Task 1
In this task I will be describing and taking into consideration the social implications of
business ethics facing a business that I have selected in tis different areas of its activities.
There are a number of social implications that can affect a business, for example:
Planned obsolescence
Genetically Modified
Menthol and tobacco will be banned (2020)
The business that I have chosen to describe is Tesco. Tesco is the largest British retailer
and is also the world’s third largest grocery retailer with outlets across Europe, USA and
Asia. It has nearly 7000 stores and 450,000 employees. With Tesco being such a large
company, it means they have many stakeholders and investors.
A social implication that could occur within Tesco is if they practise planned obsolescence.
This is a strategy to deliberately ensuring that the current version of a given product will
become out of date or useless within a known period of time. This proactive approach gives
guarantees that consumers will seek replacements in the future, which strengthens the
demand. For example, with Tesco’s clothing range, F&F, there designers could make
frequent stylistic changes to the clothing that is on offer and remove the original pieces of
clothing from the line due to the decrease in the perceived desirability of unfashionable
items. An example of how Tesco uses planned obsolescence is that they sell nylon tights
that are highly likely to snag or run, meaning that customers need a replacement of a regular
basis. Customers of Tesco could react negatively to planned obsolescence if the newer
versions of the product offer insufficient improvements to the prior versions. Tesco also sell
household appliances like microwave ovens and kettles. These products often have their
service life reduced and this adds to the large amounts of electronic waste in the world,
contributing to issues within the environment.
Another social implication that Tesco may have is the use of genetically modified products.
Genetically modified is when an organism’s genetic material has been altered using genetic
engineering techniques. There are many foods that are genetically modified, such as, corn,
soybean, potato, and apple. The genetic modifications that are made on these foods often
means that they resist browning, bruises and resistant to pests. Tesco claims that they do
not allow the use of GM ingredients in the Tesco branded products. Tesco ensure that any
other branded products which contain GM ingredients has it clearly labelled for customers to
see. Tesco also state ‘We do not prohibit the use of GM feed in the production of our non-
organic meat, eggs and milk. We offer an organic range for those customers who prefer to
avoid products from animals who may have had GM feed. Animals used to produce all our
own-brand organic range of meat, eggs and milk are reared on non-GM feed.’ GM feed
cause many issues to animals such as deformities and growth.
Finally, a social implication that could occur within Tesco is the ban of menthol cigarettes
and tobacco. It is said that menthol cigarettes, skinny cigarettes and rolling tobacco will be
banned from May 2020 under new EU smoking laws. The ban on menthol cigarettes aims to
deter young people away from smoking cigarettes that are said to have a more
‘characterising flavour’ than tobacco. The ban comes a part of an effort to prevent young
people from smoking and reduce the number of people taking up the habit. There is some
belief that menthol cigarettes are better for a person’s health, but there is little evidence to
support this and they are just as harmful as regular cigarettes. The price of regular cigarettes
and hand rolling tobacco has had an increase in price to hopefully stop so many people
buying them. According to the ONS, in the UK about 14.7% of people aged 18 and above
smoked cigarettes in 2018, meaning around 7.2 million people will be affected by this price
hike, which would hugely affect the number of cigarettes that Tesco sells and will damage
their profits.
Task 2:
In this task I will be describing and taking into consideration the social implications of
business ethics facing a business that I have selected in tis different areas of its activities.
There are a number of social implications that can affect a business, for example:
Planned obsolescence
Genetically Modified
Menthol and tobacco will be banned (2020)
The business that I have chosen to describe is Tesco. Tesco is the largest British retailer
and is also the world’s third largest grocery retailer with outlets across Europe, USA and
Asia. It has nearly 7000 stores and 450,000 employees. With Tesco being such a large
company, it means they have many stakeholders and investors.
A social implication that could occur within Tesco is if they practise planned obsolescence.
This is a strategy to deliberately ensuring that the current version of a given product will
become out of date or useless within a known period of time. This proactive approach gives
guarantees that consumers will seek replacements in the future, which strengthens the
demand. For example, with Tesco’s clothing range, F&F, there designers could make
frequent stylistic changes to the clothing that is on offer and remove the original pieces of
clothing from the line due to the decrease in the perceived desirability of unfashionable
items. An example of how Tesco uses planned obsolescence is that they sell nylon tights
that are highly likely to snag or run, meaning that customers need a replacement of a regular
basis. Customers of Tesco could react negatively to planned obsolescence if the newer
versions of the product offer insufficient improvements to the prior versions. Tesco also sell
household appliances like microwave ovens and kettles. These products often have their
service life reduced and this adds to the large amounts of electronic waste in the world,
contributing to issues within the environment.
Another social implication that Tesco may have is the use of genetically modified products.
Genetically modified is when an organism’s genetic material has been altered using genetic
engineering techniques. There are many foods that are genetically modified, such as, corn,
soybean, potato, and apple. The genetic modifications that are made on these foods often
means that they resist browning, bruises and resistant to pests. Tesco claims that they do
not allow the use of GM ingredients in the Tesco branded products. Tesco ensure that any
other branded products which contain GM ingredients has it clearly labelled for customers to
see. Tesco also state ‘We do not prohibit the use of GM feed in the production of our non-
organic meat, eggs and milk. We offer an organic range for those customers who prefer to
avoid products from animals who may have had GM feed. Animals used to produce all our
own-brand organic range of meat, eggs and milk are reared on non-GM feed.’ GM feed
cause many issues to animals such as deformities and growth.
Finally, a social implication that could occur within Tesco is the ban of menthol cigarettes
and tobacco. It is said that menthol cigarettes, skinny cigarettes and rolling tobacco will be
banned from May 2020 under new EU smoking laws. The ban on menthol cigarettes aims to
deter young people away from smoking cigarettes that are said to have a more
‘characterising flavour’ than tobacco. The ban comes a part of an effort to prevent young
people from smoking and reduce the number of people taking up the habit. There is some
belief that menthol cigarettes are better for a person’s health, but there is little evidence to
support this and they are just as harmful as regular cigarettes. The price of regular cigarettes
and hand rolling tobacco has had an increase in price to hopefully stop so many people
buying them. According to the ONS, in the UK about 14.7% of people aged 18 and above
smoked cigarettes in 2018, meaning around 7.2 million people will be affected by this price
hike, which would hugely affect the number of cigarettes that Tesco sells and will damage
their profits.
Task 2:
