BUSINESS ETHICS

Contrasting Enviromental views of William Baxter and Rolston

"William F. Baxter states that his criteria are oriented to people. He rejects the proposition that we ought to respect the "balance of nature" or to "preserve the environment" unless the reason for doing so, express or implied, is the benefit of man." Contrast Baxter's position with what Holmes Rolston II calls the naturalistic ethic. Advocates of a naturalistic ethic contend, contrary to Baxter's view, "that some natural objects, such as a whooping cranes, are morally considerable in their own right, apart from human interests, or that some ecosystems, perhaps the Great Smokies, have intrinsic values, such as aesthetic beauty, from which we derive a duty to respect these landscapes." According to a naturalistic ethic, however, the value of the mountain in more than a simple function of these human interest: Nature can have value in and of itself, apart from human beings.

Brown v. Board of Education

In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in the case of Brown vs. Board of Education that racially segregated schooling is uncostitutional. In doing so, the Court conclusively rejected the older doctrine that "separate but equal" facilities are legally permissible. Not only were segragated facilities in the South unequal, the Court found, but also the very idea of separation of the races, based as it was on a belief in black racial inferiority, inherently led to unequal treatment. That decision helped launch the civil rights movement in this country.

U.S vs. Ohagen

James O'Hagan, a lawyer, had reaped a $4.3 million profit after learning that a company represented by his law firm was planning a hostile takeover of another company. O'Hagan had not worked on the case himself, but he had--the court ruled--misappropriated confidential information belonging to his firm and its client. Writing for the majority, justice Ruth Bader Securities Exchange Act, namely, "to insure honest securities markets and thereby promote investor confidence."

Right to Refuse dangerous work

The U.S. Supreme court has acknowledge the right to refuse dangerous work to be a legal right, too.

Sarbanes Oxley Act

The act provides sweeping new legal protection for employees who report possible securities fraud, making it unlawful for companies to "discharge, demote, suspend, threaten, harass, or in any other manner discriminate against them.

Civil Rights Act

formed in 1964 prohibits sex discrimination in employment.

(EEOC) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

formed in 1965 is a federal law enforcement agency that enforces laws against workplace discrimination. Example; race, color, national, origin, religion, sex, age, disability, genetic information, and retaliation for reporting, participating, and/or opposing a discriminatory practice.

Affirmative action

here means programs taking the race or sex of employees or job candidates into account as part of an effort to correct imbalances in employment that exist as a result of past discrimination.

Comparable worth

holds that women and men should be paid on the same scale not only for doing the same of equivalent jobs but also for doing different jobs involving equal skill, effort, and responsibility.

Economic espionage act

of 1996 makes the theft of trade secrets a federal crime.

Whistle blower

refers to an employee's informing the public about the illegal or immoral behavior of an employer or an organization.

Just Cause

requires that reasons for discipline or discharge deal directly with job performance.

Taft-Hartley Act (1947)

which amende the national labor relations act, Taft hartley act outlaws closed shops which hire only union members and permits individual states to ban union shops.

Ecosystem

which refers to a total ecologiacl community, both living and nonliving.

Four problems with regulation

1-Requiring firms to use the strongest feasible means of pollution control is problematic, because the same political figures or agencies that are tasked to enforce this laws or acts are funded with this same company's money. (Conflict of interest anyone?) 2-Although regulations treat all parties equally, this often comes at the cost of ignoring the special circumstances of particular industries and individual firms. 3-Regulation can take away an industry's incentive to do more than the minimum required by law. 4-Regulation can also cause plants to shut down or relocate

Management theory, theory X and Y

1-Theory X managers believe that workers dislike work and try to avoid it. 2-Theory Y managers assume that employees basically like work and view it as something natural and potentially enjoyable. 3-Therory X managers coerce and bully workers into conformity with organizational objectives 4-Theory Y managers believe that workers are motivated by pride and self-fulfillment as well as money and job security, not dodging responsibility but accepting it and even seeking it out.

Naturalist Ethics

Advocates of a naturalistic ethic contend,"that some natural objects, are morally considerable in their own right, apart from human interest, or that some ecosystems, have instrinsic values, from which derive a duty to respect these landscapes.

Griggs v. Duke Power

Even when test are valid and reliable, they can be unfair- for example, if the tests are culturally biased or if the skills they measure are irrelevant to job performance. The U.S. Supreme Court took a stand on this issue in 1971 in the case of Griggs v. Duke Power Company. The case involved thirteen African-American laborers who were denied promotions because they scored low on a company-sponsored intelligence test involving verbal and mathematical puzzles. In its decision, the Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act prohibits employers from requiring a high school education or the passing of a general intelligences test as a prerequisite for employment or promotion without demonstrating that the associated skills relate directly to job performance. The Griggs decision makes it clear that if an employment practice such as testing has an adverse impact (or unequal effect) on minority groups, then the burden of proof is on the employer to show the job relatedness or business necessity of the test or other procedure. Duke Power Company couldn't do that.

(FCPA) Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

Formed in 1977, which was passed in the wake of the discovery that nearly four hundred U.S. companies had made bribery payments to foreign officials for business favor.

(OSHA) Occupational Safety and Health Administration

OSHA created by the Occupational safety and health act of 1970, which prime responsibility of regulating safe and healthful working conditions passed from the states to the federal government.

Clean air act

Passed in 1970, our air is better than it would otherwise have been, and by most measures it is cleaner that it was fifty years ago.

The use of the ecological economics

Regulations, incentives, and pricing mechanisms and pollution permits.

Wagner Act

The most important of all our labor laws, it guarantees employees the right to organize and join unions and to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing.

Quid-pro-quo harassment

The phrase quid pro quo refers to giving something in return for something else. Occurs when a supervisor makes an employee's employment opportunities conditional on the employee's entering into a sexual relationship with, or granting sexual favors to, the supervisor.

Two facts behind work place ultiratism

Two historical factors, in David Ewing's view, lie behind the absence of civil liberties and the prevalence of authoritarianism in the workplace. One of these factors is the rise of professional management and personnel engineering at the turn of the twentieth century, following the emergence of large corporations. The other historical factor is that the law has traditionally given the employer a free hand in hiring and firing employees

Kick backs

Which is a percentage payment to a person able to influence or control a source of income.

Three defining features of Job discrimination

an employment decision in some way harms or disadvantages and employee or a job applicant, the decision is based on the person's membership in a certain group, rather than on individual merit, and the decision rests on prejudice, false stereotypes, or the assumption that the group in question is in some way inferior and thus does not deserve equal treatment.

Conflict of interest

arises when employees at any level have special or private interests that are substantial enough to interfere with their job duties--that is, when their personal interest leads them, or might be anticipated to lead them, to make decisions or to act in ways that are detrimental to their employer's interests.

Management Styles

can do more to enhance or diminish the work enviroment than any other facet of employer-employee relations.

Consensual consent

involving consent, mutual consent.

Cost benefit analysis

is a device used to determine whether it's worthwhile to incur a particular cost--for instance, the cost of employing a particular pollution-control device.

Hostile work enviroment harassment

is broader, but it may be more important because it is so pervasive. This form of sexual harassment is behavior of a sexual nature that is distressing to women and interferes with their ability to perform on the job, even when the behavior is not an attempt to pressure the woman for sexual favors.