Term Project Paper Mona APUS
4
Food and Beverage Ethical Considerations
Mona Gholston
APUS
RLMT307
October 4, 2021
Abstract
Ethical behavior is an essential factor to any business operations in the contemporary competitive world of business. It defines the moral policies the organization business should abide by, thereby upholding the entity to specific standards in the consumer's perspective. Especially in food-related organizations, morals or ethical behavior acts as a constitution in which the company should be driven along to attract the potential audience with the same notion of principles. Due to the health hazards, the food and beverage industry is highly concentrated in the sectors where ethics and morals are. Therefore, it is necessary for any organization operating within the industry to consider contracting ethical principles that should govern all operations within the entity.
Introduction
Food and beverage items being the primary basics for human survival means contributes significantly to ethical issues globally. There are typically numerous issues that tend to emerge from food processing and related operations in the food and beverage industry. The industry is heavily competitive, and as a result, many of the entities operating within are looking for easy ways, including the illegal and health hazards approaches to win the competitive advantage in obtaining more sales and revenues. This has led to lawsuits for such organizations whose leaders tend to act in a selfish and exploitative way to increase sales and revenues without considering the harm that their illegal operations may cause to their consumers.
Literature Review
One study indicates that several countries have shown the concerns of implementing warnings to organizations that ignore ethical principles set by the respective government. In particular, the emphasis has been placed on the food and beverage industry, where many cases concerning unhealthy food items and illegal operations that threaten human well-being have been constantly reported in recent years (Davis et al., 2018). Another article by Clarke, 2012 talks about the ethical concerns regarding the international situation assessment of the food and beverage. The article focuses on the ethical finance sector to describe various elements of ethical products and services identified by the Cooperative Bank in the United Kingdom. Some of the segments that the article shows the concerns for include the improvement of green home devices, ethical food and drink, eco-travel and transportation of goods, community activities such as farming, and personal ethical items such as humane cosmetics. Moreover, another article claims that there have been significantly increased concerns about the food and beverage waste products and how the companies involving such products recycle their waste to avoid environmental pollution.
Methodology
The methods of data collection used in the study of finding out the ethical issues related to the food and beverage industry included a literature review, analysis, and consultation. Numerous articles were critically reviewed to gather primary data for the study, with different authors' perspectives being analyzed. Moreover, the researchers consulted several ethical organizations to determine the number of cases reported on ethical issues within different geographical areas.
Findings
The data analysis from the article reviews and consultation reviews numerous ethical issues facing the food and beverage industry. One of the issues that emerged from the analysis includes employee misconduct. Many companies operating within the industry fail to meet the primary needs of their employees, including essential safety measures, payment, and benefits compensations. Also, there are many illegal and unethical practices being exercised in the industry for self-interest and gaining. Typically the primary factor that drives such ethical issues is competitive pressure. The industry is overcrowded, and each entity is finding ways, including the illegal ones, to beat its rivals in terms of sales and revenue.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the industry of food and beverage is among the most dynamic sectors with ethical issues. Also, great concern is on the industry since their product is vital for human consumption and health status. The sector offers one of the essential items that human survival needs, thereby increasing the importance of taking effective measures on the industry and global ethical organizations. Moreover, the industry tends to contribute substantial revenue to the government and the overall growth of the country's economy.
References
Davis, B., Lockwood, A., Alcott, P., & Pantelidis, I. S. (2018). Food and beverage management. Routledge.
Grummon, A. H., Hall, M. G., Block, J. P., Bleich, S. N., Rimm, E. B., Taillie, L. S., & Barnhill, A. (2020, August 1). Ethical considerations for food and beverage warnings. Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved September 27, 2021, from https://jhu.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/ethical-considerations-for-food-and-beverage-warnings.
Clarke M. (2012). Ethical Foods International situation assessment, opportunities and threats.
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