Ethical issues in business related to- Advertisements, Finance, Investment and Technology, Corporate Social Responsibility of Business

Ethical Issues in Business

Business organization in terms of their activities and performance should be ethical. The main important component is advertisement. This also comes under the the term marketing. Advertising in another word is doing marketing.

Marketing has a great significant role for any business organization. Although the role of marketing and advertisement has significant both for the business firm and its consumers, it sometimes also might have negative effects.

A. Advertisements

Advertisement is one aspect of marketing. Marketing is a broad term that refers to the identification of customer's needs and working how those needs are best addressed whereas advertisement is just a focus on the promotion of the goods and services. Advertisement and marketing certainly put a great value in the sense that it supports in delivering products with great value to society. It is essential from everyday need related products to the highly advanced technology such as computers and soft ware to healthy drinking water to everyday household related things.

Advertisement is supportive in both for goods and services intended to the consumers. It works sometimes to address those latent needs and desires which are uncovered through such advertisement and marketing. The marketing of the awareness about the diseases like AIDS and Polio, in the same line how the bank and other financial institutions provide information and updates along with the features and facilities all come under the area of marketing.

Advertisement also has negative sides where people use it to sale the unsafe products and services. For example, Coke and Pepsi has been selling colas that contain harmful pesticides exceeding 140 times the BIS standards.

Ethical Issues in Advertisement

Any organizations or business firms should focus on those aspects.

Truth in Advertising

Truth in advertising is the main requirement in advertisement. The information about any products and service should be based on reality. All the promotional advertisements should not cross the boundary to share the fake news and updates. Truth in advertising also regulated and guided by the provisions by the law of different countries.

The Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC) established standards in the advertisement of honesty and provision which are established to put into effect the act's provisions. Advertisements in the United States must be genuine, not deceptive, and not unfair, according to the Bureau of Consumer Protection's Business Bureau. Advertisers must also be able to back up their statements with evidence.

Advertising to Children

Children should not be used in advertisement mainly on serious and socially as well as legally prohibited areas. The weapons, alcohol, sex products etc should be not be used by or for children. There are several other online marketing and other work as well as labor related tasks which should be far from children.

When it comes to minors, however, the FTC places an emphasis on truth-in-advertising laws, as the legislation allows for a lot of unethical behavior in this area. Youngsters are unlikely to understand exaggerated phrases or images, according to former FTC commissioner Roscoe B. Starek, who gives the example of children believing a toy helicopter comes fully assembled when it does not.

Advertising for Harmful Products

Ethical consideration in advertising prohibits the marketing attempt of those products which are harmful for society. All those products that damage the physical or psychological health of the people in the society are harmful products. They may be the product of less quality to date expire and so on.

Different countries have different attitudes toward the promotion of vice products and services, attempting to strike a balance between citizens' personal responsibility and government regulation of what they are allowed to do. The United States strictly regulates some vices, outlaws others, and allows others to flourish. Cigarette advertisements, for example, are only allowed in some media, such as television and radio, although alcohol advertisements are authorized in all media. When considering whether or not to operate ethically as advertising, companies must examine the genuine nature of their product lines.

Advertising Tactics

Nowadays, people use various techniques and tactics to attract people towards their products and services. The whole world is fully focused to the financial gain by hook and crook. The sample of advertising tactics are emotional appeals, taking advantage of less educated individuals, spreading propaganda for political campaigns, and other tactics ethical advertisers consistently refrain from using. Finally, customers will be more attracted to businesses that do not utilize deceptive or psychologically manipulative strategies to earn their business.

Evidence for Claims

All the claims in advertisement should be supported by the evidence. One cannot just advertised what s/he wants to do. It should be based on the facts and reality. The other legal criteria for advertisements is that they must provide trustworthy evidence to back up any claims they make. Evidence isn't required for every advertisement. However, if a garbage bag firm claims that its bags are 50% larger than the competition, the garbage bag company must provide actual evidence to back up such claim. The exact quantity of evidence required varies based on the claim, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Ethical Considerations

Ethical considerations refers to those principles and guidelines which highlight the goodness of all the society and mankind. There should not be any harm to the society from our activities. For commercials, ethical considerations are a hazy area. An advertisement can be legally permissible (in the sense that it is true, not deceptive, and backed up by objective information) but unethical. The way in which the content is given and the message of the advertisement are both ethical considerations. Ads that play on fear are unethical, according to the International Charter.

Advertising Regulations

In the United States, advertising is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC is responsible for false and misleading advertisements. Illegal advertisements can result in criminal and civil fines for advertisers. For unethical advertisements, the same penalties may not apply. However, a legal ad that is immoral could still affect the company, particularly in terms of consumer outrage and reputational damage.

A government body known as the Federal Trade Commission enforces rules that ban damaging business practices to protect consumers against deceptive marketing. The organization also investigates complaints about businesses that engage in scams or deceptive advertising.

B. Finance from the standpoint of ethics and ethical consideration

Adherence to the highest standards is required in finance ethics. The consequences of unethical behavior are clear, ranging from loss of reputation and trust to monetary penalties and criminal prosecution. Effective leaders are aware of their internal moral compass, which helps to reduce the temptation to engage in unethical behavior.

Finance ethics can be divided into three broad categories:

It is in the financial market

The financial services sector including banking and insurance

Financial personnel in organizations

Fraud is defined by legal authorities as a crime that "involves the use of dishonest or deceptive conduct in order to obtain some unjust advantage over someone else." Frauds include the following:

Credit card fraud and cheque fraud are examples of financial services sector fraud.

Insurance deceive

Fraud in telecommunications

Securities deception

Computer-related deception

Insurance Company Fraud: In the insurance industry, we can identify three types of fraud:

An employee committed internal fraud against the insurer.

Policyholder/claims fraud is committed against the insurer in the purchase and/or execution of an insurance product by obtaining erroneous coverage or payment.

Intermediary fraud is committed by intermediaries – independent brokers/agents – against the insurer or policyholders.

C. Ethical Consideration in Investment

Investing means putting time and resources into the business as a whole. During the investment process, the investor should be ethical and invest with an ethical mindset.

Inform clients about how volatile performance can be, even with the best investment managers.

Invest the time to get to know your clients and their goals whenever possible; this is likely to be easier to do when investment managers also provide investment advice.

Transition from performance-based to goal-based reporting.

Maintain good stewardship even if some clients do not understand or value it.

Be open and honest about conflicts of interest and how they are managed.

Align your incentives (e.g., by linking investment management fees to long-term performance).

Alignment of incentives should be supplemented with other measures, such as 360-degree reviews within investment teams, to ensure that teams are working together.

At the outset, agree in writing with the client what the fund's purpose is, what risks must be avoided, what realistic aspirations are, and why the portfolio will be structured in a particular way.

Avoid unnecessary complexity in financial products, as complexity is frequently used as a justification for unethical behavior.

What are the Major Ethical Issues in Technology?

Ethical Issues for Safety and Security for using advance technologies are as;

Social Networking

Acceptable Use Policies

Netiquette

Cyber bullying

Student Data

Internet Privacy

They are briefly discussed as follows:

Social Networking

A broad category of websites and services that enable you to connect with others online and meet people who share your interests or hobbies. For instance, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.

Acceptable Use Policies

This is a policy established by the network administrator or other school leaders to address their technology requirements and safety concerns.

Netiquette

The online code that governs what is appropriate and in good taste for internet users. Online, poor decisions can have serious consequences. Bullying that occurs through a social networking site, but can also occur through other technologies such as text messaging, is referred to as cyberbullying. Bullying differs from regular bullying in that it is more invasive, has a larger audience, and can occur at any time and in any place.

Student Data

New computer technologies for data collection, storage, manipulation, and communication are revolutionizing the use and dissemination of information. Students have the right to control the use of information about themselves.

Internet Privacy

Every online move is being tracked. IP addresses can be used to track down a person's location. Be mindful of what private information you make public online. Passwords should be kept private, and confidential information should not be displayed for others to see.

The digital divide

It is defined as a lack of access to information and communication technologies by certain segments of the community, such as gender, socioeconomic status, race, resource equity, and teacher bias.

References

Timilsena (2021) Business Communication Platform for College Students

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