Ethics: Ethics And Ethics Of Ethics In Business

Hartman, E. (2006). Can We Teach Character? An Aristotelian Answer. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 5(1), 68-81

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.

The theme I have chosen for the Meeting the Management Challenge for this Assignment is “Business Ethics” In this essay I have looked into the definition of ethics, Business Ethics, International Principles of Business Ethics and How the use of Business ethics have influenced certain companies like “Volkswagen” and “Toshiba”. The importance of the use of business ethics to business leaders is also discussed further on in the essay.

However, today, the focus on stakeholder’s (apart from the shareholders, these are customers, suppliers and employees) expectations has also grown radically. Accordingly, ethical behaviours such as meeting stakeholders’ expectation objectives, environmental objectives and corporate social responsibility, which is accountability to the society and social responsibility, have resultantly become very important. Failure to comply with ethical behaviours can causes a business to damage its brand value and its reputation, which in turn could lead to reduced profits or even losses (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2014).

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.

Badaracco Joseph L. Jr. & Webb, P. Allen, Business Ethics: A View from the Trenches, California Management Review, 37, No. 2, Winter, 1995.

With the “Repo 105” manipulation, assets and liabilities were reduced at the reporting date, and the leverage ratio was decreased as well because the numerator and the denominator of that ratio are reduced by the same amount. As a result, Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy and former officials of Lehman brothers have agreed to pay $90 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit.

Today, business ethics is one of the most important topics in discussion. With recent scandals come to the public of huge corporations, the public has lost its trust of businesses and require ethics be important to companies. Ethics, however, is not based solely on individual employees. In order for companies to comply with ethical standards, teamwork is necessary between the employees and the organization as a whole to create an ethical company culture that guides the actions of all members in an organization.

Behind every successful company there is a strong foundation of ethics. Their vision, mission, behavior as a company, beliefs, and convictions all stem from their ethics. Not all companies have this foundation. To some, it is not believed to be essential for success. Ethics is important in business because our day-to-day life involves these businesses. The places we go to buy clothes, food, cars, computers, and services are all different kinds of businesses that we support financially. How many of the businesses around us have a strong foundation of ethics? How do we know that these companies don’t have workers working excruciating hours behind the scenes to produce the things that are seen on the shelves? How do we know that they are treating their workers with kindness and respect, as well as customers? Business ethics are important for not only the workers of those companies, but for their consumers. There is a domino effect that is caused when a consumer from a company with good business ethics recognizes it. As a result, the consumer returns, bringing with them more consumers, resulting in more profit for the business and a healthy work environment for its workers.

When deciding what to do in certain situations, ethics is what guides an individual to act in a way that is good, or right. Those involved in business settings apply ethics to business situations, known as business ethics. It is expected of businesses, small and large, to follow business ethics. There is a particular framework businesses are to follow. However, the reoccurring news headlines of poor business ethics prove differently. Poor business ethics include bribery, corporate accounting scandals, and environmental issues.

Business ethics and corporate morals have been evolving over the years, and continue to do so. These guidelines are constantly molding and vary as businesses become more integrated. Costco Wholesale Corporation, is a very successful multinational business, but has had issues in following along with social responsibility trends that come with advancements in domestic and worldwide partnerships.

When people think about ethics, it is usually about making decisions between good or bad. What is meant by this is that people normally think of doing good deeds, or giving to the disadvantaged as the typical form of ethics. What generally eludes most people, is ethics in the form of selecting between better or best. A great example can be in movies, where a superhero will be required to save one of two people. It is either a loved one, which it would be best for the hero’s personal interests, or a fellow superhero, which will be best in the interest of the people. An ethical choice of this nature is never an easy one to make. Another place where ethical choices are often made, but not regularly heard about is in businesses. The main purpose of a business is to remain profitable and continue operating as efficiently as possible. Ethics tie closely into business decisions because businesses normally have to make choices that might hurt others but will benefit their own company. Although some of these choices are in the best interest of the company, sometimes these decisions are only in the interest of those breaking ethical code.

There are many things that make a company unique and successful. The liberty of working in an organization in society today is that, companies are filled with many different individuals from all ways of life. It’s these people who bring something new, innovative and exciting to their line of work and often times you will find positively affect the others around them. Within my military profession it is the leadership and the culture of our environment that makes us so strong. Early on I have learned even outside of the military, that more minds are better than one. With strong leadership and respect on all levels a company can really maximize and utilize the benefits everyone brings to the fight to be successful. The way someone was brought up or taught has a lot to do with the way they act and think. This way of thinking right here relates very closely to how culture or ones way of life affects ethics as leadership within an organization and culture influence to some degree business ethics.

(b)Write out the one page (up to 500 words) definition of what is Ethics and what is Morality on the first page. You will need to include in your definition also Sacred Texts, Sacred People, the Ethic itself and Human Reasoning. (We will refer to this in class).

Business ethics can be defined as the set of moral values and codes or standards of conduct in an organization. According to Wikipedia – “Business ethics (also corporate ethics) is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of individuals and entire organizations.”