SOCIAL AND ETHICAL ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS

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SOCIAL AND ETHICAL ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS
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• Describe the changing nature of the population,
  the labor force, and their impact on businesses.
• Discuss how the values of Americans have changed
  and how business has adapted to those changed
  values.
• Suggest ways in which businesses can be socially
  responsible.

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HUMAN RESOURCEISSUES

• Population
• Growing population grown steadily over years
  mostly due to immigration
• Changing population more diverse
• Baby boom more people aged 35-55 (1945-65)
• Baby bust period after 1965
• Moving population 1 out of 5 move yearly
• Frost Belt cold northern half of country
• Sun Belt warm southern half
• Rust Belt north central/northeastern states

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HUMAN RESOURCEISSUES

• Labor force 16 or older available to work
• Poverty 12/15 of pop. live in poverty
• Stats show that the richest 20 of Americans hav
  cont to earn more over the past 30 yrs, while
  income of the lowest 5th has stayed the same
  gap between richer and poorer continues to widens
• Equal employment
• Glass ceiling invisible barrier to job
  placement
• Sticky floor syndrome inability for workers to
  move up due lows skills/education
• Comparable worth paying workers equally for
  jobs with similar but not identical job
  requirements

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HUMAN RESOURCEISSUES

• Societal values
• Generation X feel less loyal to Eer expect to
  change jobs many times
• Net Generation 1977-1997
• Employer practices
• Redesigning jobs used to retain workers
• Improving health and safety an unfit Eee is
  absent more and less productive
• Family-friendly practices day care flexible
  hours work from home

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ETHICAL ISSUES

• Standards of moral conduct that individuals and
  groups set for themselves, defining what behavior
  they value as right or wrong
• Law provides for a minimum standard
• Business ethics
• Collection of principles and rules that define
  right and wrong for organizations
• Closely linked to personal values
• Code of Ethics - formal, published collection
  that reflect companys philosophy and goals

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Ethical dilemmas

• Arises when it is not clear whether a particular
  action is legal or illegal
• What is the value or worth of a specific behavior
  for society as a whole
• Best behavior is that which does the most good
  for the most people
• Organizations/bosses are faced with ethical
  dilemmas all the time

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• Supervisors Secret (p. 31)
• Nike
• Pg 45 - Think Critically Qs 1-4

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SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF BUSINESS

• Social responsibility the duty of a business to
  contribute to the well being of society
• What is businesss responsibility to help solve
  societys problems?
• Answer is not simple
• Profit motive collide with what is good for
  society
• Businesses depend on society for resources,
  opportunities and have an obligations to the
  communities in which they operate

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• It is now widely recognized that business has an
  important responsibility to society
• Businesses have realized that by getting involved
  socially, it advances its own interests
• Enhancing goodwill in the computer reduce
  governments desire to regulate the business
• TASK Pick any business, small or large, and
  report on how they act socially or responsibly to
  the community that they operate in.

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ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS
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• Discuss three economic systems and three
  economic-political systems.
• Summarize five fundamental elements of capitalism.

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ECONOMIC SYSTEMS

• Types of economic-political systems
• Capitalism US free enterprise private
  citizens are free to go into business produce
  what they want and distribute what they provide
  and own property
• Socialism Sweden gov. controls how to use
  scarce resources is decided by gov.
• Communism North Korea extreme socialism all
  or almost all factors of production are owned by
  the gov. decisions on who gets what is decided
  by the gov.

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FUNDAMENTALS OF CAPITALISM

• Private property essential to captialism R to
  own, use and sell
• Profit incentive of capitalism
• Price setting
• Demand - of products that will be bought at a
  given time at a given price high demand higher
  cost
• Supply - of like product that will be offered
  for sale at a particular time and at a certain
  price low supply higher cost

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FUNDAMENTALS OF CAPITALISM

• Competition Rivalry among sellers for
  consumers benefits consumers
• Income distribution just like what an
  individual receives in goods is determined by the
  amt of that person has, the amt of an
  individual received in wages is determined by
  many factors but mainly supply and demand

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SUPPLY AND DEMAND