Introduction
Business ethics focus on what constitutes something being right and wrong. In the world of business, ethical and moral principles are applied by companies and individuals in situations that arise in everyday activities in the workplace. Typically these principles are based on our personal values, and they ultimately determine the end results of our decision making process. We should remember that business ethics is not a different type of ethics, nor one that is solely used in the workplace. The ethical standards we use to guide our decisions in our personal lives should be equally applied to our corporations and workplace activities. With that being said, is it ethical to use the tactics that Philippe Kahn did to generate momentum for his business?
If you were leading the startup of a small, faith-based, nonprofit organization, would you be willing to use tactics similar to what Philippe Kahn used in this case to generate startup capital and momentum?
The scripture is basically an ethics book. There are countless verses that direct us in the way we should go. According to the text, Kahn could not afford to place an ad in the BYTE magazine. To convince the salesmen to extend credit terms, he hired people to rush around and look busy. He also made a fake media chart with BYTE crossed out and made sure they salesmen saw it. These actions got Kahn a spot in the magazine (Scott, Rae, Wong, 2012).
If I were leading the startup of a small, faith-based, nonprofit organization, I would not be willing to use the tactics that Philippe Kahn used in this case. If my actions give me an unfair advantage to my competition than it is unethical. We need to remember that the right choices will not always bring success or immedia...
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... accomplish that is love. Sometimes love requires mercy and self-sacrifice. We are called to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Our competition in the business world are also our neighbors, so we should not try to put our businesses ahead of theirs unless it is earned.
Conclusion
More and more people are holding businesses to a higher ethical accountability. A companies decisions effect its employees, costumers the environment, and even the community, so decisions should not be taken lightly. It also becoming more obvious that managers feel that trustworthy employees with good worth ethics are an intangible asset to their company. Managers will not receive such employees if they do not have high ethical and moral standards themselves. I think that people ultimately want ethics that will produce a productive and honest workforce that also increases profits.
...ny should have the dignity to step up automatically and reach out to individuals like Josh. I believe that the Benedictine values are critical components for a company to survive in this world and also to help others to survive. I think Chimerix could have handled the situation much better then it initially did. Chimerix should not take the media’s nationwide attention to change a company’s decision; they should automatically know the right thing to do. Chimerix faced many complications in adhering to the Christian values for its company, but later on they realized they needed to make changes to coincide with the Benedictine principles. In the end, management and leaders of a company should act in accordance with the statute that all individuals are God’s people and their work is a symbol of how they value God in their pursuit to follow in the Benedictine way.
Throughout your life, you’ll face tough decisions where you'll have to decide possibly against your ethical beliefs. Ethics don’t necessarily always have to involve law abiding. It’s rather about trusting your moral path and doing the right thing. Dori Meinert is the author of “Creating an Ethical Workplace” she explains the thought behind the never black or white decision making when it comes to businesses. Can businesses truly trust those individuals hired to steer their companies? It was mentioned that last year 41 percent of U.S. workers said they observed unethical or illegal misconduct on the job, according to the Ethics Resource Center's 2013 National Business Ethics Survey. Meinert’s article was not only eye-opening but very truthful since we’ve all been faced or witnessed unethical decision making. Once employees see individuals breaking the rules and regulations others will then think it's okay, which could result in employees leaving or major hoops for companies to jump through. When we tolerate misconduct we lower productivity and diminish the reputation of a company. Meinert mentioned that if
Finally, the CEO of Next Step exhibited certain unethical characteristics that would call himself and his organization into question. He was exceptionally insincere while making statements of how much he cared about people and wanting to improve their lives, to later act harshly to one of the pep rally participants. This is not Christian behavior, and undoubtedly do not coincide with the same values and morals as Ramona. His flashy display was
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,
soliciting planned gift prospects for major gifts instead so the organization can get the money
Importance of ethics in the business world is superlative and global. New trends and issues arise on a daily basis which may create an important burden to organizations and end consumers. Nowadays, the need for proper ethical behavior within
The concept of business ethics refers to a set of guiding principles that encourage individuals in an organization to make decisions based on the company’s stated beliefs and attitudes toward business practices within its industry (Lisa McQuerrey., 2016). Ethical and Unethical business decisions have long been a predicament encountered by organisations, these practices are concerned with how the companies interact with the global business world, and to their one-on-one dealings with individuals (Garry Crystal, 2016.) The concept of ethics and social responsibility emerged into the business world in the early 1970s after the end of World War I, saw these organisations become more profit driven resulting in negative impacts on society at large.
As the turn of the 21st Century evolved, it appeared as if Adelphia Communications Corporation was on a direct path of success; unbeknownst to their investors and the public, they were in reality on a direct path of destruction instead. Unfortunately, Adelphia is not the first major company in the history of the United States’ business world to lose the trust of the American public, but it is certainly one of the most notable ones to do so. As the events surrounding the Adelphia scandal unfolded in full view of the public eye, a multitude of media outlets were there to broadcast the destruction and distrust to the masses leaving many wondering if the term “business ethics” was actually nothing more than just an oxymoron. Throughout this paper, we will discuss the events surrounding the rise and fall of the Adelphia Communications Corporation and identify two of the ethical problems associated with the scandal while applying them to the deontological framework and Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative.
One, Marcel presented fifteen years of experience as a manager of a local utility company. This particular factor made her accountable towards all the business knowledge, organizational skills, and years of experience in the for-profit sector; traits that are highly valuable and transferable for a management position in the third sector. Second, the board members realized her involvement with nonprofit organizations; Marcel volunteered with various agencies and served as a board member
Ethics are the driving force behind good business. Every ethical choice made by a professional can and will have a much different outcome than any unethical choice. Bad ethics can ruin many aspects of a business and as (Gaye-Anderson, 2007) states how quite easily the lives and professional reputation of the employees can even be severally damaged (para. 3). Everything from morale to motivation can be severely affected by poor ethical choices. Customers will take their business elsewhere. Employees will abandon ship. Other, competing businesses reap the benefits of the bad moral choices. Ultimately, the entire business can be brought down by one poor ethical choice.
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.
Ethics is the responsibility of each individual person, but starts with the CEO and the Board of Directors, setting the right tone at the top and moves down through the organization, including setting the tone in the middle. A company’s culture and ethic standards start at the top, not from the bottom. Employees will almost always behave in the manner that they think management expects them, and it is foolish for management to pretend otherwise (Scudder). One of the CEO’s most important jobs is to create, foster, and communicate the culture of the organization. Wrongdoings or improper behavior rarely occurs in a void, leaders typically know when someone is compromising the company
The first and most important thing I learned was to look at how my behavior may affect the people around me. If your actions do not benefit the business and your co works then they are probably not ethical. I also learned to only accept what you have earned. My Kozlowski had not earned the money to buy all the fancy things he had bought in this case; he used money that he took away from the business as well as the stockholders.
Business ethics are a set of moral rules that govern how a business operates, how people should be treated within an organization, and how business decisions are made. They are a crucial part of employment and in managing a sustainable business, mainly because of the serious consequences that can result from decisions made with a lack of regard to ethics. Even if you don’t believe that good ethics don’t contribute to profit levels, you should realize those poor ethics have a negative effect on your bottom line in the long-run. Every business in every industry has certain guidelines to which its employees must stick to, and regularly outline such aspects in employee handbooks.
There is ways to help people learn and get used applying ethics in the workplace. Take Clorox for example, to keep their ethics strong and present they require their employees to take part in annual online training with ethic courses, even after that they go through refreshment courses throughout the year covering various ethical practices and relevant laws, these courses remind employees how to treat certain situations and what to do when it comes to unethical decisions. Not a lot of companies do this and for them to do this tells us a lot about the company. It shows us that they care and want their employees to be ethical and want to have a connection with their customers. This is very important because when people know you are ethical they build a relation with your company, they know that you truly care for their employees and customers. A lot of people like to have a connection with companies so if they like what you do and know what you do it’s good for the company.