Post on 13-May-2023
2BUSINESS ETHICS IN VODAFONE
Table of ContentsAnswer to the question number – 1.1..................................3Answer to the question number – 1.2..................................4
Answer to the question number – 1.3..................................5Answer to the question number – 2.1..................................6
Answer to the question number – 2.2..................................7Answer to the question number – 3.1..................................8
Answer to the question number – 3.2..................................9Answer to the question number – 4.1.................................10
Answer to the question number – 4.2.................................12Answer to the question number – 4.3.................................13
References..........................................................15
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1) Explain the background and development of theoretical ethical approaches in business.
Answer to the question number – 1.1
There are multiple approaches of ethics but two of the broad
categories of these were principle-based approaches. This
approach is also based on two different approaches that is
Kantianism and utilitarianism. Kantianism is ethical code
developed by a German philosopher Immanual Kant. This approach is
also known as 'deontological' or duty-based.
Deontology comes from Greek word deno & logos which means duty &
science respectively. This terminology mainly focuses on moral
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rules & duties. This theory suggests that in order to be moral we
need to careful of the moral issues & need to make adjustments
among theme to achieve a perfect balance. Duties done with
obedience are moral except that everything is immoral. According
to deontology our duties, rules and obligation must be in
accordance to God wishes(Bowie, 1999).
On the other hand Utilitarianism is a teleological theory
developed by two British philosophers Jeremy Bentham & John
Stuart Mill. It is also known as consequentialist theory of
ethics. This theory states that the moral consequences of any
task lies in the result of that work. If the result is good then
the task is also good. According to this theory, if killing
someone leads to good results, it is good to kill someone. This
theory depends on the fact that for something to be right or
wrong the result should be evaluated properly(Duska, 2000).
2) Compare and contrast absolute and relative ethics in relation to Vodafone
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Answer to the question number – 1.2
Absolute ethics states that there is only one right option for
any decision & that there is a single code of conduct for all.
Those who are abiding by these rules & regulations are the only
one who is maintains ethics in their life. It also emphasize on
popular belief for deciding what is good & bad. It says that in
common what the most of the people are maintaing is good & any
exception to this is evil.
In the relative ethics nothing has been fixed as being good or
bad. Relative ethics states that moral ideas and belief changes
with people. What is ethical to someone may not be accepted as
ethical to others so there should not any single code of conduct.
The difference between absolute & relative ethics can be
explained with two very easy real time examples.
The first example happened in India where beef is not widely
accepted as a “Hindu” majority society. So when McDonalds first
came to do business it avoided all the item that comes with beef
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in India. According to the absolute ethics this principle of
avoidance beef should be practiced all over the world as it is
accepted to a large group of people but in reality the scenario
is not like that. But with the help of relative ethics this issue
can be explained very easily(Hanson, 2015).
The other incident happened in china when wall-mart starts its
operation there. Chinese people like to have a closer look of the
item they are buying whether it is raw goods or not so in china
wall-mart used to kept the chicken without any package & Chinese
people used to handle them open handed to see & if they like it
then they made a purchase. It is a widely practice in china but
seems to be a very unhealthy means all around the world. So all
this actions can only be justified by relative theory.
3) Explain the ethical issues which can affect the operational activities of a company such as Vodafone.
Answer to the question number – 1.3
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Companies like Vodafone are more vulnerable to ethical issues as
telecommunication sector is a service sector & in service sector
the quality of the service provided is the key to customer
satisfaction but the most crucial part of the customer
satisfaction is to provide constant quality service. Any small
deviation can be proven a big mistake.
Unsolicited (un-requested) bulk emails or SMS messages sent to
the subscriber by the telecommunication company is a key issue in
ethics in telecommunication sector. Network provider often makes
people aware of their several packages & offers to their
subscriber. But the bigger dilemma is that not everyone is in
need of all these offers & massive unsolicited (un-requested)
bulk emails or SMS inundates their inbox resulting in lots of
important SMS. Even though company profits from these promotion
but customer loyalty drops significantly as such that many were
forced to unsubscribe for the network provider. Also that
unsubscriber speaks ill of that company creating bad impression
for the company. This is how it becomes a very important ethical
issue. Many of the telecom companies like Vodafone are now
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vulnerable to this ethical issue whether to send this type of
unsolicited (un-requested) bulk emails or SMS or not.
The other related ethical issue with the telecom company is how
lower the call rate should be. This issue has been a practical
issue in Bangladesh. At the time when the telecom industry was
improving most of the company offers call between the same
network free of cost which urges the adults to talk to their
loved ones for night long & to lose their way at the day time.
Social life has come hampered. So talks were initiated about how
lower the rate could be within a network. Even though the adults
were very happy with the offer, their parents don’t seemed to
happy with this type of offer so eventually the company lost the
market for elderly people.
1) Explain how business objectives of Vodafone are affected by ethical considerations(MacDonald, 2015)
Answer to the question number – 2.1
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Vodafone has always been followed by the ethical ways to
implement its business level strategy. In the case it is depicted
that among the six global goals One is 'to be a responsible
business' which includes the issues of ethics. From the very
starting Vodafone has been driven by the ethical issues. Vodafone
believes that maintain ethics in business can be costly in term
of profit but at the same time profit can be regained through
customer loyalty as the company become mature. In the case two of
the responses of Vodafone related to the ethical issues are
discussed. Vodafone’s strong position against unsolicited (un-
requested) bulk emails or SMS is a strong indicator of its
ethical approach. Here Vodafone shows exactly that particular
approach that was explained before. Vodafone emphasizes on
customer loyalty rather than short term profit. A company that
want to do business for long must have this type of approach
because long term profit through customer loyalty will obviously
outweigh short term profit that comes at a cost of customer
loyalty .
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Vodafone’s reaction to the adult content is another clear
approach of the company to the ethical issue. These issues shows
that Vodafone really care about the well-being of its customer as
Vodafone was the first to introduce this concept of protection
from adult content. This shows how these ethical issues are
shaping the objectives of the company. While others are making
profit from increased spending on adult content by the subscriber
Vodafone tends to save it for the long term benefits creating
customer loyalty in short term(Duska, 2000).
2) Evaluate the implications to Vodafone and its stakeholders to operate ethically.
Answer to the question number – 2.2
Vodafone & its stakeholder seems to be benefited in the long run
as customer satisfaction is the key to success when company wish
to continue for a long term business. Earlier in the case
investigation by Vodafone depicts that even though company losses
profit in the short term but by building strong customer loyalty
in can gain more in the long run & it is safer to ensure long
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term sustainable profitability rather than to short term
profitability which comes at a cost of customer loyalty. The
implication of ethics in business is not that simple as it seems
to be. All the stakeholder has to bear the impact of company
doing ethically or unethically. For the stakeholder the case for
customer can be considered as customer is the most important
stakeholder of a company(Wieland, 2001). Two of the case relating
to ethical behavior of Vodafone has been mentioned in this case.
While considering the impact of these two behaviors it is clear
that for all two instances customer group is the one who win in
both side. The other most important stakeholder of a company is
its shareholder. This time the implication is bit different &
confusing. The shareholder group can found Vodafone losing profit
at the very first sight as they outlook the overall impact of
maintaining ethics in business decision but after they go deep
into the strategic point of the decision soon they will found
them to be in a right direction. Not only that action taken by
pressure group & government decisions should also be reflected in
the decision making of a company like Vodafone. Pressure group is
another challenge for Vodafone. Almost in all country pressure
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group creates resistant on operation of multinational companies
regarding their ethical issue. Extreme violations of this rules
can ruined the goodwill as well as resulted in penalties by the
court(Crisp and Cowton, 1998).
1) Assess the role of Vodafone acting as a moral agent in its mining projects.
Answer to the question number – 3.1
A moral agent is one it can be human or it can an institution
that has the sense to differentiate right or wrong. Most easily a
moral agent can take the decision about what is right or what is
wrong. A moral agent a evaluate its activity on ethical ground &
make the choice whether he did a right or wrong task. For
multinational giants to be a moral agent is very important as the
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interest of lots of stakeholder is linked with operation of
company. In the mentioned case various aspects of ethical
behavior of Vodafone has been described like the issue of adult
content in the internet where the role played by Vodafone really
worth of acclamation(Vogel, 1991). Here in this situation Vodafone
really emerges it as responsible nationals of the country
focusing on the benefit of the citizen. The case of unwanted SMS
promoting its own offer to the subscriber is another instance
where Vodafone showed how much they really care about the ethical
behavior. In both the case one this was in common that is
Vodafone is sacrificing profit to maintain ethical behavior in
the society. & that’s why it has been stated as the most
ethically motivated company in UK. For the practice in the
workplace Vodafone has always been in the top. Vodafone is among
those company that tops in the employee job satisfaction ranking
as well as it offers one of the best work-life balance in the
industry. Good corporate practice is at the very core of the
Vodafone. As discussed earlier these are key point when
considering ethical behavior within the company. So considering
all these issues Vodafone can be marked as a company that is
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ensuring ethical behavior both inside & outside the company(Shaw,
2003).
2) Analyze the development of mechanisms for achieving employee
involvement and empowerment, how well does Vodafone operate
ethically?
Answer to the question number – 3.2
Employee involvement is a relatively new concept even though of
immense importance for organizational development. This concept
recommends the involvement of employee in the organizational
decision making. It is not like that taking the choice of all the
employee but to offer the opportunity to the respective employee
from the respective department to give their opinion in the
decision making. This helps the company in the way that worker
from the root level who are directly involve in the process can
identify the main problem & can make constructive recommendation.
Employee empowerment is a term that explains the instance where
employee has been given with decision making power. Similar to
that of employee involvement it is also a new concept. The
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application for this concept much more critical than that of
employee involvement as this requires the delivery of decision
making power to other which is a key critical issue in
organization.
Vodafone as a global player offers multiple opportunities to its
employee to ensure employee involvement & empowerment. Vodafone
strategy for employee involvement & empowerment includes multiple
instances such as training, contractual responsibility, improved
moral etiquette, team management. Among all of these methods
training is the most popular & frequently used method. Also
training seems to compass multiple concepts of the organization
so it is more effective than any other method used. Vodafone uses
verities of training program throughout the year to develop up to
date skills among various level of employee. The training program
involves employee from various department when the issue is a
common one like ethical behavior. At the same the special
training is also available for any particular department(Hanson,
2015).
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1) Research a current ethical issue affecting a selected
business.
Answer to the question number – 4.1
It was case of environmental pollution as well as child labor
abuse which took place in 2010 in China. A group of 34 non-
governmental organizations, names 29 companies first marked the
issue. The thing is that one of the suppliers of battery products
to Vodafone was found to cause environment pollution as the
supplier was not following through proper treatment plant causing
the lead to be disposed freely in nature as well as affecting
those child labor who were working there without proper
protection. Surely a very sensitive issue for a company like
Vodafone that has long been famous for maintain ethics in its
operation but at the same time a very strategic one in nature as
this issues doesn’t linked directly to the Vodafone company
rather linked to the supplier who used to supply batteries for
Vodafone handsets. With less control over the management of the
supplier company it is tough for Vodafone to do things in a right
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way. An active employee who is assigned to this crisis must need
to consider the situation first. At first he needs to supervise
how bad really the situation is & then needs to decide what needs
to be improved. Other decision related to the issue can be how to
make things work better. Strategic decision in this issue related
to whether Vodafone itself produce batteries or keep relying on
supplier(Wieland, 2001). If the company itself wishes to produce
the batteries then it can control all other relative issues such
as but if Vodafone wish to keep relying on the supplier there are
lot to do. First the relation between Vodafone & supplier needs
to be considered which will suggest what Vodafone can actually
do. If Vodafone has a stronger grip on the supplier as well as
lots of alternative supplier is available then Vodafone has the
chance to force the supplier to maintain quality & labor related
issue. If the situation is not like that Vodafone can offer an
increased pay for its service to improve the situation in the
suppliers factory(MacDonald, 2015).
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2) Report on how the business could improve the ethics of their
operations whilst meeting objectives and ensuring good
employer/employee relationships(Crisp and Cowton, 1998).
Answer to the question number – 4.2
Maintaing ethics in operation is important at the same time is
strategically because there a lot of things related to each
other. The other thing is one thing which is ethical to one
nation is unethical to other nations. This is why to maintain
ethics for multinational company like Vodafone is very critical.
A very important issue in any business which wishes to be
successful is “good employer employee relationships”. Actually the
Excellency of a company comes through the efficiency &
determination of its employee. So it is very important that a
company gives its employee good feel to work with(Vogel, 1991). A
lot of issues are related to employee employer relationship.
Working environment, compensation plan, good corporate practice
all these are closely relate to the employee satisfaction.
Company must to ensure all the necessary facilities to its
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employee because to ensure maximum effort from the employee side
it is very necessary that they get the best compensation which
gives them the ultimate drive to the goal. Ethics is also related
to employee satisfaction. Researches have shown that satisfied
employee tends to act more ethically rather than less satisfied
employee. On the other hand from company perspective it is also
not ethical to not compensate the employee at the level they
really deserves(Bowie, 1999).
3) Design a suitable ethical code for Vodafone.
Answer to the question number – 4.3
Vodafone being a telecom giant maintain a very strong ethical
code for its global operation as ethical behavior is at the very
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core of Vodafone operation. Still Vodafone can use its ethical
approach in the following arena to operate more efficiently.
Strict supervision for supplier
Vodafone can impose strict environmental restriction on the issue
of environment pollution while entering into new contract with
new supplier. This will help Vodafone to ensure less pollution
for the environment leading to greater acceptance to customer. On
the other hand better goodwill can be sustained to both
government & other environmentalist force group.
Confidentiality of user data
The use of confidential data of the user by the respective
company is very critical. In the past many companies are accused
of this crime. In most developed nations it is seen as a vital
crime as a result company loses acceptability in the market
resulting in market failure. So Vodafone must to maintain a very
strict regulation regarding how can access the data, for what
purpose the data can be used, what will be the legal action
Vodafone will take against any employee violating these rules.
Educating the employee
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It is not a very old concept but is very popular & useful concept
these days. Business environment is changing constantly so does
the challenges are. In this circumstance continuous training &
development program for the employee is mandatory for a company
if the company wants its employee to work efficiently facing the
ongoing challenges(Shaw, 2003).
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References
Bowie, N. (1999). Business ethics. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell
Publishers.
Crisp, R. and Cowton, C. (1998). Business ethics. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Duska, R. (2000). Business Ethics: Oxymoron or Good Business?.
Business Ethics Quarterly, 10(1), p.111.
Hanson, K. (2015). Business Ethics for the Real World - Canvas Network | Free
online courses | MOOCs. [online] Canvas.net. Available at:
https://www.canvas.net/courses/business-ethics-for-the-real-
world-2 [Accessed 5 Jun. 2015].
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MacDonald, C. (2015). Thinking Critically about Social Responsibility.
[online] The Business Ethics Blog. Available at:
http://businessethicsblog.com/ [Accessed 5 Jun. 2015].
Shaw, W. (2003). Ethics at work. New York: Oxford University Press.
Vogel, D. (1991). The Ethical Roots of Business Ethics. Business
Ethics Quarterly, 1(1), p.101.
Wieland, J. (2001). The Ethics of Governance. Business Ethics
Quarterly, 11(1), p.73.