...What Is Business Ethics? Our textbook states that business ethics comprises the principles, values, and standards that guide behavior in the world of business. Being ethical in business is nothing new and has been around a long time. Business ethics are both good and bad. Unfortunately we hear more about the unethical business behavior than we do about the good behavior of the business world. Unethical business practices have been around since slavery and continue today in the corporate world with firms such as Enron and Lehman Brothers. As a baby boomer and a part of the work force since 1967, I have seen a lot of changes in the corporate world of business ethics. After reading our text, it seems to me that teaching business ethics to the corporate world is the same as what most of our parents taught us growing up, “do the right thing”. They taught us the difference between right and wrong and the golden rule to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Ethical issues have been around since the beginning of time and the majority of those issues were social and moral issues. As the times and cultures changed so did the social and moral issues but they are still either right or wrong and given different names. Gone are the days when a business deal was decided by a handshake and a promise. In today’s society a handshake is only a formality to introduce two people who may make a decision to choose unethical practices to be sure that the bottom line is met in a business...
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...What is business ethics Name MGT/216 Professor Name University of Phoenix August 21, 2010 What is business ethics? Business ethics often measured good standards, by his or her business conduct and professionalism. It is imperative that leaders and management of businesses uphold the business to its highest degree of ethics, also in his or her personal lives. The motive for this is essential, business can influence social and to consumers confidence. If a business is constantly showing unprofessional ethical behaviors, the business communities will consider them not trustworthy. To build business cliental it is vital to maintain a high sense of business ethics. According to the UFCW, 2010 working’s union said the public think the merchandise Wal-Mart sales are made right here in the United States, most of Wal-Mart department store private label clothing were manufactured in countries worldwide (UFCW, 2010). Wal-Mart is one of the major importers of overseas merchandise according the to UFCWs website. This is an ethical decision because the sweatshops pay is little to nothing, when being compared to the United States. Wal-Mart is as slave masters, put workers in a small room, put material before them, and tell them to work, these overseas countries work at a poverty wage, this is measured as an ethical decision since these sweat shops usually pay workers at very low hourly rate compared to American workers. When businesses outsource their...
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...What is Ethics? Ethics is about values, consistently making decisions to be the best person you can be. Eudemonia is a type of happiness, one that only comes from an active well-being by living virtuously. The career of a CAs(SA) involves a great amount of acquired skills, but also the capacity for others to instill their trust. Trust is a value only placed in people of strong moral principle and integrity. The motto of SAICA is “Integritas” meaning ‘totality’,’ integrity’ and for accountants and auditors integrity is without a doubt a non-negotiable ethical value. It is possible for ethics and values to be non-negotiable. The IFRS has been adopted in over 100 countries, although the same cannot be said for ethics. Even though different countries and businesses around the world are creating and adopting their own ‘Code of Conduct for Ethical Behaviour’, there is no organisation to enforce a Globe Code with international ethical standards to guard public and corporate interest. Without a set of ethical codes, a company cannot presume that other organizations around the world act under the same array of ethical standards and codes as they do, and it could ultimately lead to the diminished merit of financial statements that are prepared using the IFRS. Often people are inclined to go down a road that challenges their ethical values because it appears to be less confrontational, easier than the alternative and more beneficial. People fail to think for the long term, past...
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...“What is "business ethics"?” Peter F. Drucker Drucker’s work takes a look at what is business ethics and what is not business ethics as it pertains to some of the major approaches taken by philosophers throughout time. No matter what the place in time the code of ethics as it pertains to Western tradition is based solely on one principle. That principle is “There is only one code of ethics, that of individual behavior, for prince and pauper, for rich and poor, for the mighty and the meek alike.” Drucker P. F. (1981). Given this principle what is business ethics or even ethics at all with given the implications that behavior which is neither immoral nor illegal for an individual would be immoral or illegal if committed by business? There seems to be a lack of compatibility with what ethics is supposed to be and business ethics. For example a person handing his money over to a mugger threatening physical harm isn’t considered unethical although the mugger is a criminal but in the business world paying off union racketeers to prevent disruption is considered to be unethical practice. The confusion around ethics in general and business ethics continues when we start looking at other business systems outside of the United States. Take for example the Japanese and German who consider the appointing of a counselor who was previously a distinguished civil servant based on the recommendation of his colleagues is essential to the public interest. However, if this practice were to...
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...Chapter 1 – What Would You Do? Business Ethics (section 01) 1. What are the ethical issues? There are several ethical issues involved in this scenario. The first is the confidential information that Ralph had a test to determine if he carried the gene for alcoholism. This report is marked confidential and should not be shared with others, whether it is inside the company and definitely should not be shared outside the company. The second ethical issue is pursuing Ralph to take a blood test to test for this genetic issue. Since company policy states that an employee would be ineligible for coverage of a medical condition if diagnosed prior to employment, Jane shouldn’t worry about it. Ralph was not diagnosed prior to employment with COBA. The next ethical issue is Ralph’s acknowledgement of having the test and the results. When he spoke to Jane, he stated, “just between you and me.” In order for Jane to be ethical, she should not repeat what Ralph told her in confidence since he acknowledges the problem and is trying to fix it. When Jane spoke to Chuck, she let him know that she was worried about Ralph’s quota for the next quarter. I think she already expressed concern and it would be best to sit back and see what Ralph’s performance is for the upcoming quarter before addressing the situation. Jane should address the situation with Ralph first and if unable to come to a resolution, she should pursue it further with Chuck. Jane has to be ethical to the COBA...
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...This article review is about an article entitled “What can Psychology Tell us About Business Ethics?” by David Messick (2009). This article was published in the Journal of business ethics. The article explores the relationship between business ethics and psychology through examining the concepts of discrimination and conflict of interest and how they influence ethics in business settings. The article affirms that as much as numerous studies have explored these two concepts from a psychological perspective; there is very limited information on how they influence decision making in business settings. The researcher explores various circumstances related to the two concepts while highlighting scholarly positions to position his arguments. The article is concluded by asserting that analysis of business ethics from a psychological perspective can enhance the ability of promoting high ethical standards business decision-making The position taken by the author is well founded as it is generated through amalgamation of relevant scholarly sources in the positioning of the relationship between business ethics and psychology (Fassin et al., 2011; Shakeel et al., 2011). The author also highlights individual circumstances where his individual unconscious thoughts may have influenced his decision-making. This not only enhances the authenticity of the work, but also its effectiveness to address the research issue. For this reason, it is a good read both in writing and content. Based on...
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...TopicsAcceptance EssaysArtsCustom PapersEnglishForeignHistoryMiscellaneousMoviesMusicNovelsPeoplePoliticsReligionScienceSportsTechnology Business Ethics What is business ethics? According to International Business Ethics Institute, understanding business ethics can be problematic in the sense that, this field is vast, often encompassing many concerns such as corporate governance, social responsibility, reputation management, accurate accounting and audits, fair labor practices and environmental stewardship to name a few. Moreover, it generally addresses the entire scope of responsibilities and obligations that a company has to each of its stakeholders like clients, employees, shareholders, suppliers and the community. To simply define business ethics, it is a form of applied ethics where it inculcates a sense within a company’s employees on how to conduct business responsibly. Business ethics seems easy to understand but when you get to the real one, you could find yourself in a confusing situation. Since the term ethics can pose many definitions in a broad context and it can be difficult to find a common understanding of the term, hence, most companies refer the concept of the term ethics as integrity, business practices or responsible business conduct. After you have known the basic definition of business ethics, you would now begin to know the business ethics of a chosen company. This paper aims to give some views on how Hewlett-Packard, an international company which provides mostly...
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...Business Ethics Beverley Sullivan Introduction to Management and Leadership Walden University February 13, 2015 Introduction Business Ethics is a crucial aspect of any organization, and all successful organizations should adhere to business ethics. Business Ethics emphasizes that organizations adhere to the moral and ethical principles when undertaking day to day operations. I will define ethics and look at what are our moral beliefs. Explain the purpose of ethics and ethics in business, highlight ethical dilemmas, and provide an example of unethical practices involving government officials. Business Ethics Definitions The word ethics is derived from the Greek word Ethos and has a number of meanings. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary gives several definitions of ethics, including a set of moral principles or values. One example describe the word as a theory or system of moral values or the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group. If one looks at the purpose of ethics/morality and the common conception of the purpose of business one can make a reasonably good case that business ethics is an oxymoron. The argument would run along the following lines. To the extent that business and the market in which it flourishes is driven by an unconstrained pursuit of self-interest. Without ethics, business could not function since it requires a great deal of trust and integrity. Duska, R. F. (2007). Business Ethics is the moral analysis...
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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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...BUSINESS ETHICS: COMPARE AND CONTRAST PAPER By: Karla Powell North Central University What is business ethics? The word business can mean different things, but in this context it means a commercial or industrial endeavor to make/sell products or services. The word ethics is defined as a set of principles of right conduct or a system of moral values. So what does business ethics mean? Used together it means for a commercial/industrial endeavor to form a set of principles or rules to follow while they are making or selling products or services. The word business ethics is frequently heard as it relates to social responsibility. According to the dictionary social responsibility is “an ethical ideology or theory that an entity, be it an organization or individual has an obligation to act to benefit society at large” (the freedictionary.com). Three notable management authorities: Patrick Murphy, Milton Friedman, and Peter Drucker, have different opinions on what business ethics and social responsibility are and what is should mean to the business world. According to Patrick Murphy (2009) responsibility is a key principle of business ethics which implies a moral obligation to act. The word act is used as a verb and means to “do something.” Murphy points out that one is to not only act but to act in a certain way based on the persons extent of the freedom they have, meaning the bigger the space of freedom the bigger the obligation or responsibility one has. So, the higher...
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...A Literature Review: Incorporating Ethics Training in Business Abstract As the need for showing the importance of ethical behavior standards has become more prominent of the past decade, this review intends to show the need for standards of ethics in businesses based on previous research. Ethical training within a business is a topic that has been debated on importance. It has been discussed as a benefit and as more of a cosmetic topic. There are many articles written that discuss what business ethics is, and then there are articles that talk about the need for or against training of business ethics by businesses. This review is aimed towards showing the pros and cons of ethics training by businesses as discussed in current or recent surveys, studies, and articles. Introduction Business ethics has been a controversial topic for many years. It is said to be a double-edged sword and is seen as both an evil and as a proactive approach to preventing lies and motive good behavior (Bayley, 2012). There have been many surveys and articles that have been written on the subject matter. Many of these show the importance of ethical standards and training within a business. There seems to be controversy on whether training on ethics in a business is a benefit or just a cosmetic cover. It has been shown through several surveys and discussed in many articles of the benefits of providing ethics training within a business. However, some still believe that it is a short-lived...
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...A HISTORY OF BUSINESS ETHICS The history of “business ethics” depends on how one defines it. Although the term is used in several senses and varies somewhat for different countries, its current use originated in the United States and became widespread in the 1970s. The history of business ethics in the United States can be viewed as the intersection of three intertwined strands. Each of these in turn can be divided into at least two related branches. The first strand, which I shall call the ethics-in-business strand, is the long tradition of applying ethical norms to business, just as it has been applied to other areas of social and personal life. This strand can be divided further into the secular and the religious branches. The second strand is the development of an academic field, which has been called business ethics. It also has two main branches, one being the philosophical business-ethics branch, which is normative and critical, and the other the social-scientific branch, which is primarily descriptive and empirical. The third strand is the adoption of ethics or at least the trappings of ethics in businesses. This again subdivides into the integration of ethics into business and business practices on the one hand and the commitment to corporate social responsibility on the other. Business ethics was introduced into Europe and Japan in the 1980s although the term did not translate easily, and the development in each country varied from that in the United States because...
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...Abstract Business Ethics is the application of general ethical concepts to specific situations confronted in a business. The main question asked when analyzing business ethics is what is right and what is wrong as far as someone’s behavior in a business. What principles or what rules can be used a guidance in certain business situations. Some people feel that business and ethics should not go hand-in-hand. They feel that there is no room for ethics in business. While others feel that businesses need to practice good ethical and moral values within their company. Ethical questions can range from a company’s obligation to be honest with its customers, to a company’s responsibility to protect employee’s rights. There are several concepts and approaches that businesses can refer to in helping them make moral business decisions. Business Ethics Business Ethics studies and evaluates business decisions according to moral concepts and judgments. Business ethics has two main characteristics. One, it tells people what they should and should not do. Two, it sets a list of principles or rules to be followed. Deciding how we behave towards ourselves and others is a matter of making choices. Making the right choices can be extremely crucial in a business environment. Why Ethics is Important in Business When business people think about business ethics they are usually thinking about one of three things. The first is to avoid breaking the law in a work related activity. The second is...
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...Business ethics can be described as different things everyone has their own thoughts on what business ethics are or should be, different parts of the world are also looking at things the same way Germany, South Africa, and the United States of America can be described as three totally different countries with different languages and totally different ways of life, so of course their business ethics are going to be different. Germany and Southern Africa have very different business ethics, a brief summary of Germany’s business ethics would be that Business Administration is different than business ethics and that business administration does not need business ethics. “Business ethics are not recommending the normal, principles and rules but, rather about anything and discussing them.” Using models of economics in ethics is important for setting the business ethics. Business ethics are considered a framework for the economy, and in order to have a framework there must be rules, but sometimes the rules overlap other rules and therefore making an imperfect framework. Analyze for moral problems is done in business ethics, “It is important for business ethics that different kinds of scientific statements require different criteria of verification.” “Integration of business ethics and business administration is necessary in Germany.” Germany has a record for being known to stick to moral ethics which result in good business ethics. The two German representatives of business administration...
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...[pic] |A History of Business Ethics | |By Richard T. De George | |The term 'business ethics' is used in a lot of different ways, and the history of business ethics will vary depending on | |how one conceives of the object under discussion. The history will also vary somewhat on the historian—how he or she sees | |the subject, what facts he or she seeks to discover or has at hand, and the relative importance the historian gives to | |those facts. Hence the story I'm going to tell will be somewhat different from the story someone else might tell in various| |particulars, and I hope that instead of being a dull recitation of facts it might in fact prompt some discussion at the end| |by those who would tell a somewhat different story. | |The story I will tell has three strands, because I believe the term business ethics is used in at least three different, | |although related, senses. Which sense one chooses therefore gives priority to nature of the history of the topic. The | |primary sense of the term refers to recent developments and to the period, since roughly the early 1970s, when the term | |'business ethics' came into common use in the United States. Its origin in this sense is found...
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