Ethics and Sustainability

Sustainability has become a relevant word in the vocabulary of many organizations, governments and individuals. More than just a word, sustainability relates to the ability of institutions to continue executing their functions without forgetting the effects on the environment and taking into consideration the fair treatment of their employees and the human rights of society. Although sustainability is a widely used term by many individuals, the understanding of this term is not as clear as its popularity. When discussing the ideas of sustainability, most people automatically associate the term with the human impact on the environment. Others relate sustainability to the ability to cut costs and inefficiencies within the organization. A few individuals believe that sustainability is a matter of human rights. So what exactly is sustainability?

First, the top solution is not to enter into a single source procurement situation in the first place. It is very important for the public procurement there is no charge of corruption can be levied at either party, government or organization should rigorously review their purchasing strategies to ensure that this does not happen.

Workforce diversity is increasing. There are more women, minority men and immigrants entering the workforce.

To keep our environment healthy, all these element need to work together. There are no global laws protecting the environment and that is why everyone should practice good ethics when it comes to the environment. Environmental ethics is the part of environment philosophy which considers extending the traditional boundaries of ethics from only including hum and to non-humans. There are many ethical decisions that human beings make with respect to the environment. Humans are been considered of rational agents because they have clear preference, models uncertainty via expected values, and always to perform the action with the optimal expected outcome of itself. The action of the rational agent performs depends on the

Procurement is the process of selecting suppliers and signing contracts for the purchase of goods and services. While simple in definition, quite the opposite is true when it comes to execution. When speaking about public and private sectors, they are two entirely different entities. They have different work principles, different functions and responsibilities in the economy, and different limitations to do work. In the case of government acquisition, the leading and primary objective is for public good, not profit. For a private venture, it is profit for the shareholders. A private company has to have profit as the first priority when awarding procurement contracts. Due to this obvious dichotomy, contractors generally either service

Although competitive bidding will continue to be used, especially in the public sector, to ascertain market prices for non-strategic items, many of these items will be outsourced to third-party buyers or consortia to conduct the bidding. Moreover, organizations will continue to purchase most non-strategic products and services under master contracts, some of which will be negotiated by consortia that have leveraged and buying expertise. A trend is expanding for the continued use of third-party purchasing by primarily private sector firms pursuing all forms of competitive advantage possibilities.

Procurement by public entities is guided by primary law principles of transparency, equal treatment and non-discrimination, procurement laws sets up an extensive legal framework regarding the procurement of work, supply and service contracts. There are two main reasons for the use of specific procedures i.e. why contracting authorities do not just negotiate or simply buy from the closest supplier. First, it provides for more public accountability and therefore less cases of corruption practices. Additionally, tendering procedures aim to ensure the best value for money by making it necessary for suppliers to act highly competitive. As a result, market mechanisms will help in facilitating the best possible practices. In situations where market mechanisms are not effective, tender procedures might lose their effectiveness as well. If for example there is lack of competition due to certain complexities or as a result of lower bidder interest, negotiations with just one or two suppliers may be the most efficient manner to handle the process. Therefore, we discuss the inherent advantages and disadvantages of sealed bidding and contracting by negotiation as procedural frameworks for tendering.

I decided to do my research at Lowe’s Home and Improvement. Lowe’s Home and Improvement is a hardware store that sales everything from your basic household appliances to minor cleaning supplies. Lowe’s believes that in order to maintain great customer service they feel that they must follow these simple rules: Provide customers with environmentally-responsible products, packaging and services at everyday low prices, educate and engage employees, customers and others on the importance of conserving resources, reducing waste and recycling, review and communicate progress made toward achieving established goals and objectives, and to engage on public policy issues related to sustainability. In this report I will discuss how I observed two

Central government provides a “National Procurement Strategy” to be followed and adhered to by Local Government. The framework states that councils should consider sustainability and where possible build this into its internal procurement processes and contracts. Council X spends an average of a billion pounds a year on staff costs, goods and services. This includes managing around seven hundred contracts some of which are provided by local businesses and some are major contracts with sustainability accredited suppliers.

When I was five years old I began school. In Kindergarden we learned basic things like letters, numbers, and how not to be fully engulfed in flames. For some reason, 2004 was the height of anti-fire education in Missouri and before I knew how to tie my shoes I knew that if I ever was ablaze, to cover my face, fall to my knees, and roll back and fourth. This is what my institution placed serious value upon and because I was a student of that institution I also placed serious value upon it. The same idea must be applied to a university's teaching of environmental sustainability. This is discussed in David Orr's "What is Education For?" Through choosing a curriculum a university chooses what it places value onto, by making the environment a priority it showcases to the future generations that environmental wellness is an important responsibility for them to take ownership.

Michael Harris Jr. Comparing Sustainable Operations The primary objective of this research paper is to compare two companies on their environmentally sustainable operations, which includes sustainable product design, sustainable processes, sustainable buildings (LEED), ISO 1400 certification, and sustainable supply chain management. In addition to sustainable operations, social responsibility initiative will be discussed for one or both of the companies. The two companies for this topic are Harris Teeter, an American supermarket chain based in Matthews, North Carolina, just outside Charlotte (3), and Food Lion, a grocery store company headquartered in Salisbury, North Carolina, that operates more than 1,100 supermarkets in 11 of the South-Eastern

Sustainability is a topic that has become very important in recent years. Sustainability is defined as, “the ability to continue a defined behavior indefinitely.” ("Finding and Resolving the Root Causes of the Sustainability Problem", 2014)

In today’s global economy sustainability is very important; from the biological aspect to the industries they all play a role on the marine environment. As world population increases the demand of fish rises causing overfishing. Certain laws have been placed to limit the amount of wild fishing to reduce the risk of endangerment. To meet the demand of the population, fish farms are introduced. Pollution and health related issues are part of the challenges of fish farming. Sustainability also affects social areas such as beaches.

Ethics is the study of what is right and wrong in human conduct. Environmental ethics studies the effects of human’s moral relationships on the environment and everything within it (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2008). The ethical principles that govern those relations determine human duties, obligations, and responsibilities with regard to the Earth’s natural environment and all of the animals and plants that inhabit it (Taylor, 1989). The purpose of this paper is to reveal environmental issues that are threatening the existence of life on Earth, and discus our social obligations to refrain from further damaging our environment, health and life for future generations. I will discus the need for appropriate actions and the ethical

Petron does not focus on the corporate social responsibility activities across its supply chain. They do not disclose full and clear information about their procurement policy to execute its social responsibility to conduct fair and equitable transactions throughout the supply chain as required in the Main Market Listing Requirement (MMLR). The disclosure is not transparent and complete as they do not disclose about the details such as the procedures in the matter of purchasing raw material and assets needed by the company to maintain daily operation. In addition, compliance of laws and social norms is important for ensuring the proper and ethical transaction in the supply chain, however, Petron do not disclose about the compliance of laws and social norms in their procurement activities.