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Shaw, W.H. (2014). Business ethics: A Textbook with cases, (8th ed.). Boston, MA : Cengage.

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.

In “Cheating in a Bottom Line Economy,” author David Callahan explains the fundamental reasons for the decay of simple business ethics in today’s economy in order to meet bottom line standards. Callahan draws conclusions from everyday businesses such as auto mechanic services, law offices, and even professional medical firms to prove that people will almost always choose financial stability over integrity. The economic life in America has transformed itself into a vast land of professionals focused on achieving “lean and mean” businesses in efforts to achieve the “American Dream,” but in essence lose sense of their morals.

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 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.

Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2013). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases [9th edition]. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Retrieved from

The movie “Glengarry Glen Ross” presented a series of ethical dilemmas that surround a group of salesmen working for a real estate company. The value of business ethics was clearly undermined and ignored in the movie as the salesmen find alternatives to keep their jobs. The movie is very effective in illustrating how unethical business practices can easily exist in the business world. Most of the time, unethical business practices remain strong in the business world because of the culture that exists within companies. In this film, the sudden demands from management forced employees to become irrational and commit unethical business practices. In fear of losing their jobs, employees were pressured to increase sales despite possible ethical

Jean McGuire works as a land salesperson for the company Sunrise Land Developers. Six months into the job, Jean has lost more than made sales for the company and is thinking about using the sales technique described by her boss. Other sales representative’s use it and have proven to be a success, however, it involves deceiving clients by giving misleading information, which Jean instinctively objects to. The technique is to make the interested client think that someone else is also interested in buying the same property, thus encouraged to buy before someone else does. Jean objects to this use of psychological manipulation; however she does not express her reservations to anyone for fear of endangering her job. The situation is more serious for Jean as she is also a single mother with two daughters to support, so it’s imperative that Jean provides the financial support they need. An ethical dilemma does exist in Jean’s situation with respect to the choices she faces; use the technique and improve her sales, remain loyal to the sales team and company or voice her objections and risk losing her job as well as much needed financial support for her family. This essay first discusses how Jean’s situation constitutes an ethical dilemma, followed by comparative analysis drawn from consequential perspectives of egoism and utilitarianism about the situation, then finally possible suggestions, based on my learning, that could help Jean in her decision making.

I completely agree with your analysis. The main ethical issue in this case was John’s abuse of power. The CEO and the fellow felt mutual attraction, and in that case both were failing to follow the ethical principles of the organization. You pointed out a great point that the fellow postgraduate fellow possibly felt confident that the position was going to be offered to her because the close relationship she had with the CEO.

The ethical dilemma Bob faces in this case is a transaction that makes Bob question his and the company’s ethics and legal obligations. It’s February, business was slow, the company was $5,000 below their breakeven point, and it appeared as if a

Jean McGuire works as a sales representative for Sunrise Land Developers selling land to potential customers (hot prospects). Jean’s role as a land salesperson is to help the prospect make a decision to buy the property. When she is told by the Sales Director Wright Boazman to use a variety of effective “deal-closing techniques”, Jean realises such techniques are nothing more than a form of psychological manipulation in order to deceive customers into buying land. To make matters worse, due to the lack of sales in the past six months, Jean is afraid of expressing her views and feels pressured to catch up with other employees or else she might lose her job. Jean may have an ethical dilemma to either deceive customers or stay sincere; each choice, potentially affecting her employment. This essay will use a comparative analysis to discuss the characteristics of Jean’s ethical dilemma. In particular, it will explore the ethical issue by using consequentialist and non-consequentialist theories such as egoism, utilitarianism, and kantian ethics. Because most ethical dilemmas are complex. It is useful to look at the problem from multiple perspectives in order to make an informed ethical decision (Corey et al., 2011).

Ethics is an extremely relevant value in business and consulting. The presence of recognized ethics and/or ethical practices tends to diminish the need for informative or legal/contractual precautions in the formalization of relationships, for both of the parts involved in a

Every organization also has a profession responsibility to conduct business honestly and ethically. Our readings reported, “Experts estimated that U.S. companies lose about $600 billion a year from unethical and criminal behavior” Kinicki and Kreitner (2009). The organization could avoid having ethical issues by meeting the

In their personal and professional lives, people can and, unfortunately, sometimes do go against their moral and ethical standards. Ethical standards are what it means to be a good person, the social rules that govern our behavior. Ethics in business is essentially the study of what constitutes the right and wrong or the good or bad behavior in the workplace environment. A business is an organization whose objective is to provide goods or services for profit. The organization has a group of people that work together to achieve a common purpose. The moral challenges that these men and women face each day along with a whole range of problems that could occur, are why ethics plays such an important

Mr. Stonecipher was hired to “clean up” Boeing, and to keep the company out of the “ethical spotlight.” It was therefore his duty to live by the standards he enforced. If he was unable to do that, then he should have stepped down as CEO before this extra-marital affair was brought to light. Hypocrisy is no way to lead a company. It will only cause dissension among peers and employees.