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Ethics in corporate governance
Ethics in corporate governance
What are the implications of unethical behavior
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Ch 5 DQ – Apply your skills – ethical dilemma
Nathan Rosillo, a key product developer at Chem-Tech Corporation finds himself in the middle of an exceedingly complex ethical dilemma (Pg. 156). He is the moral agent (Pg. 156) of the company who needs to decide if he wants to protect his beloved Dutch Valley River from the waste materials that can be dumped into it after the loosened requirements of the regulatory agencies. The new lubricant product developed by Nathan and his team is seen by his company supervisor and plant manager as key to reviving the financial fortunes of a cash strapped Chem-Tech. The cost savings arising from less need to reduce and recycle the waste from the new product seem to resonate well with the management’s profit-maximizing view (Pg. 167), and also allow them to stay in compliance with the loosened environmental standards. Nathan has the following 3 choices:
1) Talk to the manufacturing vice president, scheduled to visit next week, and emphasize the responsibility that Chem-Tech has as an industry leader to set an example. Recommend to her that Chem-Tech participate in voluntary pollution reduction as a marketing tool, positioning itself as the environmentally friendly choice.
Response – Nathan’s recommendation above to Chem-Tech emphasizes corporate social responsibility (Pg. 162) to a solitary external stakeholder (Pg.
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163), the regulatory agency, and to a certain extent, the environment at large. It implies an individualism approach (Pg. 157) to prevent his company from dumping waste into a river that he grew up enjoying as a child. Nathan is unlikely to succeed in getting the management to accept his recommendation due to the following factors: • It is not economically responsible on part of the company to ignore the interests of the primary stakeholders (Pg. 164), mainly the employees, who will lose their jobs, should the company not survive another bad quarter. • The company is acting within the framework of legal requirements relating to reducing and recycling wastes; a view subscribed by the plant manager. • In view of the financial situation of Chem-Tech, this is not the right time to display organizational virtuousness (Pg. 168). Using voluntary pollution reduction as a marketing tool can be considered in the future, if the company survives these tough times. 2) Mind your own business and just do your job. The company isn’t breaking any laws, and if Chem-Tech’s economic situation doesn’t improve, a lot of people will be thrown out of work. Response – Nathan can keep his job and be instrumental in improving the financial fortunes of Chem-Tech by deciding to keep quiet about this matter in front of the manufacturing vice president. By taking a utilitarian approach (Pg. 157) to guide his decision making, Nathan will save a lot of people, including himself, from being thrown out of work. 3) Call the local environmental advocacy group and get them to stage a protest of the company. Response – Nathan needs to carefully consider the ethical implications of his decision to blow the whistle (Pg.
172) on this matter in front of the local environmental advocacy group. The decision confirms to the individualism approach (Pg. 157) but violates the justice approach (Pg. 158). A resulting protest can bring things to a grinding halt at Chem-Tech and jeopardize Nathan’s and all employees’ careers and livelihood. Such an action by Nathan implies that he is at the postconventional level (Pg. 160) of moral development, as his internal values assume greater importance than the expectations of significant
others. If I was Nathan, I would adopt the practical approach (Pg. 158) to ethical decision making and consider the interests of all stakeholders into account. It is important for the business to survive in order to be socially responsible. As such, I would stay quiet and wait for an opportune time to make my recommendation to stop dumping waste materials into the river. This will be possible only after Chem-Tech recovers financially after the introduction of the new lubricant product.
Abortion has been a political, social, and personal topic for many years now. The woman’s right to choose has become a law that is still debated, argued and fought over, even though it has been passed. This paper will examine a specific example where abortion is encouraged, identify the Christian world views beliefs and resolution as well as the consequences of such, and compare them with another option.
As per request of the first assignment of this course, I watched the movie “A Civil Action” starring John Travolta (Jan Schlichtmann), as a plaintiff’s lawyer and Robert Duvall (Jerome Facher) and Bruce Norris (William Cheeseman) as the defendant’s lawyers of W.R. Grace and J Riley Leather companies. The movie depicted the court case fought in the 1980’s among the previously mentioned companies and the residents of Woburn a little town located in Massachusetts. After watching the movie, an analysis using the ethical tools reflected in the chapter 1 of the course textbook will be used to portray the ethical issues of the movie.
Parker, Michael. "The Best Possible Child." NCBI. Journal of Medical Ethics, May 2007. Web. 27
This case focuses on corporate obstacles to pollution prevention. Pollution prevention can complex especially for large corporations. There are many different forms of pollution prevention including emissions control devices and incremental changes in existing technology. The author reviews the impact of emissions controlled devices, however the focus of the case study is on incremental changes in existing technology. Incremental changes include substituting one or two steps in a production process or relationship changes between production steps. One example of incremental changes that was provided by the author was eliminating chlorofluorocarbons and saving energy by replacing a refrigeration process with a heath exchanger that can exploit waste cooling from another part of the process. There are three critical decision-making stages for incremental changes; identifying a pollution prevention opportunity, finding a solution appropriate to that opportunity, and implementing that solution. The author discusses the three aspects of an organization (culture, ability to process information, and its politics) and how they impact the decision-making stages.
The leveling effect of governmental action is indispensable in producing improvements in product safety and pollution reduction. It does little good to exhort engineers to insist that their ideas on safety or pollution be adopted, if the effect would be to jeopardize their employer’s welfare. If such actions result in damaging their employers, have they properly fulfilled the ethical obligations they accepted when they accepted employment? In return for a salary, there is an implied obligation that an employee will help indulge the employer’s
In the profession of Dental Hygiene, ethical dilemmas are nearly impossible to avoid, and most hygienists at some point in their professional life will have to face and answer ethical questions. Some ethical conflicts the dental hygienist may encounter can be quite complex and an obvious answer may not be readily available. In the article Ethical Decision Making, Phyllis Beemsterboer suggests an ethical decision-making model can aide the dental hygienist in making appropriate decisions when confronted with an ethical situation, and that the six-step model can serve dental hygienists in making the most advantageous ethical decision (2010).
I will first discuss these reports and what the company¡¦s initial response was. Next, I will elaborate on the case and the company¡¦s course of action following the passing of new laws and further research conducted by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the illnesses and the women affected by these decisions. Following, I will conduct a SWOT Analysis of the company in which I will include relevant ethic theories pertaining to the case. Finally, I will conclude and provide recommendations based on my findings.
Importantly, when thinking about the cost-benefit approach, it should be borne in mind that its proponents are not strictly motivated to act ethically, unless the cost of not doing so is sufficiently high, or if acting ethically will result in economic profit. For example, a industrial company may know that dumping chemical waste into a nearby river is harmful to the environment, and by extension, human and non-human animals, although still decide to dispose of their waste in such a manner, as it is economically cheaper to do so, than to dispose of the waste in a safe but more costly manner. In coming to such a decision, they may have also weighed the potential fines and loss of business if they are exposed, although determined that such costs are not sufficiently high compared to the economic savings of cheaper, inappropriate dumping, so will maintain the current method of disposal.
Everyone in this world has experienced an ethical dilemma in different situations and this may arise between one or more individuals. Ethical dilemma is a situation where people have to make complex decisions and are influenced based on personal interest, social environment or norms, and religious beliefs (“Strategic Leadership”, n.d.). The leaders and managers in the company should set guidelines to ensure employees are aware and have a better chance to solve and make ethical decisions. Employees are also responsible in understanding their ethical obligations in order to maintain a positive work environment. The purpose of this case study is to identify the dilemma and analyze different decisions to find ways on how a person should act
Just a few days ago terrorist attack the Paris where many people die and injured, and run on the emergency rooms. I cannot imagen how the chaos that existed especially for all of the doctors that tried to save them. In the article “Medical Technology and Ethical Issues” William E. Thomson and Joseph V. Hickey point out that discuss sociological and ethical issues related to medical technology that also try to save life. There are some argument about overreliance on new computerize system to make important decision about the patients treatment. Also, medical technology is going to change future but “where do we draw line”?
At Johnson & Johnson, they set the health of people and the planet as top priority and as result they set goals to reduce the environmental impact, the company established what they called it proprietary Earthwards this is promoting greener products through lifecycle analysis. The company is committed to apply a strict code of conduct to all employees in in different branches as well as conformity to FDA (U S Food and Drug Administration) laws and regulations Each to ensure the safe use of their products, and the best int...
* Shirk, Evelyn. “New Dimensions in Ethics: Ethics and the Environment.” Ethics and the Environment. Proc. of Conf. on Ethics and the Environment, April 1985, Long Island University. Ed. Richard E. Hart. Lanham: University Press of America, 1992. 1-10.
The world wide oil industry supplies mankind with many life improving products and services. At the same time these technological advances challenge us with numerous ethical considerations.
Ethics refer to those habits or standards that are considered to show good character and conduct. In the professional practice of engineering, engineers are confronted with different ethical issues and interpersonal conflicts. These cases could range from a small scale involving few people to larger conflicts where the outcome influences the engineering community and the society at large. Classically, engineering education does not duly address the needs for ethical education to be incorporated into the technical curriculum. However, it has become axiomatic that engineers must exhibit good ethical behavior because safety of the people and the environment rely on the quality of the designs/services that engineers provide.
Engineering ethics focuses on the behavior of the individual - the engineer, and the development of ethical standards governing their professional activities. Engineering ethics has always existed as a set of rules or a system that governs the behavior of an engineer. Among its main provisions, we can attribute such as the need to faithfully perform engineering work that would bring welfare and do not cause harm to people; be accountable for engineering professional activities; a good relationship ( customs and rules governing relations ) with other engineer, etc.