Chapter 3

Triple Bottom Line

- a corporation's profits - its impact on people - its impact on the planet

Corporate Social Responsibility

- corporations should behave as "good citizens" by promoting worthwhile social goals and by working to solve important social problems - one view of CSR is that corporations have a duty to both their shareholders and their stakeholders (groups affected by corporate decisions)

Ethical Issues in Business

- developing integrity and trust is a fundamental ethical issue for business - businesses should ensure that the workplace respects diversity, enforces equal opportunity employment, and civil rights laws - businesses must also comply with a host of federal and state laws and regulations

The Importance of Ethical Leadership

- managers who do not commit to creating and maintaining an ethical workplace rarely have one - managers must model ethical behavior for their employees and enforce codes of conduct consistently - managers should set realistic goals for their employees to reduce the incentive to behave unethically - fostering unethical behavior

Kantian Ethical Principles

- people should not be treated as a means to an end because they are qualitatively different from other physical object *categorical imperative

Utilitarianism Approach to Ethics

1. determination of which individuals will be affected by action in question 2. Cost-Benefit Analysis, which involves assessment of negative and positive effects of alternative actions on these individuals 3. Choice among alternative actions that will product maximum societal utility

- Duty-Based Ethics - Outcome-Based Ethics

Study of ethics is generally divided into WHAT TWO major categories?

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

U.S. law regulating behavior regarding the conduct of international business in the taking of bribes and other unethical actions. - it monitors the employment practices of foreign suppliers - corporate watch groups

1. the legal implications of each decision 2. the public relations impact 3. the safety risks for consumers and employees 4. the financial implications

What 4 CRITERIA can businessmen use to help make ethical decisions?

1. others get harmed as the cost which in turn hurts the company 2. using social media in a stalking way could be unethical / employees posting about their company or job is unethical 3. if you dont know what the rules are this can harm you 4. bad decisions that are "rationalized" end up in poor consequences 5. can lead to unplanned mistakes and consequences

What are the ethical dilemmas that often arise in these areas? 1. short-term profit maximization at the expense of ethical behavior 2. use of social media 3. lack of awareness of relevant ethical issues 4. rationalization 5. uncertainty about the best ethical choice

- the government institutionalized ethical rights and duties (e.g. The Fraud Reduction and Data Analytics Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act) - the law contains gray areas that are difficult to interpret and apply

What is the relationship of law and ethics?

Social Responsible

__________________________ activity will benefit a corporation but the benefits may not be seen immediately

Ethical Reasoning

a reasoning process in which an individual links his or her moral convictions or ethical standards to the situation at hand

Religious Ethical Principles

beliefs about how one should treat others, typically described in religious texts

pure profit maximizers

businesses can be seen as _____________________________

Duty-Based Ethics

ethical philosophy rooted in idea that every person has certain duties to others, including humans and planet

Outcome-Based Ethics

focuses on the consequences of an action, not on the natural of the action itself or on any set of pre-established moral values or religious beliefs

Stakeholders

groups affected by corporate decisions

Ethics

more principles and values applied to social behavior

Business Ethics

the application of moral and ethical principles in a business context

Corporate Social Responsibility

the idea that corporations can and should act ethically and be accountable to society for their actions, not just for their shareholders' best interest

Moral Minimum

the minimum level of ethical behavior expected by society, which is usually defined as compliance with the law - business code of ethics

Outsourcing

the practice by which a company hires an outside firm or individual to perform work rather than hiring employees to do it

IDDR model (I Desire to Do Right) 1. Inquiry: begin with an understanding of the facts 2. Discussion: develop a list of action options 3. Decision: work together with those others participating in the discussion to reach a consensus on a justified solution 4. Review: consider whether the implementation of the solution was effective

this approach is based on the work of ethics consultant Leonard H. Bucklin and involves WHAT four steps?

Outcome-Based Ethics

this type of ethics looks at the impacts of a decision in an attempt to maximize harms

- an action that produces the greatest good for the most people may not seem to be the most ethical

what is an issue with the utilitarianism approach to ethics?

Categorical Imperative

when deciding whether an action is ethical, Kant suggested that one should consider what the effect would be if everyone in a similar situation acted in the same way

Principle of Rights

when deciding whether an action is ethical, one should consider what effect one's actions would have on the fundamental rights of others