Business Ethics Business ethics is a diverse field that cannot be defined with a single definition. This area addresses numerous issues, problems, and dilemmas within the management of businesses. Does this through numerous perspectives and methods. Of course, in order to present the complexities of business ethics, we must explore the types of issues that business professionals are continuously confronted with. To understand one must know the definition of corporate ethics as well as knowing what the ethics of responsibility are. After defining what ethics are, we then need to see how these are played out within management. This will show the decline and fall of business ethics over time and how whistle blowing has played its part. Business ethics not only portray humans, but also how businesses treat the environment. The majority of European and U.S. CEO's and higher ranking managers define corporate ethics as a subject that is to be dealt with at three levels; (1) the corporate mission, (2) constituency relations, and (3) policies and practices. The corporate mission is the most easily recognized and widely applicable category. Executives say that the enterprise in which they are engaged in, and the products or services that they market, should serve an essentially ethical purpose and that a companies first ethical responsibilities are defined by the nature of their objectives (Madsen and Shafritz, 1990). Managers also speak of constituency relations when formulating their company's ethical standards. This usually requires the creation of statements of corporate responsibilities for each individual company. Most of the codes describe the company's commitment toward certain groups rather than... ... middle of paper ... ...from all. Business ethics are complicated, multi-issue problems that are ever changing in our fast-paced world. It is a very complex issue entailing many things from corporate ethics to the ethics of responsibility. Whistle blowing is one result of declining corporate ethics and the decline of ethics has declining corporate ethics and the decline of ethics has led to negative impact on the environment. These complex issues must be addressed or an ever increasing basis in the future. REFERENCES Madsen, Peter. Shafritz, Jay, M. (1990). Essentials of Business Ethics. New York, NY: Author. The Wall Street Journal. (1989). Dow Jones and Company Inc. Magnet, Myron. (1988). The Decline and Fall of Business Ethics. Fortune: Time Inc. Benson, G. C. S. (1982). Business Ethics in America. Lexington MA: D.C. Heath and Company.
Trevino, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2011). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right. New York: John Wiley.
The diversity of the Company's employees is a tremendous asset. (Tesla Motors, Board of Directors, 2010) Major corporations account for a large proportion of the American workforce, however; due to their enormous size and scope, it is easy to overlook ethics. Ethics is the most commendable in a business and should be supported by all companies. Corporate social responsibility is about caring for the workers, giving back to the community, and being financially, environmentally, and socially responsible.
Trevino, L., & Nelson, K. (2011). Managing business ethics - straight talk about how to
According to Ferrell (2004), “Organizations create ethical or unethical corporate cultures based on leadership and the commitment to values that stress the importance of stakeholder relationships. Establishing and implementing a strategic approach to improving organizational ethics is based on establishing, communicating, and monitoring ethical values and legal requirements that characterize the firm's history, culture, and operating environment” (p. 129). Ethics programs ensure satisfactory relationships with all stakeholders by aligning with all of their demands and needs, and determine conduct with customers and relationships with regulators, shareholders, suppliers, and employees (Ferrell, 2004).
Do you agree with Schmeltekopf that business schools are not preparing students well for the for the ethical challenges they will face in the workplace? Why or why not?
Business ethics simply can be defined as the application of business values in the business practice of a company (Seawell 2010, p. 2). For a multinational company, business ethics is one of the critical aspects need to be taken into account in business decision-making processes. Failure to give attention on ethics may bring consequences on company’s reputation (Meyer & Jebe 2010, p. 159). The company is expected not only to pursue its own profits but also contributing to the environmental and social welfare of the community where it operates (Svensson & Wood 2008, p. 308).
An organization needs to adhere to ethics in order to effectively implement its mission, vision, and objectives in a way in which offers a solid foundation to management and their subordinates to properly develop and implement its strategies. By doing so, the organization as a whole is essentially subscribing to one commonality that directs all of the actions of the employees of the organization. Additionally, it assists in preventing such employees from divergence in regard to the proposed strategic guideline. Ethics additionally ensures that a strategic plan is developed in accordance to the interests of the appropriate stakeholders of the organization, both internal and external (Jin & Drozdenko, 2010). Likewise, corporate governance that stems from various regulatory parties makes it necessary for organizations to maintain a high degree of ethical standards; this is done by incorporating ethics within the organization’s strategic plan so as to foster a positive corporate image for the stakeholders and general public (Min-Dong Paul, 2009).
Explain the connection between the economic model of corporate social responsibility and “free market” or “neoclassical” economic theory.
Business ethics is described by means of studying how terms are connected with ethics used in relation to business. So business ethics invites us to take into consideration what right and wrong consist of in relation to business activity; about your goodness and badness associated with specific business situations; concerning the rights, responsibilities, obligations and duties that have to govern business relationships; in what a fair distribution from the benefits and burdens associated with business activity might contain; and about what takes its virtuous business or a virtuous business person (Fryer, 2015).
Ethics in business is a highly important concept, as it can affect a company’s profits, salaries paid to employees and CEOs, and public opinion, among many other aspects of a business. Ethics can be enforced by company policies and guidelines, set a precedent when a company is faced with an important decision, and are also evolving thanks to new technology and situations that arise due to technology usage. Businesses have a duty to maintain their ethical responsibilities and also to help their employees enforce these responsibilities in and out of the workplace. However, ethics and the foundation for them are not always black and white. There are many different ethical theories, however Utilitarianism, Kant’s Deontological ethics, and Virtue ethics are three of the most well known theories in existence. Each theory is distinct in that it has a different quality used to determine ethicality and allows for a person to choose which system of ethics works best with both the situation and his or her personal ethical preferences.
Treviño, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2007). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right Fourth ed., Retrieved on July 30, 2010 from www.ecampus.phoenix.edu
Frederick, R. E. (Ed.). (2008). A companion to business ethics. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
In the business world there are many fundamental aspects and situations that can lead to several issues. In order to find an optimal and professional solution, business decision makers need to apply moral and ethical standards. And it is at that moment in which business ethics perform its role. Business ethics, which is in charge of examine how companies and individuals should act in business situations, is very essential in order to reach a common agreement and to work within the laws of business and solve an arisen dilemma. Working of the hand of ethical business companies, employees, investors, directors, and even individual officers can be beneficiated and obtain most favorable outcomes.
Business Ethics are much more than the buzz word stories on late night news. The Corporate Social Responsibility of a company goes well beyond that. “Business Ethics are moral guidelines for the conduct of business based on notions of what is right, wrong and fair.” (Bellow, 2012). Individual backgrounds play a huge role in person by person code of conduct can vary from employee to employer. To help solve some grey areas in what is ethically correct, companies now make a code of conduct that is over everyone in the company. This code of responsibility helps employees have better understanding of what is required of each and every one of them. “Corporate Social Responsibility is a business philosophy which stresses the need for
The Facts: Kermit Vandivier works for B.F. Goodrich. His job assignment was to write the qualifying report on the four disk brakes for LTV Aerospace Corporation. LTV purchased aircraft brakes from B.F. Goodrich for the Air Force. Goodrich desperately wanted the contract because it guaranteed a commitment from the Air Force on future brake purchases for the A7D from them, even if they lost money on the initial contract.