Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject Business economics – Business Ethics, Corporate Ethics, grade: 1, 00, University of Abertay Dundee (Business Department), course: Managing Organisations, language: English, abstract: A few years ago Shell, a British oil-company, had to close an old oil-rig in the North Sea. All relevant scientists and governments agreed pulling it down into the sea would be best in terms of environment and costs. But when the idea was launched by Shells managers there was a lot of protest all over Europe. People, heavily supported by Greenpeace, started to boycott Shells petrol stations and stopped buying in their shops. As a result the company decided to rebuild the oil-rig on land accepting several negative consequences.

This essay therefore aims by way of the examples of Shell and others to become more familiar with the issue of practical business ethics and it gives details about its routes and meanings. Also, the reasons for implementing ethical action into daily business are explained more detailed and questions of why the management has to behave socially responsible are tackled. Thoughts are spend on “How could ethical behaviour be introduced into the business world?” and ‘social responsibility’ is divided into three main strands and directions. And finally, some practical advice for future behaviour is give, too.