The Inquiry into Ethics, Sustainability and Marketing
The ethics and sustainability project was established in March 2001 in order to investigate the links between new ethical issues such as sustainability and corporate social responsibility with the profession and practice of marketing.
The purpose of the phase one inquiry is to identify the key issues and begin to develop a common understanding about relationships between the changing nature of marketing and the influence of emerging ethical issues, both for industry and the profession.
The methodology
It was felt important to consult widely and to gather the views of both experts and practitioners across the fields of marketing, susstainability and corporate social responsibility. To ensure that the outcomes were practical rather than theoretical, the Cooperative Inquiry approach was adopted.
The Cooperative Inquiry approach is a form of 'action research'. It is concerned with ?revisioning? our understanding of the world, as well as transforming practice within it. In a cooperative inquiry group people who have similar concerns and interests work together to find creative ways of looking at things and to identify practical ways of doing things better.
For more information on the inquiry-led approach, please visit www.bath.ac.uk/carpp.
Inquiry report
The report represents the preliminary findings of an investigation that is ongoing and dynamic. Link to a PDF of the inquiry paper here.
Emergent issues
From the inquiry a number of dilemmas for marketers have been identified and these are presented in the 'Key Challenges for Marketing' fact files (see drop down menu above).