BADM 101 - Chapter 2

What is the most common ethical problem for employees?

Abusive and intimidating behavior. Ex: physical threats, false accusations, profanity, insults, yelling, harshness, and unreasonableness to ignoring someone or simply being annoying

Abusive behavior is difficult to....

Abusive behavior is difficult to assess and manage because of diversity in culture and lifestyle.

Dodd-Frank Act

After the financial crisis occurred in the most recent recession, the Dodd-Frank Act was passed to reform the financial industry and offer consumers protection against complex and/or deceptive financial products. At a minimum, managers are expected to obey all laws and regulations. Most legal issues arise as choices that society deems unethical, irresponsible, or otherwise unacceptable. Whistleblower bounty program

What is the most common way businesses exercise their community responsibility?

Through donations to charitable organizations

Plagiarism

taking someone else's work and presenting it as your own without mentioning the source—is another ethical issue. As a student, you may be familiar with plagiarism in school—for example, copying someone else's term paper or quoting from a published work or Internet source without acknowledging it. In business, an ethical issue arises when an employee copies reports or takes the work or ideas of others and presents it as his or her own. A manager attempting to take credit for a subordinate's ideas is engaging in another type of plagiarism.

_________ are employées who report illegal or unethical behavior to outsiders such as the media or a government regulatory agency

Whistleblowers

Detect some of the ethical issues that may arise in business.

An ethical issue is an identifiable problem, situation, or opportunity requiring a person or organization to choose from among several actions that must be evaluated as right or wrong. Ethical issues can be categorized in the context of their relation with conflicts of interest, fairness and honesty, communications, and business associations.

JFK's consumer bill of rights

Right to safety Right to be informed Right to choose Right to be heard

Laws regulating safety in the workplace are enforced by _______

OSHA

Explain the four dimensions of social responsibility.

The four dimensions of social responsibility are economic or financial viability (being profitable), legal (obeying the law), ethical (doing what is right, just, and fair), and philanthropic, or voluntary (being a good corporate citizen).

Misuse of company time

Theft of time is a common area of misconduct observed in the workplace.14 One example of misusing time in the workplace is by engaging in activities that are not necessary for the job. For instance, many employees spend an average of one hour each day using social networking sites or watching YouTube.

Consumerism

A critical issue in business today is business's responsibility to customers, who look to business to provide them with satisfying, safe products and to respect their rights as consumers. The activities that independent individuals, groups, and organizations undertake to protect their rights as consumers are known as consumerism. To achieve their objectives, consumers and their advocates write letters to companies, lobby government agencies, make public service announcements, and boycott companies whose activities they deem irresponsible.

Bullying

Bullying is associated with a hostile workplace when a person or group is targeted and is threatened, harassed, belittled, verbally abused, or overly criticized. Bullying may create what some consider a hostile environment, a term generally associated with sexual harassment. Although sexual harassment has legal recourse, bullying has little legal recourse at this time

Define business ethics and social responsibility and examine their importance.

Business ethics refers to principles and standards that define acceptable business conduct. Acceptable business behavior is defined by customers, competitors, government regulators, interest groups, the public, and each individual's personal moral principles and values. Social responsibility is the obligation an organization assumes to maximize its positive impact and minimize its negative impact on society. Socially responsible businesses win the trust and respect of their employees, customers, and society, and, in the long run, increase profits. Ethics is important in business because it builds trust and confidence in business relationships. Unethical actions may result in negative publicity, declining sales, and even legal action.

______ refers to the rules and regulations that govern the conduct of business

Business law

Specify how businesses can promote ethical behavior by employees.

Businesses can promote ethical behavior by employees by limiting their opportunity to engage in misconduct. Formal codes of ethics, ethical policies, and ethics training programs reduce Page 64the incidence of unethical behavior by informing employees what is expected of them and providing punishments for those who fail to comply.

Debate an organization's social responsibilities to owners, employees, consumers, the environment, and the community.

Businesses must maintain proper accounting procedures, provide all relevant information about the performance of the firm to investors, and protect the owners' rights and investments. In relations with employees, businesses are expected to provide a safe workplace, pay employees adequately for their work, and treat them fairly. Consumerism refers to the activities undertaken by independent individuals, groups, and organizations to protect their rights as consumers. Increasingly, society expects businesses to take greater responsibility for the environment, especially with regard to animal rights, as well as water, air, land, and noise pollution. Many businesses engage in activities to make the communities in which they operate better places for everyone to live and work.

An identifiable problem, situation, or opportunity that requires a person to choose between actions that may be evaluated as ethical or unethical is called a(n)

Ethical issue

Insider trading

Insider trading is an example of a conflict of interest. Insider trading is the buying or selling of stocks by insiders who possess material that is still not public.

Misuse of Company resources

Issues might include spending an excessive amount of time on personal e-mails, submitting personal expenses on company expense reports, or using the company copier for personal use.

An individual's values, principles, and standards of conduct are referred to as ______

Personal ethics

A manager attempting to take credit for a subordinates ideas in engaging in a type of

Plagiarism

Code of Ethics

Professional codes of ethics are formalized rules and standards that describe what the company expects of its employees.

Social responsibility

a business's obligation to maximize its positive impact and minimize its negative impact on society. Although many people use the terms social responsibility and ethics interchangeably, they do not mean the same thing. Business ethics relates to an individual's or a work group's decisions that society evaluates as right or wrong, whereas social responsibility is a broader concept that concerns the impact of the entire business's activities on society.

Communications

another area in which ethical concerns may arise. False and misleading advertising, as well as deceptive personal-selling tactics, anger consumers and can lead to the failure of a business. Truthfulness about product safety and quality is also important to consumers.

Sustainability

as conducting activities in such a way as to provide for the long-term well-being of the natural environment, including all biological entities. Sustainability involves the interaction among nature and individuals, organizations, and business strategies and includes the assessment and improvement of business strategies, economic sectors, work practices, technologies, and lifestyles, so that they maintain the health of the natural environment

Ethical conduct...

builds trust among individuals and in business relationships, which validates and promotes confidence in business relationships.

Negative judgements...

can affect an organization's ability to build relationships with customers and suppliers, attract investors, and retain employees.13

Ethical issue

is an identifiable problem, situation, or opportunity that requires a person to choose from among several actions that may be evaluated as right or wrong, ethical or unethical.

Corporate citizenship

is the extent to which businesses meet the legal, ethical, economic, and voluntary responsibilities placed on them by their various stakeholders.

Whistleblowing

occurs when an employee exposes an employer's wrongdoing to outsiders, such as the media or government regulatory agencies.

Conflict of Interest

one of the most common ethical issues identified by employees, exists when a person must choose whether to advance his or her own personal interests or those of others. For example, a manager in a corporation is supposed to ensure that the company is profitable so that its stockholder-owners receive a return on their investment. In other words, the manager has a responsibility to investors. If she instead makes decisions that give her more power or money but do not help the company, then she has a conflict of interest—she is acting to benefit herself at the expense of her company and is not fulfilling her responsibilities as an employee.

Business ethics

principles and standards that determine acceptable conduct in business

Bribes

which are payments, gifts, or special favors intended to influence the outcome of a decision. A bribe benefits an individual or a company at the expense of other stakeholders. Companies that do business overseas should be aware that bribes are a significant ethical issue and are, in fact, illegal in many countries.

Sarbanes-Oxley Act

which criminalized securities fraud and stiffened penalties for corporate fraud. establishes an array of strict accounting and reporting rules in order to make senior managers more accountable and to improve and maintain investor confidence. After accounting scandals at a number of well-known firms in the early 2000s shook public confidence in the integrity of corporate America, the reputations of every U.S. company suffered regardless of their association with the scandals