Ethical Issues, Forecasting, and Risk Marketing Assignment

Assignment #6: Option #2: Ethical Issues, Forecast, and Risk
Mary Beth Fitzpatrick-King
SMB300 – Introduction to Small Business/Entrepreneurship
Colorado State University – Global Campus
Professor Julie DuCharme
June 15, 2017
Ethical Issues, Forecasting, And Risk
In light of Santosuosso, (2013), what are the most important ethical considerations that you took away from this week of learning when it comes to budgeting for your small business?
Santosuosso (2013) offers valuable advice to small businesses especially with regards to budgeting matters. Budgeting is indeed one of the most important traditional business practices. As the owner of a business, some underlying factors can undermine one’s success in business, and Santosuosso tries his best to offer guidance as well as points of reference to people in business. In his article, he has outlined several issues which he believes are among the most important ethical considerations when it comes to budgeting matters for small businesses. Below are the elements:
* Honesty – often, people in business find themselves in debt which eventually leads to their businesses crumbling. The main reason for the above is always a lack of honesty, especially when handling the accounting books. Santosuosso advices that every business activity must be accounted for and have the numbers coincide as well. If a business is to survive in the long-term, owners must take action and ensure that they are, first of all, honest in their business.
* Decency – in his article, Santosuosso (2013) warns that budgeting often “focuses on costs rather than on value creation.” With this mindset, a business is only viewed as an entity that seeks to make profits at the expense of humanity. However, Santosuosso is against such a mentality. A business should be run on principles of kindness with goals set for mutual gain. Customers should be made to feel like a part of the business and not visitors.
* Conflicts of interest – A majority of people in business often mix their issues with business. While this may not seem like a big issue at first, it can affect a business and even lead to its closure. As the head of a business franchise, one should lead by example and make sure that nothing outside the business is amplified to the point of impacting on the activities of the business.
Consider and discuss ethical issues in the context of cash flow, the growth forecasting process, and risk management.
The growth forecasting process is often marred with a lot of issues which if left unchecked can negatively impact the day-to-day running of a business. There are indeed several ethical issues that can arise in the context...