Business Ethics and the Role of the Corporation

Business Ethics and the Role of the Corporation

The problem to be investigated is the ethical role that the corporation has when balancing internal strategies with external responsibilities. Dr. Novak explains various responsibilities a business has in his article “Business Ethics and the Role of the Corporation”.

This paper will first discuss why Dr. Novak has two sets of responsibilities in his article on business ethics. Next it will explain what Dr. Novak says about the rule of law and its relationship to business. Finally it will analyze what he means by moral ecology.

Why did Novak Have Two Sets of responsibilities for his Definition of Business?

The first set of definitions included internal business strategies focused on satisfying primary stakeholders along with the needs of the organization. Creating shareholder wealth, growth, satisfying customers with quality products and job creation are mentioned in this first set of responsibilities. Novak refers to “the defeat of envy through upward mobility” (Jennings, 2009) which basically is saying that promotion within the workplace gives people a reason to continue working hard because they will be rewarded. Reward is the basic premise for employment in a capitalistic culture. Because there are few or scarce resources, people will be rewarded according to how hard they work, and how well they work. According to a secondary source Capitalism Crib-Sheet, (Anxiety Culture.com, n.d.) who quotes from the Wealth of the Nations by Smith, “By rewarding the most efficient, competitive people, efficiency and competition are promoted, and everyone benefits more than if inefficiency was rewarded.” (Smith, 1776)

The second set of responsibilities refers to external stakehol...

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...ecology”, which I interpreted as meaning love thy neighbor as thyself and do unto others as you would have them do unto you, while still following the laws and making a profit.

References

Anxiety Culture.com. (Ed.). (n.d.). Capitalism Crib-Sheet. Retrieved from

Danner, Peter L. (1971). Affluence and Moral Ecology (4th ed., Vol. 81). Retrieved October 27, 2011, from http://www.jstor.org/pss/2380170

Hellriegel, Jackson. (2009, March 12). In Danny Samson (Ed.), Total Quality Management. Retrieved October 28, 2011, from http://totalqualitymanagement.wordpress.com/2009/03/12/stakeholders-and-corporate-social-responsibility/

Jennings, Marianne M. (2009). Business Ethics (6th ed.) [Case Studies and Selected Readings]. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Smith, Adam. (1776). Wealth of the Nations (5th ed.) [Cannan edition]. London: Methuen & Co., LTD.