B2 – Upper Intermediate
Ethics is all about doing the the moral or right thing and making sure that you know how your decisions will affect others. It is a very important to uphold some ethics when doing business.
For this activity, you will be able to know words and phrases used when dealing with business ethics. Be ready to answer some discussion questions.
Discussion Questions:
- In your opinion what is the purpose of business? Is it just to make money? Share your opinion.
- Why do you think some jobs are more ethical than others?
- What examples of companies do you know of that have been involved unethical business practices?
- What are some ethical issues in your industry/profession?
- What can employees do to change the behavior of their company that engages in unethical practices?
- Why do you think companies are becoming more interested in corporate social responsibility (CSR)?
2 replies on “Business Ethics on the Job”
1. In your opinion what is the purpose of business? Is it just to make money? Share your opinion.
Yes, the main objective of business is to make money. Although a company can have other objectives, as to provide employment to a community, or to try to improve the life of people, if it does not make money, in the end it is going to close, so the main objective is always going to be to make money and grow.
2. Why do you think some jobs are more ethical than others?
Because some jobs are more focused on helping people than others. To me, for example, health related jobs are more ethical than bank related jobs, because I think that banks are probably one of those jobs that only look for money and they don’t mind people are struggling with the economy.
3. What examples of companies do you know of that have been involved unethical business practices?
I don’t really know about specific companies, but I would think that trading companies, stock market companies and this kind of business are more likely to be involved in unethical business practices.
4. What are some ethical issues in your industry/profession?
A lot of people think that pharmaceutical companies are unethical in the prices they charge for their products, but they don’t really know about the actual costs to develop a new product. If the company doesn’t get benefits, it won’t be able to invest more in new products, and obviously, they are not working for nothing.
5. What can employees do to change the behavior of their company that engages in unethical practices?
It is difficult to say because it depends largely on the type of company. If the employee works in a company with a non-retaliation policy, it is easier to raise a hand to alert about an unethical behaviour. But if the employee is worried about losing his/her job, it is complicated to do something.
6. Why do you think companies are becoming more interested in corporate social responsibility (CSR)?
Because currently there is more information available to the public about the companies and their activities. When customers are looking for products they also take into account if a company is socially or environmentally responsible, and that can have a great impact on the final sales.
You gave some interesting points of view. You did your best in explaining your opinion.
Your original sentence was already understandable. The revisions mainly improve naturalness, word choice, and fluency, rather than fixing major grammar errors.
Great improvement!