Unit 37 – Business Ethics
Task 2c – Evaluate the impact of McDonalds ethical behaviours and changes suggested on
stakeholders and the business.
Sending liter pickers into the local area:
One advantage with sending workers to clean liter in a certain vicinity to the store is that removing
the liter will help improve the quality of life for the community, as well as showing to local people
and pressure groups that McDonalds have identied what problems they have caused and are trying
to help to ind a way to improve this. One reason they chose to do this is that as a business,
McDonalds liter makes up more than 20% of the total amount of liter found on UK streets,
meaning one in ive pieces of liter are from McDonalds. Pressure groups such as Keep Britain Tidy
agree that McDonalds as a company has responsibility to do this, and agree that the liter picking
they do is enough to keep Britain majorly liter free. The government and councils will also be
pleased with this due to them having to pay less to tdy a smaller amount of waste. However, some
stakeholders related more towards the business side of McDonalds such as the shareholders or the
workers may have negatve feelings towards this. This is because the shareholders will have less
money due to the increased costs of the waste pickers, and the workers may have negatve feelings
due to them having to collect the liter, without this being explicit in their contracts.
Overall, I think sending liter pickers into the local area is a good thing and will improve the wellbeing
and the social standards of the community, as well as having the possibility to increase the share
worth by making the company more ethical.
On-site waste management:
McDonalds have introduced incinerators on site to dispose of waste, helping to reduce landill and
polluton as there is less waste to be transported to landill as well as the possibility of the
incinerator being used to possibly heat the store or provide electricity.
One advantage of this is that the ashes produced by the burning of the ashes are lighter and more
compact than that of the raw waste, meaning that many stakeholders will ind this an advantage.
The local councils and the government will have a positve reacton due to them having less landill
to dispose of, as well as less diesel being used to transport them resultng in less emissions being
released. The reducton in greenhouse gasses and miles travelled by the vehicles will also beneit the
shareholders as the price of shares would likely increase due to the higher yearly revenue from the
reduced fuel costs. This will also afect the directors in the same way as they will gain a bonus from
the proits over the year previously. Pressure groups also feel positvely towards this due to less
waste being disposed into landill and less emissions being released through the transportaton of
the ashes. However, they will have mixed reactons as some of that burnt may have been recyclable,
and unnecessary emissions were released, as well as the burnt goods making the local area smell, if
burnt incorrectly. These disadvantages may also afect the local community, consistng of the
employees, managers and the customers, this is due to the possible smell that could be given of if
the equipment is used incorrectly.
Task 2c – Evaluate the impact of McDonalds ethical behaviours and changes suggested on
stakeholders and the business.
Sending liter pickers into the local area:
One advantage with sending workers to clean liter in a certain vicinity to the store is that removing
the liter will help improve the quality of life for the community, as well as showing to local people
and pressure groups that McDonalds have identied what problems they have caused and are trying
to help to ind a way to improve this. One reason they chose to do this is that as a business,
McDonalds liter makes up more than 20% of the total amount of liter found on UK streets,
meaning one in ive pieces of liter are from McDonalds. Pressure groups such as Keep Britain Tidy
agree that McDonalds as a company has responsibility to do this, and agree that the liter picking
they do is enough to keep Britain majorly liter free. The government and councils will also be
pleased with this due to them having to pay less to tdy a smaller amount of waste. However, some
stakeholders related more towards the business side of McDonalds such as the shareholders or the
workers may have negatve feelings towards this. This is because the shareholders will have less
money due to the increased costs of the waste pickers, and the workers may have negatve feelings
due to them having to collect the liter, without this being explicit in their contracts.
Overall, I think sending liter pickers into the local area is a good thing and will improve the wellbeing
and the social standards of the community, as well as having the possibility to increase the share
worth by making the company more ethical.
On-site waste management:
McDonalds have introduced incinerators on site to dispose of waste, helping to reduce landill and
polluton as there is less waste to be transported to landill as well as the possibility of the
incinerator being used to possibly heat the store or provide electricity.
One advantage of this is that the ashes produced by the burning of the ashes are lighter and more
compact than that of the raw waste, meaning that many stakeholders will ind this an advantage.
The local councils and the government will have a positve reacton due to them having less landill
to dispose of, as well as less diesel being used to transport them resultng in less emissions being
released. The reducton in greenhouse gasses and miles travelled by the vehicles will also beneit the
shareholders as the price of shares would likely increase due to the higher yearly revenue from the
reduced fuel costs. This will also afect the directors in the same way as they will gain a bonus from
the proits over the year previously. Pressure groups also feel positvely towards this due to less
waste being disposed into landill and less emissions being released through the transportaton of
the ashes. However, they will have mixed reactons as some of that burnt may have been recyclable,
and unnecessary emissions were released, as well as the burnt goods making the local area smell, if
burnt incorrectly. These disadvantages may also afect the local community, consistng of the
employees, managers and the customers, this is due to the possible smell that could be given of if
the equipment is used incorrectly.
