Government, Regulation & Business Ethics

Business Ethics are defined as “moral principles that guide the way a business behaves” (Businesscasestudies, 2017). In order for any business or individual to act in an ethical

Ethics in business addresses the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ behaviours of business practises, and how these practices impact the employees, shareholders, the general public and the environment.

Document 5 states that the government is run by big businesses rather than by the common people. The author’s purpose in writing was to show

In my opinion governments, primary purpose should be to protect citizens rights, freedoms and maintain law and order internally. They provide this service through the court of justice, legislation and police force. However, this cannot be the only form of protection they provide. Another way the government protects the citizens is through rules, inspections and regulations of companies and products. For example, without Federal regulation organizations such as the FDA, we would not have any form of vetting when it comes to consumer products. Government also is responsible for social services such as building roads, bridges and any means of transformation that aid the public. This is a significant and necessary role government plays for

Lastly, the Government is in charge of the laws and regulations that contribute to sustainable development such as how much resources companies can use and where they could get said resources. Furthermore, the Government will penalize or jail anyone that breaks the laws of the country.

As many things in life, ethics has evolved through the history of our society. As anyone who has ever has read the news can attest, there are certain behaviors and tradition typical in societies around the world that may seem unethical and, sometimes, inhuman when seen through our ethical point of view. However, we often forget that many of those behaviors and tradition were, not only accepted, but expected in our society at one time. As our society changes over time, our moral code and compass shifts changing our outlook and tolerance for certain behaviors. And, as in other aspects of our society, the way we conduct business is no different.

The United States government has passed 81,883 rules over a nine year span according to audiotech.com. All the regulation passed the last nine years cost the average business owner with about twenty employees over 212,000 dollars extra per year. In total American business owners had to pay over $1.75 trillion to comply with government regulation. The involvement of government in business operations is becoming counteractive. It should be up to the business owner on how he would like to promote his business because it’s his investment that is being but at risk. The government has increasingly been interfering and passing laws on how businesses should operate, from smoking bans, medical coverage too how a business can hire or fire people. The government shouldn’t be so involved on how business operate to include the processes of hiring and firing employees.

“Is America a Democracy?” This first question was posed by Professor Jennings at the start of his discussion on American corporations. The simple answer is no, we are a republic, a system where the people have control of the government by electing representative officials. Some people, including Professor Jennings, argue that incorporated businesses are now “running the show” instead of citizens. In the 2011 Gallup poll “Do the following have too much power?” sixty-seven percent of people said that corporations do while seventy-one percent agree that lobbyists have too much power. Professor Jennings then presented data on how corporations lobbying members of congress spent 2.6 billion in a year while the federal budget for congress is 2 billion. Business lobbying also outspends labor by thirty-four to one.

The government plays a role in overseeing the working of the economy, but does not interfere in its daily functioning. The government needs to provide goods and services, which have a high social priority but very low profit margin. The government must take a big role in national defense, police, law and order, fire department, postal service, etc. to protect its citizens and provide equality and equity. The government is our primary protector of our rights and they, I believe, is doing an acceptable job of protecting the citizens of the U.S.

The government takes care of ensuring that businesses do things in an ethical way. No other forms of

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.

Government should not be run like a business because a system that was established to protect and ensure the public good should always put equity before efficiency. Government is inherently different from business, and therefore should run differently.

Since, if anyone should have the power to impose taxes and make expenditures to promote social objectives, it shouldn’t be corporations but the government, as they have the resources and knowledge to make these kinds of decisions that could potentially have an impact on all our lives. Friedman argues, “Business professionals have neither the power nor possibly even the knowledge necessary to address larger societal problems, even if they wanted to” (Friedman, Milton. 1970). An example he refers to is the fact that business professionals are not in a position to fight inflation, where factors, such as money supply and aggregate demand need to be considered. Overall it is investing governmental power in a person who has no general mandate to govern and why should we allow unelected companies to determine our social values and to take over the role of elected government.

The government has a crucial role to play in establishing the ‘rules of the game’ by which we judge business ethics.

When one asks himself/herself these questions, one’s inner conscience becomes active and then end up asking oneself the ultimate question: “Is it right or wrong”? If only management made all their business decisions by firstly considering other factors that would be affected by the decision issues such as bribery and fraud.