water to individuals using reusable water bottles will reduce the amount of single-use water bottles disposed of in landfills and offer more people access to free water. These two goals were why Urban Spring was established, and the CEO wanted to expand its market outside Hong Kong to ensure the business remained sustainable while meeting the two goals.
A Discussion of the Issues (PEST)
As Urban Spring plans to venture into new markets to enhance its sustainability, it must consider the external factors influencing its success. The PEST framework is an effective tool for identifying these external factors or issues facing Urban Spring.
Political
Urban Spring must consider policies such as employment and environmental laws in the markets it needs to pursue. The laws and policies in Hong Kong differ from those in Europe, Southeast Asia, and the U.S., and since these are the markets that Urban Spring is pursuing, it needs to understand how they may hinder or support its operations. For instance, in the U.S., the federal government offers grants to organizations that reduce pollution, including not-for-profit organizations (U.S. Rural Development, n.d.). This is a political factor that Urban Spring needs to consider when expanding into international markets. In addition, it needs to consider plastic recycling options provided through recycling policies and regulations in each market. In Hong Kong, there are limited plastic recycling options, and single-use bottles end up in landfills (Lam & Piper, 2020). Urban Spring's environmental goal would be mute in countries with better plastic recycling policies.
Economic
The main economic issue that Urban Spring needs to consider is the supply and demand for its product in the market. The demand for water stations in Hong Kong is optimal, and the team can supply more stations, hence the need for more opportunities for growth outside of Hong Kong (Lam & Piper, 2020). Considering demand and supply, the demand for Urban Spring’s water units in Thailand and the Philippines was high, making these two countries suitable markets for Urban Spring. Also, although Europe and the U.S. have companies supplying the same product, they lack some capabilities that Urban Springs has (Lam & Piper, 2020), which makes these markets also suitable because the company can meet this demand by offering better water units.
Social
Urban Spring needs to consider social factors such as lifestyle trends, cultural attitudes, and traditions. In terms of lifestyle trends, t needs to consider whether people in the new markets are using reusable water bottles or whether they prefer single-use bottles. In terms of cultural traditions, in Hong Kong, there was a cultural tradition of drinking warm water, and Urba...