What is ethics in general? • Ethics is about how we behave about the standards we hold ourselves to • Ethics is about how we treat each other, even those we don’t know Ethics is… • Not just about feelings or conscience (양심) • Not the same as religion • Not just following the law • Not following “what everybody does” • Not technology or science – what we can be done Ethics is… • How we act as individuals • How we structure our organizations and their work • Ho we structure our society, our laws, our systems… Business Ethics is… • How we act as individuals in business • How we structure our business organizations and the way they work • How we structure our business society, our laws affecting business, our systems Distinguishing Ethical Dilemmas from Ethical Lapses Ethical Dilemma is a choice between alternatives that may all be ethical and valid. Ethical dilemma involves choosing among alternatives that aren’t clear-cut. Perhaps two conflicting alternatives are both ethical and valid, or perhaps the alternatives lie somewhere in the gray area between clearly right and clearly wrong. Ethical Lapse is knowing that something is wrong and doing it anyway. It is clearly unethical (and frequently illegal) choice Ethical principles and standards in business:
An important distinction to remember is that behaving ethically is not quite the same thing as behaving lawfully:
An ethical decision is one that is both legal and meets the shared ethical standards of the community Businesses face ethical issues and decisions almost every day – in some industries the issues are very significant. For example: Should businesses profit from problem gambling? Should supermarkets sell beer cheaper than bottled water? Is ethical shopping a luxury we can’t afford? You will probably note the link between business ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The two concepts are closely linked:
However there is also a distinction between the two:
How do businesses ensure that its directors, managers and employees act ethically? A common approach is to implement a code of practice. Ethical codes are increasingly popular – particularly with larger businesses and cover areas such as:
Two types of ethical reasoning that are invoked in answering the question, “when do we say that something is good or ethical?”: 1. Consequentialist reasoning • This locates morality in the consequences of an act. • An act is justified if the benefits outweigh the harms. • The most common type of consequentialist reasoning is Utilitarianism Utilitarianism considers that the right thing to do is to maximize 'utility'. In this context, 'utility' means the balance of pleasure over pain, happiness over suffering. • Therefore, utilitarians say that a policy or action is ethically justified if it maximizes the overall level of happiness in the community. • Their mantra is 'the greatest good for the greatest number'. 2. Categorical reasoning / Deontology • This locates morality in certain duties and rights. • Rather than focusing on the consequences of an action, this type of reasoning says that it is the intrinsic quality of the act that matters. Reference: http://www.tutor2u.net/business/strategy/business-ethics-introduction.html Organizational Behavior, McGraw Hill Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer. To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to upgrade your browser.
Course Hero uses AI to attempt to automatically extract content from documents to surface to you and others so you can study better, e.g., in search results, to enrich docs, and more. This preview shows page 2 - 5 out of 9 pages.
Learning Objective
Betty Vinson didn’t start out at WorldCom with the intention of going to jail. She undoubtedly knew what the right behavior was, but the bottom line is that she didn’t do it. How can you make sure that you do the right thing in the business world? How should you respond to the kinds of challenges that you’ll be facing? Because your actions in the business world will be strongly influenced by your moral character, let’s begin by assessing your current moral condition. Which of the following best applies to you (select one)?
Now that you’ve placed yourself in one of these categories, here are some general observations. Few people put themselves below the second category. Most of us are ethical most of the time, and most people assign themselves to category number two—“I’m mostly ethical.” Why don’t more people claim that they’re always ethical? Apparently, most people realize that being ethical all the time takes a great deal of moral energy. If you placed yourself in category number two, ask yourself this question: How can I change my behavior so that I can move up a notch? The answer to this question may be simple. Just ask yourself an easier question: How would I like to be treated in a given situation? Unfortunately, practicing this philosophy might be easier in your personal life than in the business world. Ethical challenges arise in business because business organizations, especially large ones, have multiple stakeholders and because stakeholders make conflicting demands. Making decisions that affect multiple stakeholders isn’t easy even for seasoned managers; and for new entrants to the business world, the task can be extremely daunting. Many managers need years of experience in an organization before they feel comfortable making decisions that affect various stakeholders. You can, however, get a head start in learning how to make ethical decisions by looking at two types of challenges that you’ll encounter in the business world: ethical dilemmas and ethical decisions.
An ethical dilemmaMorally problematic situation. is a morally problematic situation: You have to pick between two or more acceptable but often opposing alternatives that are important to different groups. Experts often frame this type of situation as a “right-versus-right” decision. It’s the sort of decision that Johnson & Johnson (known as J&J) CEO James Burke had to make in 1982. On September 30, twelve-year-old Mary Kellerman of Chicago died after her parents gave her Extra-Strength Tylenol. That same morning, twenty-seven-year-old Adam Janus, also of Chicago, died after taking Tylenol for minor chest pain. That night, when family members came to console his parents, Adam’s brother and his wife took Tylenol from the same bottle and died within forty-eight hours. Over the next two weeks, four more people in Chicago died after taking Tylenol. The actual connection between Tylenol and the series of deaths wasn’t made until an off-duty fireman realized from news reports that every victim had taken Tylenol. As consumers panicked, J&J pulled Tylenol off Chicago-area retail shelves. Researchers discovered Tylenol capsules containing large amounts of deadly cyanide. Because the poisoned bottles came from batches originating at different J&J plants, investigators determined that the tampering had occurred after the product had been shipped. So J&J wasn’t at fault. But CEO Burke was still faced with an extremely serious dilemma: Was it possible to respond to the tampering cases without destroying the reputation of a highly profitable brand? Burke had two options:
Burke opted to recall all 31 million bottles of Extra-Strength Tylenol on the market. The cost to J&J was $100 million, but public reaction was quite positive. Less than six weeks after the crisis began, Tylenol capsules were reintroduced in new tamper-resistant bottles, and by responding quickly and appropriately, J&J was eventually able to restore the Tylenol brand to its previous market position. When Burke was applauded for moral courage, he replied that he’d simply adhered to the long-standing J&J credo that put the interests of customers above those of other stakeholders. His only regret was that the tamperer was never caught. If you’re wondering what your thought process should be if you’re confronted with an ethical dilemma, you could do worse than remember the mental steps listed in Figure 2.3 "How to Face an Ethical Dilemma"—which happen to be the steps that James Burke took in addressing the Tylenol crisis.
Figure 2.3 How to Face an Ethical Dilemma 
In contrast to the “right-versus-right” problem posed by an ethical dilemma, an ethical decisionDecision in which there is a right (ethical) choice and a wrong (unethical or illegal) choice. entails a “right-versus-wrong” decision—one in which there is a right (ethical) choice and a wrong (unethical or illegal) choice. When you make a decision that’s unmistakably unethical or illegal, you’ve committed an ethical lapseSituation in which an individual makes a decision that’s unmistakably unethical or illegal.. Betty Vinson, for example, had an ethical lapse when she caved in to her bosses’ pressure to cook the WorldCom books. If you’re presented with what appears to be this type of choice, asking yourself the questions in Figure 2.4 "How to Avoid an Ethical Lapse" will increase your odds of making an ethical decision.
Figure 2.4 How to Avoid an Ethical Lapse To test the validity of this approach, let’s take a point-by-point look at Betty Vinson’s decisions:
So Vinson could have answered our five test questions with five yeses. To simplify matters, remember the following rule of thumb: If you answer yes to any one of these five questions, odds are that you’re about to do something you shouldn’t.
Like our five questions, some ethical problems are fairly straightforward. Others, unfortunately, are more complicated, but it will help to think of our five-question test as a set of signals that will warn you that you’re facing a particularly tough decision—that you should think carefully about it and perhaps consult someone else. The situation is like approaching a traffic light. Red and green lights are easy; you know what they mean and exactly what to do. Yellow lights are trickier. Before you decide which pedal to hit, try posing our five questions. If you get a single yes, you’ll be much better off hitting the brake.
If you answer yes to any one of these five questions, you’re probably about to do something that you shouldn’t.
Explain the difference between an ethical dilemma and an ethical decision, then provide an example of each. Describe an ethical lapse and provide an example. |
An ethical dilemma is making a clearly unethical or illegal choice.
Pos Terkait
Copyright © 2024 ketiadaan Inc.
