Business, the environment and ethics Cambridge IGCSE Business Studies (9–1) revision
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In plain words
A business can be legal and profitable and still do harm: to the air and water around it, or to the people who make its products. More and more customers, workers and governments care about that.
So acting responsibly is both a cost and, handled well, a selling point.
6 things to know
- Business activity affects the environment through pollution of air and water, noise, waste, the use of resources that cannot be replaced, and gases that add to global warming.
- Sustainable development means meeting today's needs without damaging the ability of future generations to meet theirs. Businesses contribute by using renewable energy, recycling, and cutting waste and packaging.
- Pressure groups are organisations that campaign to change what businesses or governments do, through publicity and boycotts.
- Laws control pollution and waste, with fines for businesses that break them.
- Ethics is about doing what is morally right, beyond what the law requires: refusing to use child labour, paying fair prices to suppliers, and advertising honestly.
- Acting ethically and protecting the environment add to costs. But they improve reputation, attract customers and staff, and can save energy and materials.
Tips and tricks
- Present it both ways: environmental and ethical pressures are a constraint (higher costs) and an opportunity (a better image and loyal customers).
- Legal and ethical are different. Paying very low wages may be legal in a country and still be seen as unethical.
It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.
Business, the environment and ethics: 5 questions and answers
These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.
Which is an example of a business acting ethically?
It is doing what is right, beyond what the law demands.
What is a pressure group?
It uses publicity and boycotts to bring about change.
Which would help a business to become more sustainable?
It reduces the harm done to the environment in the long term.
Why might being environmentally friendly increase a business's sales?
A good image attracts customers.
Which is a possible conflict between ethics and profit?
Doing the right thing often costs more in the short term.
Quiz
5 questions
Tap an answer and you’ll see straight away whether it’s right, and why.
Worksheet
3 questions, 8 marks. Write your answers on paper, then check them.
Business, the environment and ethics
Cambridge IGCSE Business Studies (9–1) 0986 · 8 marks · papermunch.org
Name ______________________________ Date ______________
Explain what is meant by sustainable development.[2]
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Development that meets the needs of people today without reducing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Explain how a pressure group might influence a business that is polluting a river.[3]
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It can draw public attention to the pollution and persuade consumers to boycott the business's products. The bad publicity and the lost sales push the business to change.
Explain one cost and one benefit to a clothing business of refusing to buy from suppliers that use child labour.[3]
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Cost: it may have to pay higher prices to other suppliers, which reduces its profit. Benefit: it gains a good reputation, which attracts customers who care how their clothes are made.
Answers: Business, the environment and ethics
- 1. Development that meets the needs of people today without reducing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
- 2. It can draw public attention to the pollution and persuade consumers to boycott the business's products. The bad publicity and the lost sales push the business to change.
- 3. Cost: it may have to pay higher prices to other suppliers, which reduces its profit. Benefit: it gains a good reputation, which attracts customers who care how their clothes are made.