Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Albert Carr 's position in "Is Business Bluffing Ethical?" You may consider his analogy between business and poker, his ideas about bluffing and lying, the similarities between his view and Friedman 's stockholder theory, or anything else that seems worth discussing. (Unit 7)
https://hbr.org/1968/01/is-business-bluffing-ethical
Being ethical or not? Always doing the right thing? These are all questions and thoughts, which arise in a business on a daily basis. However, I personally feel that the answer lies within us. If we choose when to be ethical, and when not to be, does it actually make us a good person? Albert Carr discusses some of key aspects of his theory in the article “If Business Bluffing
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His analogy of business ethics in relation to playing poker gives a fair idea of how people may treat the two things similarly or differently. "Business, as practiced by individuals as well as corporations, has the impersonal character of a game - a game that demands both special strategy and an understanding of its special ethics" (Carr, p.138). Carr contends to his audience that the ethical behavior of a business and personal values should not be criticized together. All the players know the rules of the game, and know how to play it. Therefore, in simple words, Carr states that Business is a game, similar to poker. In a game there are rules, and if one stays within the rules, everything is permissible. Business also has its own rules, including rules for deception, which results in a representation of business being ethical when bluffing, or …show more content…
Through this perspective, I personally believe that business bluffing is ethical. However, a few weaknesses may include businessmen not being able to balance their work ethics and values with their personal values. Seldom, few businesses or businessmen may go above and beyond in order to achieve success in the workplace. As mentioned earlier, an example of this would be where a recent graduate lied about his personal views in obtaining a certain job, or an elderly man lying about his age on his
By proactively addressing ethical issues with a code of conduct, Raiders Inc. can set the standard regarding how they want employees to behave. Employee can be trained on the company code of ethics so they understand how their company expects them to respond. They can also train them on the biases of decision making, to make sure they are aware of the pitfalls that exist. (Robbins & Coulter, 2012)
This paper is an analysis of the ethical business decision matrix developed by The George S. May Company (May), a management-consulting firm. The paper will also compare how these guidelines were used by John D. Beckett (Beckett) in his company and how the author’s firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLC (PwC), uses them. The guidelines are meant to be used by employees. These guidelines are specifically a measure of moral and ethical principles tied to business ethics in acceptability of right and wrong behaviour in the workplace.
It's difficult not to be cynical about how “big business” treats the subject of ethics in today's world. In many corporations, where the only important value is the bottom line, most executives merely give lip service to living and operating their corporations ethically.
The movie “Glengarry Glen Ross” presented a series of ethical dilemmas that surround a group of salesmen working for a real estate company. The value of business ethics was clearly undermined and ignored in the movie as the salesmen find alternatives to keep their jobs. The movie is very effective in illustrating how unethical business practices can easily exist in the business world. Most of the time, unethical business practices remain strong in the business world because of the culture that exists within companies. In this film, the sudden demands from management forced employees to become irrational and commit unethical business practices. In fear of losing their jobs, employees were pressured to increase sales despite possible ethical ramifications. From the film, it is right to conclude that a business transaction should only be executed after all legal and ethical ramifications have been considered; and also if it will be determined legal and ethical to society.
Trevino, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2011). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right. New York: John Wiley.
dishonest in the way it advertises itself to the public. In addition, by the open manner in which the recruiter made the comment, it appears that dishonesty is an accepted part of the corporate culture. The question should arise in Benji's mind, "If this is that way the act towards the public, what is to prevent the company from acting this way towards me?" In Dobson's critique of virtue ethics, he discusses that a business can appear to be ethical and virtuous in the community,
Trevino, L., & Nelson, K. (2011). Managing business ethics - straight talk about how to
Tonge, A., Greer, L. & Lawton, A. (2003). The Enron story: You can fool some of the people some of the time. Business Ethics: A European review, 12(1), 4-22. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database.
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.
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.
Gallagher, S. A. 2005. Strategic response to Friedman’s critique of business ethics. Journal of Business Strategy, 26(6), 55-60.
There is a lot of debate dealing with the ethics of business bluffing. Some say that the bluffing is ethical and that private life morality does not deal with business concern. Likewise, the ones against business bluffing on the grounds that it is an unethical behavior argue that bluffing amounts to deceiving the consumer or any other party within the business cycle. They also disagree with the proponents of bluffing that business morality is different from private life morality; they suggest that there is not much difference between the two and thus bluffing cannot be justified as ethical. Just like poker, business is largely a game that involves strategic bluffs. Business and private life worlds are completely different and the two thus demand
Albert Carr argues that business is a game and that business ethics differs from private life ethics that individuals practice. Carr explains that practices such as bluffing and not telling the whole truth are morally acceptable in business context. Carr claims that one cannot apply a single standard of ethics universally as situations differ from one to another. My response to such claim is that I refuse to accept that businesses cannot be strictly ethical.
Shaw, W. H., & Barry, V. (2011). Moral Issues in Business (Eleventh ed., pp. 230-244).
As a student interested in one day starting a firm, learning the business models and its advantage is prepping me for the real world. Those models like the SWOT Analysis are bringing me closer to my dream of running my own business. Professor Sheldon’s experience in the business atmosphere has opened my mind to the experience of running an enterprise. This has helped me slowly develop my plans on what nature of business I want to enter and the stakeholders I’m obligated too. Apart from obligation I am also subjected to the laws of the land and a social responsibility. I must consider ethical behaviour in doing business as a lack of it has negative effects. Look at Enron for example, where the firm lied to their stakeholders just to keep stock prices up and later crashed the company. This resulted in many investors losing their pension and savings and now the board is serving long jail