Consumer as Stakeholder

PCV

Identifying Consumer
All the organizations that purchase or otherwise contract for the provision of goods and services from other organizations can be regarded as consumers. Departments within the same organization serviced in some way by other departments within the organizations are termed as Internal Customers. Hence the focus is as much on the individual consumer as the broader categories including internal and external constituencies that receive goods and services through exchange.
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Stakes of Consumers
It is commonplace to hear that businesses are best served by treating their customers well. It is one of the tenets of business strategy that organizations succeed by outperforming their competitors in providing superior value to their customers. However, though the interests of producers and consumers are closely aligned and yet ethical issues of abuses of consumers continue to hog the headlines. Drug companies accused of trying to exploit the sick and the poor, soft drink and fast food manufacturers condemned for targeting children with unhealthy , high sugar, low nutrition products, banks and credit card companies accused of putting their customers at risk of financial ruin by offering easy credit to people who are already in serious debt are incidents that raise concern.
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Consumer rights
Consumer rights rest upon the assumption that consumer dignity should be respected, and that producers have a duty to treat consumers as ends in themselves, and not only as means to the end of producers. Thus, consumer rights are inalienable entitlements to fair treatment when entering into exchanges with other parties. Consequently, protection of various consumer rights , such as safe and efficacious products and the right to truthful measurements and labeling are now enshrined in UN guidelines as well as EU regulations and national laws.(UN 2003 Guidelines for Consumer Protection( www.un.org)
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Marketing and the Consumer

Marketing management- Product policy- Product safety, Fitness for purpose. Marketing Strategy- Targeting vulnerable consumers, consumer exclusion. Marketing Communications- Deception, Misleading claims, Intrusiveness,
promotion of materialism, creation of artificial wants, perpetuating dissatisfaction, reinforcing stereotypes.

Pricing, Distribution.- BUYER-SELLER RELATIONSHIPS,GIFTS & BRIBES,

SLOTTING FEES

Market Research- Privacy Issues- right to privacy

PCV

Limits of Caveat Emptor

Changing social expectations and introduction of consumer protection laws have eroded the notion of caveatemptor over a period. Right to safe and efficacious products , and the right to truthful measurements and labeling are now enshrined in UN guidelines and EU regulations and national laws. So, it is frequently in the context of the more illdefined or questionable rights of consumers, and those that are not legally protected , that most ethical questions arise. For example, a low fat food product can trigger a debate as to what is a low fat option or alternative.
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Business Ethics Nature & Scope

Business ethics being the study of business situations, activities, and decisions where issues of right and wrong are addressed, the range of such situations and activities is immense and varied. Consequently, it is never possible to determine the exact extent of business ethics subject. The business ethics, should therefore, be seen as largely, not exclusively, where the law ends. Sustainability is a new goal now for ethics to enhance its sustainability in the context of stakeholder relations.
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Consumer Protection
In India, we have a Consumer Protection Law vide the Act of 1986. This Act operates through Consumer Protection Councils and Consumer Disputes Redressal Agencies. The consumer courts have powers to award compensation towards Redressal of consumer grievances that ranges from up to Rs.20 lakhs at District forum level to Over Rs.1 crore at National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
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Copyright Act-1957
Copyright under this law means the exclusive right subject to the provisions of this Act, to do or authorise the doing of any of the following acts in respect of a work or any substantial part thereof, namely, to Reproduce, issue copies, perform in public or communicate it to public, make any cinematographic film or sound recording in respect of the work, to make any translation of the work, to make any adaptation of the work. Copyright can be assigned to another person for a period , generally for up to 17 years unless a period of such assignment is specified otherwise.

First owner or the author has the copyright over the subject for five years (u/s 18(5) ) . PCV

Thank You !

PCV

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