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Alexandra Twin (2019) says business ethics is the study of appropriate business policies and practices regarding potentially controversial subjects including corporate governance, insider trading, bribery, discrimination, corporate social responsibility, and fiduciary responsibilities.
The law often guides business ethics, but at other times business ethics provide a basic guideline that businesses can choose to follow to gain public approval.
There is a general consensus that most businesses in the country are not playing ball in complementing Government efforts to turn around the economy and make life affordable for every Zimbabwean. The bone of contention has been that most businesses are profiteering, and therefore making lives of people difficult through unwarranted increases in prices of goods and services. In short, unethical conduct is what the business sector has been accused of.
To add to the debate, President Mnangagwa on Friday said Government was concerned with sky rocketing prices of goods and services, most of which appeared unwarranted. The country is in the grip of massive price distortions as producers, retailers and wholesalers, keep pace with the fluctuating foreign currency parallel market rate. This has seen different prices of the same product depending on the shop from which one is buying.
The President however, said Government has no appetite to introduce price controls as they retard economic growth. “. . . what we wish, for the economy to grow, we must not prescribe prices to say ‘you have grown your orange, it shall sell at $2; coming up with a law in Parliament that it shall be $2 or this cup (which was in the Capitalk studio) shall be this much,” said President Mnangagwa.
“No, we don’t do that. The forces of the market must determine the price. There must be competition. We need more people in our commerce and industry so that there is competition but to do that again, as a result of part history of 20 years or so, our machines are old; they are almost obsolete so we need to retool our manufacturing sector so that we become competitive.”
President Mnangagwa said once modern manufacturing sector equipment was installed, the country can also earn more revenue and see the lives of citizens being uplifted. However, he said there were some unscrupulous businesspeople in the country who unjustifiably raise prices every day, and in some cases, in the morning, afternoon and in the evening. The President said such dealers should be punished at some point in the life of their businesses.
“I was being told today (yesterday) that a person gets into a shop at 8am and finds a bottle of cooking oil or Mazoe going for $2 or $3, but when you go in the afternoon, it’s at $5; if you go in the evening it’s at $7. What has happened? Nothing. But above all, that shop owner increasing these prices, do they increase the salaries for employees? They don’t,” he said.
He added that some businesspeople are selling in forex yet employees were getting salaries in RTGS dollar.
“That is bad. The time shall come when we make the life of their businesses difficult,” he said.
On that score, we urge the business sector to play its part in making sure that they assist Government to improve the economy and also by trading fairly, not to make life unbearable for the masses through massive price increases which have no basis.
Online Reporter