British Gas is having a huge makeover due to a “loss of trust” by their customers. They are giving customers the choice to choose from two types of tariff for their bill so people can reduce their payments. They decided for this reform due to a recent assessment of the British energy industry, which claimed that they are making excess profit they shouldn’t be. British Gas wants to fix this problem since their company values social responsibility.
When we talked about business ethics, I preferred Freeman’s ideal over Friedman’s. Friedman’s idea of a business simply wouldn’t work as well in today’s world because people seek equality and rights. A company based on Freeman’s ideals will do better in the long term. However in the case of British Gas, I personally believe this is more of a marketing scheme and an image makeover than truly wanting the better for their customers. The difference offered between the two tariffs is probably small, not to mention tariffs are a form of tax given to the government. So British Gas is simply making the customers pay a little less tax and they pay a bit more, overall they lose very little.