Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Albert Carr 's position in "Is Business Bluffing Ethical?" You may consider his analogy between business and poker, his ideas about bluffing and lying, the similarities between his view and Friedman 's stockholder theory, or anything else that seems worth discussing. (Unit 7)
https://hbr.org/1968/01/is-business-bluffing-ethical
Being ethical or not? Always doing the right thing? These are all questions and thoughts, which arise in a business on a daily basis. However, I personally feel that the answer lies within us. If we choose when to be ethical, and when not to be, does it actually make us a good person? Albert Carr discusses some of key aspects of his theory in the article “If Business Bluffing
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His analogy of business ethics in relation to playing poker gives a fair idea of how people may treat the two things similarly or differently. "Business, as practiced by individuals as well as corporations, has the impersonal character of a game - a game that demands both special strategy and an understanding of its special ethics" (Carr, p.138). Carr contends to his audience that the ethical behavior of a business and personal values should not be criticized together. All the players know the rules of the game, and know how to play it. Therefore, in simple words, Carr states that Business is a game, similar to poker. In a game there are rules, and if one stays within the rules, everything is permissible. Business also has its own rules, including rules for deception, which results in a representation of business being ethical when bluffing, or …show more content…
Through this perspective, I personally believe that business bluffing is ethical. However, a few weaknesses may include businessmen not being able to balance their work ethics and values with their personal values. Seldom, few businesses or businessmen may go above and beyond in order to achieve success in the workplace. As mentioned earlier, an example of this would be where a recent graduate lied about his personal views in obtaining a certain job, or an elderly man lying about his age on his
By proactively addressing ethical issues with a code of conduct, Raiders Inc. can set the standard regarding how they want employees to behave. Employee can be trained on the company code of ethics so they understand how their company expects them to respond. They can also train them on the biases of decision making, to make sure they are aware of the pitfalls that exist. (Robbins & Coulter, 2012)
It's difficult not to be cynical about how “big business” treats the subject of ethics in today's world. In many corporations, where the only important value is the bottom line, most executives merely give lip service to living and operating their corporations ethically.
dishonest in the way it advertises itself to the public. In addition, by the open manner in which the recruiter made the comment, it appears that dishonesty is an accepted part of the corporate culture. The question should arise in Benji's mind, "If this is that way the act towards the public, what is to prevent the company from acting this way towards me?" In Dobson's critique of virtue ethics, he discusses that a business can appear to be ethical and virtuous in the community,
Trevino, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2011). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right. New York: John Wiley.
Trevino, L., & Nelson, K. (2011). Managing business ethics - straight talk about how to
(Mallor, Barnes, Bowers, & Langvardt, 2010) Business ethics is when ethical behavior is applied in a business environment, or by a business. There are many situations that can arise in which a person is experiencing an ethical dilemma. They have to choose between standing by their own personal ethical standards or complying with their companies ethical standards. In some instances, some have to choose whether to serve their own personal interests, or the interests of the company.
This paper is an analysis of the ethical business decision matrix developed by The George S. May Company (May), a management-consulting firm. The paper will also compare how these guidelines were used by John D. Beckett (Beckett) in his company and how the author’s firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLC (PwC), uses them. The guidelines are meant to be used by employees. These guidelines are specifically a measure of moral and ethical principles tied to business ethics in acceptability of right and wrong behaviour in the workplace.
Gallagher, S. A. 2005. Strategic response to Friedman’s critique of business ethics. Journal of Business Strategy, 26(6), 55-60.
Seawell, Buie 2010, ‘The Content and Practice of Business Ethics’, Good Business, pp. 2-18, viewed 22 October 2013, .
I discovered how sticking to one’s morals should be the topmost priority for everyone involved in business, whether personal or professional. Regardless of what the consequences may be, the intensity of the problem, and the complexities it may bring, sacrificing one’s integrity should never be an option, as integrity goes hand-in-hand with the morals of an individual (Duggan & Woodhouse, 2011). They further go on to say that having individuals take part in building a code of ethics that supports employee integrity, they will act ethically. Also, I believe that companies should place more emphasis on the moral behavior of their employees, and clear-cut policies should be set regarding such ethical situations. Furthermore, I realized how serving justice while making decisions really helps in the long run, and that opting to go for the ideal rather than they deserved is not always the best option, and could hurt a company in more than one
Tonge, A., Greer, L. & Lawton, A. (2003). The Enron story: You can fool some of the people some of the time. Business Ethics: A European review, 12(1), 4-22. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database.
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.
Albert Carr argues that business is a game and that business ethics differs from private life ethics that individuals practice. Carr explains that practices such as bluffing and not telling the whole truth are morally acceptable in business context. Carr claims that one cannot apply a single standard of ethics universally as situations differ from one to another. My response to such claim is that I refuse to accept that businesses cannot be strictly ethical.
As a student interested in one day starting a firm, learning the business models and its advantage is prepping me for the real world. Those models like the SWOT Analysis are bringing me closer to my dream of running my own business. Professor Sheldon’s experience in the business atmosphere has opened my mind to the experience of running an enterprise. This has helped me slowly develop my plans on what nature of business I want to enter and the stakeholders I’m obligated too. Apart from obligation I am also subjected to the laws of the land and a social responsibility. I must consider ethical behaviour in doing business as a lack of it has negative effects. Look at Enron for example, where the firm lied to their stakeholders just to keep stock prices up and later crashed the company. This resulted in many investors losing their pension and savings and now the board is serving long jail
Shaw, W. H., & Barry, V. (2011). Moral Issues in Business (Eleventh ed., pp. 230-244).