In 2001, Enron a Houston-based commodities energy and service corporation kept huge debts off the balance sheets. This resulted in shareholders losing $74 billion, thousands of employees and investors losing their retirement accounts and many employees lost their jobs (Accounting-Degree.org, 2015). Crane and Matten (2010) argue “After all, despite many years of business ethics being researched and taught in colleges and universities, ethics problems persist and the public remains sceptical of the ethics of business”. The big problem we face is that ethical standards are declining because of insider trading of stocks and bonds, bribery, falsifying documents, deceptive advertising, defective products, employee theft and questionable activities (Ferrell, Fraedrich, and Ferrell, 2001). So why, do businesses continue to make these unethical decision when we universities teach ethics? In this essay we will discuss what ethics is, why people have trouble making ethical decisions, why should we teach ethics and why the public still remain sceptical about business ethics.
What is ethics?
Ethics is defined by Oxforddictionaries.com (2015) as “moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or the conducting of an activity.” There is no such thing as an ethic when we are born. We are taught ethical behaviours by our parents at a young age through religion, household values and the environment around us. As we learn and grow our morals and ethics change and we learn that there is no
Hartman, E. (2006). Can We Teach Character? An Aristotelian Answer. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 5(1), 68-81
Three general principles will guide the move towards sustainability. Firms and industries must become more efficient in using natural resources; they should model their entire production process on biological processes; and they should emphasize the production of services rather than products. Versions of the first principle, sometimes called eco- efficiency, have long been a part of the environmental movement. "Doing more with less" has
Peter Crist is almost always correct. The reality is that if someone lies or covers stuff up, most of the time they will be found out eventually be it in two days or in 20 years. However, the reality is that some people do lie and cover stuff up in professional and personal situations and are never exposed. Sometimes this is because they're in a situation where dishonesty is prized, other times it's because the people around them turn a blind eye to what they see because they don't want to know the truth. Other times, it's because the person engaging in the dishonesty is so crafty and so quick that the trickery and subterfuge is almost inscrutable. However, the fact remains that Crist is correct. Often people are found out because those who are engaging in the trickery have so much hubris and so much arrogance that they engage in bolder and bolder moves, believing that they will never be caught. One example of that from the recent past is of Bernie Madoff. His crime was a simple Ponzi scheme which grew larger and larger in size and scale to the point where he couldn't help but be found out. In this case, the fact that Ms. Jones was found out was somewhat expected: she advanced to such a position of power within the institution that she was almost one of their public figures, which meant that her credentials would be under greater scrutiny.
Business ethics refers to the consideration of moral decisions and responsibilities in the process of operating a business. Business ethics, practiced throughout the deepest layers of a company, become the heart and soul of the company 's culture and can mean the difference between success and failure. Values drive behavior and therefore need to be consciously stated, but they also need to be affirmed by actions. Ethical business environments are created with foundations of integrity, accountability and commitment.
1. The Sales Rep. A sales representative for a struggling computer supply firm has a chance to close a multimillion-dollar deal for an office system to be installed over a two-year period. The machines for the first delivery are in the company’s warehouse, but the remainder would have to be ordered from the manufacturer. Because the manufacturer is having difficulty meeting the heavy demand for the popular model, the sales representative is not sure that the subsequent deliveries can be made on time. Any delay in converting to the new system would be costly to the customer; however, the blame could be placed on the manufacturer. Should the sales representative close the deal without advising the customer
The word ‘Ethics’ is derived from the Greek word ‘ethos’ (character) and Latin word ‘moras’ (customs) (Senaratne, 2011). Ethics is usually based around a decision one makes to help us identify what is good and what is bad as well as guiding us on doing well and avoiding the bad. What’s more, ethics are like a code of conduct asserting moral guidelines, prevailing good behaviour. It’s also about relationships and how we treat others. There are many underlying ethical issues arising for instance, in the work place, health care, in schools and many more.
Although people’s moral characters are probably developed before they get into a business school, it is still useful for business schools to cover ethics, including giving students an idea about the adverse consequences of unethical behavior to themselves, their firms, and the nation.
1. How would you advise Craigslist? Discuss the legal and practical issues involved and how they should be resolved, and explain why?
The ethical concept of distributive justice is probably the most difficult to understand as well as the most controversial of all ethical principles. Distributive justice is also the ethical dimension most likely to be unfairly exploited since it is based upon a concept of inequality. Distributive justice can be essentially boiled down to the idea that inequality may be considered a more thorough means to a utilitarian justice. A fair example of this would be the fact that those who have the riskiest jobs are paid more than those who do not. The risk is greater so therefore inequality of recompense is perfectly acceptable. The problem occurs when the inequality is less obvious. For instance, distributive justice is also used to justify the extraordinary gap
CyberCore Security Inc. Squared (CCSI2) is in business to create value for our clients, however, our true reason is to be of service to our country, our communities, and our fellow citizens. We do this through customer-focus performance in the products and services we provide with high quality and on time contracts. Honesty, service, integrity and accountability underline, permeate, and incorporates who we are and “what we do”. Ethical behavior is the foundation of our company and is mandatory from our employees beginning at “day one” in all their actions and activities and is expected from our business partners as well. We will not tolerate unethical behavior from anyone within the company or by anyone with whom we do business! Any employee violating our Code of Conduct will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination.
What is Ethics? In Webster dictionary website define ethic is an area of study that deals with ideas about what is good and bad behavior: a branch of philosophy dealing with what is morally right or wrong. We have ethical training in the military to create a universal standard of behavior because morals are so variable and linked to religious belief. They cannot tell people what religious behaviors to have but they can create a universal ethical guidance. Many people might think of ethic is common sense and may not take it seriously. Sometimes we need the reinforcement like the ethic training to illustrate what is right and wrong look like, and hope people will do the right thing intuitively. I believe everyone has their own ethical
This learning portfolio is a summary of my learning journey of Business ethics in last four months. It is a formal academic document prepared with diverse events that I have learned from all the resources in and around me. By writing and presenting this portfolio, I have achieved the unit outcomes of Business Ethics 657.
Presentation Ethics are exceptionally regular and essential good esteem that helps us to take the right choice where we think that it hard to pick between our own advantages and the correct thing to do. We are going to talk about three sections of morals Behavioral morals, Bounded ethicality and last one is irreconcilable situation. As from the names of these parts of morals, its verging on clarifying the significance of it. It clarifies why great individuals take terrible choices. Second one is limited ethicality it clarifies how the individuals ' feeling of morals just limited inside a limit. They act morally yet in a limited way. Third one is irreconcilable circumstance, we will talk about the circumstances, where will be an irreconcilable situation of any distinctive individual.
1. The Sales Rep. A sales representative for a struggling computer supply firm has a chance to close a multimillion-dollar deal for an office system to be installed over a two-year period. The machines for the first delivery are in the company’s warehouse, but the remainder would have to be ordered from the manufacturer. Because the manufacturer is having difficulty meeting the heavy demand for the popular model, the sales representative is not sure that the subsequent deliveries can be made on time. Any delay in converting to the new system would be costly to the customer; however, the blame could be placed on the manufacturer. Should the sales representative close the deal without advising the customer
“One of the huge mistakes people make is that they try to force an interest on themselves. You don't choose your passions; your passions choose you.”