...| The Role Of Ethics in Business | | | | 1/16/2014 | | In this paper I will discuss the role of business ethics as it relates to business operations and the challenges of starting and maintaining an effective business ethics program. I will begin with Jennings' (2012) definition of ethics in business and its role from his perspective. I will then make comparisons with other authors' opinions for discussion, including Peter Drucker’s (1981) take on business ethics and Carr’s (Jennings, 2012) viewpoint as well. How business ethics' role relates to the notion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and ongoing challenges will also be discussed. I will conclude with my own comments on the relationship between personal and business ethics and my thoughts on how to start and maintain company ethical standards. Business Ethics And Its Role: Definitions and Discussion The concept of being ethical in business is a mercurial topic these days; given the expansive and rapid global reach of today's multimedia, it can take mere hours for a reputable business image to get tarnished because of one ethics-related incident. In his text, Jennings' definition of business ethics is "...not the study of what is legal but of the application of ethics to business decisions. (Jennings, 2012, p.45)" Many business leaders today focus on what is legally allowed--they are aware of the legal parameters within where they can operate, and simply execute their profit-driven...
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...The Role of Ethics in Business Evolution Reconciling works of Managerial Literature, Business Ethics Writer and Catholic Social Teaching, Domènec Melé argued that a firm should be considered as a wholesome person and suggested the ethical implications of his view (Melé, 2012). The concept that a firm should be regarded as a legal person, and not just a profit seeking entity, was brought forth by the House of Lords in the (Salomon v. A. Salomon & Co. Ltd., 1897) case, paving the way for modern firms. Melé’s argument was revolutionary in that he considered the firm a wholesome person, bearing moral responsibilities for communities that it may potentially affect. This response paper aims to analyse Melé’s paper, further discuss his ideas, and finally incorporate the role of ethics in human evolution to project the possible direction of business evolution. The article started by suggesting that there are two views of the firm. The former views the firms as a nexus of contracts, implying that the firm functions as an aggregate of agreements. The latter views the firm as an aggregate of interests, adding a human element of desire to the soul-less assembly of agreements. Extending the addition of human element into the firm, Melé argued that the main constituent of a firm is social bonds, and thus, a firm should be regarded as a community. Personally, I think that the progression of arguments is well organised. Contracts stem from self-interests, and self-interests are derived...
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...Resource Management Business Ethics: The Role of Culture and Values for an Ethical Workplace FOURTH QUARTER–2009 Whether in domestic or global companies, ultimately, the commitment to business ethics and the foundation is built through organizational culture, with ethical values reflected in the workplace. Business Ethics: The Role of Culture and Values for an Ethical Workplace Abstract An ethical workplace is established through an organization’s culture, values and leadership. To promote ethical behavior, human resource professionals, people managers and senior management need to be knowledgeable about business ethics—from leadership, codes of conduct and related legislation to compliance training, ethical decisionmaking, and cultural and generational differences around ethics. Transparency, fairness and communication are key for establishing and maintaining an ethical workplace. Introduction In the business world today, issues of trust, respect, fairness, equity and transparency are gaining more attention. Business ethics includes organizational values, guidelines and codes, legal compliance, risk management, and individual and group behavior within the workplace. Effective leadership, with open dialogue and thoughtful deliberation, develops the foundation of an ethical workplace, is woven into the fabric of the organizational culture and is mirrored in ethical decision-making. Toward this end, all organizational leaders have a key role in establishing corporate...
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...From the early rise of humanity business has been one of the most important aspect for any culture or civilization, from bargaining and trade, to the industrial revolution down to our current time. And each era was dominated by a particular pattern or a way of doing business, as we evolved so did our awareness to our surrounding and how we affect it so companies and corporation all around the world started to care not purely on profit for their shareholders but how they effected the population the environment the culture as a hall, which in its turn led to what is currently known as “social economy” (1). The social economy phenomena created two types of corporation, first the social kind which are either non-profit or for profit and the goal of their corporations is to improve humanity as much as possible and to help sustain a clean and healthy environment even if this goal overlaps with the goal of making as much profit as possible. ‘Many commercial enterprises would consider themselves to have social objectives, but commitment to these objectives is motivated by the perception that such commitment will ultimately make the enterprise more financially valuable. Social enterprises differ in that, inversely, they do not aim to offer any benefit to their investors, except where they believe that doing so will ultimately further their capacity to realize their social and environmental goals’. Historically the concept of social enterprises has been around for...
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...Should Social Responsibility and Business Ethics serve a role in Corporations? NorthCentral University Abstract When you turn on the television, surf the internet or browse the Wall Street Journal the terms – business ethics and social responsibility are discussed. Recently, the Gulf coast oil spill has questioned the social responsibility of British Petroleum. However, can the terms business ethics and social responsibility apply to corporations? A review of two articles - “What is business ethics?” by P. Drucker and “The social responsibility of business to increase its profits written” by M. Friedman evaluates the two ethical terms. These articles suggest both business ethics and social responsibility should not apply to corporations. The focus of this paper will compare and contrast two approaches to business ethics. The conflicting objectives between the two parties will be analyzed. Lastly, my view and definition of business ethics and social responsibility will be conversed. Research for this paper consists primarily of peer reviewed articles and published articles. Should Social Responsibility and Business Ethics serve a role in Corporations? During the twenty- first century, businesses are confronted with many different responsibilities. Each responsibility must be address while ensuring obligations to stakeholders, special interest groups, employees and the environment. Businesses are expected to have very strong ethics, but often this is not the case...
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...HAROLD PUPKEWITZ GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Project 1: role of ethics and social responsibility in business decision making Tobias Endjala 200414518 Business Law & Ethics Project 1 Dr Jacqui Meyer 14 January 2015 Part A Roles of Ethics 1. Definition of business ethics: Business ethics (also corporate ethics) is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of individuals and entire organizations. Or Business Ethics: can be defined as the critical, structured examination of how people and institutions should behave in the world of commerce. In particular, it involves examining appropriate constraints on the pursuit of self-interest, or (for firms) profits, when the actions of individuals or firms affect others. Why it is important to understand ethics’ role in business? * To attract customers to the firm's products, thereby boosting sales and profits * Make employees want to stay with the business, reduce labor turnover and therefore increase productivity * Attract more employees wanting to work for the business, reduce recruitment costs and enable the company to get the most talented employees * Attract investors and keep the company's share price high, thereby protecting the business from takeover. Unethical behavior or a lack of corporate social responsibility...
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...10 Business Ethics/Social Responsibility/Environmental Sustainability 1) Many people consider it unethical for a firm to be socially irresponsible. Answer: TRUE Diff: 1 Page Ref: 310 AACSB: Ethical Understanding and Reasoning Abilities Objective: 10.01 Explain why good ethics is good business in strategic management. Learning Outcome: Discuss the roles of ethics and social responsibility in strategic management 2) Social responsibility refers to actions an organization takes that are legally required to protect or enhance the well-being of living things. Answer: FALSE Diff: 2 Page Ref: 310 AACSB: Ethical Understanding and Reasoning Abilities Objective: 10.01 Explain why good ethics is good business in strategic management. Learning Outcome: Discuss the roles of ethics and social responsibility in strategic management 3) Sustainability refers to the extent that an organization's operations and actions protect, mend, and preserve rather than harm or destroy the natural environment. Answer: TRUE Diff: 1 Page Ref: 310 Objective: 10.05 Discuss specific ways that firms can be good stewards of the natural environment. Learning Outcome: Discuss the roles of ethics and social responsibility in strategic management 4) Good ethics is not a prerequisite for good strategic management. Answer: FALSE Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311 AACSB: Ethical Understanding and Reasoning Abilities Objective: 10.01 Explain why good ethics is good business in strategic...
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...BUSINESS ETHICS 'COLLECTIVE ACTION PROBLEMS' IN PARTICULAR HOW MUCH RESPONSIBILITY DOES AN INDIVIDUAL MANAGER HAVE FOR THE ETHICAL CULTURE OF HIS/HER ORGANISATION? Ram Visvanathan Business Ethics May 28, 2014 Introduction. Ethics is very important for the prosperity of any organization. Every employee or stakeholder of an organization has got an important role to play in nurturing an ethical culture in an organization. This research paper discusses the level of responsibility that an individual manager has in the ethical culture of his or her organization. This is done with close attention to academic journals and research. The paper will derive its arguments from veteran theories like the Utilitarian and the Kantian theories. The paper will also relate its discussions with the case study about Enron a USA company that collapsed as a result of unethical behavior in the management. Some of the components that will be highlighted in the paper include; the importance of an ethical culture in an organization, the dangers of lack of ethics in an organization and the strategies that can be used to promote ethics in an organization. Justification of the research. The study of the role of individual managers in the ethical culture of an organization is a justified venture. This is because of the increased calls for ethical behaviors in organizations. The expectations of the staff and the society at large on ethical behaviors have increased tremendously...
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... | | | | | | | | Abstract Contained within are various aspects and strategies pertaining to ethics in business and the various roles and responsibilities key individuals involved must initiate to ensure that the assignment, task or project is accomplished not only within the determined timeframe and budgetary constraints but more important, the actions and interactions of all parties are not compromised nor violate any prescribed regulations. Furthermore, discussion is rendered pertaining to social responsibility within the business sector and its significance in determining growth and awareness of one’s business or company. Social Responsibility and Business Ethics Introduction In today’s society, people are constantly in a mad race to either develop and implement the next product or service that becomes the flagship item that everybody seeks possess or become that individual who possesses the latest technological advancements or branded items assisting in their daily ebb and flow operations. Such responsibilities - objectives and tasks - must be accomplished in a respectable manner whereupon the integrity...
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...Introduction The history of business ethics is as old as the religious books like the Bible and the holy Quran. These religious books have talked about truthfulness, transparency and honesty among people. The prohibition of theft, self-interest at the cost of others, and malice in these religious sources have a direct application the world of business. The history of business ethics has evolved during the long course of time and is still in this phase of development. The application of business ethics varies in different context. There have been radical changes in the world of business which has evolved the business ethics to its current form. And with continuously changing business world we can presume that in the future business ethics will undergo more changes. It will evolve continuously. The business ethics has an immense scope touching every human living in the society. The affects the daily decision making in the society, irrespective of whether it is a big decision affecting large masses or small decision affecting just one person. Business ethics can be looked at by different perspectives. One perspective is that of organization point of view which concerns about the things that an organization should do. While the other perspective is the things that must really be done irrespective of an organization. The latter one gauges the different aspects of an organization. The literary evidence for the history and development of modern era business ethics can be traced back to 1930s...
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...Ethics MGT/498 November 19th, 2012 Dr. Tug Gokaydin, Ph.D., MBA, PMP, CISA, CISM Introduction to Ethics Ethics is known to be a moral philosophy; it involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct. Business ethics reflects the philosophy of business, one of whose aims is to determine the fundamental purposes of a company. Company's that’s purpose is to maximize shareholder returns, then sacrificing profits to other concerns could be a violation of its fiduciary responsibility. The role of ethics in business and the social responsibility as it relates to the strategic plan should satisfy the needs of the stakeholders ("Ethics", 2012). The Role of Ethics in Business Making decisions in business is critical and being ethical when making those decisions is vital to the integrity of the company and the individuals making the decisions. There are many ethical theories to choose when making decisions. Moral systems give a unique perspective on situations and can help to predict the outcome of a decision. Managers and business owners should consider various schools of thought when ethically making decisions. The function by identifying the consequences of each action, not only for the person taking the action, but for everyone else involved. The effects of the decision by mentally calculating and weighing the costs and benefits to the company or department affected. Look at the benefit to establish solutions that...
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...Title Length Color Rating Different Viewpoints of Business Ethics - Introduction The purpose of this short paper is to compare and contrast three different peer-reviewed journal articles and one online periodical. First, the paper provides a brief introduction of the four articles. Second, the paper compares and contrasts the four articles. Finally, the author presents his views on the topic of social responsibility and business ethics before concluding the paper. Four Articles All four articles center their focus on business ethics. Of the four articles, three are scholarly peer-reviewed journal articles and one, by Friedman, is an online periodical.... [tags: Business, Ethics] :: 4 Works Cited 2005 words (5.7 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Alahmad and Murphy on Business Ethics - The first two journal articles that were compared and contrasted were Ala Alahmad’s 2010 article on To Be Ethical or Not to Be: An International Code of Ethics for Leadership and Patrick Murphy’s 2009 article on The Relevance of Responsibility to Ethical Business Decisions. Some key findings of Alahmad’s writings were that ethics and leadership were closely tied together; they were found to be derivatives of one another. He mentioned that ethics is an individual thought process of making good or poor decisions.... [tags: Business Ethics] :: 4 Works Cited 970 words (2.8 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Ethical Perspectives on Business Ethics - The determination of this paper is to compare and...
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...Ethics and Organizational Design- A Literature Review Abstract This literature review observes the views of organizational design and business ethics as they relate to one another in business. The first portion of this paper defines organizational design and business ethics to establish their importance and also examines managerial ethics and corporate social responsibility, sources of ethical principles. The second portion pursues to explain the relationship between business ethics and organizational design and how managers shape ethics through use of value-based leadership and formal structure systems. The third portion pursues to review the importance of ethics to organizational design and the structures that support or enforce ethical behavior in organizations. The fourth portion links literature reviewed and published over the past few years together based on their reference to ethics and organizational design. The literatures are linked together based on commonalities found in the opinions of the authors relating to a spiritual perspective, ethics and corporate structure, organizational and ethical theories, and ethical strategy. Last but not least, the review concludes with a summary of the important role that ethics plays in the organizational design and structure of a business and how it applies to members of management. Keywords: business ethics, organizational design, corporate social responsibility Outline INTRODUCTION I. Organizational Design/Business...
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...Organizational Design & Business Ethics: A Literature Review Abstract A review of the current literature regarding business ethics was conducted analyzing scholarly peer-reviewed articles about business ethics and their relation to leadership, managerial decision making, corporate social responsibility and overall corporate structure. Increased corporate scandals and the discovery of a rise in unethical business practices have thrown the topic of business ethics into the spotlight. Organizations are expected by their stakeholders to implement strong ethics within their corporate structure and culture. This expectation could be accomplished through strong ethical leadership, formal structures and regulations that place emphasis on ethics, and by making a commitment to corporate social responsibility. Using these guidelines will help organizations overcome the various challenges allowing the business to build a strong ethical foundation that will ultimately benefit the company through increased customer and employee satisfaction, which could result in increased profits, organizational sustainability and social status. The review of the literature reveals that there is still plenty of room for exploration on the topic of business ethics and particularly with the topic of ethical leadership. It is recommended that more focus be placed on understanding the influence of strong ethical leadership within an organization and how this influence flows down the organizational...
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...“Title Rhenzl” Business is an economic activity whereas its concern is continuously and constantly producing and distributing goods and services to market in order to provide and satisfy human needs, wants and demand (Henry, 2015). Meanwhile, ethics had been studied by the philosophers for about 2500 years, since the time of Plato and Socrates. As of today, ethics is considered as the moral standards that an individual is relying upon when making a judgment and decision. This statement is supported by Bennett wherein ethics clearly defines what is the right and wrong things and shapes what kind of behavior the business should act on (2014). For the sense of business according to Joseph, ethics are constructed and decided by each business...
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