Ethical Issues in Business Research

Even though codes of ethics are written down, they are not known as rules, but it is given to set the boundaries of what is and is not an acceptable way to conduct research

Norms are behaviors or rules that set forth what is expected of us as people and as a society.

First, it is important to define ethics and how its components play an extensive role in our society. The term ethics is defined as “Moral principles that govern a person 's behaviour or the conducting of an activity.” (Oxford); ethical decisions are the ones that per se determine whether or not murder is wrong. Likewise, ethics consists of different ramifications and perspectives from many philosophers. Moreover,

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.

Protecting individuals from harm ensures that researchers think the possible effects of their research on the candidates. For example, candidates rights and feelings should be well thought-out when planning the project and collecting the data from the individuals. Research should not cause harm or offence, but this should be considered in the context of the

Failure to protect subject’s personal information, is an example of not complying the above two principles in the research industry. Researchers are in a position of dealing with a great deal of very personal information that their participants have agreed to disclose. Depending on the type of study, personal identifiers such as names, birthdates, places of residence etc. may or may not have to be collected. In situations where these data are collected, researchers may take several steps to ensure the confidentiality of their participants’

Humans interact and go on about their daily life unknowingly following rules that society establishes as well as common social norms. Although this is a strange concept to grasp, this phenomenon is how society acts as a whole and how we as individuals are. Social norms are ways of acting, thinking, and feeling that exist outside a person but exert social control over each person they interact with. These are the rules that we abide by and are ingrained in our heads but what happens if one breaks that social norm.

A number of key terms describe the system of ethical considerations that the modern research establishments have set up to protect the rights of research subjects. Voluntary participation and confidentiality are principles that demands that the respondents to be free from coercion in any way when participating in the research, protected in the raw data, and published

There are three basic ethical principles that researchers should adhere while conducting research. The three

In addressing your ethical concerns I must let you know what my philosophy is pertaining to ethics as a fundamental concept in business. Knowingly, or not we all approach life with ethical and moral principles. These principles,

The importance of ethics in social psychology is to ensure that participants are treated fairly throughout the entire research process. The way to ensure fairness is to give participants knowledge and exactly what to expect during the study. Researchers are responsible for preventing participants from harm according to the APA Code of Ethics. The best way to protect participants during a study is to keep participants’ information and responses anonymous and confidential. Researchers must also avoid distress for participants during the study and after also as a means of protecting the client from harm.

By definition, social norms are “the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors.” They are informal understandings of individual behavior that ensure the stability of a group of people. Failure to adhere by them can result in the exclusion from the group. Social norms are governed in large by ethics as they are essential to determine what is right and wrong in our society. Ethic is a collaborative view of morals which one emulates and complies to maintain the social system, or rather social norm.

This will be an over view of ethics as it relates to business in our society. Concepts from Philosophy will seek to describe the correlation between actions that are classified as morally right or ethical in our dealings with each other as human beings. Clear and concise examples will be given as well as ways in which to improve upon business ethics.

Ø Explain why ethical consideration IS appropriate and required when conducting business in the 21rst century.

1. Professor Ballistico is the director of the Foodcorp Centre for Food Science at BigCity University. The Foodcorp donated the money to the University in order to set up the research centre and to fund its activities. Professor Ballistico had a recent research which showed the results of the higher risk of the additives. However, the additives in the research were common in the products of the Foodcorp. The main ethical issue is that if Professor Ballistico publishes the results, it is possible that the Foodcorp will go trouble and the funding to the University will be affected. The University relies on the funding. If the results are not published, the responsibility to report the risks of the additives of Professor Ballistico will be