Business Ethics

Abstract

Organizational ethics is one of the most important, yet perhaps one of the most unseen and misunderstood concepts in corporate America and schools of business. Organizational ethics initiatives have not been competently applied by many corporations, and there is still much debate in relative to the usefulness of such initiatives in stopping ethical and legal misconduct. Simultaneously, business schools are attempting to teach courses and/or integrate organizational ethics into their curricula without general agreement about what should be taught, or how it should be taught.

 

Table of content

INTRODUCTION4

Global Business Ethics5

Corporate Social Responsibility8

DOMINANT ETHICAL THEORIES11

Approaches to Ethics in Business14

Individual vs. Organization14

Understanding Ethical Decision Making17

Ethical Issue Intensity18

Ethical Components of Contemporary Business Issues19

Personal Moral Philosophy20

Stage of Moral Development21

Organizational Factors23

COMPLEX ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES USING ETHICAL THEORY26

The Influence of Coworkers and Supervisors26

Opportunity28

Ethical Issues30

Conflict of Interest30

Fraud31

Discrimination33

Need to Discover Ethical Issues34

CONCLUSION35

REFERENCES37

Introduction

Societal norms need that businesses assume responsibility and ensure that ethical standards are correctly applied on a daily basis. Such a obligation is not without controversy. Some business leaders accept as factual that personal moral development and character are all that are required for productive organizational ethics. These business leaders are supported by certain business educators who accept as factual ethics initiatives should arise inherently from corporate heritage and that chartering ethical employees will restrict unethical behavior inside the organization.(Trevino, 2007) A contrary position, and the one espoused here, is that productive organizational ethics can only be achieved by proactive leadership whereby employees from diverse backgrounds are supplied a widespread understanding of what is characterised as ethical behavior through formal training, thus creating an ethical organizational climate.(Donaldson,2007) In addition, changes are required in the regulatory system, in the organizational ethics initiatives of business schools, and in societal approaches to the development and implementation of organizational ethics in corporate America. According to Richard L. Schmalensee, Dean of the MIT Sloan School of Management, the question is, "How can we make graduates who are more conscious of their potential and their obligation as professionals to make a positive assistance to society?" He stated that business schools should be held partly responsible for the cadre of managers more focused on short-term games to beat the market rather than construction lasting value for shareholders and society (Schmalensee 2003).

This introductory section provides an overview of the organizational ethical decision making process. It begins with a discussion of how ethical decisions are made and then offers a framework for understanding organizational ethics that is consistent with research, best practices, and regulatory developments.Using this framework, the chapter then discusses how ethical decisions are made in the context of an organization and poses some illustrative ethical issues that require to be addressed in organizational ethics. (Trevino, 2007)

Global Business Ethics

Global Business ethics today have proved themselves to be non-existent. If there had been some grade of self-regulation in the global financial industry, then there is little questioning that the present financial situation that now exists all over the world would not be happening.(Legge, 2005)

This shortage of business ethics in the financial industry has caused riots in numerous ...