Ethics

Ethics

Ask Georgie: PnP under fire for Smart Shopper points

Our thanks to Tony Timm for once again sharing a most interesting article with us

When Pick n Pay introduced its rewards programme, Smart Shopper, in 2011, its success was so stunning it took the retailer by surprise.
For every R100 spent, shoppers would receive R1 back in cash-back points, which were initially valid for three years. On certain items, it offered double or triple points, or instant savings. It’s no surprise that Smart Shopper has been voted the country’s favourite rewards programme.

The impact on the bottom line forced the retailer to reassess its offering to its 10-million-plus card-holding customers, so last April, it halved the value: for every R200 spent, customers receive R1 in cash-back vouchers.
On January 1 this year, PnP introduced a new policy, expiring Smart Shopper points 12 months after they were earned.
The move’s not gone down well with many shoppers.

David Ramsay wrote to complain: “I have been an […]

2018-02-06T18:49:07+02:00February 6th, 2018|Environments, Ethics, Marketing, Recources, Syllabus Topics|
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Reputation and corporate bottom line: Steinhoff as a case study

Reputation Matters Dec 12th, 11:17
Even though Christo Wiese has taken the helm as the interim CEO and is trying to stabilise the ship through the storm, Steinhoff faces the threat of becoming the biggest bankruptcy in South African corporate history. (Business Times, 10 December 2017).
How does this happen? “It all boils down to lack of internal governance,” says Regine le Roux, Managing Director of Reputation Matters. “Reputations are ruined when values are negotiated, ethics are compromised and leadership actions are questionable. Having authorities investigating irregularities, and by associating the words ‘senior executive’ with tax evasion, documentary forgery, and fraud, is never a good combination.”

“If you keep your nose clean, follow policies and procedures and adhere to governance structures your integrity as a company […]

2017-12-14T08:36:55+02:00December 14th, 2017|Ethics, General management and CSR, Recources, Syllabus Topics|
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Here’s how much your identity sells for on the Dark Web

Bloomberg               22 September 2017

How much is your personal data worth to you? A lot. And how much is it worth to an identity thief? You may be surprised, or insulted, or enraged, to find out.

Verified high-limit credit cards from countries including the U.S., Japan, and South Korea are selling on the dark web for the bitcoin equivalent of about $10 to $20, according to an annual report on cybercrime by Secureworks, a unit of Dell Inc.

The dark web is “the collection of Internet forums, digital shop fronts and chat rooms that cybercriminals use to form alliances, trade tools and techniques, and sell compromised data that can include banking details, personally identifiable information and other content,” as Secureworks defines it.
Verified means the seller has tested out transactions on the card and found it hasn’t been canceled yet. For scammers on a budget, there’s unverified […]

2017-11-15T19:18:16+02:00November 15th, 2017|Ethics, Recources, Syllabus Topics|
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The fragility of reputations: a lesson from Bell Pottinger

We live in the ‘reputation economy’, so how should companies act when managing a crisis?

29 SEPTEMBER 2017             MARIETJIE THERON

An office building containing the London headquarters of the PR company Bell Pottinger is seen behind an entrance to an underground train station in London, September 5, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville

The London headquarters of PR company Bell Pottinger in London. Picture: REUTERS

The name Bell Pottinger is on everyone’s lips. Over recent months, immensely negative sentiment built up towards this communications company, not only in the UK and South Africa but also further afield, which damaged Bell Pottinger’s reputation.

The damage – fuelled by the media and social media – was so enormous that the firm reached the end of the road when it officially entered into administration.

That was an ironic turn of events, as communications firms are supposed to guide others on how […]

2017-09-30T11:23:38+02:00September 30th, 2017|Ethics, Recources, Syllabus Topics|
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Patent

How not to end up like the fidget spinner inventor (without a patent)

12 June 2017 3:18 PM

Florida-based creator Catherine Hettinger has been credited as the inventor of the fidget spinner.

She has told various publications about how she couldn’t afford to renew the patent on the popular toy because she did not have necessary backing. She created the device nearly 20 years ago.

A crowd funding initiative has now been set up for her.

My advice would be you don’t just knock on the first door and if it is closed you walk away. You have to believe in your product and try as much as possible even if you don’t have the backing of multinationals like Hasbro. — Likonelo Magagula, Head of Intellectual Property at Norton Rose Fulbright. Getting a new invention off the ground is pretty costly, says Magagula.

At the beginning stages you can approach investors, but make sure you have […]

2017-06-23T16:19:57+02:00June 23rd, 2017|Ethics, Marketing, Recources, Syllabus Topics|
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Sexual harassment

Employers must be very careful to take steps to know what their liability is towards their employees.

One of the employer’s liabilities is to provide a safe and healthy working environment for the employees.

This does not only mean a safe environment in terms of bodily injury or accidents – it also means a safe environment in terms of other things like sexual harassment.

Employers must take steps to protect their employees against such happenings in the workplace.

In Media 24 Ltd & another v Grobler [2005] 7 BALLR 649 (SCA), an employee had been sexually harassed by a junior manager over a period of five months.

At the time that the alleged sexual harassment took place, the complainant was a 33-year-old secretary employed by the employer. The accused was at that time a trainee manager employed by the employer.

It was alleged by the complainant that the employer had failed to address the issue, despite her requests […]

2017-06-23T15:50:29+02:00June 23rd, 2017|Ethics, Human Capital, Recources, Syllabus Topics|
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McDonald’s has been forced to make a U-turn on battery eggs. Here’s how

McDonald’s has been forced to make a U-turn on battery eggs. Here’s how

May 2017            by Candes Keating

South Africans have been known to be an activist bunch – in recent times there have been a number of high profile campaigns, often with varying degrees of success. These include the #feesmustfall protests against high tuition fees on the country’s campuses, protests against toll roads and ongoing service delivery demonstrations.

But protesters – even successful ones – could learn a thing or two from a small, under-reported, but highly effective campaign against a powerful multinational fastfood chain. Yolanda Güse, a Master’s student at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, lobbied support against the burger and fast food chain McDonald’s South Africa. And won.

It started with animal protection group Beauty without Cruelty South Africa. They informed their members through their monthly newsletters about McDonald’s cruelty […]

2017-06-23T14:45:58+02:00June 23rd, 2017|2017 Case Study, Ethics, Recources, Syllabus Topics|
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Whats in our fast food?

Canadian fast food test shows Subway poultry contains only around 50 percent or less of chicken DNA, supplemented by soy

DAN GUNDERMAN: NEW YORK DAILY NEWS – Tuesday, February 28, 2017, 10:48 AM

 Subway’s oven-roasted chicken sub sandwhich. A recent CBC investigation determined that the restaurant’s chicken DNA numbers in their popular sandwiches were only around 50 percent. Subway disagreed with the findings.

Soy what!?

A Canadian investigation into the contents in fast-food chicken has shown that Subway’s numbers are quite alarming.

The finding: it’s oven-roasted chicken … Read more at What are we eating in Quick Service Restaurants

2017-06-23T14:02:28+02:00March 5th, 2017|2017 Case Study, Ethics|
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