Answer each question in 3 - 5 sentences please Chapter 1: Describe and explain an example of a business decision that would be unethical even though it is legal; explain why it is considered...

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Answer each question in 3 - 5 sentences please
Chapter 1: Describe and explain an example of a business decision that would be unethical even though it is legal; explain why it is considered unethical.
Chapter 3: What is the major contrast between utilitarianism and Kantian ethics?
Chapter 4: Why would a company develop a whistle-blowing policy?
Chapter 7: Describe a type of affirmative action in the workplace and the type of discrimination that it would be intended to overcome.
Chapter 9: What is the best justification that can be given for employees’ right to know about occupational hazards?


Week 1: Why Study Ethics? Reference: Chapter 1 in An Introduction to Business Ethics Week 1: Why Study Ethics? Theoretical Foundations Main Reference: Chapters 1 and 2 Learning Objectives In this class session you will learn: • Why the study of ethics is important • The nature and meaning of business ethics • The difference between ethical values and other values • The difference between ethics and the law • The distinction between ethics and ethos • The distinction between personal morality, virtues, and social ethics • How to identify ethical issues in a case: Enron Corp. Why Study Business Ethics? BACKGROUND • Business ethics as a formal discipline emerged in the 1970s (mostly by philosophers and theologists) • Main issue dealt with the nature of corporations (big businesses that grew in the 1960s and revolutionized many aspects in society): – should managers be held personally responsible or is a corporation liable for any wrong doings? – should corporations act socially responsible? • Early 1980s, business schools began to incorporate courses in business ethics Why Study Business Ethics? Ethics violations created new laws: 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Due to bribery of U.S. companies to foreign governments (Lockheed $12 million bribe to Japanese officials) 1991 U. S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Corporations If a corporation has implemented a code of ethics, by law it receives a discounted fine for illegal behavior 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act - Accounting standards put in place as a result of financial scandals at Enron, Enron, WorldCom, Arthur Andersen and other firms. - “Code of Ethics for Senior Financial Officers” law requires corporations to have “Code of Ethics” Honesty, ethical conduct, full disclosure in financial statements, compliance with rules and regulations Why Study Business Ethics? WRONG BEHAVIOR AFFECTS MANY The well-being of Investors, workers, communities, and other stakeholders have been affected by mere violations of business standards and ethical behaviors. Case of Enron : investors lost money, consumers lost service, workers lost jobs and retirement savings, community lost donations, suppliers lost large revenues Why Study Business Ethics? Legal risks Financial risks Marketing risks UNETHICAL BEHAVIORS Competitive advantage Better organizational structure & efficiency ETHICAL BEHAVIORS VALUES “We can think of values are those beliefs or standards that incline us to act or to choose in one way rather than another” DEF: COMPANY’S CORE VALUES “Are those beliefs and principles that provide the ultimate guide in its decision making” CORE VALUES - EXAMPLES Emphasis on: • Serving customers • Risk-taking • Producing technologically advanced products • Innovation • Employee welfare • Ruthless business practices • Beat competitors CORE VALUES Company’s Core Values Company’s Purpose Company’s Ideology CORE VALUES Enduring success of the company (long-term competitive advantage) Strong corporate core values CORE VALUES AND ETHICS Core values can lead to ethical or unethical behavior E.g. Sales growth as a core value may elicit good or wrong marketing tactics ETHICAL VALUES ELEMENTS 1) “Ethical values serve the ends of human well-being” – Human well-being: happiness, respect, integrity, meaning, freedom, autonomy, health, companionship, etc. 2) Beliefs and principles that guide the promotion of human well-being should be impartial (all points of view taken into account using objective reasoning). ETHICAL VALUES DEFINITION “Ethical values are those beliefs and principles that seek to promote human well-being in an impartial way” BUSINESS ETHICS DEFINITIONS 1) It’s an academic discipline - process for describing and examining ethical issues in business using normative and descriptive measures. 2) “Business ethics refers to those values, standards, and principles that operate within business” BUSINESS ETHICS Dilemmas: 1) Believing and acting are two different things. 2) Teaching someone to adopt ethical behavior is not easy: one must think for oneself about what is good or wrong. For example, CEO of Enron did not follow Enron’s code of ethics: respect, integrity, communication and excellence 3) Following the law does not lead always to ethical business behavior BUSINESS ETHICS AND THE LAW Legal compliance does not necessarily lead to ethical business behavior Business law is complex and ambiguous. In the USA, it mostly relies on case law (as opposed to rules and regulations) For example: Enron case, deceptive accounting procedures were not “illegal” ETHICS AND ETHOS ETHOS (noun): Current values, standards, and practices which guide our current behavior ETHICS (noun): It’s a process that focuses on answering Socrates’ philosophical question: “How should we live our lives?” What people currently value according to norms, tradition and culture What people SHOULD value in order to promote human well-being for all BUSINESS ETHICS AS A PROCESS “How should we run our businesses?” • Identify and reflect upon our current business ethos • Analyze “what is done” and “what should be done” • Use objective reasoning to identify ethical values that promote human well-being for all stakeholders involved in our business MORALITY, VIRTUES AND SOCIAL ETHICS DEF: Morality is a process that examines principles, virtues (good character traits), and rules for answering the questions: ✓ How should I live my life? ✓What should I do? ✓What kind of person should I be? ✓Is my life worth living? MORALITY, VIRTUES AND SOCIAL ETHICS Social ethics answers the question: Are WE doing good for society? Business ethics addresses social ethics and public policy concerns: How should businesses be structured? Have we incorporated the well-being of all stakeholders involved? Personal morality and social morality now affect business ethics SYSTEMATIC SOLUTIONS IN BUSINESS ETHICS Everyone is involved: - High ethical standards of employees - Internal structures within a business that establish and enforce high standards: auditors, accountants, attorneys, financial analysts, and board members - Code of Ethics - Government regulators - Citizenry and community watch CASE: ENRON - Enron Corporation was a leading energy company (mainly produced, distributed and traded electricity and natural gas). Became international energy producer and operator. - Based in Houston, Texas with 20,000 employees worldwide and revenues in the $100 billions. Formed in 1985 by CEO Kenneth Lay. - Corporate culture was of increasing sales revenue (1990s claimed high growth) - From 1996-2001, named America's Most Innovative Company“ by Fortune magazine. - High debts and losses were hidden by CEOs, internal and external accountants (Arthur Andersen), and others inside the company - Income funds was taken from reserve accounts - False income statements were used to manipulate its stock price. - In late 2001, bankruptcy was declared. Soon afterwards an investigation ensued. - Employees’ retirement funds were tied to stock shares. Were not allowed to sell, only CEO and other sold stock options before bankruptcy. - CEO Kenneth Lay and new CEO Jeffrey Schilling were sentenced to prison CASE: ENRON QUESTIONS 1) Identify any ethical issues involved 2) Identify all people who were harmed 3) Do you think that these type of corporate scandals are the fault of individuals or of the corporation as a whole? 4) What would you change to try to prevent future Enrons? Slide 1 Chapter 3 Ethical Theories © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Utilitarianism • Teleological theories hold that the rightness of actions is determined by – The amount of good consequences they produce • Actions are justified on teleological theories by – Virtue of the end they achieve © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Utilitarianism • Deontological theories hold that – We have a duty to perform certain acts because • Of the nature of these actions of the rules from which they follow • Not because of the benefit to ourselves or others © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. The Principle of Utility • Classical utilitarianism states an action is right if and only if – It produces the greatest balance of pleasure over pain for everyone • The four theses of utilitarianism are: – Consequentialism, hedonism, maximalism, and universalism © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Act and Rule Utilitarianism • Act-Utilitarianism states an action is right if and only if it – Produces the greatest balance of pleasure over pain for everyone • Is a simpler theory and provides an easily understood decision procedure. © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Act and Rule Utilitarianism • Rule Utilitarianism states an action is right if and only if it – Conforms to a set of rules • Acceptance of which would produce the greatest balance of pleasure over pain for everyone • Gives firmer ground to the rules of morality. © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Problems With Calculating Utility • Some actions produce more pleasure for us than others. • It is easy to rank actions in order of the pleasure they give us. • It is impossible to accurately measure how much pleasure they give us. © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. The Universalizability Principle • Principle of Universalizability – If act is right/wrong for one person then • It is right/wrong for all other relevantly similar persons in similar circumstances • As a matter of logic, we must be consistent in the judgments we make. © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Virtue in Business • Virtue ethics could be applied to business directly by holding that – The virtues of a good businessperson are the same as those of a good person © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Natural Rights • Natural Rights – Belong to all persons purely by virtue of their being human • Are characterized by two main features: – Universality – Unconditionality © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. The Nature and Value of Justice • Aristotle distinguished three kinds of justice: 1. Distributive- the distribution of benefits and burdens 2. Compensatory-compensating persons for wrongs done to them 3. Retributive -punishment of wrongdoers © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Rawls’s Egalitarian Theory • Difference Principle – An unequal distribution is justified if • Everyone would be better off with the inequality than without it • Principle of Equal Opportunity – Careers should be open
Answered Same DayFeb 13, 2021

Answer To: Answer each question in 3 - 5 sentences please Chapter 1: Describe and explain an example of a...

Arunavo answered on Feb 14 2021
136 Votes
Running Head: BUSINESS ETHICS        1
BUSINESS ETHICS        2
BUSINESS ETHICS
Table of Contents
Chapter 1    3
Chapter 3    3
Chapter 4    4
Chapter 8    4
Chapter 9    5
References    6

Chapter 1
Enron is one of the leading energy producers, which distributes and make trades with the electricity and natural gas. The company was claimed to be the America’s most innovative company by Fortune magazine. However, the company had hidden the debts and losses and that is being done by the CEO, internal and external accountants and many other employees inside the company. The company did the unethical part by hiding the losses.
However, it further went to the extent that the incoming funds were taken out from the reserve funds, a false income statement were shown to manipulate the stocks, and soon after the declaration of the bankruptcy, the company had lost all the money for the employees retirement funds as they were linked with stocks. As per the policy of the company, they were mainly focused on the sales generation/ However, they have completely overlooked that the policy will led them to take an unethical decision that have completely destroyed their reputation and further the CEOs were sent to prison (Dibra, 2016).
Chapter 3
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory, which denotes the happiness of a large group of people through an action. Piacquadio (2017) have described that the happiness of the people comes from the action and the amount of happiness is large then the action is considered as ethical and if the happiness level is low then the action may not be considered ethical.
On the other hand, deontological theory of ethics is more commonly known as Kantianism, which...
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