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Emerging ethical issues in business
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Recommended: Emerging ethical issues in business
Stakeholders play a major role in the business arena, they are charged with the responsibility of ensuring their organization is a safe environment not only for themselves but for their employees. In a seemingly competitive and morally flawed world, business people and entrepreneurs are often presented with grave ethical challenges. For this reason their personal values and beliefs play a pivotal role in the success of the organization. When concealing doubts about the ethics of others, more than a few tend to feel warranted in engaging in less-than-ideal conduct to protect their own interests. Because of these politics, in most circumstances even the most cultivated moral quarrels are unlikely to lessen this behavior. More often than not most people tend to believe that this morally self-protective behavior is responsible, in large part, for much undesirable dishonesty in the business arena.
In Chapter three of Business Ethics textbook (O.C. Ferrell, 2011, 2008), titled “Emerging Business Ethics Issues” some these concerns are addressed. When reading this chapter it is important to note key objectives. The authors’ intent in this thought provoking chapter is to provide the reader with knowledge on how to identify and examine ethical issues in the context of organizational ethics as well as how they relate to basic values, delineating abusive and intimidating behavior, and to examine the challenge of determining an ethical issue in business (O.C. Ferrell, 2011, 2008).
Defining and Examining Ethical Issues
When defining ethical issues in the context of organizational ethics, one must first be able to recognize what an ethical issue is in order to take the appropriate course of action. According to (O.C. Ferrell, 2011, 2008), a...
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It’s important for stakeholders to recognize these type conflicts and decide whether business actions and decisions are being perceived as ethical or unethical which requires stakeholders to be ethically aware of all issues that could potentially harm the integrity of the organizations and its employees. In order to do this, stakeholders must be able to determine exactly what an ethical issue in business is. Although some situations may appear pretty apparent there are others that will require more in-depth evaluations.
Works Cited
O.C. Ferrell, J. F. (2011, 2008). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases. Mason Ohio: South-Western Cenage Learning.
University of Maryland University College. (2004). Contract and Negotiations. In Ethics in Negotiation (chap. 11). Retrieved 2004 from http://polaris.umuc.edu/~bgoodale/admn628/0402/lesson11.html
Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2011). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases: 2011 custom edition (8th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Trevino, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2011). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right. New York: John Wiley.
Stead, W. E., Worrell, D. L., & Stead, J. G. (1990). An integrative model for understanding and managing ethical behavior in business organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 9(3), 233-242. Doi: 10.1007/BF00382649
Ethics in business is a highly important concept, as it can affect a company’s profits, salaries paid to employees and CEOs, and public opinion, among many other aspects of a business. Ethics can be enforced by company policies and guidelines, set a precedent when a company is faced with an important decision, and are also evolving thanks to new technology and situations that arise due to technology usage. Businesses have a duty to maintain their ethical responsibilities and also to help their employees enforce these responsibilities in and out of the workplace. However, ethics and the foundation for them are not always black and white. There are many different ethical theories, however Utilitarianism, Kant’s Deontological ethics, and Virtue ethics are three of the most well known theories in existence. Each theory is distinct in that it has a different quality used to determine ethicality and allows for a person to choose which system of ethics works best with both the situation and his or her personal ethical preferences.
Velasquez, Manuel G. Business Ethics: Concepts and Cases. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002
Ethical behavior is behavior that a person considers to be appropriate. A person’s moral principals are shaped from birth, and developed overtime throughout the person’s life. There are many factors that can influence what a person believes whats is right, or what is wrong. Some factors are a person’s family, religious beliefs, culture, and experiences. In business it is of great importance for an employee to understand how to act ethically to prevent a company from being sued, and receiving criticism from the public while bringing in profits for the company. (Mallor, Barnes, Bowers, & Langvardt, 2010) Business ethics is when ethical behavior is applied in an business environment, or by a business. There are many situations that can arise in which a person is experiencing an ethical dilemma. They have to choose between standing by their own personal ethical standards or to comply with their companies ethical standards. In some instances some have to choose whether to serve their own personal interests, or the interest of the company. In this essay I will be examining the financial events surrounding Bernie Madoff, and the events surrounding Enron.
Johnson, C. E. (2012). Organizational Ethics: A Practical Approach. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Organizational Ethics Issue Resolution Paper Introduction For this paper, Washington Mutual has been selected to show how the ethical decision making process can be achieved. When it comes to business ethics in the workplace, Washington Mutual has designed what can be considered a well balanced workplace with behaviors that are aligned with their moral values and business ethics. Business ethics are sometimes depicted as resolving conflicts where one option appears to be the correct choice. There are many different ethical dilemmas that are faced by managers and leaders everyday that are highly complex and have no clear choice or guidelines to assist in making the choices for resolution. There are times when an employee has to decide whether or not to cheat, lie, steal, or break their contract.
Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2013). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases: 2011 custom edition (9th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Jennings, M. (2009). Business ethics: Case studies and selected readings (6th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2011). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Treviño, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2007). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right Fourth ed., Retrieved on July 30, 2010 from www.ecampus.phoenix.edu
Forsyth, D. R. (1992). Judging the morality of business practices: The influence of personal moral philosophies. Journal of Business Ethics, 11(5), 461. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198100721?accountid=32521
Ethics are the driving force behind good business. Every ethical choice made by a professional can and will have a much different outcome than any unethical choice. Bad ethics can ruin many aspects of a business and as (Gaye-Anderson, 2007) states how quite easily the lives and professional reputation of the employees can even be severally damaged (para. 3). Everything from morale to motivation can be severely affected by poor ethical choices. Customers will take their business elsewhere. Employees will abandon ship. Other, competing businesses reap the benefits of the bad moral choices. Ultimately, the entire business can be brought down by one poor ethical choice.
In the business world there are many fundamental aspects and situations that can lead to several issues. In order to find an optimal and professional solution, business decision makers need to apply moral and ethical standards. And it is at that moment in which business ethics perform its role. Business ethics, which is in charge of examine how companies and individuals should act in business situations, is very essential in order to reach a common agreement and to work within the laws of business and solve an arisen dilemma. Working of the hand of ethical business companies, employees, investors, directors, and even individual officers can be beneficiated and obtain most favorable outcomes.