Business Ethics

High level issues?

Is it legal?

Is there an ethical issue?

What is my reason?

Is it generalizable?

Is there utility?

Does it violate my virtues?

Overview

What are the facts?

High level issues?

Law/ Legal Constraints? If yes, analyze. If no, ethical issues?

Who are the stakeholders? (Those who are impacted directly)

Generalization test? – If every company did this, would it be acceptable behavior? Passed generalization test? Then no ethical conflict. If it failed generalization test, it is not ethical. What are alternatives? What is the correct course of action?

Water shortage, you want to take a bath after playing tennis. Ethical or no? No.

Utilitarian test? If it is generalizable or you are unsure, think about whether or not the action or situation creates good/bad or positive/negative? Passed utilitarian test? Then no ethical conflict. If it failed utilitarian test, it is not ethical. If it fails utilitarian test, what are alternatives? What is the correct course of action?

Virtue test? Is the action in harmony with your values? What are the motivations? Actions were made for the benefit of who?

- Preparation for Class 1: Skim Chapter One

What are Ethics?

• Moral Standards

• Behavior

• Codes of Conduct

• Ethics came first before laws

• Set of Common Beliefs- (Relative or Universal?)

Sources of Ethics

• SES

• Family

• Religion

• Culture

• Experiences

• Education

• Friends

• Social Status

Discussion Notes:

Cultural Beliefs-Ethics and Female genital mutilation- Is it ethical to tell a culture that their practices are wrong?

Is the individual at an age to comprehend and do they possess the mental capacity to make a decision?

• Debate between circumcision and FGM: You can’t compare them because FGM has a lasting negative impact on the female, and circumcision does not. The purpose of FGM is to remove sexual pleasure for the woman and promote the sole purpose of reproduction.

Plato: You need to have an absolute truth. But how can you have an absolute truth between human beings? And that’s what ethics strives for.

Do businesses behave more correctly today than they did 50 years ago?

- There are policies that prevent companies from dumping waste into rivers, yet corporations still pay unlivable wages and rely on child labor. I would argue that it’s roughly the same. What are the intentions? Ex: Toms Shoes They donate a pair of shoes for every pair that is purchased but if shoes are not what is needed, then is this actually positive change or a false front for change? There have been companies that have been good models and have implemented positive initiatives but I don’t know that there is as much progress as we want to believe. Are corporations wolves in sheep’s clothing? 40 years ago, more corporations were doing crappy things but we didn’t