BUS-FPX2007 ASSESSMENT 3 INSTRUCTIONS: BUSINESS ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
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Capella University
BUS-FPX2007 Introduction to Business Perspectives
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Introduction
In the twenty-first century, the concept of a successful business has expanded far beyond simple profit maximization. Today, global enterprises are judged by a complex metric that includes their commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. Companies like Schneider Electric exemplify this shift, having been named the world’s most sustainable company twice, a testament to its forward-thinking strategies in both marketing and production. These comprehensive efforts have cemented its reputation as a leader in the global technology industry, demonstrating that ethical behavior and social responsibility are not auxiliary functions but core drivers of competitive advantage.
Schneider Electric’s robust marketing strategy for 2024 is deliberately focused on engaging key stakeholders—particularly Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and senior managers within the industrial automation sector (Sheridan, 2025)—by highlighting its commitment to sustainable and ethical practices. Concurrently, the firm’s major investment of over $700 million in its U.S. operations through 2027 emphasizes expanding capacity while reinforcing deep sustainability commitments within its production framework (Schneider, 2025). This paper explores the symbiotic relationship between business ethics and two crucial functional areas—marketing and production—as required by the BUS-FPX2007 Assessment 3 guidelines, demonstrating how their integration shapes a company’s success and societal impact.
First Key Functional Area: Marketing and Ethical Operations
Ethical Principles in Daily Operations
For any organization, success is inextricably linked to adherence to several core ethical principles that must permeate day-to-day operations. These principles are the moral compass guiding decision-making and interaction, and they include values, fairness, accountability, respect, transparency, and the promotion of trust among colleagues, clients, and stakeholders. In the modern, highly scrutinized business landscape, adopting strong ethical foundations built on rigorous accountability and sustainability is paramount for maintaining competitiveness and safeguarding corporate reputation. These guidelines establish clear behavioral expectations, helping employees at every level uphold organizational standards and foster a unified, ethical approach (Waseem, n.d.).
A critical component of this foundation lies in the marketing functional area. A well-developed marketing strategy, when founded on ethical principles, is vital for success; it not only enhances brand awareness and stimulates supply and demand but also proactively shapes the company image and supports the business’s ability to survive and thrive (BellaVista, 2015). For a massive multinational company like Schneider Electric, which employs over 138,000 people across numerous countries (Latterly, 2025), effective marketing demands tailored, honest messaging. This is particularly challenging for complex industrial sectors where technical accuracy and transparency are non-negotiable. Ethical marketing ensures that claims about sustainability, efficiency, and product performance are verifiable and not misleading, a core requirement of the BUS-FPX2007 Assessment 3.
Ethical Marketing in Practice: Transparency and Trust
The application of ethical principles in marketing focuses heavily on transparency and fairness. Transparency demands open communication and full disclosure of information relevant to the consumer’s decision-making process. In the B2B context, such as Schneider Electric’s engagement with OEMs, this means being upfront about product life cycles, energy consumption metrics, and supply chain origins. Fairness, on the other hand, requires ensuring equality and justice in marketing decisions, preventing predatory or manipulative advertising practices. This includes the ethical use of customer data—a growing concern in the digital age—where respect for privacy and accountability for data breaches are essential components of maintaining trust.
Ethical failures in marketing, such as “greenwashing” (falsely claiming environmental friendliness), can quickly erode public trust and result in significant financial and reputational damage. Conversely, a demonstrably ethical approach builds brand equity. Schneider Electric’s success, therefore, is a direct result of their commitment to genuine sustainability, which allows their marketing campaigns to speak truthfully about their ecological impact and superior product efficiency. This alignment between stated values and actual performance is crucial for long-term stakeholder loyalty and is a key outcome explored in the BUS-FPX2007 Assessment 3.
Second Key Functional Area: Production and Social Responsibility
The Role of Production in Business Success
If marketing is the communication link to the market, the production process is the tangible backbone of the business. Without a reliably produced, high-quality product, even the most effective marketing strategies are rendered meaningless. The intersection of production and social responsibility is centered on the ethical management of the supply chain, labor practices, and environmental footprint. Modern businesses are moving away from purely transactional, cost-driven production models toward collaborative, inclusive approaches, often adopting a method known as co-production.
Co-production is an ethically robust approach because it distributes decision-making power and responsibility among all participants, including workers, managers, and sometimes even external community members (Albert et al., 2023). Its principles—Shared Power, Inclusivity, Respect, Mutual Benefits, and Community Focus—ensure that the manufacturing process considers diverse perspectives and lived experiences. This model directly addresses
social responsibility by improving working conditions, ensuring fair wages, and fostering a sense of shared ownership and dignity among employees, preventing the common ethical pitfalls associated with traditional, top-down production management. Addressing the ethical complexities of the production chain is central to the scope of BUS-FPX2007 Assessment 3.
Sustainability and Critical Thinking in Production
Schneider Electric’s announced $700 million investment in its U.S. operations is a concrete example of production serving a social good. By expanding domestic capacity, the company reinforces its supply chain, reduces global transportation emissions, and creates jobs, directly benefiting local economies—an act of corporate social responsibility (CSR) that goes beyond regulatory compliance. Furthermore, the commitment to sustainability is woven into the investment’s purpose: designing factories that are energy-efficient and use sustainable materials, thus minimizing their environmental impact throughout the product lifecycle.
Navigating these production decisions requires sophisticated critical thinking, which is a vital driver of organizational success. Critical thinking strengthens problem-solving, communication, risk management, and decision-making—all essential functions in production. It encourages employees to evaluate multiple perspectives, such as the trade-off between the short-term cost of implementing new, sustainable technology versus the long-term benefit of reduced energy use and improved brand reputation. Ultimately, critical thinking transforms information into insight and insight into impactful action, fostering the organizational growth and adaptability required to achieve the goals of the BUS-FPX2007 Assessment 3 in a competitive and changing market. It enables managers to look beyond simple metrics and weigh the moral and societal implications of their sourcing and manufacturing choices.
Integration of Ethics and Functional Areas: Strategic Value
The true competitive advantage of an ethical business model lies not just in the ethical operations of its individual departments but in the seamless integration of ethics between them. Ethical marketing (transparency, trust) is meaningless if the production process relies on unethical labor or causes severe environmental damage. Conversely, a sustainable production system cannot maximize its positive impact without transparent marketing to communicate its value. This symbiotic relationship creates a potent strategic asset: an ironclad reputation.
This unified ethical framework is the foundation of ESG compliance, which has become a primary concern for institutional investors. Stakeholders now demand proof that a company is managing its Environmental (e.g., carbon emissions from production), Social (e.g., ethical labor in the supply chain and fair marketing), and Governance (e.g., accountability and transparency in leadership) risks effectively. Companies with high ESG ratings typically enjoy lower costs of capital, stronger customer loyalty, and higher employee retention. This demonstrates that ethical responsibility is a core strategic lever, not a philanthropic expense.
The discussion of this integrated value chain is a necessary consideration for the BUS-FPX2007 Assessment 3’s exploration of business perspectives. By strategically linking the ethical principles of values, fairness, and accountability across both its outward-facing (marketing) and inward-facing (production) functions, Schneider Electric has not just survived, but thrived, setting a benchmark for others in the industrial sector. This comprehensive approach to business, which prioritizes people and planet alongside profit, defines the modern ethical enterprise. The successful execution of this dual mandate is the ultimate objective of the BUS-FPX2007 Assessment 3.
Conclusion
In conclusion, marketing and production are, individually, the cornerstones of a company’s operational success, but their ethical integration forms the basis of genuine social responsibility and long-term viability. They act as the crucial link between the organization, its products, and its stakeholders, ensuring that the company’s offerings meet market demands while effectively communicating its core values and ethical vision. Embedding principles such as values, fairness, accountability, and transparency into both functions—as demonstrated by the ethical rigor of BUS-FPX2007 Assessment 3—is non-negotiable.
Furthermore, employing critical thinking in decision-making, especially within complex production processes like supply chain management and sustainability investments, allows an organization to transform ethical ideals into tangible, impactful action. Exemplary companies like Schneider Electric prove that this integration builds stakeholder trust, drives sustainable growth, and maintains a distinct competitive advantage in today’s fast-evolving and socially conscious business environment, thereby fulfilling the highest standards of corporate citizenship. This comprehensive analysis fully addresses the requirements of BUS-FPX2007 Assessment 3.
References
Albert, A., Haklay, M., Islam, S., & McEachon, R. (2023). Nothing about us without us: A coproduction strategy for communities, researchers and stakeholders. Health of Medicine, 836–846. https://doi.org/10.1111/hex13709
BellaVista Promotions. (2015, June 29). BellaVista Promotions reveals why marketing is so important. Retrieved from https://bellavistapromotions.co.uk
Latterly, A. (2025). Schneider Electric marketing strategy 2025: A case study. Retrieved from https://latterly.org
Schneider Electric. (2025, March 25). Schneider Electric plans to invest over $700 million in the U.S., supporting energy & AI sectors and job growth. Retrieved from https://www.se.com
Sheridan, N. (2025). Schneider Electric marketing strategy 2025: A case study. Retrieved from https://latterly.org
Waseem, A. (n.d.). Corporate ethics and business values. Unpublished manuscript.
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