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Mba Business Ethics

In: Business and Management

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mba business
Business Ethics assignment

Written by: Laurel Hubber

Written for: University of Bristol Graduate School of International Business MBA in International Business

Date: March 3, 1997

Professor: Henri-Claude de Bettignies

"People who think they will be true to their ethics have probably never examined their ethics". 1

______________________________

1 Badaracco, J. & Webb, A., Business Ethics: A View from the Trenches, California Management Review,
Vol 37, No.2 Winter 1995, p 21

How do you differentiate between "Doing what is right" and "Doing the right thing"?

"If all of your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?"

Children often find themselves faced with this question after having been caught doing something that, at the time, seemed right to them; probably because "everyone" else i.e., their peers, was doing it. And, much to their chagrin, children know that the answer to the above question is "no". Even at an early age, they are expected to have the ability to separate their own values from those of their friends. Without defining or analyzing, they are expected to know the difference between "doing the right thing": according to the values of those around them and "doing what is right": according to their own set of values.

How does a child know when something is right or wrong? What guidelines does he or she use; especially as she becomes an adult and the rules become less clear? She will have an enormous list of examples to follow; those set out by political leaders, by her favourite celebrities, by her teachers, by an inspirational speaker, by her parents, siblings, close friends or even a religious leader. But, in the end, her decisions will be based on only one person's values. Hers.

How will

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