Ethical Issues Of Business Are Common

Every day businesses are faced with making decisions that can have far reaching effects within their organization and the communities in which their business are based. Company Q is one of these businesses. Recent decisions made within this company have demonstrated a trend that would suggest Company Q has a negative attitude toward social responsibility. This attitude can be evidenced by the closing of two stores in high-crime rate areas because they were consistently losing money, offering minimal amounts of health-conscious and organic foods despite high demand, and declining donations of day-old products rather than donating these items to the local area’s food bank due to concerns of fraud and stealing by employees.

On February 16, 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) obtained an unprecedented court order in the San Bernardino shooting case that would have forced Apple to design and deliver to the DOJ software capable of destroying the encryption and passcode protections built into the iPhone.1 The DOJ asserted that this order was simply the extension of a warrant obtained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to search the shooter’s iPhone, which had been locked with a standard passcode.

The author Robert Solomon argues that ethics has to an integral part with regard to business management. He does not believe that business management must include unethical or illegal methods to be able to succeed. Solomon preaches that business management is not as simple as obtaining revenue. “Businesses need to abide by fair policies and their owners have to be ethical in dealing with their customers” (Shaw p. 37). The author acknowledges that while illegal practices in business management could bring positive results at first, eventually the business is bound to fail. This is why Solomon recommended eight important policies that can help businesses in integrating ethics into their operations.

“Apple conducts business ethically, honestly and in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations. This applies to every business decision in every area of the company worldwide” (Apple Inc., 2015). This is the opening statement from Apple’s Business Conduct. Most publicly operating companies construct a business conduct or a code of ethics that is specific for that particular company. Apple’s code of ethics was written to express their most important principles and values.

As you are aware, on December 2, 2015 a terrorist attack took place at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California in which 14 civilians were killed and 22 others were seriously injured. On February 9, 2016 the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) announced that it was unable to unlock one of the mobile phones they recovered, an Apple I-phone issued by the county of San Bernardino to the shooter Syed Rizwan Farook due to its advanced security features. (Volz, Dustin; Hosenball, Mark (February 9, 2016). "FBI director says investigators unable to unlock San Bernardino shooter 's phone content". Reuters). The FBI requested from Apple Inc., a multinational technology giant, that they create a new version of the phone’s operating system that could be installed and run in the phone’s random access memory to disable certain security features. This would effectively create a back door into the I-phone. Apple turned down the FBI’s request due to a security concern. Thus began a fight between the United States Government and Apple Inc. over breaking encryption and government intrusion. The clash reflects wider debates in the United States and elsewhere over security measures used by companies to protect users of devices such as smartphones — and how much leverage authorities should have to gain

Ethics and Morality are defined as the distinction of right and wrong. On the other hand morals are also largely based on the social values of “good and bad.” However, people tend to define them as the standards and customs that guide the way of life towards good. In most cases of ethics and morality they are referring to acts of both good and bad deeds. Nonetheless, in a recent case with the FBI vs. the Government against Apple Inc. Company arose one of the key moral issues in the business world. Apple refused to offer a backdoor to one of the iPhones considered to be of the terrorists. The ethical issue involved two genuine values; privacy and security.

At stake are two forces representing a critical dilemma of the post-2001 world: security vs. privacy. Fighting for security, the FBI is seeking “backdoor” access to the iPhone in question that was used by one of the two suspects in the San Bernardino shooting in December 2015. Defending privacy is Apple, Inc., designer and marketer of the Apple iPhone. The two suspects under investigation are linked with known terrorist groups, possibly ISIS, with definitive proof of these links locked away in the encrypted iPhone used by one of the shooters. Apple has built extensive encryption into its products, including the iPhone, in an effort to protect customers and users from unwanted privacy intrusion by hackers, either freelance or

The problem to be investigated is the application of business ethics. In the business world, ethics are extremely important. Ethics are prime elements that help a business to grow and to become more productive. It is by applying proper business ethics that a business can operate in a moral or ethical business environment and managed to conduct all activities in a manner that maximizes profits while not compromising all other non-economic concerns(Schwab, 1996). Businesses have over the years failed to nurture business ethics in order to fulfill shareholders' interests and to have a culture that is oriented towards profit maximization and high performance(Jennings, 2012; Sims & Felton, 2006). This has led business to have gray areas in their activities. Gray areas are those situations or problems that do not fit exactly into any ethical analysis. These are the activities which may be represented to be immoral as a result of lying and false representations on the part of the business.

In this article by Alyssa Newcomb, distinguished technological experts take stands on the defense of personal privacy. In December, two Muslim Americans, who had been radicalized by terrorists, attacked a public area using several high-power weapons. They killed fourteen and injured twenty-one people. Later, police chased them, and they were killed. The FBI has not ruled out a third conspirator; however, it is using every resource to figure out exactly what happened in this tragedy. Now, the FBI wants Apple to give it access to a shooter’s iPhone because the FBI cannot get through the phone’s security. The problem is that this unlocking may provide a “backdoor” for the FBI “to crack every iPhone.” Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, believes that some

Acting morally in the business field is not easy, especially today in corporation models where capitals and profits are the priorities of mostly any business.

Last year in December, a horrid act of terrorism transpired in San Bernardino: multiple lives lost. The government and FBI have frantically been trying to sort through the event to understand the crime. In a letter to Apple's customers, Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, addresses the issue over the FBI trying to force Apple to create a software to unlock an iPhone “recovered during the investigation”(Cook). Apple does not have a software or way to get into the phone at the time, but surely could create one, yet they should not. Unlocking the iPhone would potentially open a backdoor, and as Cook explained, “Once the information is known, or a way to bypass the code is revealed, the encryption can be defeated by anyone with that knowledge” (Cook). Though this specific phone could allow the government to access critical information that could help to solve the San Bernardino case, it would also, undoubtedly, create many problems if the software got into the wrong hands.

In the discussions of the feud between Apple and the Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI), one controversial issue has been created. It centers around the encryption of technology. The FBI should not be given the access to backdoors in encryption as innocent users are exposed, American (US) businesses are harmed, and the increased rate of cybercrime.

Today’s business world presents numerous ethical issues. In today’s world above board/moral ethics in organizations do not often materialize intuitively. Organization must strive to provide employees with a clear understanding of the overall company vision. This will aid employees in practicing the code of ethics, policies and procedures in the workplace. Companies must be unwavering in continuously delivering the uppermost ethics of provision in which customers, applicants and employees are entitled to under fair business practices. One major core value is to uphold responsible and fair business practices.

The international business environment can be defined as the environment in different sovereign countries, with factors exogenous to the home environment of the organization, influencing decision-making on resource use and capabilities (Morrison, 2011). Global business environment can created challenges for companies that are found to be linked to unethical business practices. This paper discusses the code of ethical conduct of Apple Inc. and issues faced by the company on a whole when it comes to ethical behavior. Apple is a manufacturing, distributing and selling company. They sell a computer software and technology to stores all over the world. Apple is one of the world’s largest manufacturers and distributors of technology and they operate in around 10 countries.

Cellphones have become increasingly ubiquitous in society becoming an essential part of everyday life; holding all of our information about our personal lives, from bank information to private text messages. With our nation’s security being weakened by terrorists utilizing cell phone encryption, it could be believed that companies such as Apple should comply with the FBI and government officials to grant access to terrorist’s cell phones. Most recently in San Bernardino an iPhone 5c supposedly holding crucial information was locked to the FBI and they requested Apples help to unlock the iPhone. It would be expected that Apple is to comply and help the FBI aiding the prosecution of terrorists to help better society, however this is not the case, helping unlock terrorist’s cellphones would have multiple irrevocable consequences that would undoubtedly change the landscape of the physical and digital world for the worse.