Stakeholder Management and Business Ethics

The Reputation Institute’s 2020 Global Trends has “Higher Purpose” as its number 1 trend. This is defined as “Companies need to deliver on a corporate brand purpose and embrace cultural values, at an emotional level that transcends the products and services they sell.” Their annual CSR survey suggests that positive influence on society and ethical behaviour remain the current strengths and immediate focus for companies.
Susan McPherson writing in Jan 2019 in Forbes suggested that companies will need to continue to invest in the issues that matter to their employees, customers, communities and investors. She highlights the growing importance placed upon transparency and standing up for company values, like: inclusion, empathy and environmental preservation, across the corporate sector.
With references to the recent studies cited above, as well as your own research, critically discuss the relationship between business ethics and reputation.
• Present your analysis in a 1500-word (+/-10% is acceptable) essay.
• Refer to a minimum of 10 academic sources (peer-reviewed journal articles and academic books)
• Additional online resources maybe cited but these should be in addition to the 10 academic sources.
• Include organisational examples to illustrate key points.
• Use Harvard referencing both in the text and in the end of text list.