Business and a consequential/not- consequential approach to green practice
All businesses follow the premise of earning profits as the basis of their operations. Companies opt to engage in ethical practices to conform to societal demands when their business environments limit the freedom of making a profit. Therefore, they practice consequential ethical practices even in their approach to green practices (Bredeson 2012).
Businesses engage in green practices as part of their ethical responsibility agenda. They seek to ensure that their actions of achieving business objectives are not destroying the ability of societies to enjoy a quality life. While it might appear that their green practices are non-consequential, the reality is that most businesses adopt green practices only because they see it as a necessary approach to safeguard their reputation in highly competitive and globalised markets.
In fact, for some industries like the manufacturing of consumer goods, green practices are becoming part of the threshold competitive capabilities that all business must seek. In this regard, one should view green practices as business strategies for outshining the competition.
The theory that is best fit to describe the motivation for going with green practices is the utilitarianism theory. It entails the knowledge of the fact that the action that leads to the greatest advantage to the majority of the people is the one considered the most ethical in nature. The utilitarianism theory does not consider other motivations for such actions (Brenkert & Beauchamp 2010). For business, the greatest good for the greatest number can be a measure of how much its strategies are assisting shareholders and other stakeholders.
The actions taken by the company will only consider the shareholder demands in situations where the shareholders are the only people who have sufficient capacity to affect business conduct. However, when a business is part of the concern of the public, such as the community where it has premises, then its greatest good is a measurement that largely relies on the benefits that the business creates for its community (Dietz & Gillespie 2012).
Examples of green practices embraced by business as a consequential approach include embracing electronic communications and record-keeping systems that allow them to save the costs of printing paper. Their value proposition is that they limit the demand for paper and save forests in the process. In return, the forests help to keep the earth cool by trapping greenhouse gasses and slowing down climate change.
Another approach of businesses that is a greening practice is the insistence on using recycled materials and working with biodegradable materials only in packaging. Companies are even encouraging consumers to return used devices or components so that they can be recycled. Moreover, modern office buildings are becoming greener. They use renewable power sources and recycled water as ways of reducing their environmental footprint.
Businesses are reacting to the increased public awareness of climate change risks. They are embracing green practices to respond to direct urges by their target consumers, their stakeholder communities, or their business rivals (Avey, Wernsing & Palanski 2012). Consumers, on their part, can determine the green practices of companies by looking for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification programs or fair practices certifications.
Among the companies that embrace green technologies and use their certifications for a business, qualification is Starbucks with its fair practices and LEED practices, while Google uses renewable power for its research campuses. Without increased consumer concern and sensitization on the benefits of green practices, companies cannot see the approach as warranted for their business competitiveness; hence the claim that they are using a consequential approach to green practices (Natsu 2008).
The impact of globalisation on labour
Globalisation has had both positive and negative effects on labour. The presence of multinationals that are internationalising in developing countries has created increased opportunities for work. It has also increased the demand for labour. However, the presence of the multinationals in the countries has also skewed the demand for labour in favour of low-skilled workers. Many of the multinationals that engage in manufacturing expand to developing countries to benefit from cheap work conditions and establish their systems to sustain that status.
Problems of underemployment arise when living standards and job standards in developing countries increase beyond what the multinational are willing to pay. The case is similar to those existing in developed countries during economic recession periods (Kaplinsky 2000). Globalisation has also meant that many financial and economic environments of countries are linked to the global market. Shocks at the global level affect the local operations of firms and influence their demand for labour. Additionally, increases in the cultural integration of people and organisation from around the world also have a significant effect on labour (Beeson 2003).
Human resource practices are becoming standardized across the world to correspond to conventional rules and regulations presented by transnational organisations, such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO). In addition, most companies that have a global workforce are exporting their home-country human resource practices to their host countries.
It is important for countries to protect their workforces from exploitation by companies within and outside their boundaries. However, the existences of advanced telecommunication solutions that allow remote working have decreased the control of governments over workers (Kim 2008). In addition, efforts to make employment rates increase sometimes do not bear a fruit because they fail to incentivise companies to set up local subsidiaries.
Instead, workers from one country leave to work in another country due to lower restrictions on the global movement of labour. The issues are advantageous to countries that lack sufficient labour supply, such as Qatar. At the same time, it is detrimental to countries that have a limited supply of skilled labourers. Such countries end up spending their resources on education only to suffer brain drain to developed countries whose labour conditions are favourable for highly skilled workers (Barker & Feiner 2009).
Concerning trade unions and other forms of worker representation, globalisation appears to limit the ability to take advantage of the high number of workers in a particular industry. Reduction in government or state control of the workforce and employee welfare allows the organisations to treat employees individually rather than collectively. Advanced practices of talent management are also favouring rewards for workers with the right skills and best fit in an organisation at the expense of workers who are not well trained or skilled in performing particular jobs. Differences in compensation for same-scale workers are emerging across the globe, and they are a source of concern for trade unions (Downes 2011).
In the end, the trend set by the globalisation’s influence on labour indicates a situation where the fair treatment of workers will continue to rely on powers held by transnational organisations that govern multinational firms’ labour practises. Therefore, governments and local trade unions are resorting to international conventions and policies as ways of dealing with the globalisation effects on their respective countries.
Reference List
Avey, J, Wernsing, T, & Palanski, M 2012, ‘Exploring the process of ethical leadership: The mediating role of employee voice and psychological ownership’, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 107, no. 1, pp. 21-34.
Barker, D & Feiner, SF 2009, Liberating economics: Feminist perspectives on family, work and globalization, The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, MI.
Beeson, M 2003, ‘Sovereignty under siege: Globalisation and the state in Southeast Asia’, Third World Quaterly, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 357-374.
Bredeson, D 2012, Applied busines ethics: A skills-based approach, South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, OH.
Brenkert, GG & Beauchamp, TL (Eds.) 2010, The Oxford handbook of business ethics, Oxford University Press, New York.
Dietz, G & Gillespie, N 2012, The recovery of trust: Case studies of organisational failures and trust repair, Institute of Business Ethics, London.
Downes, G 2011, ‘The nation-state in transformation: economic globalisation, institutional mediation and political values’, Irish Studies Review, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 358-361.
Kaplinsky, R 2000, ‘Spreading the gains from globalisation: what can be learned from value chain analysis?’, Journal of Development Studies, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 117-146.
Kim, YY 2008, ‘Intercultural personhood: Globalization and a way of being’, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 359-368.
Natsu, P 2008, U.S. companies embrace green technology. Web.