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Business Ethics Chapter 3
Business Ethics – Chapter
Business Ethics Chapter 3
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In Donaldson’s Values in Tension: Ethics Away From Home, he describes a policy
that was standard at home, but unsuccessful elsewhere. In one example, the manager of a
U.S. company in China caught one of the employees stealing. By following the company’s
practice and turning the employee over to the authorities, which was the right thing
to do according to our values. The employee was executed because he was
judged based on China’s political, legal, and ethical codes, while to us (Americans)
the punishment did not fit the crime.
While many cultures believe in some variation of “The Golden Rule”, there really is
no detailed international standard of business conduct. U.S. firms should, at the very least
establish company policies that take into consideration the principles of different cultures.
There is clearly a balancing act to develop policies that define the ethics of the
corporation, while understanding that codes of conduct vary greatly around the world. Firms
like Levi Strauss and Motorola, not only define their policies, they understand that their
managers must be able to adapt to a great deal of moral uncertainty in international
assignments.
Many business practices are neither black nor white but exist in a gray zone, a moral
free space through which businesses and their managers must find away to deal with. Levi
Strauss and Motorola seemed to have helped managers by treating company values as absolute
and insisting that their suppliers and customers do the same. How this was addressed by
these companies, was the development of detailed codes of conduct that provides clear
direction on ethical behavior, but leaves room for managers of these companies to use moral
imagination that allows them to resolve ethical problems appropriately.
Donaldson argues that companies must be guided by three principles in the shaping of
ethical behavior: respect for core human value, respect for local traditions, and the belief that
context matters when deciding what is right and wrong. These principles help in establishing
a moral guide for business practice.
James Rachel’s The Challenge of Cultural Relativism, argues that different cultures
have different moral codes. He is obviously taking the opposite approach to Donaldson’s
absolute approach, that of a relativist approach. The relativist concludes that there is no
objective “truth” in morality, therefore right and wrong are merely matters of opinion that
can vary from culture to culture. The problem with this argument is that the stated con-
clusion does not necessarily need to be the case if the premise is given.
Ultimately, these duties are crystallized in taboos and are observed automatically. Thus, are ethical codes of behavior born? And so, it is with us today. Ethics constitute the basic codes of civilized behavior, without which our environment, as we know it, would be impossible. Such rules embody the basic constraints each of us agrees to practice in relationships with others. We consent to these constraints in the knowledge that, in so doing, we make the existence of all, including ourselves, more
In general, most people practice utilitarian ethics and hold themselves accountable for doing the right thing as well as does corporations, businesses, medical facilities, and Public Health service. Therefore, these companies put in writing their company ethics policies and
From a researcher or policymaker's point of view and on an international scale, policy analysis and management professor Andrea Parrot stresses that ethics are culturally and historically determined. When members of one culture try to impose their ethics and values on another culture, the situation is inherently complex.
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).
Jennings, M. (2009). Business ethics: Case studies and selected readings (6th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Boylan, M. (2009). Basic ethics: Basic ethics in action (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Explain the connection between the economic model of corporate social responsibility and “free market” or “neoclassical” economic theory.
Every individual is taught what is right and what is wrong from a young age. It becomes innate of people to know how to react in situations of killings, injuries, sicknesses, and more. Humans have naturally developed a sense of morality, the “beliefs about right and wrong actions and good and bad persons or character,” (Vaughn 123). There are general issues such as genocide, which is deemed immoral by all; however, there are other issues as simple as etiquette, which are seen as right by one culture, but wrong and offense by another. Thus, morals and ethics can vary among regions and cultures known as cultural relativism.
Many people have different views of what ethical behavior is. Ethical behavior is defined as “Acting in ways consistent with what society and individuals typically think are good values. Ethical behavior tends to be good for business and involves demonstrating respect for key moral principles that include honesty, fairness, equality, dignity, diversity and individual rights (Ethical behavior, 2016).” In this paper, I explored ethical decision making with examples. In addition, I discuss how ethical decision making benefits from a Christian worldview.
Ethical business practices include assuring that the highest legal and moral standards are observed in your relationships with the people in your business community. This includes the most important person in your business, your customer. Short term profit at the cost of losing a customer is long term death for your business.
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
In business usually people make decisions based on what they believe is moral. For example, some people might believe it is ethical to commit fraudulent accounting information to benefit a company, but most people would disagree. Interpretations of what is moral depends on one’s culture, making it that what is ethical to one group will not be considered so by someone living in a different culture. This can make drawing the line between what is ethical and unethical in business difficult. Business etiquette, standards, and practices differ between different firms and even countries. One approach to the same situation may significantly differ from another company, and especially in other countries depending on the top managements culture. Approaches to draw this line have been made to further the success and development of
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.
Business nowadays encounter with a lot of moral challenges in today’s global economy. Everyone is thriving to be more successful than their competitors, to make their next profits, to keep their job, to earn a big bonus, or to compete effectively. There exists temptation to bend lines, omit information, and do whatever it takes to get ahead of their competition. Many business employees and executives succumb. Sadly, the theme becomes...
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.