Demonstration of Ethical Consumerism Values in Social Work

Question: Demonstrate competence in a range of business and academic skills and apply them in an organisational/enterprise setting. Communicate effectively both in written (reports, summaries etc.) Collect and analyse appropriate data from a range of learning/information sources. Undertake research tasks, both individually and in groups, with appropriate guidance. Demonstrate understanding of global, ethical and organisational responsibility issues. Answer: Introduction Ethical consumerism refers to more consumers are purchasing products that are ethically made, ethically sourced and are ethically distributed. It influences the purchasing decisions of the customers through references to moral or ethical principles. The main focus of the report is to describe the concept of the ethical consumerism and analysis of the ethical rules and policies followed by Kellogg Co. An ethical production refers to producing goods without the use child labour or slavery that is recycled and processing product in an organic manner (Banks, 2012). A survey has been conducted in order to determine and evaluate the behaviour of the consumers. The results obtained from the survey will help to assess the factor that imposes significant impact on the behaviour of the consumers. It is important for the company to produce products ethically and following appropriate marketing process that imposes significant impact on the buying behaviour of the consumers. In the last two year s, the concept of ethical consumerism has achieved supremacy and importance in the business scenario. Therefore, the consumers are very much concerned while purchasing products and the ethical rules followed by the company (Clarke, 2008). The government organizations and polices has been implemented to check the ethical guidelines of the companies Ethical consumerism Ethical consumerism is defined as the consumption where one has been informed and made aware about any ethical issue regarding the product be it human rights, social justice, animal or environmental welfare. Ethical consumerism being a fast growing phenomenon is slowly becoming a major drive of many different kinds of ethical approaches to trade and business. A great number of people decide what they will consume on the basis of ethical values. That is to say people or consumers have more affinity towards buying products that are environmental friendly, use proper production methods, the wage rates and working conditions given to the workers are good and the company producing it do not harm human rights in any way. The ethics followed in the business world at the present moment revolves around ethical practices and there are also many motivational elements present for business practices like the values of the people that are involved with the production, maintenance of ethical busin ess practices, environmental responsibility of the organization producing a particular product etc (Bedford, 2000). But market survey shows that the demand and choice of the ethical consumers is the main driving point for the success or failure of a particular product. For example, if an ethical consumer understands that buying a particular product would help to conserve the environment then he or she will always opt to buy that product and be loyal towards the company produce it. In this way a company or business organization engaging in ethical practices of business and giving ethical consumerism enough importance is bound to do well in the business world and have a competitive advantage in the market. On the other hand if an ethical consumer is informed that a particular product is made after executing torturous experiments on animals then he or she will stop buying that product. Globalizations has led to the situation where the consumers are much more responsible and aware about the products that they are buying and thus have much more questions than before (Healey, 2013). Any organization failing to answer these questions by not being able to provide detailed information about the product loses the trust of the consumer and any ethical consumer is quite unlikely to buy the products of this particular company. Therefore in order to cater to the needs and requirements of the ethical consumers, an organization needs to be able to give all information and maintain business ethics at the same time. Company review The Kellogg Company is one of the largest producers of the cereals with more than hundred years of the business and also is the leader of the health and the nutrition through the provision of the consumers with the bringing variety of the products. The leading position is created in the market with the creation of commitment of the ethical business practices and the values based on its culture (Fabozzi and Markowitz, 2011). The business values are based on the identification of the beliefs with the consideration of the ethical beliefs and for this reason the company holds the most important position with referring to the K-values of the organisation. It is also one of the socially and ethically perceived companies with the providing the health conscious foods in the market of the US and also the consistent manufacturing of the best quality foods in the world wide. The creation of the manufacturing activities also helps in the creation of the market in more than 128 countries and thereby in considering the global market, there are 180 different countries that the market consists of (Healey, 2007). The company also helps in the creation of the enhancements that helps in the creation of the worlds ethical company with the creation of the estimation of the recognition and thereby the company is recognized as the ethical company. According to the Michael Byrne, the companys several requirements are fulfilled by the general counsel of the Ethisphere Institute with the consideration of the ethical companies in the world and thereby the satisfaction of the list of the ethical companies are seemed to be satisfied with the consideration of the requirements. The company Kellogg Co. must rely on the corporate compliance programs and thereby the consideration for the federal sentencing also helps in the creation of the international standards and thereby it has been depicted as the truly and ethically considered responsible social enterprise (Healey, 2013). The company shareholders also committed on the engagement of the present and the future purchases of the governance structures and also have created the corporate policies with the utilisation of the codes of the conducts of ethics. For the enhancement of the Kellogg Company, there are four main areas that reveal the market place, workplace, community and the environment. It also helps in ensuring the commitment of the employees with the different stakeholders and the instance customers with the employees and the general communities (Kompridis, 2011). One of the main ways for flourishing of the community of Kellogg Co is engaging in the philanthropic activities that are seemed to be related to the values of the company which are the integrity, accountability, passion, focusing on the success and the simplicity with humility. It also provides the overview of the affiliation of the actions and the behaviours of the company and the expectations outlines the companys action, demonstration of the stakeholders and also the affiliation with depicting the commitment to ethics and the integrity (Nili, 2011). The listening is one of the major functions of the presuppose contents that helps in providing the engagement of t he relevant stakeholders with the creation of decisions ethically and thereby the fulfilment of the personal commitments also ensures the promotion of the work force and also helps in the creation and the enhancement of the personal development with the creation of the simplifying and enhancing the processes and the activities. Approaches issues and people openly confront the issues for the betterment of the company and thereby the greater pre-eminence of the results and henceforth the creation of the issues provide the approaches with attaining the successes for the growth. Opinion survey The importance of study of consumer behaviour is increasingly growing as well as the interest on this specific subject is also growing among the students most of the academic scholars are attracted to the topic and work on this topic. The main cause is in contemporary business world the importance of consumer behaviour has been improved (Cant, Brink and Brijball, 2006). In order to investigate the opinion of the public about the ethical consumerism, the understanding of ethical consumerism about the common public and the reaction of the common public to the unethical practice a primary research has been conducted and for primary data collection a opinion survey among the student of the university has been conducted (Healey, 2013). For this survey few variable factors has been included in order to formulate the questionnaire for the opinion survey. The questionnaire has worked as an instrument of the research work. The questionnaire is a well structured questionnaire with multiple choice close ended questions (Noel, 2009). A random survey technique has been adopted in order to perform the survey and from the survey the most appropriately filed up survey sheets has been taken in order to analyze the perceptions of the consumers about the company and their buying behaviour. The survey questionnaire will help to determine and analyse the buying behaviour of the consumers and factors affecting their decisions. The behavioural factors, social, personal and other factors impose vital impact on the buying decision of the customers. It is important for the company to produce products as per the ethical rules and guidelines. The measurement of satisfaction level of the consumer after purchasing the products is also important. The ethical rules and regulations also benefits both society and environment. The consumers perceptions have been taken by few questions, which emphasis on the influential factors of consumers behaviours, the buying decisions of the consumers etc. The buying decisions of the consumers are largely dependent on some influential factors, where the ethical consideration is important and most of the consumers provide huge emphasis on the ethical behaviour of the company. Moreover, the business organizations, which unethically doing business ar e rapidly losses the customers. Unethical business practice of the business organization diminish the reputation of the company, the brand name and brand value of the company use to be spoiled reasonably by unethical business practice. Conclusion The results of the short opinion survey helps to determine and evaluate the factors that influence the purchasing behaviour of the consumer. The survey carried out on 15 students at GSM London in order to examine the factors that influence the consumer behaviour. The major factors are societal, psychological, personal characteristics, situational and economic factors (Stolle and Micheletti, 2013). The gross income of the participants helps to determine the purchasing decisions and other participants were influenced by their perceptions towards different brand available in the current market and their social class. The survey results showed that the participants are very much concerned towards ethical production and the marketing processes followed by the company. Therefore, it is important for the companies to examine their rules, regulations and their ethical guidelines. Ethical values and principles help to govern the business activities and business decisions (Tybout and Calder, 2 010). The ethical rules and policies need to be followed by the company in order to produce goods on the basis of society needs and environment needs. A healthy and positive corporate culture improves the quality of products and morale of the employees. The ethical rules should be followed by the companies. Recommendations The recommendations that are provided for the enhancement of the company Kellogg which are provided with keeping in view the future considerations of the company and thereby it also helps in the creation of the growth for the company Kellogg (Healey, 2013). The recommendations that are made for the company Kellogg are as follows:- 1) Listening to others in order to understand the purpose of the communication and thereby the creation of the stakeholders in the enhancement of the decision making outcomes. 2) Engagement of the relevant with the creation of the health and the safety working environment through the personal accountability. 3) Fulfil promises and the commitments in order to ensure the success and the well-being of the cother team members. References Bedford, T. (2000).Ethical consumerism.University of London. Healey, J. (2013).Ethical consumerism.Thirroul, N.S.W.: Spinney Press. Banks, S. 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