Developing and implementing a strategic approach to ethics
The external environment
Ethics guide companies in reacting to changes in the environment. Managers can use a number of different tools to understand the environment. This understanding is important. It helps managers to make better decisions.
SLEPT analysis is one of these tools and which looks at changes in five areas:
Social - trends in society
Legal - legal restrictions and considerations
Economic - the health of the economy, inflation, etc
Political - government policy
Technological - developments in computing, etc.
The following sections provide some examples of each factor, which are relevant to Vodafone.
Social factors
Society is concerned about under 18s being at risk. Parents may have concerns about their children being contacted (using mobile phones) by paedophiles or other adults. Society is also concerned about adult content being available via mobile phones to under 18s. Adult content includes gambling, violent games, erotic material etc. Further issues related to 'social' include the rise of mobile phone theft.
Legal factors
Some laws regulate all businesses e.g. The Sale of Goods Act 1974 stating all products must be fit for the purpose they are intended. A mobile phone must therefore work. Certain laws are created to regulate particular industries. Examples include the ban on using holding a phone while driving introduced in 2003.
Independent industry regulatory body:
OFCOM - the Office of Communications. OFCOM is the independent body for regulating the communication industry - www.ofcom.org.uk.
Vodafone goes beyond government regulation, working with its competitors in self-regulation. However to retain its leading position in the industry Vodafone believes it must exceed both legal regulations and industry self-regulation.
Economic factors
The state of the economy, for example levels of growth can impact companies. Companies' activities also contribute to the overall... [continues]

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