...conceived to include the transaction of goods and services at the individual, corporate, and international level of exchange. PRIMARY ETHICAL CONSTRUCTS 1.The Question of Generality: Can the rules of right conduct that apply to individuals be generalized to collective entities, such as corporations? 2. The Question of Responsibility: Can a corporation have moral responsibility? If so, how is responsibility to be diffused and distributed throughout the corporate hierarchical structure? 3. The Question of Liability: Provided that corporations can be meaningfully said to be morally responsible, must their liability necessarily be proportional to their responsibility? 4. The Question of Allegiance: Do the commonly accepted personal virtues of loyalty, commitment, and devotion have a place in the employer/ employee dichotomy? Does a corporation have an obligation to provide for a worker based purely upon that worker’s loyalty to the corporation over many years – even if the continued employment of the worker is counter-productive? ETHICAL CONCEPTS IN BUSINESS 1. Conflict of Interest: A state of affairs is said to constitute a conflict of interests – or potential thereof – in a set of circumstances where the individual has the capacity to influence decisions that promote their self-interest but may have a detrimental impact upon the organization they belong to, or the well-being of some other group. Crucial to a charge of a conflict of interest is the reasonable...
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...My View of Business Ethics Summary Paper of My ‘Ethical Position’ From My Experience, Knowledge And What I Have Gleaned From The Business Ethics Class. ABSTRACT The ability to recognize and deal with complex business ethics issues has become a significant priority in twenty-first century companies. In recent years, a number of well publicized scandals resulted in public outrage about deception and fraud in business and a demand for improved business ethics and greater corporate responsibility. The publicity and debate surrounding highly visible legal and ethical lapses at a number of well known firms, including AIG, Countrywide Financial and Fannie Mae, highlight the need for businesses to integrate ethics and responsibility into all business decisions. The field of business ethics deals with questions about whether specific business practices are acceptable. For example, should a salesperson omit facts about a product’s poor safety records in sales presentation to a client? Should an accountant report inaccuracies that he or she discovered in an audit of a client, knowing the auditing company will probably be fired by the client for doing so? Should an automobile tire manufacturer intentionally conceal safety concerns to avoid a massive and costly tire recall? Regardless of their legality, others will certainly judge the actions taken in such situations as right or wrong, ethical or unethical. By this very nature, the field of business ethics is controversial...
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...corporation of Dollar Tree is the primary focus of this essay. Some points that will be addressed are external social pressures, organizational issues and the relevance of organizational and personal decision making, and finally the relationship between legal and ethical issues. External Social Pressures The fundamental role of external social pressures are based on social influence. Social influence basically means that an individual’s actions, reactions, and thoughts are influenced by communities or groups. This will include peer pressure, persuasion, marketing, sales, and conformity. (Business dictionary.com, 2015) External social pressure is a very important aspect when it comes to business ethics in particular small businesses in small communities. There are many social expectations in which businesses needs to pay attention to. These expectations are in the areas of community involvement and the responsibility to the environment. “The information age has contributed significantly to this increased importance of social pressure as word spreads quickly when companies fail to adhere to social standards” (Small Business.chron.com, 2015). The influencing of external social pressures in organizational ethics can be positive or have a...
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...Business Ethics UGB 210 |Content |Page number | |Executive Summary |3 | |Introduction |4 | |Main Ethical Dilemmas |5 - 7 | |Dealing with Ethical Issues |8 - 10 | |Walmart ASDA Best Practice |11- 12 | |Recommendations and conclusion |13 | |Reference |14 | Executive Summary This report will outline the ethical challenges faced by Walmart Asda. It will include the previous accusations made against the company and a list of the main ethical dilemmas. The report will then develop into covering the elements that ASDA are implementing in order to overcome its main...
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...Lobaton has a definition and states that the"standard definitions of ethics have typically included such phrases as 'the science of the ideal human character' or 'the science of moral duty”. WhereasRichard William Paul and Linda Elder define ethics as "a set of concepts and principles that guide us in determining what behavior helps or harms sentient creatures". Deducing from the line defined by several parties to develop the concept we can come up with a definition for business ethics, it can be defined the yard sticks, criteria and standards that guide behavior in the world ofbusiness. Ethics forms an integral part of day-to-day business transaction, this is because the business transactions are handy in every society and this form the backbone of mutual interdependence and survival. Ethical values and legal principles are usually closely related, Ethics is different from law because it involves no formal sanctions. In some cases, the law mandates unethical conducts and they are not punishable but the state. Unethical behavior or a lack of corporate social responsibility, by comparison, may damage a firm's reputation and make it less appealing to stakeholders.Whenever the topic of business ethics is introduced we can almost always think of the positive side of the topic, e.g. how it will build trust and increase the consumers to the business and even the good-will it will earn. However, there have been some controversial disadvantages associated with the topic such as the...
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...Business Ethics in the Workplace Jamie J. Lear MT3250 – Organizational Behavior Dr. Carl W. Proehl, Jr. November 10, 2013 Abstract Work ethics is a group of moral principles, standards of behavior or set of values regarding proper conduct in the workplace. This is something organizations need to focus on in order for them to succeed and strive to remain on top while the competition in the marketplace is so high. Ensuring your employees know and practice work ethics is important so employees remain loyal to the organization as well as knowing when and how to report an incident no matter how big or small. Companies should always have this information available and periodically have training in this area to keep current with the times and create an environment where employees feel they can talk to their supervisors or managers without fear of retaliation or retribution. In this paper, I will discuss in detail what work ethics are and what organizations can do to help this process. Businesses and corporations that stand and uphold ethics in the workplace tend to show more productivity and less job turnover than companies that don’t support ethics in the workplace. The need for this is essential. In a market where competition runs rampid, companies that practice dirty ethics and customer distrust are on the rise, a company that has integrity and shows promise is the companies that customers tend to favor...
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...The corporate world is one of great prestige, earning potential, and recognition, but it can also be a world in which corruption, mismanagement, and failure can lead to devastating consequences, ending careers and tarnishing reputations. The AccuForm case study reflects the complex nature of business and its relationship to ethical dilemmas, corporate culture, and managerial competence and responsibility. With a variance in personalities, motives, and expectations companies such as AccuForm struggle to maintain an environment in which integrity is upheld and not usurped by individual greed or contradictory values. This case study illustrates the challenges within businesses and confirms the need for organizations to seriously and meticulously evaluate company policies and systems, clearly define managerial goals and expectations, and assist in the edification of the entire workforce. To understand the implications of this case, one must analyze the organization’s partnerships. Undoubtedly, the partnership between AccuForm and CreaseFree created a monumental challenge that clearly reflects how systems and culture can be a detriment to the productivity of a company. Entering into a joint venture was a very costly decision for AccuForm. The immediate challenge faced by the company was the obvious dichotomy of the business practices and belief systems of the organizations. This challenge was most significant because it was the basis for all of the ignoble actions that would soon...
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...Business Ethics is Essential for the Modern Corporation In order to build a harmonious society, an individual should restrict his or her behavior by a certain moral standard. Similarly, ethics is extremely crucial in the business field. Basically, business ethics are ethical judgments related to what is right or wrong in business practice (Joseph, 2013). Specifically, a corporation should consider the influence of their operation in a society because the decision of a corporation to act ethically or unethically will influence the whole society positively or negatively. There is no doubt that pursuing maximized profits is a constant goal for every company. However, seeking the most profit should not be the only goal for business; benefiting society should also be considered. In other words, a company should have the awareness of a certain social responsibility to regulate its behavior which might endanger the public good and promote the development of society. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) refers to the ethical responsibilities of a modern corporation with its positive impacts on the environment, customers, employees, communities and society are considered a guiding principle for a sustainable and moral company in a market (Kotler & Keller, 2009). Indeed, the importance of CSR has been noticed by an increasing number of companies. Generally, working as a moral business can enable companies to attract and maintain customers, employees and investors. In the long term...
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... encompassing right conduct and good life. It is significantly broader than the common conception of analyzing right and wrong. A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or life that is simply satisfying, which is held by many philosophers to be more important than moral conduct. Simply put, ethics involves learning what is right or wrong, and then doing the right thing -- but "the right thing" is not nearly as straightforward as conveyed in a great deal of business ethics literature. Most ethical dilemmas in the workplace are not simply a matter of "Should Bob steal from Jack?" or "Should Jack lie to his boss?" (Many ethicists assert there's always a right thing to do based on moral principle, and others believe the right thing to do depends on the situation -- ultimately it's up to the individual.) Many philosophers consider ethics to be the "science of conduct." Philosophers have been discussing ethics for at least 2500 years, since the time of Socrates and Plato. Many ethicists consider emerging ethical beliefs to be "state of the art" legal matters, i.e., what becomes an ethical guideline today is often translated to a law, regulation or rule tomorrow. Values which guide how we ought to behave are considered moral values, e.g., values such as respect, honesty, fairness, responsibility, etc. Statements around how these values are applied are sometimes called moral or ethical principles. THREE TYPES OF ETHICS Descriptive Ethics: Descriptive ethics...
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...The Concept of Ethics and Values 1 2.1. Values 1 2.2. Ethics 1 2.3. Role of Leadership in Organizational Ethics and Values formation 1 2.3.1 Moral Spill-over Effect 1 2.4. Organisational Ethics 1 2.4.1 Basic Elements of Organizational Ethics 1 3 Motivation theories for building ethical organisations 1 3.1 Stakeholder Theory 1 3.2 Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation 1 3.3 Incentive Theory 1 3.3.1 Reinforcements in Incentive Theory 1 3.4 Operant Conditioning Theory 1 3.4.1 Modifying Operant Behaviour: Reinforcements and Punishments 1 3.4.2 Operant conditioning for changing human behaviour 1 4 Industry Practices 1 5 Values & Ethics: A Cross-Cultural Perspective 1 5.1 Considerations for Evaluating Values of another Culture 1 5.2 Comparison of business cultures between China and USA 1 6 Case Analysis 1 6.1 NAICOM may sanction operators on unethical practices in insurance 1 6.2 Unethical and unauthorized medical practice - an alarming situation 1 6.3 Analysis and Recommendations 1 7 Conclusions 1 8 References 1 1. Background We end up in a century loaded with corporate embarrassments because of untrustworthy practices of corporate administrators over the globe. Outrages, for example, that of Enron, WorldCom,...
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...an article written by Hellen O’ Sullivan, the Director of Scientific Methods Australia. The article entitled “Business ethics are set to stage a comeback” was published on the 75th page of The Australian Financial Review on the 6th February 1990. 2. Literature Review Basically, the article discussed several important issues about business ethics. One of the most prominent was the remark she made about business ethics making a comeback. The conclusion was made upon the fact that business ethics are becoming more and more popular among business practitioners as the era of ‘Me-generation’, and its obsession with greed and profit at any cost draws to a close. Besides that, another notable issue addressed was the positive correlation between business ethics and corporate performance. She suggested that recent corporate failures resulted from a singularly motivated strategy of making profits. She also noted that the 1990’s avalanche of corporate collapse could be all attributed directly or indirectly to the decline in business ethics. The third issue raised was the role of managers or business leaders to actually uphold business ethics. She suggested that the formulation of a sound ethical code of practice should be a part of every company’s strategy and that it is the first responsibility of every business leadership. 3. Procedures I have made a research regarding the issues identified in the literature mainly through a computer-assisted research service...
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...the world’s largest retailer, has gone green. Since 2005 it has worked to plan and execute a sustainability strategy that includes using renewable energy sources, reducing its waste, and selling sustainable products. A packaging scorecard helps Walmart’s 60,000 suppliers learn about Walmart’s expectations and guides the firm in making its purchasing decisions. The company has built energy-efficient stores and retrofitted others, and it offers reusable shopping bags made of recycled materials. Although Walmart doesn’t disclose financial details on the green initiative, it says the program is already saving money and resources, and it projects billions in savings over time.1 Ethics and Corporate Responsibility Hear the True Story of how today’s managers do the right thing. Listen to what Derrick and Elaine have to say. “Ethics are crucial in the property management business. We are obligated to abide by fair housing laws in our dayto-day operations. Not only do we have an obligation as a company but also a social obligation to make sure our vendors and contractors are aware of these practices.” “The very nature and mission of my project is that of social responsibility. We are trying to do our part to help out developing countries in a way that an agricultural library is best equipped to do. Good workplace ethics translates into a better product for our subscribers. The better I and my employees perform, the better our product and the most useful it...
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...Ethics in Advertising Abstract Business is about selling something whether that be a service or a product. Advertising that service or product has to be done to get the word out that the service or product is available but at the same time nobody wants their competition to be stronger. Can advertising be done ethically? Advertising applies to anyone that makes purchases and uses products or services. Advertisements are used to capture consumers’ attention and make them want to purchase their products, use their service, or interpret a specific message. Commercial advertising is the means for many corporations to spread the word about their products or services. It is currently the most effective means of getting a message across to a large audience across the world, and advertising aids the link between the actual production of a good or service and its consumption by consumers. Because of the significance of advertising, the average person is exposed to up to 5,000 ad messages per day. (Chan & Shenoy 2009). Advertising is constantly reminding consumers of their brands and the message that they are trying to portray. Any form of space, even the walls in public toilet cubicles, has the potential to be used for advertising. This is especially pertinent coupled with the use of the Internet, making advertisements all the more accessible (illustrated by video-sharing websites like YouTube); regardless of which part in the world the advertisement...
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...responsibility (CSR) can be defined as the way businesses integrate social, environmental and economic concerns into their corporate values, culture, decision making, strategy and operations in a transparent and accountable manner. The result of this approach is that these businesses often establish better practices within their operation, create wealth and improve society (Nickels, 2009). In the past, businesses principally concerned themselves with winning in the marketplace and little else as they believed this was their sole role. Economists had been quoted as declaring that the only responsibility of any business is to make money and please its shareholders. Economists may view companies who practice in CSR as wasting resources and money that should be used in making more profits for their shareholders CSR is no longer defined by how much money a company contributes to charity, but by its overall involvement in activities that improve the quality of people’s lives. Corporate responsibility has come up as an important subject matter in the international business community and is increasingly becoming a conventional activity. There is mounting recognition of the significant effect the activities of the private sector have on numerous stakeholders like; their workforce and clientele, the society, the environment, competitors, business associates, investors, shareholders, governments and others. It is also becoming increasingly clear that organizations can contribute to their...
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...Q 1: Discuss and analyze the ethical issues reflected in the case. The case is about British American Tobacco (BAT), London-based tobacco firm, which is involved in doing unethical activities and hence breaking their marketing code in Africa. BBC had investigated and found BAT is trying to attract more young African buyers of its product by adjusting marketing strategy to meet young people's needs. They are actually promoting and selling cigarettes in form of “single sticks”, which is attractive to young people of poor African countries like Nigeria, Malawi and Mauritius, who cannot afford to buy a whole packet of cigarettes. Now, there is nothing wrong with marketing one's product to target an audience of possible consumers. However, in this case, BAT allegedly targeted African children as young as 11 by aggressively marketing single sticks' to them. The company also hosted events that targeted young people despite their publicly stated commitments. Now, we know that most ethical issues concerning business consumer relations refer to the ‘marketing mix’, ethical issues in product policy, marketing communications, pricing and marketing strategy. Ethical Issues in marketing management – Product Policy At the most basic level, manufacturers should exercise due care in establishing that all reasonable steps are taken to ensure that their products are free from defects and safe to use as well as effective and fit for the purpose. Cigarette may be effective as they claim...
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