Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility - Lynden Riley

9. For nearly 11 years, now, we have been on this mission; we call it, “climbing Mt. Sustainability”, a mountain higher than Everest, to meet at that point at the top that symbolizes zero footprint—zero environmental impact. Sustainable: taking nothing, doing no harm. Ray Anderson Source: GNH 2: Ray Anderson Keynote CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY = DOING WELL BY DOING GOOD

10. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY = DOING WELL BY DOING GOOD Employ locally Use local suppliers Prompt payments Reduce pollution by using non-fossil fuels Fair pricing Safe products Use Fair Trade options Sponsorship & Volunteer programmes

11. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY = DOING WELL BY DOING GOOD

12.

13. “Power properly understood is nothing but the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political and economic change.” DO THE RIGHT THING! "The time is always right to do what is right."

Editor's Notes

My mission today is to help you understand the concept of business ethics and it’s role not only with regards to franchises but to the business world as a whole, along with understanding the changes in business attitudes today regarding corporate social responsibility. By the end of this presentation, I want you to all be thinking how you can improve on both your ethics and corporate social responsibilities.
Just what is business ethics? In it’s basic form, it simply means to do the right thing! It can be either a written or unwritten set of principles, values and beliefs that govern decisions and actions within a company.
Why is business ethics important to the success of your franchise? It affects your public image primarily by the way the franchise acts such as it’s environmental policy, how it treats employees and how you interact with the community it exists in. A poor public image will ultimately reduce your customers and in turn your profits. No one wants to go to a company that has a poor image even if prices are good. Affects investment opportunities. If a person or a company considers investing in your business, they would look for a company with a strong reputation in ethical behaviour. And partnerships. To do well in any joint venture, all parties want to have good reputations not only in track records but overall business. This is quite true for franchises. If you have a franchise branch that is not acting ethically this can tarnish the reputation of the other branches.
Today, businesses and franchises are establishing codes of conduct to ensure everyone within the business is aware of what your franchise considers ethical or not. Businesses are designing and implementing codes of conduct to assist with addressing legal, ethical, social and environmental issues they may face. It is important to ensure your code of ethics is easily accessible to your staff, suppliers and to the public Many companies are also training staff in ethics and ensuring refresher courses are given to keep employees aware of what your franchise expects of them under these codes.
Codes of conduct allow you to let your franchises know what the right thing is, defines acting honourable and respectful and how you will provide the best service. At Google, “Don’t be evil” has become the motto of the organisation and they have created a code of conduct based around that motto.
A great example of the use of ethics comes from Google. Anita Roddick, the founder of the Body Shop, had a paid text ad in Google directing people to her site. This was removed by Google as Roddick had anti statements in her front page blog about another person. It was against Google’s policy to accept ads for sites that are “anti” anything. Roddick protested and Google offered to reinstate the ad in exchange for Roddick removing the anti statements from her first page. When she refused, Google had a decision to make: Accept her money as business is business or to stand by their principles. Which do you think happened?
Business ethics are important in the community and can impact the community by employment and retention of locals, providing fair working conditions and your business improving the community living standards. Research has proved that there is a link between values, trust and profitablity. If your franchise honours good values, the community will gain trust in your business and will in turn keep coming back for more or recommending you, thus becoming more profitable.
Who would have thought 20 years ago that people could find out all about your business and in most cases in real time just what you are up to? The community now has vast amounts of information at their fingertips thus ensuring your practices are visibly increased!
Corporate Social Responsibility is the responsibility of an organisation for the impacts of it’s decisions and activities on society and the environment. Corporate Social Responsibility (or CSR) proactively promotes public interest and community growth and voluntarily eliminates practices that harm the public and environment.
Regardless of what business or franchise you are in, there are four distinct ways you can include CSR into your business. Environmentally, reduce, reuse and recycle. By being aware of your environment and it’s needs you need to look at adjusting your business activities accordingly. In the workplace, create safe working environments, employ locally and use local suppliers where possible. If using the local suppliers, ensure you pay them promptly. Marketplace, ensure your prices are fair, especially if you are in a niche market – Ensure you provide your customers with safe and satisfying products. And community – Develop a relationship with your community, maybe look at sponsorship with a local community group or for your entire franchise business. Allow staff to attend volunteer events and support local programs.
So what else can we do to incorporate CSR? Increased amount of information about the sourcing, composition and impact of your product, service or operations. Develop safe and satisfying products Understand your customers expectations Engage employees on CSR objectives & community events Develop products with positive societal and environmental impact Work in with other community groups on recycling projects such as these bags made from used plastic containers. Report your CSR via the franchise Reports and on your website. Look at putting in place various monitoring tools to ensure your on track.
So today when you are listening to the other presenters, keep in mind the impact of business ethics and corporate social responsibility. Understand that these two mean doing the right thing by all stakeholders, whether they be employees, shareholders, suppliers or local communities. By incorporating ethics and CSR, your franchise will contribute to the community, environment and still be profitable. PEOPLE, PLANET & PROFIT

Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility - Lynden Riley

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Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility - Lynden Riley

Editor's Notes