Business : Int: Ethics

" Morality is largely a matter of geography " Elbert Hubbard (1856 - 1915) American writer

A- Discuss this list of unethical activities. In your opinion, which are the worst? Are any common in your country?

1 Finding ways of paying as little tax as possible
2 Using your work computer or phone for private purposes (e.g. online shopping)
3 Accepting praise for someone else's ideas or work
4 Selling something as genuine when you know it is not
5 Using your influence to get jobs for friends or relatives (nepotism)
6 Phoning in sick at work when you are not ill
7 Not telling the truth about your age or experience on an application form
8 Not saying anything when you are charged too little for something by mistake
9 Paying people in cash for jobs done around the home in order to reduce the cost
10 Claiming extra expenses (e.g. getting a taxi receipt for more than the actual fare)

B- Are some jobs/professions more ethical than others? How ethical do you thinkthese professions are? Which are seen as more/less ethical in your country?

accountant - civil servant - lawyer - police officer - politician - banker - estate agent
nurse - university lecturer - soldier - car sales executive - journalist - doctor - taxi driver

C- Discuss the q uestions.
1 What is the purpose of a business. in your opinion? Is it just to make money?
2 What do you understand by the term 'an ethical business'?

Vocabulary : Right or Wrong

A- look at the situations. Which do you think are the most serious?

1 A new contact suggests that a payment into his private bank account will enable a company to win a valuable supply contract.
2 An employee informs some friends about a company takeover before it is generally known so they can buy shares and make a profit.
3 A company is making copies of luxury branded products and selling them in street markets.
4 An upmarket private airline only employs attractive women under 25 years old as cabin crew and ground staff.
5 An industrial company is disposing of waste chemicals in the sea.
6 A car manufacturer is secretly taking photos of a rival's new model at a test track.
7 A cosmetics and pharmaceutical company tries out all its products on rats and mice.
8 Some criminals buy property and expensive cars with money they got from illegal activities. The goods are then sold and the now 'clean' money is used in other businesses and new bank accounts.
9 A group of rival mobile phone companies get together and agree to charge approximately the same amount for a range of services and packages.
10 A company tells the authorities that it is making a lot less profit than it actually is.

B -Match the words  to make word partnerships which describe the activities in Exercise A.
testing - discrimination - fraud - trading - fixing - laundering - goods -pollution - espionage


Bribery      price       environmental      

sex      insider      tax      counterfeit    

 money      animal      industrial     

Helpingenvironmental research

David Hillyard, Director of Programmes at EarthWatch, is describing his organisation. Listen to the first part of the interview and complete the gaps.



EarthWatch is an    research and   and organisation and we have over    field research projects around the  . That involves, er,   looking at how animals and    are coping in their natural   

A- Listen to a conversation about a woman who was fired from her job and put these events in the order that they happened.



a) She lost her job.                                          
b) She felt desperate..                                        
c) She lied on her ev..                                        
d) There was an H R initiative..                                        
e) The company found out she did not have a Master's degree..               
f) She got a really good job..                                        
g) She got strong performance reviews..                                        

Complete this text about a pharmaceutical company with the correct tenses of the verbs in brackets.

We like to think we are an ethical company. but we    (have) a problem last year when we   (launch) our new product.
Let me give you the background to the problem. The new product    (sell) very well. we   (get) good feedback. and sales    (increase) month by month. Everyone was happy. Then it all    (go) wrong. In August. we     (start) to get complaints from some doctors about one of our salesmen. They    (complain) about the methods that the salesman   (use) to persuade them to endorse the product. He    (offer) them expensive gifts and    (take) them to expensive restaurants. The doctors   (feel) under pressure to promote the product.
By the end of the year. we   (receive) over 30 complaints about that particular salesman. In December. articles    (start) to appear in the press about our unethical sales methods. In the end. we    (fire) the salesman. As a result of this, we   (recently issue) guidelines to all sales staff about appropriate gifts.

A- Listen to two directors talking about a top salesman, Tom Pattison, who is not doing his job properly. Then answer the questions.



1 I n what ways is Tom behaving unprofessionally?
2 What two options does one of the directors mention?
3 What do the directors finally decide to do?

B- Which of the headings (a-g) in the Useful language box should these comments go under? Some may go under the same heading.

1 I'd say there are two ways we could deal with this.          
2 We could have a chat with him about his sales reports.  
3 If we take a firm approach, there's a risk he may get upset and look for another job.  
4 OK, let's look at it from another angle ...  
5 It might be the best way to deal with the problem.  
6 Yeah, the problem is, he's a really good salesman, but I agree he needs tighter control.  
7 If we just have a friendly chat with him, he may not take it seriously.