Woolworths and Coles dominate the food grocery market in Australia. Both these organisations have come in for what might be described as their share of criticism. A number of practices have been described as predatory in the past by the ACCC, however the previous chairman defended both these organisations from the onslaught of negative publicity from commentators and consumer groups alike.

Required:-

Choose one of the organisations and examine their commercial practices in light of ethical behavioural theory you have learnt in this session so far.

Write a paper of no more than three typed pages* addressing the following task:-

1. Examine the role of the ACCC is this issue and whether is appropriate for them to adopt the role they have in this debate. Justify your position.

2. Make recommendations for the organisation in terms of an ethics policy based on your findings. You will need to investigate subsequent practices to adequately address this question.

3. In your answer, you need to show evidence of appropriate research into the organisation's practices and wider reading of corporate ethical behaviour.Your focus will be on the first 3 weeks of this course, though higher level responses will demonstrate critical evaluation incorporating broader concepts

4. Harvard Referencing must be used.

Due: Week 4 at the commencement of you allocated class.

Post your response on Moodle at the indicated link

* 2.5cm margins, left, right, top and bottom 12pt Arial or Times Roman Font
1.5 line spacing

SOME KEY CONCEPTS TO EXPLORE

The following concepts are provided to assist you in developing your response to this task. The list is not intended to be extensive but to rather get you started.

• -Price Gouging

• -Predatory Pricing

• -Geographic Price Discrimination

• -Undue Influence on Suppliers

• -Uncompetitive Behaviour

• -Discounted Petrol - Effect on Competition (Recent Development)

• -Cross Promotion of Liquor and Fuel

• -Loss Leading Pricing

• -Obligation to stakeholders (who are they-)