BUU22580: Palm Oil may be a Booming Global Commodity, But Economists and Environmentalists: Business Ethics Assignment, TCD

Assignment Brief:

Palm oil may be a booming global commodity, but economists and environmentalists remain sharply divided over whether the oil helps slow global warming or is in fact a major climate killer. World Growth presented a report at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen that said palm oil production contributed to reducing poverty in developing countries.

Palm oil can generate returns of over $3,000 per hectare whereas conventional agriculture earns less than $100. Experts say that palm oil boycotts, favored by climate activists, would thus have disastrous consequences for the people who live near the plantations as well as for the rainforest and the environment (DW, 2018).

There is growing alarm in the way communities in Asia and Africa are being pushed aside to make way for large plantations and the loss of wildlife. Many organisations, including the World Bank, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, Greenpeace, and Walhi, have expressed deep concern at the resulting impoverishment of local communities and the growth of conflict around the concessions (The Guardian, 2018).

1. Based on a critical analysis of increased awareness of business ethics in the global environment, assess and apply two normative ethical perspectives to the process of decision making by senior management and governments. Use the palm oil industry as a case study.

This is a critical analysis and students must avoid merely describing the palm oil debate. There needs to be a broader debate and analysis of the ethical theories applied in decision making.

2. Discuss to what extent companies need to listen to their stakeholders when it comes to decision making.