Critically understand and explain the social and philosophical nature of ethics within a business context

Critically understand and explain the social and philosophical nature of ethics in a business context.
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Ethics is a branch of philosophy that seeks to find answers as to the moral issues and concepts such as good and evil or right and wrong (Russow & Vuuren 2010). Ethics is applicable to business practices in light of how businesses relate to consumers through the selling of their products or services. They continue on to say that ethical and moral issues in such cases involve concepts of how the business markets its products, the policies it employs in hiring and treating its workers as well as its practices in manufacturing. Increasingly, companies have shown interest in how the public perceives it in terms of ethical practices and how the company responds to social responsibility issues.
Jeurissen (2007), points out that many businesses have gained reputation because of how they gave importance to issues of corporate ethics and their responsibility towards societies and communities in which it operates. He observes that in contrast, other businesses have lost their reputation through employing bad business practices. He argues further that to such businesses, undertaking the business activity is purely for maximizing profits and has no regard to ethical business practices. This paper seeks to explore the ethical issues that have cropped up recently in the field of business and consumer relations in light of social responsibility of the company and the ethical consumerism on the side of the consumer.
In the past, consumerism has been a matter of buyer or consumer receiving a product or services from the manufacturer or business without having the choice as to how the product is made (Odies, Fraedrich & Ferrell 2011). They continue on to argue that however, with recent advancements in globalization and in the technological fields, consumers have more say in what services or products they buy and use rather than being passive receivers and accepting whatever companies think is best for them.
Archie and Bulchoz (2011), argue that recent advancements in 3-D printing technology have meant that consumers can now design their own products like designer shoes and many other products. They argue further that consumers can shape perceptions that others have of a particular product through sharing their opinions in such platforms as twitter, blogs or other social media sites. Companies had grown used to a one-way relationship between them and the consumers but this is changing. Factors that influence this perception involve advancements in digital technology, the decentralization of corporate power as well as the advanced individual tastes in products and services by the modern consumer (Xiaoli & Heo 2007). Increased population has also been important in how consumers are able to share their opinions about certain products and services with their peers.
Jeurissen (2007), argue that business ethics have become vital in defining the relationship between consumers and businesses. He argues those individual consumers' tastes and a perception of a company is vital for the survival of the corporation in a highly competitive market dictated to by consumer tastes. Russow and Vuuren (2010), point out that such issues that influence the business practices involve the marketing approaches used to sell the product or services, the manufacturing practices as well as the companies' relationship towards its employees. The paper will seek to explore each of these issues in detail. It will explore how these issues have influence consumer decisions and how the consumers perceive companies and their products. It will explore how these issues influence the companies' social responsibilities towards the community it operates in and the consumer desire to consume the product, which are manufactured ethically, and conforms to ethical environmental practices.
Xiaoli and Heo (2007) state that marketing is an important part of the activity of any business that deals in consumer products. They argue that marketing involves the dissemination of audio or visual messages to the buyers or consumers of a product to get them to consume the product. The principle of marketing however has some ethical issues that affect how consumers relate to the product or service offered. These ethical issues dictate the consumer preference towards a product or service (Ferrell, Odies & Fraedrich 2011). As such, it is important for any company marketing their brand to deal with these marketing issues to ensure their product is a success and conforms to ethical practices. Jeurissen (2007) points out some ethical issues in marketing as including: the product safety and liability, honesty and truthfulness in advertising, setting of good and affordable prices on the services and goods as well as privacy in internet marketing.
Xiaoli and Heo (2007) argue that marketing, in its most basic form is an exchange between two people when one of them purchases a product or service from another. In the case of exchange of a product, the person issuing the product is liable to make sure that the good meets the minimum quality threshold and safety requirements. Several considerations will make such a business exchange to be ethical or unethical. The Utilitarian perspective considers the above exchange as ethical if it increases the happiness of the individual and of society as a whole (Crane & Matten 2007). For the exchange to be considered as successful, both the buyer and the seller should become content with it. It would go against ethical right if one of the parties benefits in more ways as compared to the other. For example, the seller selling a product for twice its real market value without the buyer realizing it. Archie and Bulchoz (2011) argue that from the contrarian perspective, actions that might be considered coercive and otherwise deceitful marketing practices are unethical. They continue on to state that from this perspective ignorance may force us not to agree to harmful practices that might harm the side of the buyers or sellers of a product. Kantian ethics is another perspective that stipulates that individuals should not be considered as a way to achieve an end, rather, they should be considered as means to their own ends (Crane & Matten 2007). This means that the seller of a product should not consider the buyer as a means of making the most profit but rather as human being with reason and personal choice. Companies that manufacture such products should thus not manipulate the buyer through deceptive or misleading marketing practices for them to buy their products. Odies, Fraedrich and Ferrell (2011) argue that for marketing can be considered as being ethical or unethical according to the level at which the sponsors sell products that are acceptable by the society and they sell them at considerable prices. The marketing of such products should however be conducted in an acceptable, honest and in a manner that does not deceive and which is acceptable to the society.
Crane and Matten (2007), argue that in competition in business organizations improves the market for both the manufacturers and consumers. They continue to argue that competition is intended to result in lower prices and an increase in the availed quality of the products and services by companies. However, they caution that such competition is only healthy if it is conducted in an honest and fair manner and that consumers are informed adequately about their purchasing choices and are provided with information about the products in which they intend to acquire. Russouw and Vuuren (2010), however, argue that the principle of ethical competition in business is likely to miss in the sectors of pricing and advertising of brands or services, which rely on comparing one product or another. Companies which rely on unethical advertisements as well as manipulation and exaggerations to sell their products will have an edge when competing with those businesses that are ethical (Archie & Bulchoz 2011).
Another ethical issue concerned with marketing is the quality control of products and services. In the past, businesses had no obligation towards the consumers as regards the quality of their products or services (Trevino & Nelson, 2010). They point out that the seller did not accept any responsibility for either the quality, performance, reliability or the potential for harm of their products. Buying a product without a return label or anything that shows the company holds responsibility for the product means that one enters into an agreement that does not bind the manufacturer. However, if such a product were to cause harm, the manufacturer is thought responsible and the initial stance of irresponsibility towards the product by the manufacturer is judged as unethical (Trevino & Nelson 2010). They argue on that consumers do not view this as a problem unless something goes wrong and the product causes harm. They conclude by pointing out that when this happens, the companies suffer hugely because they will lose the confidence of their customers and may even incur huge fines or settlement fees.
Crane and Matten (2007) point out that such companies may deny liability for their products in the form of a caveat emptor. They arg...