Summary of Team 1- The Business of Water

The world is presently facing with acute water scarcity. There is a dire need of taking
measures which will help in conserving water and saving the lives on earth. It was reported
that only 3% is fresh water out of the water resource and there is no access to drinking water
in almost 18% of the population.

There has been several measures taken towards conserving water and making better use of
the water available over the years, but not all plans were successful. One such initiative was
Privatization which was first implemented in South Africa. This was mainly introduced in
order to improve the service of availability of water. In Bolivia a water war broke out due to
the main reason that people failed to implement rain water harvesting. In other countries too,
the privatization of water initiative failed as there was supply side and insatiable thirst on the
demand side. Kerala too had its fair share of water crisis when beverage company Coca-Cola
opened their manufacturing unit in that area and involved in excess water consumption.

The main stakeholders of beverage companies are its customers, shareholders, civil society
and government, employees and non-government organization. The presentation also
included Carroll’s Pyramid of CSR which spoke of 4 stages of social responsibility.

 Philanthropic- Focus towards safety and health of consumers

 Ethical- Should consider wastefulness
 Legal- Should not have hired lobbyists
 Economic- Full cost recovery

The next topic of the presentation highlighted about the water conditions and issues. The
major ones being:

 Muncipal water corporations have proved inefficient water facilities

 Water pricing law and its effects on the end users
 Intense water treatment with suitable resources
 Impact of improper water treatment; spreading of water borne diseases through
bacteria and other germs

Companies are also putting in genuine efforts to facilitate smooth functioning of the
environment. They are taking care to see to it that no constituents of the environment are
harmed which is caused by harmful activities by the organization. The modern day
companies are more sensitive towards social policies, social programs and social impact. The
key finding that was explained in the presentation was that there can be better utilization of
water by the corporates/companies with the means of recycles water. The recycled water can
be used for all purposes other than drinking and bathing. This will cut down a lot of excess
water consumption. They must also see to it that ground water fall is properly routed and kept
ready and should ensure the cleanliness of the same. It is also mentioned that packaged water
is almost equal to tap water. The product is branded in such a way that the core benefit of the
product when a customer purchaser buys a product it will show you the location which has
highest demand.
 Summary of Team 2- Corporate Citizenship Program

Corporate citizenship Program refers to all activities a business or organization undertakes

which will benefit the local community or society as a whole. Corporate citizenship is how a
company exercises its rights, obligations, privileges, and overall corporate responsibility
within our local and global environments. The measurement and return on investment (ROI)
of corporate responsibility and corporate citizenship is defined by how well companies
responsibly manage not only their financial performance but also their environmental and
social impact.

The various components of a Corporate Citizenship Program are:-

 Elementary: In this stage, the company is newly formed and is in its infant stage. The
company does not have enough funds for CCP and the primary focus is towards profit
making. They concentrate on establishing their business and become successful.
 Engaged: The Company is slowly growing and increasing their market share. In this
stage, it takes baby steps towards Corporate Citizenship Programs and look for
opportunities to balance the two.
 Innovative: When the company reaches maturity stage, it can start giving serious
thought to Corporate Citizenship Programs. They get consultants on board; undertake
monitoring and reporting jobs to ensure smooth functioning of the program.
 Integrated: The Company finally starts incorporating their Corporate Citizenship
Programs into their business strategies. They introduce ways through which their
business goals and CCP goals are in tandem.
 Transforming: This is the final stage a company reaches to in Corporate Citizenship
Program. The CCP has now become a strategic part of the company and all decisions
are taken keeping in mind the corporate citizenship programs as well.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is often used interchangeably with Corporate

Citizenship Program (CCP). However, it is not so; CSR starts from CCP. The CCP is the
starting point for all CSR activities. Corporate Citizenship Program majorly emphasises on
internal values of the company. Example: Annual Day dedicated to CCP or large
organizational benefit to society.

The importance of CCP is:

 Provides competitive advantage

 Ensures lower turnover rates
 Ethical operations
 Promotes core values and culture
 Good reputation with all stakeholders
 Empathy and leadership skill development
Corporate Citizenship Program at Microsoft

With annual revenues of more than $32 billion, Microsoft Corporation is more than the
largest software company in the world: it is a cultural phenomenon. The company's core
business is based on developing, manufacturing, and licensing software products, including
operating systems, server applications, business and consumer applications, and software
development tools, as well as Internet software, technologies, and services. Led by Bill Gates,
the world's wealthiest individual and most famous businessman, Microsoft has succeeded in
placing at least one of its products on virtually every personal computer in the world, setting
industry standards and defining markets in the process.

The CCP initiatives implemented by Microsoft are:

 Privacy and Cyber Security: Microsoft commits to making sure that the data of
customers are secure and all the products comply with the General Data Protection
Regulation. The company also extends Data Subject Rights to all of their customers
around the world. Microsoft product development and privacy practices focus on six
key privacy principles: User Control, Legal Protection, Transparency, No content
based targeting, Security and User benefits. They protect the data that users entrust to
them through strong security and encryption.
 Skills and Employability: Microsoft is working to help ensure every person can
build the skills and access the resources needed to succeed in a digital economy. To
equip youth and future workers, the company provides inclusive, equitable access to
computer science (CS) education can help ensure young people are equipped for the
future. Microsoft partnered with schools and organizations to provide experiences that
spark excitement for future CS opportunities. To succeed in this modern economy,
workers need access to learning resources to gain the skills required for in-demand
jobs. They are working to provide access to training, skills-based hiring, and
apprenticeships to help create pathways for workers and scalable solutions that can be
replicated globally. They have also started competing in the digital economy through
effective usage of all digital marketing platforms.
 Sustainability: By 2030 Microsoft will be carbon negative, and by 2050 Microsoft
will remove from the environment all the carbon the company has emitted either
directly or by electrical consumption since it was founded in 1975. Microsoft is
committed to reducing carbon emissions and helping their customers and suppliers
around the world reduce their own carbon footprints. The main focus is on the areas
where they can have the greatest impact, which include carbon, water, waste, and
ecosystems across all the work. The shift towards trees has been observed and
preserving forest campaigns have launched. It has also enabled to accelerate research
through data science. The CCP initiatives have helped to build sustainable solutions
through smart agriculture, automation and real-time weather forecast.
 Philanthropies: Microsoft Philanthropies is working to create a future where every
person has the skills, knowledge, and opportunity to achieve more. Microsoft
Philanthropies is committed to ensuring non-profits have access to technology that
can enable digital transformation and help them achieve the greatest impact as they
 address the most challenging issues facing our world. Microsoft employees give
generously to empower those most in need in the local communities and world.
Employee giving is part of the company’s culture and how they live their mission.
Microsoft works to enhance economic growth and create opportunities that protect
and improve the quality of life for everyone

Corporate Citizenship Program at BMW

Bayerische Motoren Werke, popularly known as BMW, is a German based automobile

manufacturing company. It was founded by Franz Josef Popp in 1916. BMW is
headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. With an employee count of 105,876, as of
2012, BMW is one of most admired and trusted automobile manufacturer besides Audi and
Mercedes-Benz.

BMW holds its pride in being one of the most socially responsible companies in its industry.
BMW has set the bar high with a goal of helping over one million people by 2020. They plan
to do this by creating programs such as “The Schools Environmental Education Development
Project” to help raise awareness of social and environmental issues. BMW’s key to CSR
success has always been alignment. They’re a great example of corporate social
responsibility because of their balance between a good business model and helping social
causes.

Summary of Team 3- Sustainability

Sustainability is a term used to refer the process of meeting the current requirements of the
present generations without disturbing the environment for the future generations. The three
pillars of sustainability are

 Economic
 Environment
 Society

Economic aspect deals with profit making; organizations are concerned about the revenues.
Environment refers to making conscious efforts in order to protect the planet. The last aspect
society is characterised by all the people of the world and social needs of the people in total.

The importance of sustainability is:

 Sustainability provides essential human needs. It helps in preserving food and water
resources for all living beings.
 It helps in meeting the agricultural requirements through drop water system, drip
irrigation and such others and save water.
  It manages climate change and reduces global warming to a significant extent.
 The biodiversity of environment is retained through sustainable measures and prevent
disruption of the ecosystem.

There are some major advantages for organizations of becoming sustainable:

 Improved brand image and competitive advantage. Tesla is automobile company

which has now become a sustainable brand.
 Reduces cost and increases productivity of the companies. Implementing solar plant
is on such alternative.
 It will comply with the government regulations. The introduction of BS6 vehicles is
a step towards building sustainable environment.
 It helps in attracting qualified employees and valued investors to the organization
who look for increasing their brand image by associating with such companies.
 Being a sustainable business will make all the shareholders extremely happy and will
be a win-win situation.

Triple Bottom Line

The theory of triple bottom line and its framework was originated to create greater business
value for the companies. It was introduced by John Elkington in the year 1994. The three
components of triple bottom line are environment, society and economy.

People + Planet = Society+ Environmental responsibility

The challenges faced in implementing triple bottom line system in any organization are:

 It is difficult to measure triple bottom line due to its subjective nature. A subjective
component cannot be measured easily.
 The companies face a tough time in mixing the diverse elements of the concept i.e.
balancing profits as well as sustainability.

The repercussions of ignoring sustainability are destruction of forest, possibility of wildfire or

bushfire, exploitation of labourers and using cheap labour as well as damage to ozone layer.

The key takeaways of the concept Triple Bottom Line:

 Measuring the three components of the triple bottom line i.e. People, Planet, Place
 There should be sufficient emphasis on sustaining planet for future generations
 It also doesn’t mean that owners completely ignore the profit factor

Sustainability of Oil Industry

The oil industry is one of the most powerful industries and is responsible for finding,
extracting and reforming oil and its products. It has its harmful side as well in the form of oil
spills, emission, acid rain, climate change and fracking (process of separating oil)
The solutions to make it sustainable include:

 Concentrate more on renewable resources

 Ensuring clean oil recovery at low cost
 Focus on recycling matters and producing two products from the same ore

Sustainability of Automobile Industry

There is concern with regards to sustainability of automobile industry due to:

 Concern towards environment and protecting the non-renewable resources

 There are constant fluctuations in the fuel efficiency of the automobiles
 Reducing emissions through regular emission tests and re-engineering the process to
reduce harmful chemicals is imperative to safeguard the environment.
 Higher performance and low weight as there is replacement of metal with polymer. It
also helps in increasing the mileage.
 There are innovation centres opened worldwide in collaboration with customers and
partners of the organization.
 The changing environment conditions by Tesla has fuelled the growth of electric cars
to produce less emissions and building necessary infrastructure

Sustainability of Tobacco Industry

Tobacco industry has its history from over 8000 years and diffusing in India. In India,
sustainability was introduced by a Portuguese and is now the third largest exporter to Andhra
Pradesh and Karnataka. The major clients include Asian and West European countries.

 Several government regulations such as high tax rates, price increase and price
decrease. This ensures restrictions to the sale of tobacco in the market.
 It is considered to be a social taboo and is frowned upon not socially accepted.
 Tobacco is a hazardous product, harming the environment and creation of forest fires
if not disposed the waste effectively.
 As the legal sales of tobacco decreases the illegal sales begins to increase
 Growing anti-smoking movements have spread awareness about the ill-effects of
tobacco. There are helplines to which people can call and ask for help.
 The policy makers should keep in mind the non-discriminating taxes for products
 There are more than 300 million tobacco consumers and people below the age of 10
who use tobacco are rising which is alarming.

Conclusion

The concept of sustainability can be achieved through

 Effective use of technology to reduce various costs

 Reduce, Recycle and Reuse Approach
 Promoting environmental awareness
  Improving the quality of life without any discriminations

Summary of Team 4- Globalization

Globalization means the free movement of goods, services and people across the world in a
seamless and integrated manner. It is the process of interaction and integration among people,
companies, and governments worldwide.

The three dimensions of globalization are:

 Economic: This refers to the cross border movement of goods and services between
several countries. Ex- European Union
 Political: This signifies the political co-operation between countries
 Cultural: It means transfer of ideas, values and increasing social relations

Globalization in context to McDonalds

McDonalds is an American fast food company, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by

Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. Its
headquarters is in Chicago and has 37,855 restaurants worldwide.

Criticisms faced by McDonalds

 Several nutritionists and healthy eating campaigners have criticised McDonalds for
serving unhealthy meals and contributing to the obesity rates in US especially
 There has been a serious accusation on McDonalds claiming that they exploit the
people through misleading advertisements
 The company has faced criticism from Anti-Globalization campaigners
 The Animal Welfare Association has also raised animal rights for the animals used

Tactics used by McDonalds

 McDonalds has decided on adding several healthy dishes such as salads, oatmeal,
carrot sticks and fruits in their new healthy menu
 They engaged in aggressive promotions of the changes made so that people are aware
of the product offered
 Conducted sports and exercise initiatives for the youth, also introduced MyMcApp to
scan the food in the menu

Rebuilding Tasks for McDonalds

 Transparency on product description, display of fat and cholesterol content in the

menu in US. This has not been implemented in India
 Maintain standard quality across all countries. There are certain differences between
the Indian menu and US menu due to the changes in preference of people in terms of
taste and flavour
  Introducing balanced meal
 McDonalds started a ‘Our Food, Your Questions’ campaign which worked to resolve
various queries of the customers

Sustainability of Fast Food Industry

 Corporate Social Responsibility has to increase and ethical issues have to be

eliminated. There should be ban on injecting animals to derive faster growth.
 Sustainable methods and practices should be followed in the industry. one such
practice is the growing use of palm oil instead of coconut oil which has higher
cholesterol content
 Initiative and Effective methods of business by providing constant support to
agriculturists and poultries
 Providing financial and medical support to the employees and their family members

Conclusion

 Change in customer preference i.e. the demand for junk food is fast decreasing as
people prefer to follow a healthy diet and stay fit.
 The public image of the company has grown tremendously and still continues to do so
 There is good customer relationship management in McDonalds. The customers
remain loyal, seasonal marketing is sufficient and high customer knowledge
 Global standards are followed by the company and the needs and wants of global
customers is considered while developing the menu for each country.

Summary of Team 5- Volkswagen Emission Scandal

Volkswagen Group is a German automobile manufacturing enterprise headquartered in

Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. It was founded in the year 1937 by German Labour
Front and Matthias Muller. Manufacturer of commercial and passenger vehicles, the
company sells its passenger vehicles under the brand names Scania, MAN, Neoplan and
Volkswagen. The commercial car brands for the company are Audi, Skoda, Bentley, Porsche,
Lamborghini and Volkswagen.

The Volkswagen emissions scandal, also known as Dieselgate or Emissionsgate, began in

September 2015, when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a
notice of violation of the Clean Air Act to German automaker Volkswagen Group. The
agency had found that Volkswagen had intentionally programmed turbocharged direct
injection (TDI) diesel engines to activate their emissions controls only during laboratory
emissions testing which caused the vehicles output to meet US standards during regulatory
testing, but emit up to 40 times more in real-world driving. Volkswagen deployed this
software in about eleven million cars worldwide, including 500,000 in the United States, in
model years 2009 through 2015. Regulators in multiple countries began to investigate
Volkswagen, and its stock price fell in value by a third in the days immediately after the
news. Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned, along with 6 other executives
who were arrested. The reason for such scandal according to the company’s management is
that they did not have sufficient budget to meet the US standards. The company also incurred
huge loss of over 5.1 billion euros.

Situational and Individual Factors that affected the decisions:

 Job Role
 Organizational Culture
 Personality

How to avoid such situations in the future:

 The organization should be aware of the importance of micromanagement. They

should encourage team players, engage the employees and avoid all unethical
practices. The employees follow what example the top management set which
becomes the organizational culture going ahead.
 Inducing code of conduct or ethics for software developers and engineers. They
should be guided to become honest, impartial and fair employee for everyone in the
company. The way a company treats its customers determines the success or failure of
the whole organization.
 Environmental Protection Agency of Europe should be more responsible and stringent
while testing the automobiles and conduct a thorough check of the vehicles before
giving their approval to the company.
 Increased involvement of independent third party within the company. There are other
sources that provide services to the business and boost sales. The company can
conduct various activities which will require involvement of employees and
protection of the environment at the same time.

Summary of Team 6- Siemens Engineering Change in Anti-Corruption

Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich and

the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe with branch offices abroad. The
principal divisions of the company are Industry, Energy, Healthcare (Siemens Healthineers),
and Infrastructure & Cities, which represent the main activities of the company. The
company is a prominent maker of medical diagnostics equipment and its medical health-care
division, which generates about 12 percent of the company's total sales, is its second-most
profitable unit, after the industrial automation division.

Worldwide Bribery Scandal

Siemens was caught in a corruption scandal for bribing employees of other companies for
contracts. Mr. Siekaczek says that from 2002 to 2006 he oversaw an annual bribery budget of
about $40 million to $50 million at Siemens. Company managers and sales staff used the
slush fund to cosy up to corrupt government officials worldwide. The payments, he says,
were vital to maintaining the competitiveness of Siemens overseas, particularly in his
subsidiary, which sold telecommunications equipment. It was about keeping the business unit
alive and not jeopardizing thousands of jobs overnight was what he gives as a justification to
what happened under his management. The bribes left behind angry competitors who were
shut out of contracts and local residents in poor countries who, because of rigged deals, paid
too much for necessities like roads, power plants and hospitals.

Anti-Bribery and Corruption policy reflects the Company’s efforts to implement and to
enforce an effective system to counter bribery and corruption activities. It is a crime for
which both parties will be punished. There are several aspects on which these bribery and
corrupt activities had an effect on:

 Social Effect- It effected the quality of food, essentials and standard of living of the
population
 Political Effect- It had an impact on the infrastructural facilities and led to poor
buildings and management decisions
 Economic Effect- This has a direct effect on the trade related activities of the people;
such as unhealthy competition and overseas consequences

Origin of Scandal

Until 1999, paying bribes abroad was legal in Germany. In fact, German corporations could
deduct bribes from taxable income. That finally changed under pressure from the United
States, which has had an anti-foreign-bribery law on the books since 1977. But Siemens, with
its big-ticket infrastructure businesses and global footprint, found it hard to break the habit:
Eventually investigations uncovered bribery schemes meant to help sell power generation
equipment in Italy, telecommunications infrastructure in Nigeria, national identity cards in
Argentina, and so on—the company identified a total of $1.6 billion in what it called
“questionable payments” from 2000 to 2006. All this began to come to light in 2003, when
auditors at a Liechtenstein bank noticed suspicious activity in an account controlled by a
Siemens executive based in Greece. German prosecutors followed up, descending on
Siemens offices around the country in a mass raid in November 2006. The company has since
paid $1.6 billion in fines in Germany and the U.S., and criminal cases against several former
Siemens employees are still pending.

The reasons for committing such a scandal can be traced to saving overseas contract, to cope
with the unfair competition and rising through success shortcuts. Bribery was the company’s
business model when it came to penetrating to the developing countries. It was a crime
performed at a global level and the stretch of bribery went up to Bangladesh, Nigeria,
Argentina, Iran, Iraq, China and several others. It also had a social impact in the form of
angry investors, loss of clients and goodwill, lack of integrity and control taking a backseat.

Beginning the Ethical Turnaround

Siemens took many rectifying measures to get the business back on track:

 Appointment of new CEO

  Institution of new compliance structure to critically evaluate initiatives
 New compliance management system and anti-corruption policies enhanced
management systems oversee anti-corruption laws and anti-corruption tools.
 Risk based assessment and reporting channels
 Adopting a 3 lakh complaint training sessions for employees on ethical practices
including classroom sessions, face to face interactions between managers and team
 Compliance roadshows in 54 highest risk countries to highlight the importance of
anti-corruption laws.
 Revised business conduct guidelines to strengthen control
 Collective Action- an anti-corruption outreach activity to bring about internal
changes in the company
 Siemens joined hands with World Bank to fight corruption
 Increased compliance awareness through various programs which are project specific
and industry-wise compliance support transparency

Conclusion

The case of Siemens Technology proves that unethical practices can be costly; huge amount
to be paid as fine, decreased productivity and goodwill for the company and takes a toll on
employee relations and their performance. A company should always place moral values
prior to profit motive in order to sustain for a long term. Following good business practices
ensures the company of lesser turnover rates, higher productivity and increased profit level. A
strict justice system should be formed to punish corporate misconducts.

Summary of Team 7- Employees and Business Ethics

Employees Rights

Employees are an asset to the company and any ethical organization would like its employees
to be happy and prosperous by providing them a safe and happy working environment, steady
work, reasonable modifications to work time, and a healthy work-life balance. Many
companies that top the chart when it comes to providing ideal environments to its employees
credit their good employee management and retention programs as the key to their success.
These are the rights that an employee has to be treated in a fair, morally acceptable, or legal
way in any organization. There has been an increase in the level of awareness of issues such
as health and safety and employee rights.

 Right to Agreement: Employers and employees may want a written employment

agreement to govern employment. Employment agreements cover matters such as
wages, bonuses, and hours of work. The contract covers specific aspects of
employment. These include wages, health insurance benefits, pension benefits, and
bonuses. The agreement provides grounds for termination.
  Right to Fair Wages: Every employee or employer has a fixed payment and
allowances if present. Hence it is the right for every employee to get paid fairly and
correctly. There cannot be any discrimination in payments for workers.
 Right to Healthy and Safe Environment: The duty of the employer is to provide a
healthy and safe environment to the employees. They are required to install safe and
healthy plants, systems and machinery. The employees should make sure that they
carry out their work in a way that is safe for others too.
 Right to due process: Many of the modern due process cases deal with what is called
procedural due process (fair process, procedures). Due process procedures do not
guarantee that the result of government action will be to a citizen's liking. However,
fair procedures do help prevent arbitrary, unreasonable decisions. Due process
requirements vary depending on the situation.
 Leave Benefits: Employee benefits are offered at the discretion of the employer or are
covered under a labour agreement, so they will vary from company to company.
Dental Care Plan Coverage, Paid Holidays, Pay Rises, Flexible schedules Hazard
People. On average, workers received 10 paid vacation days after one year of service.
This average increases with tenure – that is, the longer the employee stays with their
employer.

Employee Duties

 Duty to comply with labour contract

 Respect the employers properties
 Quality of task competition
 Avoid bribery
 Honouring work hours

Workplace Discrimination

Employment discrimination happens when an employee or job applicant is treated

unfavourably because of his or her race, skin color, national origin, gender, disability,
religion, or age. It is illegal to discriminate in any facet of employment, so workplace
discrimination extends beyond hiring and firing to discrimination that can happen to someone
who is currently employed.

Employment discrimination could occur in any number of situations, including:

 Excluding potential employees during recruitment

 Denying certain employees compensation or benefits
 Paying equally-qualified employees in the same position different salaries
 Discriminating when assigning disability leave, maternity leave, or retirement options
 Denying or disrupting the use of company facilities
 Discrimination when issuing promotions or lay-offs

Why is preventing discrimination in workplace necessary?

  Information Protection
 Concentration
 Personal Space
 Productivity

Work Life Balance

Work life balance is a method which helps employees of an organization to balance their
personal and professional lives. It encourages employees to divide their time on the basis on
priorities and maintain a balance by devoting time to family, health, vacations along with
making a career, business travel. It is an important concept in the world of business as it helps
to motivate the employees and increases their loyalty towards the company.

A good work life balance affects employer and employees in many ways.

For an employer providing good work life balance will help in recruiting and retaining a
competent staff which will in-turn improve the productivity. It will make him the employer of
the choice in the business.

Work life balance benefits the employee in maintaining a healthy balance between their
personal and professional life. It ensures that employees can manage their time effectively,
have increased focus and higher rate of employee engagement.

Summary of Team 9- Consumers and Business Ethics

Consumers expect to be treated with courtesy and respect. Therefore, in order to encourage
sales, business managers pay close attention to consumer opinion polls, feedback, and
attitudes. This has evolved into basic understandings of consumer rights and protections that
have been developed through the years in order to encourage a positive relationship between
business management and consumer demand.

Basic Rights of Consumers

 Right to Safety: A customer will have a basic expectation from any business
organization to receive products and services that are safe to use and consume. They
have a right to have quality goods that are no danger for their living
 Right to Information: Every customer is entitled to receive information related to
products and services that they are buying. No company can conceal vital information
from the customers which are important for decision making
 Right to choose: Companies cannot force any customers to choose a particular brand
at any point in time. The decision is completely taken by the customers alone and
nothing should be done to threaten this right
 Right to Redressal: Any complaints, no matter how big or small, once made by the
customers must be heard and acknowledged in a right way by the company. The
organization can take necessary steps to hear and validate each complaint and query
  Right to Consumer Education: All the consumers have an opportunity to be aware
about the rights, duties and benefits one will receive as a customer. These manuals
and trainings will be given to the consumers using which they can be at ease.

Ethical Issues in Marketing Communication

The ethical issues in marketing communication in an organization can be classified into two
categories:

Individual: Individual ethical issues rise in terms of misleading practices to create false
beliefs and boost sales. This especially happens in food photoshoots where the dish looks
tasty in glossy magazine or TV, but not on print

Some of the shortcomings of this are these brand names need not have literal meaning,
creating confusion.

Standards for Advertisement

The advertisements published and aired by the companies should follow a set standard and
etiquettes as per the industry norms.

The advertisements should be legal, decent and honest with no profanity used. No undue
harm should be caused to people belonging to any caste or religion; the ads should not show
any acts of violence or anti-social activities. It should also be taken care that children should
be protected against moral, physical and mental harm caused by advertisements.

Ethical Issues in Pricing

Excessive pricing: It entails charging of exorbitant prices for goods and services by
dominant entities that bear no reasonable relation to the economic value of the good or
service provided, and is above such economic value.

Price fixing: Price fixing is an agreement between participants on the same side in a market
to buy or sell a product, service, or commodity only at a fixed price, or maintain the market
conditions such that the price is maintained at a given level by controlling supply and
demand. The underlying aim of such actions is to push the price to the highest and ensure
profits for all sellers

Deceptive pricing: Deceptive pricing is the method by which retailers use deceptive means
to trick the customers into thinking that they are paying a lower price for the product, than
what they are actually supposed to.

The above mentioned are some of the questionable pricing practices that marketers and
sellers should stay clear of.
Consumer Vulnerability

It refers to any situation in which an individual may be unable to engage effectively in a

market and as a result, is at a particularly high risk of getting a poor deal. It is a concept
which is highly context specific and multidimensional.

Consumer Sovereignty

Consumer sovereignty refers to that market where production of goods and services is as per
the wish and whims of the consumers. Consumers reign over the market, since only those
goods are produced that appeal to them. Sellers have to compete to grab the attention of the
consumers to sell their products.

Summary of Team 10- Corporate Governance, Board, Accountability & Responsibility

Corporate Governance consists of rules that direct the roles and actions of key people rather
than processes. The rules focus on creating better management and fewer ethical or legal
problems.

Examples: Setting rules for using business funds for personal use; Conflicts of interest;
Notifying owners, investors and partners of key meetings and decisions; and disbursing
profits.

Corporate Governance in Indian Past

In the Rig Veda age, the King had position of prominence and had ultimate decision making
power. Sabha which means venue of meeting, and Samithi which is group of learned men and
women were formed presided by the King. The country’s Purohita also counselled the king in
decision making.

During the age of Dharma Shastras, the king in sabha would come to a consensus after
consulting with experts, wise men, ministers and chief judge who are the real decision
makers. The Sabha consisted of king, chief judge, assesors, accountants, scribe and bailiff
each having different roles to play

In the Mahabarata, excessive focus is given towards the relationship between king and his
subjects which should be like that of mother and child. The way a mother takes care of her
child selflessly, the king also should protect his subjects.

Origin and Growth of Modern Corporation

Corporation in Middle Ages saw to it that limited liability system was followed. Growing
popularity of Bakan Ventures, started during the industrial revolution in the United Kingdom.
This phase saw role dominant owners who took complete charge of the operational and
functional decisions of the corporation.
Industrial Revolution in UK transpired with most of the machine manufacturing required
larger finances to function. This resulted in the emergence of joint stock companies wherein
the ownership was shared by many.

Corporate Development in India

Managing Agency System- Number of companies in operation growing from- 505 with paid
capital of Rs.157million to 2744 with corresponding capital numbers of Rs.766 million. This
was after the formulation of Joint Stock Companies in India. Growth of limited liability
companies in India during the 20th and 21st century has been significant.

Corporate Control and Boards

The subtle shift in control was established by Adolph Berle and Gardiner Means in 1930.
They examined sample of 200 largest American corporations and derived 5 types of
corporate control:

 Absolute control through complete ownership.

 Control by an individual or small group, through majority in the company’s voting
stock.
 Control without such complete or majority ownership of capital but through legal
devices.
 Minority control, where any individual or small group, even though not controlling a
majority of votes, was able to dominate.
 Management control, where the ownership was so widely spread that no individual or
small group had even a minority interest to influence company affairs.

Direction vs Management

Direction (Roles and responsibilities of Board)

 Exercise strategic oversight over business operations

 Demand the exercise of judgement

Management (Roles and responsibilities of the Management)

 Assist the board in decision making

 Implementing the policy and code of conduct
 Manage the day to day affairs of the company
 Ensuring compliance of all regulations and laws
 Setting and implementing effective internal control system
 Providing timely and accurate material information to the board, board committees,
and shareholders
Corporation and its Board: Accountability

 Should present a balanced and understandable assessment of the company’s position

 Should responsible for determining the nature and extent of the significant risks which
is willing to take
 Should maintain sound risk management and internal control system
 Should communicate with stakeholders at regular intervals regarding company’s
achievement of its business purpose

Corporation and its Board: Responsibility

 To meet shareholder’s expectations

 To monitor the performance of the company
 To maintain and manage relationship of company with stakeholders and its
shareholders