Business and Society

• attract customers and employees who agree with its policy;

• have to change its operations to fit in with this policy, for example approving certain suppliers;

• have to set a policy for all the business in areas such as recruitment and marketing.

4. Business and the environment

It is possible that the activities of business can have certain beneficial effects on the environment. For example, a new factory may be built in a derelict area. The new premises may be landscaped, improving the view. A grass area built might have a bench which could be used by pedestrians.

Businesses are becoming more and more aware of the need to consider the environment in their operations. Many critics of certain business activities suggest that they have a negative effect on the environment in the surrounding area. Some of the negative effects of business activity include:

• air pollution caused by the discharge of emissions into the atmosphere and traffic visiting retail outlets;

• water pollution as a result of the dumping of waste;

• congestion from employees going to work or consumers visiting retail outlets;

• noise from factories and traffic;

• destruction of natural habitats from the building of premises.

How might these effects be controlled? There are laws, such as the Clean Air Act, which try to restrict the environmental impact of business activity. The government and the EU have planning regulations and legislation affecting the location of businesses. Taxes on petrol and diesel are often raised in an attempt to reduce the use of transport.

In many areas, businesses are becoming responsible for regulating their own behaviour. The ethics of a business can affect the extent to which it controls its impact on the environment. Some businesses have adopted their own stringent codes of practice and policies to control their activities. It is likely that attempts to control the effect on the environment by businesses will lead to:

• increased costs in the short term;

• the attraction of customers who agree with the policy of the business;

• a change in production methods.

5. Pressure groups

PRESSURE GROUPS are groups without the direct political power to achieve their aims, but whose aims lie within the sphere of politics. They usually attempt to influence local government, central government, businesses and the media. They aim to have their views taken into account when any decisions are made. Such influence can occur directly, through contact with politicians, local representatives and business people, or indirectly by influencing public opinion.

The use of pressure groups is one way in which stakeholders can exert influence over those making decisions within a business. Pressure groups can represent stakeholders directly involved with the business, such as employees or shareholders. They can also represent those not directly involved in the business, such as local communities or consumer groups.

There is a number of ways in which pressure groups can affect firms.

• Pressure groups often seek to influence the behaviour of members of the public about a particular product, business or industry. Friends of the Earth attempt to persuade the public to use cars less and public transport or bicycles more in order to reduce emissions into the atmosphere. This campaign, if successful, would have important implications for a wide range of firms involved in the transport industry.

• Political parties, through their representatives in Parliament, are able to pass laws which regulate the activities of businesses. Therefore it is not surprising that many pressure groups devote resources to lobbying politicians. An example of this is the attempt

by the anti-smoking group, ASH, to change the law so that all advertising of tobacco is made illegal.

• The actions of pressure groups can reduce the sales of firms. This is often most successfully achieved when efforts are targeted at particular firms. Consumers are then called upon to boycott these firms.

• Firms can face increased costs as a result of the activities of pressure groups. This may involve new production processes or waste disposal methods. Firms may have to counteract any negative publicity from a pressure group. For example, many believe that the campaign to attract visitors to the Sellafield nuclear site was a result of the negative publicity from environmental groups.