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Evolution and Development of Customer Protection
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CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATIONS IN THE UK
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Word Count: 2000
Literature Review
A literature-centred overview of the evolution of the United Kingdom consumer protection regime and its current status is imperative.
Evolution and Development of Customer Protection
The advent of the United Kingdom customer protection regime is not regarded as a recent phenomenon as the development of customer protection legislation dates back to the late 17th century and mid-18th century during the pre-industrial era. Studies on the genesis and development of the customer protection regime show that since then, numerous jurisdictions have culminated in the development of a plethora of jurisprudence on the liabilities and rights that United Kingdom buyers and sellers have. Research by Muhammad Akbar concentrated on examining the origin and emergence of the customer protection regime. This work confirmed that the current customer protection legislation in the country is an outcome of imperative developments that occurred from the pre-industrial era to the post-industrial revolution. According to Muhammad Akbar, the pre-industrial period was characterised by low consumption levels within a simple social set up and fewer products than it is the case today. Later, the principle of caveat emptor within the English law was developed and incorporated to deal with this situation. This doctrine upheld the philosophy of individualism where customers had to look after themselves as laws to protect consumers were few and those that existed only dealt with measures and weights of basic commodities. With the growth in consumption and the number of services and products available for consumption, the principle of caveat emptor lost its relevance as sellers assumed greater responsibility in sales transactions. This necessitated the enforcement of specific customer protection legislation in the United Kingdom.
During the industrial revolution of the 18th century, urbanisation and manufacturing intensified, augmenting consumption. Sellers and product consumers began bargaining from long distances, with the former recognising the need for product quality to maintain market competitiveness. This furthered the need for a regime to safeguard the trading standards to ensure that they enhanced public health and customer protection, along with protecting honest traders from unfair competitor practices. During the period of the industrial society in the 19th century, more developments in customer protection laws took place in England, including case law revolving around buyer-seller relationships. However, consumer legal rights to safe products and services remained unrecognised. In the 20th century, mass production emerged, causing a consumer revolution as many products and services became available to consumers. During this time, large-scale developments occurred in consumer protection law, litigation, and the laws of negligence. Also, a movement initiated by an NGO stimulated the development of laws to protect consumers against unfair commercial and trade practices and defective services and products. This led to the development of customer protection laws used today, although they continued to undergo reforms to fit contemporary needs. From a critical stance, Muhammad Akbar’s work is valuable because it provides an informative and comprehensive account of the evolution of UK consumer protection, which enables one to grasp the changes that have occurred in consumer protection over the years.
Current Status of UK Customer Protection
Numerous researchers have focused on the current status of customer protection in the United Kingdom from different perspectives. For instance, Cliona examined customer protection from the perspective of the various reforms the regime will undergo within the context of the UK and Ireland considering the ongoing Brexit debate. According to this researcher, momentous regulatory divergences will be witnessed in customer protection before, after, and even without Brexit. Two of the most significant divergences before Brexit will be the Consumer Rights Act (CRA) 2015 and the Consumer Rights Bill 2015. The CRA 2015 was established to overhaul the contractual rights of consumers in the supply of digital content, goods, and services, together with regulating unfair contract terms in the United Kingdom. The CRA also integrated new rules relating to digital content, which the rest of the European Union is now catching up with as suggested by Taylor Wessing. On its part, the Consumer Rights Bill 2015 was published to reflect to consolidate the current customer protection law, along with endorsing new consumer rights and remedies in Ireland and the United Kingdom. As Cliona suggests, one of the divergences likely to be witnessed between Ireland and the United Kingdom as regards these two laws before Brexit include the objectives and scope of the CRA and the Consumer Rights Bill. Other divergences in implementing reforms of consumer law cover the areas of privity of contracts, jurisdiction relating to the supply of services and digital content, unfair contract terms, sale of gift vouchers, and transparency in contracts. The divergences possible after Brexit (if it happens) will include the areas of language and concepts utilised, the structure of consumer protection law, and the interpretation of the domestic provisions of the law in both the UK and Ireland. Finally, the divergences in implementing consumer law if Brexit becomes impossible will encompass the areas of the models of consumer protection adopted and modes of mapping amendments against the existing legal framework, which is the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Cliona’s research is critically valuable because it provides adequate illumination of possible differences in consumer protection likely to be experienced in Ireland and the UK if Brexit becomes effective.
Louise Nahon argued that reforms in consumer protection laws will have a significant impact in the United Kingdom, irrespective of whether Brexit is effected or not. This author suggests that some of the reforms proposed to come into effect in 2022 include the introduction of new digital consumer protection rules, revision of rules that impact digital service supply, and augmented transparency obligations on online endorsements and reviews. Also, this author suggested that changes will occur in the enforcement and penalty regime relating to unfair commercial practices and unfair contract terms within the harmonised framework across the entire EU. Wessing also acknowledges some of these consumer protection reforms that will occur in the wake of the recent Brexit referendum. These include the integration of the digital content directive and changes in consumer contracts associated with the online sales of goods. The works of both Louise and Taylor appreciate that the United Kingdom consumer protection regime is one of the most advanced regimes in Europe, which will augment consumer confidence when the proposed reforms are attained. Even so, the two differ in that while Louise believes what Brexit will have significant impacts on this regime, Taylor feels that Brexit will not cause great changes to the regime.
Malte Kramme investigated consumer protection from the perspective of the ramifications that Brexit would have on the area of consumer protection. This scholar examined Brexit consequences to consumer protection under three scenarios, namely, UK membership to European Economic Area (EEA), relationships administrated by World Trade Organisation’s rules, and relationships directed by mutual recognition rules within a tailor-made agreement. Based on the EEA model, the most favourable Brexit scenario would entail UK membership of the EEA. The eventual consequence of this membership on consumer protection would the application of high consumer protection standards in the UK. However, Brexit provisions for strengthening the sovereignty of the United Kingdom are incompatible with the EEA agreement, which compels member states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) to adopt EU legislation strictly. This incompatibility will augment the complexity of the UK consumer protection regime if Brexit becomes effective. From a WTO-model outlook, the consequence of Brexit to consumer protection will include difficulties in interpreting EU consumer protection directives within the UK legal context and uncertainties of conflict-of-laws, enforceability, and jurisdiction associated with the applicability of EU consumer protection law in the UK. Lastly, from the tailor-made agreement model, the consequence of Brexit on consumer protection is the failure to achieve harmonisation of standards provided by both the EFTA and EU in all consumer protection areas. While Malte offers vital details of some Brexit consequences on UK consumer protection, his work has one weakness, which is the failure to identify the specific consumer protection laws directly impacted by the consequences addressed under each model.
Survey-based research by Oya Pinar, Ibrahim, and Mylenko addressed consumer protection regulations from the outlook of cross-country analysis. They examined the applicability of consumer protection principles and laws in deposit and loan services in 142 countries, including the United Kingdom. The outcomes of their study were that many countries have consumer protection legislation in place, but these laws fail to address specific issues in financial consumer protection. As regards the United Kingdom, these authors appreciated that the country has comprehensive consumer protection legislation. This is because the UK has consumer protection legislation with explicit references to financial services and consumer protection regulations outlined within the financial section legislations framework, besides having general consumer protection law with no explicit references to financial services and other forms of consumer protection legislation. The work of this scholar is dependable because it adopts a valid research instrument and is informed by a broad gamut of datasets, which reflect its reliability. The only problem with the study is its focuses on consumer protection regulations in only two financial services, which implies that its outcomes cannot be generalised to all financial services, especially in the United Kingdom.
In another research effort, Mark and Vickers furthered research on consumer protection in financial services. Specifically, these scholars explored the relationships between consumer protection and the contingent charges for financial services within the United Kingdom context. These authors established that the failure to regulate contingent charges can breed significant economic inefficiencies that compromise consumer protection. Further, they confirmed that contingent charges in conventional settings with sophisticated consumers are efficiently executed because these types of consumers are well informed about consumer protection and can hence influence prices, compared to settings with naive consumers, who are less informed about consumer protection. They concluded that sophisticated consumers use awareness of consumer protection regulation to protect naïve consumers when it comes to implementing contingent charges in UK financial services. Also, they suggested that markets dominated by sophisticated customers can perform inefficiently because these consumers can adopt socially ineffective approaches to evade the high contingent charges that naïve consumers pay. Their conclusions corroborate the claims by Matthew Hilton that the United Kingdom’s consumer protection regime is based on information, where information is provided to individual economic actors to prevent market failures. For this reason, consumer protection regulation in such a scenario would be vital in offsetting the distributional concerns. This study is important because it provides a new perspective for consumer protection policymakers that can be useful in designing policies for curbing monopoly of pricing in the financial sector in the United Kingdom towards ensuring consumer protection against exploitative contingent charges.
Bibliography
Books
Ardic, Oya P, Ibrahim A. Joyce, and Mylenko N ‘Consumer protection laws and regulations in deposit and loan services: A cross-country analysis with a new data set’ (The World Bank 2011).
Journal Articles
Armstrong, M and Vickers J ‘Consumer protection and contingent charges’ Journal of Economic Literature (2012) 50 (2) 477-93.
Hilton, M ‘Consumer protection in the United Kingdom’ (2006) 47 (1) Economic History Yearbook 45-60.
Kelly, C ‘Consumer reform in Ireland and the UK: Regulatory divergence before, after and without Brexit’ (2018) 47 (1) Common Law World Review 53-76.
Khan, Muhammad A ‘The origin and development of consumer protection laws in united kingdom’ (2017) 3 (3) Journal of Asian and African Social Science and Humanities (ISSN 2413-2748) 38-52.
Kramme, Malte F ‘Consequences of Brexit in the area of consumer protection’ GPR: (2017) 14 (5) Journal of European Union Private Law 210-222.
Electronic Source
Nahon, L ‘Consumer law reforms will impact UK regardless of Brexit’ (15 Nov 2019) Out-Law Analysis Pinsent Masons https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/analysis/consumer-law-reforms-will-impact-uk-regardless-of-brexit.
Wessing T ‘UK Consumer law in the wake of the EU referendum (17 Jul 2016) University of Oxford, Faculty of Law https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/business-law-blog/blog/2016/07/uk-consumer-law-wake-eu-referendum.
How to Avoid Getting Robbed
How to Avoid Getting Robbed
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When Kwan Booth got robbed in his neighborhood in Oakland, California, he was left in turmoil, one part of him felt shocked, and the other felt pity for the young men who had robbed him. He was walking home early one night when the group of three young men cornered him and ordered him to hand over his valuables, including his phone and cash. He had lived in the city for more than twelve years in similar neighborhoods. The incident only took a few minutes, during which the robbers emptied Booth’s wallet and had him unlock his phone before they took off. Booth had seen a pistol on one of them and shuddered to think of what might have happened if he had resisted (Booth 2016). Booth’s experience is not unique as many other people have been victims of robbery. Although one may not always be able to avoid being the victim of such crimes, there are various actions that people can take to reduce their chances of falling victim to a robbery.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations defines robbery as “ the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear” (FBI, 2019). In 2019, the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program reported approximately 267,988 incidences of robbery across the country. However, this number could be much higher due to unreported incidents. Most of these incidents, 34.3%, took place on the street or highways (FBI, 2019). Other places where people feel victim to robberies include residences, gas stations, banks, convenience stores, and others. Getting robbed is quite a traumatic experience that could end in severe harm to the victim. For this reason, people need to be aware of some of the actions they should take to avoid falling victim to a robbery.
Since most robberies happen on the streets and highways, people should take caution when moving around these areas. The Metropolitan Police Department offers some tips for personal safety. The first way to avoid being robbed is to avoid walking alone during late hours whenever possible. Robbers target lone people during late hours as there are likely very few people around who will come to the rescue of the victim. If one cannot avoid being out late at night, they should try to walk in groups as there is safety in numbers. A robber is less likely to attack a group of people compared to a single target.
Another safety tip is to avoid potential places where robbers might be lurking. These include secluded areas such as vacant lots, alleys, and areas with heavy vegetation. These places tend to be dark with little traffic, meaning that robbers can make out their targets as they know there are few people around. With poor lighting, a robber can pounce on their victim without warning, and it is also less likely that the incident will be visible from the surrounding. Robbers identify potential hiding places that work to their advantage, so any person on foot should make sure they avoid such places. Anyone walking on foot should also make sure to stick to the sidewalks as much as possible while also keeping close to the curb(Metropolitan Police Department 2021).. Sidewalks usually have good lighting and foot traffic that are a deterrent for robbers.
Walking against traffic is another safety tip that people walking on foot should keep in mind. Walking with traffic makes it easier for robbers to follow or force one into a vehicle. Walking against traffic makes it easier for a person on foot to see any suspicious approaching vehicles or individuals and get away as soon as possible. Keeping friends and family aware of one’s whereabouts also allows for easy monitoring. For example, it is crucial to let someone know when to expect you back, making it easier to tell when something goes wrong. It also allows for easier location of potential whereabouts in case of an abduction or violent robbery where one could be left seriously injured.
Showing an awareness of the environment is another critical tip to avoid getting robbed. One should always look around to see what is going on around them. For example, wearing earphones or headphones with high volume can impede one’s ability to hear what is going on. People must make sure that they keep the volume low enough to allow them to detect any strange sounds and goings-on around them. Robbers usually target those who seem like easy marks, such as people who do not appear confident of their surroundings. For example, anyone who seems lost or unsure of where they are going is an easy mark. To avoid this, one must make sure that they display confidence in their knowledge of their surroundings. Some ways of doing this are walking directly and at a steady pace. Avoid looking around in a way to suggest unawareness of the environment.
Anyone walking on foot should be aware of the risk of robbery and take steps to deal with any incidences that might occur. One way to dress in clothes and accessories that allow for easy movement. For example, if planning to walk along the streets for a significant distance, wear comfortable shoes that allow for brisk walking and even running if confronted by any danger. Additionally, any heavy packages and items that hinder movement should be avoided (Metropolitan Police Department 2021). Another common-sense measure that helps one avoid getting robbed is to never accept rides from strangers, as this exposes one to the avoidable risk of being robbed. Further, people should avoid carrying and displaying large sums of cash and expensive items such as jewelry in public as this attracts the attention of potential robbers. The idea is to remain as low-key as possible to not attract the attention of any potential robbers.
Being in public requires some basic skills to remain safe. One critical tip for safety is always to trust your instinct. When in a place where you do not feel safe or around people that make you nervous, get away from such situations as soon as possible. It is better to be safe and sorry, as instincts are almost always accurate. Familiarizing oneself with places of work and residence is also essential to staying safe. This tells you the places to avoid and where to seek help in case of anything. It is also essential to know the location of local fire stations, hospitals, police stations, and other public spaces that remain open at all times to give you options in case of an emergency.
Robbers particularly target ATMs as they know people in these areas usually carry cash. There are several precautions that people getting money from ATMs should observe. The first of these is to try to use ATMs in banks rather than those located away from the main banks. Banks usually have good security, meaning that robbers avoid them. Before using an ATM, look around for any suspicious activity, such as people lurking around with no apparent purpose as they might be targeting ATM users. In case of any suspicion, avoid the branch and look for another one. Second, never leave the ATM location while carrying cash in hand. Make sure to keep all the money in your pockets, wallet, or purse before leaving. Carrying large sums of money openly makes you a target. When using ATMs after dark or during late hours, make sure that it is in a well-lit and secure area to avoid the risk of getting robbed.
In some cases, it is impossible to avoid being robbed, and in such cases, there are ways to protect oneself from further harm. Although the loss of valuable property can be traumatizing, it is important to note that all material items are replaceable, but there is no way of getting back life and health lost in the process of protecting material wealth. When cornered by robbers, the first step is to give up any items they demand without resisting. Also, make sure to observe any details about the robbers, such as physical appearance, that might be useful in identifying them later. If there are people around who might help, make sure to sound the alarm by screaming, running, and drawing attention to a potential robbery situation.
In summary, anyone can fall victim to robbery, and it is important to be aware of some safety tips to protect oneself, especially in public. Most of the measures involve common sense and alertness. Awareness of one’s surrounding and showing confidence are some of the most crucial ways to avoid getting robbed. However, when one cannot get out of a robbery situation, it is recommended that one cooperates with the robbers to save their lives and protect their physical wellbeing. Getting robbed is a traumatic experience that might leave one scarred for life. These basic safety tips are critical to reducing the chances of getting robbed in situations that can be avoided.
References
Booth, Kwan. 2016. “I was robbed and I didn’t call the police. Here’s why.” The Guardian. Retrieved 1 June 2021. (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/03/robbed-police-crime-oakland-california)
Federal Bureau of Investigations. 2019. “2019 Crimes in the United States.” Retrieved June 1, 2021. (https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-2019/topic-pages/robbery)
Metropolitan Police Department. 2021. “Guarding Against Robbery and Assault.” Metropolitan Police Department. Retrieved 1 June 2021. (https://mpdc.dc.gov/page/guarding-against-robbery-and-assault)
Factors influencing an organization ethics and equality strategy HSBC.
Factors influencing an organization’s development of an
ethics and equality strategy: HSBC.
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Factors influencing an organization’s development of
an ethics and equity strategy: HSBC.
Success of any organization in the world today depends highly in the way the organization formulates its policies in terms of ethics, diversity and equity. Investments by an organization in strategies aimed at promoting ethics, equality and recognition of diversity in organizational planning benefits not only the employee, but also the employer. Policies with a positive action towards ethics, equity and respect for diversity have been seen to have a direct relationship with organizational performance. Organizations which have drafted comprehensive ethics and equal opportunity strategies have recorded a positive impact in their growth and performance. In lieu of this, it is paramount for any organizational manager to understand the factors that influence ethical and equity decision making in an organization. HSBC is a high ranking organization that respects the legal, business, demographic and ethical aspects of its employees, customers and all stakeholders in order to maintain and better their performance. This paper seeks to outlay a critical analysis of the influencers of strategy development for ethics and equity in an organization.
The drivers influencing equality and ethical behavior in an organization can be looked at in different aspects: legal, business case, ethical wise and demographic changes among other factors. All these are geared towards creating an all-inclusive work place, where skills and talents of different employees are valued, where everyone is treated with the respect and the dignity they deserve, and most importantly, where a happier workforce is the result of increased productivity. HSBC in its dealings with stakeholders has set policies to inform its treatment of all the stakeholders for the general good of the organization. The aim of the organization, says Stuart Gulliver (n.d) the Chief Executive Officer of HSBC is to make sure that all employees and customers remain proud of the business. He reiterates that this will only be achieved by setting high standards of behavior.This points to the organization’s commitment towards promotion of organizational ethics.
When developing a high quality strategy for equality in an organization, it is of importance to consider the diversity of the people involved. Diversity can be defined as having a positive approach towards equality in the workplace. People need to be treated fairly regardless of their gender, disability, age, race and opinion. People will tend to be different in the way they do things at all times and in all places. Because of this unique feature, there is no place that will be like the other. A good manager will establish close contacts with their employees in order to understand how well they are gifted so as to draw equality strategy from an informed point of view. The benefits of ensuring and promoting equality in the workplace includes among others, maximizing outputs, increasing commitment of employees and tapping new talents (Equity and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), 2010).
In setting strategies on equality, the management will have the facts that, human teams are usually different in their make-up. EHRC (2010) asserts that the diversity of human beings will make them provide a wider range of solutions to the challenges the organization may be facing. A manager who is able to take advantage of diversity will consider the different gifting of every employee yet assign them duties with the principle of equality in consideration.
Jones and Clements (2002) direct that for positive steps to be realized in organizational performance, diversity must be considered special. Jones and Clements (2002) agrees that embracing diversity is not just a good thing, but there are benefits to tap from it and that most businesses across the globe are failing to realize their potential because they have not realized the magic that recognition of diversity can bring. Most of the world organizations have for many years been ignoring the power of diversity thus turning on the negative perception on diversity. It is the high time that such organizations realized the dangers associated with institutional discrimination.
HSBC outlines one of its co-values as being open to different ideas and cultures: communicating openly, honestly and transparently; welcoming challenge, and learning from mistakes; listening to people, treating them fairly, being inclusive and valuing different perspectives. This is a statement of equality in diversity. The HSBC portrays promotion of equality in diversity. From the statement of the co-values as outlined above, the HSBC shows recognition of the diverse views that people may have, but it states clearly that it is open to their views. This is a portrayal of an organization that considers diversity in its formulation of its ethical and equality strategy. Emerging trends in consideration of diversity in formulating equality strategy has seen organizations publish their existing strategies on equality in order to attract a pool of talents.
In the formulation of a quality strategy on equality and ethics, a serious organization must look at the issue of changing demographics. No organization can exist without issues demographic playing center-stage in its day to day operations. Manfred Kumra (2012) notes that legislation in a business, especially due to economic recession, needs to consider the different social groups that form the environment of the business. EHRC (2010) agrees that the latest economic recession in the United Kingdom has hit some groups harder than others. The analysis further shows that men were more affected than the women, and on the other hand, children were more affected than the elderly. Manfred and Kumra (2012) further advise that statistical analysis and surveys, though they are important in studying diversity and equality in order people, they cannot provide adequate information on causes of social segregation. It is therefore paramount that an organization comes up with measures to determine how different social groups fare in the labor market. Occupational segregations and labor market inequalities are among the happenings that hamper organizational progress.
Theories have been developed in the circles of academic literature a bid to explain the labor market inequalities and occupational segregation (Manfred & Kumra, 2012). Neo-liberal theories which include the human capital theory, focuses on the side of demand. The neo-classical theory postulates that allocation of resources and jobs, in a labor market that is free, is influenced by the powers of demand and supply. This brings about discrimination in terms of stereotyping and prejudice on some social group, rendering the functioning of a rational and efficient market noncompetitive. In lieu of this, it is important for mangers to consider the unique groupings of the employees working for them and understand their wholeness and their needs, if they have to promote equality. Discriminating against any of the groups will be unethical. In the same way, ignoring any of the groupings will be going against the demands of fairness and justice, and thus killing the principle of equality.
HSBC, A reputable organization in practice of ethics and equality, has made it clear even in their website for all to see, that they value different perspective and that they are all inclusive. A close examination of their employees reveals an institution of all and sundry in terms of demography.
Religion is another big issue that business organizations struggle with as they set their policies for equality and ethics. Discrimination of employees or any other stakeholder in a business because of their religious background is unethical and professionally unacceptable. An organization will most likely have employees who profess different faiths. It is the responsibility of the management then in this case to come up with a draft for ethics and equality that does not undermine anyone on the basis of the faith they profess. Webly (2011) observes that personal faith or religion, and the way it is expressed in the public, generates strong opinions and emotions and that the workplace is not an exemption to this. No organization can be in line with the principles of ethics and equality, if it does not reflect in its strategy the diverse religious backgrounds that its employees are likely to come from.
The business case or aspect is vital to be considered when drafting an ethics and equality strategy for an organization. The Department for Business Innovations and Skills (2013) asserts that many businesses have reaped heavily from the benefits of equality and diversity. The organizational and economic context of a firm influences how it will gain from diversity and equality. A firm in drafting its equality strategy needs to consider its supplies, the markets it is dealing with, and the labor market. Organizational strategies and the actions of managers and other employees also are important factors to be considered. However, it is important to note that there is no single way defined for businesses to follow so as to accomplish a quality strategy for equality. Each business ought to consider its state as per its uniqueness.
In its co values, HSBC indicates that it is connected to its customers, communities, regulators and each other. The organization is determined in building connections to reach its stakeholder base. The organization goes far beyond; to make sure that it is aware of external issues and forming partnerships that are across boundaries. The organizations management checks about individuals to care about them, be supportive and responsive, as well as showing respect to them.
Equality and ethics strategy cannot be complete without incorporation of the legal aspects. Complying with the law is practical demonstration of business ethics. Legal aspects cannot be ignored because, in violation of business ethics and equality, the law sets in to protect the victims. Mistreatments such as victimization, harassment, direct and indirect discrimination will all be addressed by the law. When gender issues arise in the organization and violation of rights arises, the law is needed to settle disputes. An organization that does not abide by the law will be setting a bad example for its employees and the business community. Its relations with the internal and external business environments will be strained, and the end result may see the firm being forced out of business.
Gender issues cannot be left out when setting out the equality and ethics strategy in an organization. A business cannot operate in a vacuum. The modern culture and society has discouraged in practical terms, any inequality on the basis of gender. A business operates in the environment of, and therefore, the culture of the society. The organization, therefore, must show responsiveness by addressing gender concerns as per the demands of the society. On the other hand, a business can take advantage of the prevailing gender situation in order to benefit from it. Reports indicate that institutions governing markets usually reflects the holders of the most power bin the society. In the inequitable market situations then, organizations can institute practices that make them benefit from the gender inequalities in the society.
Ethical considerations cannot be left out in the formulation of an equality and ethical strategy for a business. The management has to have in mind the factors that influence ethical behavior. The person aspect with personal needs, religious preferences, personal interests and family issues need to be considered at large. Incorporation of such issues in the strategy will make sure that the business respects an individual as a whole being with rights and privileges. The organization itself as a separate entity has to be put into consideration: the supervisory, policy statements, written rules as well as peer group behavior and norms.
The environment of the business also has to be considered in the formulation of the ethics and equality policy. The competitive climate in that particular industry needs be considered. The societal norms and values cannot be ignored. Government policies, rules and regulations needs to be considered fully. An organization cannot set a strategy that contravenes government regulations. A business thus ought to check whether its strategy reflects the four views of ethical behavior: the individual view, the moral rights view, the utilitarian view and the justice view.
In conclusion, adherence to the principles of ethics and equality are very beneficial to a business. A business should, therefore, operate under an equality and ethical strategy that favors its growth. For a business to achieve this, a business must conduct research basing o the ethical, demographic, legal and business factors that affect the development of a quality strategy for ethics and equality. Any business that will make a strategy based on research is likely to benefit. On the other hand, a business that does not put into consideration the factors impacting ethical and equality strategy is doomed to fail.
References
Equity and Human Rights Commission. (2010). An employer’s guide to creating an inclusive workplace. England. Equity and Human Rights Commission.
Jones, J. & Clements, p. (2002). The diversity training handbook: A practical guide to understanding and changing attitudes. London. Kogan Page Limited.
Manfred, S. & Kumra, S. (2012). Managing equality and diversity. Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press.
The Department for Business Innovations and Skills. (2013). The business case for equality and diversity. London: Department for Business Innovations and Skills.
Webly, S. (2011). Religious practices in the workplace. London: Institute of Business Ethics.