Is “Business ethics” considered an oxymoron?

With business and ethics having completely disparate and contrasting meanings, putting them together creates a very puzzling and confusing effect. The real question is “Could a business ever be ethical?”

Different businesses have completely different views on ethics. Some businesses regard ethics as a priority and others, a problem. For certain businesses, ethics is persistently seeked after as it could potentially be a strong branding tool, create a great company image that builds customer loyalty and a powerful unique selling point that differentiates from competition. However, business ethics could also be seen as a huge problem or a burden for some businesses. Being an ethical business is costly, time consuming and limiting in terms of production, distribution, marketing and so on which may ultimately affect profit and surplus.

The goal of a business always seems to be to make profit and surplus. On the other hand, the main goal of ethics is to stay true to moral codes and to uphold corporate social responsibility. I believe the reason why some businesses are not so willing to adopt or adhere to business ethics is that it is almost impossible or extremely inconvenient to balance being both legally just and also maintaining a competitive edge in the face-paced market.  It is very difficult to get the best of both sides so businesses end up having to compromise one or the other, or prioritize one or the other.

The Canadian clothing company, Canada Goose, brings light to the issue of business ethics. Canada Goose is especially well known for their jackets that use authentic coyote fur to line the hoods and stuff the jackets with real down feathers from ducks and goose.

According to Canada Goose’s Fur and Down Policy, the business claims to be “deeply committed to the responsible use and ethical sourcing of all animal materials in our products” as well as being completely transparent and traceable throughout their supply chain of how they obtain fur and down. 

 

However, with Canada Goose rapidly expanding year by year, the business receives increasing complaints and protests from animal activists. In order to keep up with customers ever-growing demands, Canada Goose opens up more stores across the world, which requires augmenting supplies of fur and down. The ethical sourcing of all animal materials would then become debatable and put in doubt.

The question is becoming more prominent – Is it even possible for Canada Goose to prioritize the importance of being ethical, and at the same time, to prioritize the importance of growth, expansion, profit and surplus?

 

 

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