Judith Cork Consulting

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Business ethics consulting
Building trust and boosting value for your business

I undertake business ethics consulting, strategic marketing development, marketing planning and research and analysis for clients.

You may think that business ethics and marketing are an oxymoron but marketing sits well within the area of business ethics because of its focus on customers, arguably the key stakeholder group. It tends to have the highest visibility and attract the most controversy because of the direct effect of advertising, sales promotion, pricing, market research, and PR practices on consumers.

And getting it wrong can cost money! The big power provider SSE was fined a whopping £10.5m by Ofgem because of "numerous breaches of its obligations relating to telephone, in-store and doorstep selling activities."Pricing which is opaque and difficult to understand clearly did not work for SSE.

Examples of consulting projects, in addition to the "50+ Focus" projects, include:

Savings market	Strategic analysis	Credit card
Accountancy market	Marketing planning	SME (university)
Building Society sector	NEDs attitude to risk research	University
Local authority	Professionals' attitudes to breast feeding	Research company

The case for business ethics

Apart from "doing the right thing", the key arguments for business ethics include:

• developing business reputation and legitimacy i.e. building trust
• reducing costs/risks by enhancing value creation - building relationships and opportunities with stakeholder who could otherwise threaten the viability of the organisation i.e. boosting value

For example, the John Lewis Partnership reported a profit increase of 16% for 2012 with staff (their partners) receiving bonuses of 17%, enhancing its reputation. Its sustainability report states"building strong relationships with people inside and outside our business is key to delivering our vision for sustainability and long-term success."

In contrast, the tax avoidance of Amazon, Google and Starbucks has resulted in outrage and reputational damage not only from customers (e.g. coffee sales in Starbucks slumped) but also from Margaret Hodge, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee calling for the HMRC to be "more aggressive and assertive in confronting corporation tax avoidance".

Contact me for further information about how business ethics can differentiate your business and create competitive advantage. Options include coaching, team debates, workshops and projects.