BS254 L7 Success Through Business Ethics Report Assessment Brief 2026

Learning outcomes of BS254:

1. To acquire the ability to apply ethical frameworks to improve the business decisions making process. 
2. To enhance understanding of ethical decision-making and corporate social responsibility (CSR), guided by national regulations and experts.
3. To build and develop the ability to define and align ethics and values in a business context.
4. To display an understanding of ethical issues and challenges organisations must take into consideration when developing and implementing their business strategies, decision making and operational processes.
5. To examine and analyse the moral dilemmas and problems by thinking through the economic, legal and ethical parameters of a managerial decision in a logical, structured way;

BS254 Assessment details: Individual written report, 100% (2,500 words)

Referencing: 

Students are expected to use Harvard Referencing throughout their assignments where required. Please follow the Harvard Referencing Handbook for all your assignments at the ULBS.

Submission Method: Turnitin - Your work will be put through Turnitin. All submissions will be electronically checked for similarity and the use of AI software. 

You have the option to upload your work ahead of the deadline, more than once. ULBS will be reviewing your last submission only. You can only upload one file. For example, if your work contains a word document and power point slides/Excel spreadsheet you will need to copy your slides/spreadsheet into the word document.

BS254 ULBS Assessment Office Contact Details

The ULBS Assessment Office are here to help should you have any non-academic questions related to your assessments. You can contact them at assessmentoffice@law.ac.uk

Assignment Details

Students are required to choose a FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) brand that fulfils the below criteria: 

• The brand has been involved in unethical practices between 2000 – 2025. 
• The brand can originate or operate anywhere in the world.  
• The brand can still be operating or have ceased to operate. 
• The brand is chosen after the student has verified that enough information from the prospective company and their external environment is available. 

Students can use the following sources to assist in identifying a FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) brand to focus on: 

-Global Growth Insights (2025). Top Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Companies in Global 2025. Online at: https://www.globalgrowthinsights.com/blog/fast-moving-consumer-goods-fmcg-companies-663 [Accessed 17/04/2025] 

-Consultancy.uk (2018). The 50 largest FMCG/ consumer goods companies. Online at: https://www.consultancy.uk/news/18765/the-50-largest-fmcg-consumer-goods-companies-in-the-world [Accessed 15/04/2025] 

The word limit of the individual report is 2500 words.

For guidance, suggested word count for each section has been included below:

• Front page/ Cover sheet: Basic information including name of the university, name of the masters, name of the module, Student’s identification number (marks included in Introductory section)
• Content page: Table of Contents with Headings and Sub-headings clearly stated with the page number (marks included in Introductory section)
• Introduction: Explain the nature of business ethics citing academic references (Around 100 words). Identify and introduce your chosen FMCG company that has been found to have been involved in unethical business practices and explain briefly, what these unethical business practices were (Around 250 words - 15 marks, LO3).
• Analysis 1: In the module, several normative ethical theories relevant to business were discussed.  Choose three of these theories and briefly outline their key principles. Then, evaluate the company’s behaviour in relation to each theory. Consider whether the company adhered to or violated those principles. Based on your analysis, explain why the business practices that you identified in your introduction can be considered unethical. (Around 900 words – 30 marks, LO1 and LO5).
• Analysis 2: In the module the concepts of ‘ethical decision making’ and ‘social accounting’ theories were discussed. Choose either ‘ethical decision making’ or ‘social accounting’, explain the theory and critically evaluate the company’s unethical business practices. (Around 500 words – 20 marks, LO2).  
• Analysis 3: Identify the leadership style of the leadership team of your chosen FMCG company. Explain the main principles of the leadership style, comparing and contrasting its positive and negative aspects. Analyse how the leaders responded to the unethical business practices. (Around 450 words - 15 marks, LO4).  
• Conclusions and Recommendations:  
  - Write a conclusion that summarises the key aspects of your analysis. (Around 100 words – 5 marks). 
  - Going forward, what recommendations would you give to this company so that they can become an ethical business? Identify the two most important recommendations that are derived from the analysis. Also ensure that the recommendations are justified and directly relevant to the chosen FMCG brand. Even if the chosen company ceases to operate, provide recommendations with the assumption that the brand is still operating. (Around 300 words – 15 marks)
• Reference List: Remember this section does not count in the overall word count. Follow the Harvard style of referencing for both in-text referencing (inside the report) as well as for reference list at the end. Also organise the list in alphabetical order (marks included in Introductory section).

BS254 Assessment Criteria