Ethical issues……………………………………………………………………………… Page 1 Legal issues……………………………………………………………………………….. Page 2 Computer Misuse Act 1990……………………………………………………….. Page 3 Data Protection Act…………………………………………………………………... Page 4 Freedom of Information Act……………………………………………………… Page 5 Human Rights Act 1998…………………………………….....………………….. Page 6 Privacy Act 1974………………………………………………………………………. Page 7 What is Whistle Blowing?............................................................ Page 8 What is Information Ownership?................................................ Page 9 Policies/Procedures……………………………………………………………….. Page 10 Security of Information…………………………………………………………. Page 11 Back – ups…………………………………………………………………………….. Page 12 Health & Safety…………………………………………………………………….. Page 13 Organisational Policies…………………………………………………………. Page 14 Business Continuance Plans…………………………………………………. Page 15 Costs……………………………………………………………………………………. Page 16
What are Ethical issues? Business ethics are moral principles that guide the way a business behaves. Acting in an ethical way involves distinguishing between “right” and “wrong” and then making the “right” choice. Ethics is a branch of philosophy which seeks to find answers about the moral concepts like bad, good, evil, right, wrong, etc. Business ethics is the study of business situations, activities, and decisions where issues of right and wrong are addressed. Ethical behaviour and corporate social responsibility can bring significant benefits to a business. For example: Attract customers to the firm's products, thereby boosting sales and profits, make employees want to stay with the business, reduce labour turnover and therefore increase productivity, attract more employees wanting to work for the business, reduce recruitment costs and enable the company to get the most talented employees and attract investors and keep the company's share price high, thereby protecting the business from takeover.
Ethical issues regarding Topshop. Topshop have faced Ethical issues regarding their involvement with sweatshops. The Arcadia Group is a privately owned company, controlled by Philip Green and his immediate family, who own 92% of the company, meaning that billionaire Philip Green is one of Britain’s richest citizens. In 2005 he entered the record books after awarding himself (and his wife Tina, who lives offshore and therefore avoids paying tax) the largest share dividend in corporate history. Topshop have received criticism as the $1.2 billion pay-out is enough to double the wages of the entire Cambodian garment workforce for eight years and end this ethical issue.
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What is a Legal issue? A legal issue is a problem that a business may face that requires legal action. For example, these problems could be discrimination and harassment cases, disgruntled employees, copyright issues and dissatisfied customers.
Legal issues regarding Topshop. A legal issue Topshop have faced in the pass is Tax Avoidance. Over the years the owners of Topshop have avoided hundreds of millions in tax through banking in different countries; this has received extreme legal criticism.
Reports of this include: The Guardian 26th February 2012 "UK Uncut has also targeted business people including Sir Philip Green, whose retail group Arcadia includes Top Shop and Miss Selfridge and who has avoided UK tax on dividends paid to himself and his wife in Monaco." The Guardian 13th August 2010
"In 2006, using figures calculated by campaigning accountant Richard Murphy, the BBC's Money Programme reported that Philip Green and his family had saved themselves nearly £300m the previous year living partly in Monaco, where residents do not have to pay income tax." The Observer 25th March 2005
"The business empire of retail billionaire Philip Green is mostly held in the name of his wife, Tina, who is resident in Monaco. Taveta Investments, the vehicle used to acquire Arcadia in 2002, paid out a hefty £460m to its owner last year. Green, who spends much of his time in Britain, would have been landed with a £150m tax bill if he owned Taveta; as it is held by his wife, a minuscule amount of tax is due."
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What is the Computer Misuse Act 1990? The Computer Misuse Act 1990 is a law passed by the British government. It was introduced to try to fight the growing threat of hackers and hacking. The law has three parts. In the U.K it is now a crime to: 1) Access a computer without permission. 2) Access a computer without permission; hoping to break another law. 3) Change, break or copy files without permission. People who break this law can be jailed for up to 6 months.
The Computer Misuse Act 1990 regarding Topshop. Like many other stores, Topshop uses computers to store all of its data and therefore has to be careful with all information stored on them. The Computer Misuse Act 1990 helps with this as it means that Topshop can take anyone to court who may illegally hack into these files.
What is the Data Protection Act? The Data Protection Act controls how your personal information is used by organisations, businesses or the government. Everyone responsible for using data has to follow strict rules called ‘data protection principles’. They must make sure the information is:
Used fairly and lawfully Used for limited, specific stated purposes Accurate Used in a way that is adequate, relevant and not excessive Kept for no longer than is absolutely necessary Handled according to the peoples data protection rights Kept safe and secure
The Data Protection Act regarding Topshop. An example where Topshop breached The Data Protection Act was when Topshop lost a high court battle against the pop star Rihanna in a ruling that cost the chain millions. The singer sued the company five million dollars for using her picture on clothing without her permission.
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What is the Freedom of Information Act? The Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides public access to information held by public authorities. It does this in two ways: 1) Public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their policies, and: 2) Member of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities. The Act covers any recorded information that is held by a public authority in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and by UK-wide public authorities based in Scotland. Information held by Scottish public authorities is covered by Scotland’s own Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Public authorities include government departments, local authorities, the NHS, state schools and police forces. However, the Act does not necessarily cover every organisation that receives public money. For example, it does not cover some charities that receive grants and certain private sector organisations that perform public functions. Recorded information includes printed documents, computer files, letters, emails, photographs, and sound or video recordings. The Act does not give people access to their own personal data (information about themselves) such as their health records or credit reference file. If a member of the public wants to see information that a public authority holds about them, they should make a subject access request under the Data Protection Act 1998.
The Freedom of Information Act regarding Topshop. As Topshop are not public but privately owned, it does not apply to them however they may use it if they feel the need to request information.
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What is the Human Rights Act 1998? The Human Rights Act is a UK law passed in 1998. It means that you can defend your rights in the UK courts and that public organisations (including the Government, the Police and local councils) must treat everyone equally, with fairness, dignity and respect. The Human Rights Act 1998 protects the following:
The right to life – protects your life, by law. The state is required to investigate suspicious deaths and deaths in custody; The prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment – you should never be tortured or treated in an inhuman or degrading way, no matter what the situation; Protection against slavery and forced labour – you should not be treated like a slave or subjected to forced labour; The right to liberty and freedom – you have the right to be free and the state can only imprison you with very good reason – for example, if you are convicted of a crime; The right to a fair trial and no punishment without law - you are innocent until proven guilty. If accused of a crime, you have the right to hear the evidence against you, in a court of law; Respect for privacy and family life and the right to marry – protects against unnecessary surveillance or intrusion into your life. You have the right to marry and raise a family; Freedom of thought, religion and belief – you can believe what you like and practise your religion or beliefs; Free speech and peaceful protest – you have a right to speak freely and join with others peacefully, to express your views; No discrimination – everyone’s rights are equal. You should not be treated unfairly – because, for example, of your gender, race, sexuality, religion or age; Protection of property, the right to an education and the right to free elections – protects against state interference with your possessions; means that no child can be denied an education and that elections must be free and fair
The Human Rights Act 1998 and Topshop. Like all members of society, the employees or Topshop have Human Rights which the business have to stick by no matter what may benefit the business more.
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What is the Privacy Act 1974? The Privacy Act was passed in 1974 to establish controls over what personal information is collected, maintained, used and disseminated by agencies in the executive branch of the government. The Privacy Act only applies to records that are located in a “system of record. As defined in the Privacy Act, a system of records is “a group of any records under the control of any agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual.”
Privacy Act 1974 regarding Topshop The privacy act concerns Topshop as they often hold records of the public’s information, such as emails and phone numbers. If this information would be hacked into then the act would have been broken and legal proceedings would have to follow which could lead to bad publicity for Topshop.
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What is Whistleblowing? Whistleblowing is officially defined as “making a disclosure that is in the public interest�. It will usually occur when an employee discloses to a public body, usually the police or a regulatory commission that their employer is partaking in unlawful practices. Whistleblowing is to be encouraged as it is an efficient and effective way of curbing unlawful practices. As a result there is significant legislation in place to protect whistleblowers.
Whistleblowing concerning Topshop. Whistle blowing effects Topshop as if any illegal activity is whistle blowed, the entire Arcadia brand could be easily sued and lose out on a lot of money.
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What is information Ownership? Information ownership is primarily a data governance process that details an organization's legal ownership of enterprise-wide data. A specific organization or the data owner has the ability to create, edit, modify, share and restrict access to the data. Information ownership also defines the data owner’s ability to assign, share or surrender all of these privileges to a third party. This concept is generally implemented in medium to large enterprises with huge repositories of centralized or distributed data elements. The information owner claims the possession and copyrights to such data to ensure their control and ability to take legal action if their ownership is illegitimately breached by an internal or external entity.
Information Ownership regarding Topshop. Information Ownership affects Topshop as if any original data is copied they can then take that business to court and sue them for large amounts.
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What are policies and procedures? A set of policies are principles, rules, and guidelines formulated or adopted by an organization to reach its long-term goals and typically published in a booklet or other form that is widely accessible. Policies and procedures are designed to influence and determine all major decisions and actions, and all activities take place within the boundaries set by them. Procedures are the specific methods employed to express policies in action in day-today operations of the organization. Together, policies and procedures ensure that a point of view held by the governing body of an organization is translated into steps that result in an outcome compatible with that view.
Policies and Procedures regarding Topshop Topshop has a section on their website of policies and procedures. By making them open and clear to the public to create an honest bond of trust.
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What is security of Information? Information of Security, is the practice of defending information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, perusal, inspection, recording or destruction. It is a general term that can be used regardless of the form the data may take (e.g. electronic, physical).
Security of information regarding Topshop Security of information involves Topshop as many companies actually hire individuals with high level computer skills to make sure security online isn’t breached. All information that Topshop keeps has to be kept confidential and can’t be seen by just anyone and if done can lead to negative and complicated legal proceedings.
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What are Back – Ups? Back-up is the activity of copying files or databases so that they will be preserved in case of equipment failure or other catastrophe. Backup is usually a routine part of the operation of large businesses with mainframes as well as the administrators of smaller business computers. For personal computer users, backup is also necessary but often neglected. The retrieval of files you backed up is called restoring them.
Back – Ups regarding Topshop Back-Ups concern Topshop as a business that holds many individuals’ data online and runs part of the business online. All files must be backed up on several levels; Topshop hires skilled individuals to make sure this task is completed. This is important as in the case of large numbers of people all using Topshop online services, the system could crash and needs a safety net in case this happens.
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What is Health and Safety? Organized efforts and procedures for identifying workplace hazards and reducing accidents and exposure to harmful situations and substances. It also includes training of personnel in accident prevention, accident response, emergency preparedness, and use of protective clothing and equipment.
Health and Safety regarding Topshop Topshop, being part of the Arcadia group has the same heathy and safety beliefs as others stores such as BHS. The website states: “The health and safety of our employees, contractors and customers remains a priority. We constantly investigate and review risk and respond appropriately. This year we have completed one of our key objectives and all the others have made good progress. We have circulated the new ‘Consequences’ training DVD on health and safety compliance to stores. All new starters and those undertaking a six-monthly refresher will see it. We have successfully delivered the health and safety masterclass for store management teams ahead of retail modernization projects and we need to continue to drive awareness of it. A new compliance app on in-store tablets was trialed in a TOPSHOP flagship store. Its success has seen it rolled out to the US stores for further trial and review. We envisage it being adopted by larger TOPSHOP stores and flagship stores across our other brands. The health and safety ‘smart’ manual continues to be reviewed with risk assessments updated to make them easier for staff to understand and complete. Work is on-going to complete this review. The new fire safety manual will start to be introduced before the end of this reporting year and will continue into 2014/15. Accidents in our stores are down by 7%, continuing last year’s trend of 13% reduction due to on-going and new initiatives to reduce risks. We have delivered two major campaigns this year to target awareness of and find responses to the biggest causes of accidents in our stores. Our Slips and Trips activity has mainly focused on BHS, due to the relatively higher proportions of such incidents in those stores. We have considered escalator speeds, our cleaning regime, training, informative posters, the introduction of spill kits and a review of problematic fixtures. Meanwhile, our Struck by Falling Objects campaign is ongoing and looks at all brands. We established a Health and Safety Steering Group in January of this year with meetings held bi-monthly. Discussions to date have included risk assessments, documentation, key accidents/incidents and safety campaigns.We have continued to keep health and safety on the stores’ agenda by providing our monthly newsletter, each with its own focus such as manual handling or use of ladders. We are optimistic that this enhanced communication and the on-going reduction in the number of accidents are not unrelated. Our major focus for 2014/15 and beyond will be the introduction of a three-year rolling improvement plan for health and safety. We envisage a ‘rolling refresh’ with around a third of our KPIs updated each year. Areas of focus include store development where our teams will need to be reminded of their responsibilities under the Construction Design and Management (CDM) Regulations. We are planning training for designers. We intend to conduct a review of Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) to ensure we are meeting our targets with regard to required legal inspections. Further training will form part of this picture. This year 350 retail team members from BHS have participated in trainthe-trainer sessions and we plan to roll this out to TOPSHOP in 2014/15.” Page 13
What are Organisational Policies? Organisational Policies is course or method of action selected, usually by an organisation, institution, university, society, etc., from among alternatives to guide and determine present and future decisions and positions on matters of public interest or social concern.
Organisational Policies regarding Topshop Topshop keeps all of their policies online for all the public to see:
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What is Business Continuance Planning? The creation of a strategy through the recognition of threats and risks facing a company, with an eye to ensure that personnel and assets are protected and able to function in the event of a disaster. Business continuity planning (BCP) involves defining potential risks, determining how those risks will affect operations, implementing safeguards and procedures designed to mitigate those risks, testing those procedures to ensure that they work, and periodically reviewing the process to make sure that it is up to date.
Business Continuance Planning and Topshop Business Continuance Planning involves Topshop as its part of the Arcadia group meaning that how the stores runs and what profit it produces can affect the Arcadia brand as a whole. If Topshop was to crash and close down for some reason they would have to rely on other shops to keep the company running and financially stable.
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What are Costs? In business and accounting, cost is the monetary value that a company has spent in order to produce something. Cost denotes the amount of money that a company spends on the creation or production of goods or services.
Costs regarding Topshop Costs effect Topshop as each year they look to gain extra profit (bring in more than what they’ve taken out on costs for things such as supply. Figures of the Arcadia website state; “Financial highlights:
Headline cash generation of £328.1m (last year £316.7m). Total Group operating profit before goodwill and exceptional items of £251.6m (last year £238.4m). Total sales of £2,069.3m (last year £2,032.9m). o Underlying UK retail LFL sales were down -0.9% v last year o Total LFL sales were down -0.7% v last year o Total worldwide digital sales were up +23.9% v last year Continued investment in the business with capital expenditure of £118.1m (last year £101.8m). Year End net cash deposits of £229.1m compared to £199.8m last year.”
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Bibliography: https://www.arcadiagroup.co.uk/press-relations/press-releases-1/arcadia-group-financial-results2014-2015 https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=business+costs&safe=active&rls=com.microsoft:en-gb:IEAddress&biw=1280&bih=930&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjTqKvBnaTKAhXJnBoKH b-CDsUQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=p76-4r9zbt_J8M%3A https://www.topshop.com/files/tscodeofconduct.pdf http://www.businessdictionary.com/ https://www.topshop.com/?geoip=home https://www.gov.uk/