Does Business Ethics Make economic Sense - Amartya Sen, Alexander Sager: The Rana Plaza Collapse, Earl W. Spurgin: Occupational Safety and Paternalism, Machan Revisited, Tibor R. Machan: Human Rights, Workers rights, and the Right to Occupational Saf...

Baker and Butcher (Adam Smith)

- Adam Smith says business and ethics don't fit together in the self interest in economics from wealth of nations: "Not from benevolence of butcher, brewer, or baker we expect dinner, but from their regard to own interest. We address ourselves, not their humanity but to their self love" - Sellers want money, we want products, exchanges benefits all (no need for ethics since its simply rational people pursuing own self interest all it takes for business dealings (any ethics is redundant)

Overview

- Ads state or imply that products are more important than people - Ads promise products are better relationships, the product is not so much the means to an end, but end itself - Thousands of messages link our deepest emotions to products, objectify people, trivialize heartfelt moments Ads exploit our very real and human desires, things are lovers and lovers are things - Bottomless consumerism depletes our inner resources leading to narcism, hard to relate without objectifying - Impossible to toon out ads, much of ad power comes from belief it doesn't affect us - Cumulatively create climate of cynicism poisonous to relationships - Portray lives as dull and ordinary

Consequentialism

- Approach that focuses on effects or outcomes because the value of an action is found in consequences that result - Strong foothold in common sense - Utility is most famous theory under here

Objection to Indeterminate Claim

- Argument is its valueless, since each criterion of ethical thinking is different in evaluation of what is right or wrong, I want to do whats morally ethical, but impossible to determine what school of thought is correct (ethicists haven't settled) - Discussions of business is indeterminate = no value EG: - Actutilitarianism: right action is that action from the set of available action that maximizes aggregate happiness - Kantianism (Form of Deontology): Right action is that action whose maxim can be universalized without contradiction Idiotic Presentation: (Stupid since it works with economics, other fields of study) 1) Disagree over first principles 2) If theorists disagree over these, determinate answers aren't reached 3) Then field of inquiry is without value 4) Therefore business ethics is without value 2 and 3 are false! - 2: Indeterminacy betrays ambiguity, not from claim that disputes over first principles within disciplines, therefore all areas within discipline are indeterminate (EG economists disagree over fundamental ways about human rationality and marketing settling equilibria, but converge on specific issues like mutual agreement on international trade). - 2: Some cases, may not be major disputes about which tools are useful in using like in public policy, everyone agrees cost benefit risk analysis is relevant about decisions, even if they disagree about how analysis should be conducted - 2: Objection true since ethicists may disagree about theory, judgments converge too, like utilitarians based in promoting happiness by protecting rights to promote happier people. Applied ethics occurs without discussion of moral theory, since more theorists agree we should avoid harm (everyone agrees to some level of utility) - 3: Debates about principles and methodologies are themselves valuable insofar as they can lead to clarification, resolution, and innovation

Objections to Unfeasible Claim (Capitalist Economy)

- Argument is nature of business in capitalist economy makes it impossible over long run since business is committed to competition and profit, and ethics impede profit - Objection is that csr has neutral or slightly positive effect on the bottom line

Organization and Exchange: Rules and Trust

- BBB: Concern of parties with own interests motivate all of them to exchange from each other, whether exchange would operate well depends on organizational conditions requiring institutional development which takes time to work - Consider if economic institutions operate on basis of common behaviour patterns, trusts, and mutual confidence in ethics of different parties, Smith did point to importance of regard to own interests in motivation, but did not says motivation is all thats needed to have successful system of exchange - Problem is you need mutual confidence and more complex and more critical in extended business arrangements - Establishing business ethics would tackle problem of Third world skepticism of multinational corporations, both justified and not. (Smith said third world suspicions of western suppliers were unjustified) - Best way of organizing famine prevention is to create additional incomes for destitute through employment schemes, then rely on normal trade to meet the resulting demand, in comparison to relief camps that are slower, wasteful, disruptive of families and economics, and disease creators - Threat of government intervention in marketplaces (like famine prevention) credibility depends on size of reserves government itself has, can work but not always. Much depends on relevant business people can establish exacting standards of behaviour, rather than fly off in search of profits elsewhere Conclusion: ethics is needed in field of exchange despite universal presence of BBB motivation of regard to own interest.

Objection to Useless Criticism

- Bad psychology that people's moral character has been formed for good or bad by time they reach business world - False to say its impossible for one to change their moral viewpoint

Overview and Competing Answers

- Best informed and intentioned executives must rethink assumptions about practices abroad First Answer: Cultural Relativism - no culture's ethics are better than any other's, no international rights and wrongs - When in Rome, do as the Romans - Inadequacy becomes apparent when practices are damaging like toxic waste in Nigeria - Many countries cannot police corporations even if they want to, combined with lack of regulation leads to unscrupulous behaviour of companies - ITs inherently morally blind, fundamental values cross cultures and companies should uphold them Second Answer: Ethical Imperialism - Directs people to do everywhere exactly as they do at home - Inadequate, basically absolutism stating there is a single list of truths, they can be expressed only with one set of concepts, with exactly same behaviour around the world - Clashes with good belief different cultural traditions must be respected - Presumes people must express moral truth using one set of concepts, language of basic rights provides framework for any ethical discussion so many traditions must be ignored - Third problem is belief in global standard of ethical behaviour, so when different standards of behaviour, company that takes absolutist approach finds itself in disastrous mistake

Markets and Efficiency: Extent of Property

- Case of common pool resources, extending range of things privately owners important if aim is to ensure efficient sustainable use - Enhanced when services are privately provided Hayek: - Each person has own projects and plans, success depends on meshing plans with others - If plans comes into conflict, people will find their aims and projects frustrated - Meshing requires settled rules of conduct that allow each to anticipate actions of others: repeated government intervention to change rules of market undermine ability to anticipate others - Meshing also requires knowledge in knowing what others are doing, if others demand our resources, interest in outputs of our plans - Economic Problem: Solved, knowledge of remoter events is conveyed by the price system the market sums up local and personal knowledge of factors across the world, and converts it to crucial information that each of us must have so that we can use our own local and personal knowledge to satisfy our aims. Issue becomes that to convey as much info as possible, as many resources must be priced. Economic Problem: - How to secure the best use of resources known to any of them embers of society, for ends whose relative importance only these individuals know - Problem of utilization of knowledge which is not given to anyone in totality

Overview

- Defending approach that ads don't require merchants tehy tell all so long as they're honest, don't mislead, they're morally good - Not ads jobs to inform consumers of conditions most favorable to them in marketplace or give them best deal - EG we don't tell all in job interviews, first dates etc.

Socialist Character of the Capitalist Firm

- Division of labour in market: based on individual producers and consumers, each contracting with each other; one's reward is directly based on production of what others want Division of Labour In Firm: Based on central coordinator who decides targets, designs systems and divides up tasks to achieve goal, many ways opposite to values in the market - Market stresses independence, contact, and reward based satisfaction of demand, within the firm it stresses leadership, teamwork, tasks based on instruction, reward on boss evaluation of subordinates Gaus: Many communists liked ideas of capitalist firm organization, since socialist planners organize and plan production for entire economies and had great regard for capitalist techniques of production within enterprises (they hated the market, not firms) Since most people spend lives in big companies or non profits, people spend lives in companies who's values are more socialist than capitalist (HAYEK) - Workers expected merit reward, different than reward in market since merit is reward fro obeying wishes of others, no compensation for benefits we have conferred upon them by doing what we thought best. - Therefore, we tend to apply our socialist values to market outcomes, in that distributive justice should compensate people for bad brute luck, HAYEK: Upshot of moral instability of capitalism: - Most people in capitalist economic systems have moral views about justice and distribution that they apply to markets, and are destructive of economic prosperity on which all depend.

Utilitarianism Overview

- Do the greatest good we can for the greatest number of our ethical compatriots - Jeremy Bentham and Mill Associated with Hedonism: - Good and bad go along with pleasure and pain - Bentham, using word good when we are talking about things that bring us pleasure (or diminish pain), those we call bad are those that cause pain (or take away pleasure) - Generate the most pleasure (or diminish most pain) as we can for relevant moral parties (descriptive hedonism) Bentham: Ought to promote pleasure and diminish pain in daily choices, creates standard of behaviour called norm or normative hedonism - Pleasure or pain, not object itself that is root of value terms (cookies good because they generate pleasure)

Mill's Capitalist Alternative

- Embraces private property and markets, private ownership firms, but not firms in which some were hired and were required to obey instructions of the owners - the masters As workers get better educated and more public spirited, master.servant relation will be replaced by regime of worker cooperatives - Worker owned firms competing in market, collective owners of firms and democratically decide strategic matters, with operations still being directed by manager that could be dismissed by workers - Didn't outlive mill, succumbed to greater efficiency of capitalist firms based on master servant

Socrates on Self Interest (with Thrasymachus Diatribe)

- Ethical principles and codes of conduct allow for system of exchange for long periods of time - If a group has a common goal and every member acts unjustly, attainment of common goal frustrated Thrasymachus: - Praised life of injustice and thievery because he understands justice to be weakness, injustice to be power to take advantage of others with impunity Socrates Objection: - Correct that thieves take advantage of others with impunity, they don't live wholly unjust lives since amongst thieves they have their own rules, codes of conducts that allow groups to proser - Codes of conduct (ethical principles) are all required in order for business to flourish over time, without rules ethics and rules of common goal of business (exhange of goods for benefit of all) would frustrate goal

Of Restraints Upon the Importation From Foreign Countries of Such Goods As Can Be Produced At Home

- Every person is continually exerting himself to find out the most advantageous employment for whatever capital he can command - It is his own, not societies, which he has in view that leads him to prefer that employment which is most advantageous to society. - He doesn't intend to promote the public interest, he is led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention - No good is done by those who affected to trade for public good.

Adam Smith Intro

- Father of modern economics - Scientific and hard headed, 19th and 20th century, no ethics keeping it tied to morals. - Falsely (according to her) demonstrated the redundancy of ethics in economic and business affairs

Case Against Sweatshops

- Greater openness of world economy hurts workers. Globalization means transition from regulated domestic economies to unregulated world economy - Mobility of capital and immobility of labour shifts power to favour companies, can shift prodcution costlessly form one location to another - govnerment now in bidding war to attract and retain business instead of regulating them - Companies use threat of withdrawal to pressure govnerment to grant confessions - Race for the bottom over who will accept lowest wages and miserable conditions Objection 1: Unconscionable Wages - Claim they pay slave wages, but don't specify what wage is appropriate, resort to living wage Objection 2: Immiserization Thesis - Test of fairness of development policy that low wage workers should become better off, not worse off, as trade boosts national income - If country pursues policies that limit benefits to elite, promise of open commerce isn't rationale - Companies Impoverish developing country workers with decline in living standards, bidding wars depress wages, global version of trick down economics Objection 3: Widening Gap Between Rich and Poor - Sweatshops contribute to income inequality - Gap should narrow with development, not widen - Increasing GNP masks widening gap, tacit alliance between first and third world elites to exploit vulnerable Objection 4: Collusion with Repressive Regimes - Third world step up repression, don't enforce labour codes, use police to break strikes, stifle political dissent to avoid instability that scares off investors

John Stuart Mill

- Happiness is the only thing we value only inherently since happiness is a universal goal that is the end result of various chains of extrinsically valued achievements and happiness just doesn't work like money; we don't want happiness because of other things that happiness can bring - We value happiness purely for its own sake, we don't use it to get something more desirable

Ethics

- How humans should live - Distinct from law since laws are objects of ethical criticism - Morally permissible and legally permissible status differ

John Locke:

- If government may legitimately take way people's property without their consent, this would be in effects leave them no property at all - Government may not raise taxes without consent, taxation approved by a representative legislature does not constitute an expropriation, and so is not violation fo property rights

Concluding Remarks

- Importance of business ethics isn't contradicted by Smith's pointer to fact our regards to our own interest provide adequate motivation for exchange - BBB is concerned directly with exchanges only (not production or distribution) and only with the motivational aspect of exchange (not organizational and behavioural aspects) - Ethics important in economic organizations in general and in exchange operations, which possess an extensive relationship that's important for development efforts in Third World and reorganizational attempts in the Second. - Ethics in arrangement and performance of production illustrated by contrasting different economies like Japan's weird success. Going beyond pure profit has varied meanings, like the failure of profit based market allocation for public goods. Relevant since Presence of public goods (and related externalities) in commodities produced and fact that success of firm can itself be fruitfully seen as public good - Distributional problems are related to behavioural ethics, with connections being direct and valuational, or indirect and instrumental - Interrelations between size of cake and distribution increase reach and relevance of ethical behavioural through the incentive problem

Utilitarians Impact on Others

- In its weakest form, requires me to consider impact of my actions on all parties who are affected - Consequences I am responsible for are those relatively close to the action itself - Forbid people from giving more importance to my consequences over others who are affected by my actions - Bentham and Mill strictly agree equality amongst those affected by action (when assessing value of actions, impartial in determining who gets good or bad consequences - Ethics should be done form impartial viewpoint to prevent personal bias from entering value judgements - Pleasure or suffering of animals is relevant - IMPARTIALITY AND UNIVERSALITY important features since they adhere to strict equality when counting consequences of actions on all affected, include all creatures who can feel pleasure, pain, happiness or unhappiness

Markets, Mutual Benefits, and Mutual Respect

- Markets are arenas of mutual benefit Capitalist View of Social Life: - Exchange is mutually beneficial - Smith: Our propensity to ruck ,barter and exchange at root of mutual benefit and growth wealth (only beggers rely on benevolence) - Darwall: Both parties must presume that the other is dealing fairly, markets built on trust and mutual respect, without it we are apt to invade for gain Opponents: - Say its a zero sum transaction, for every gain by one party, there is loss by another - dog eat dog competition Hume: By the partition of employment, our ability increases. Market relations more basic than property justice, rules of property and justice evolve based on division of labour. (Agreement with Smith)

Amartya Sen Objection to Smith Interpretation of Self Interest

- Misreading to say Smith's self interest in business excludes ethics from exchange -By locating specific sense where self interest is celebrated by Smith, we can bring out sense where ethics is essential component of system of exchange - Smith says that our motivation for exchange is self interest, motivated to go to market to buy meat not out of love for other, but out of necessity of self preservation - Baker, butcher, and brewer do job out of desire to procure money to purchase the goods they desire, smith isn't saying business can function without ethics guiding exchange - Difference between motivation for exchange and features necessary for flourishing of business, we can see role of self interest and how business ethics makes sense

Overview

- More contracting out of prodcution by companies in industrialized countries to developing countries - International division of labour - Companies accused of exploiting workers, turning blind eye to not giving living wages child labour, human rights abuses, complicit with repressive regimes, no unions - Media savy campaign putting retail giants non defensive. - Most companies agree they're practices are bad, not a single company has mounted defense of its contracting practices, but sue for peace in order to protect their image and adopting codes of conduct

Overview

- Most bluffing is regarded simply as game strategy - Businessmen constrained to say yes to bosses when tehy secretly believe no, generally accepted permissible strategy when alternative is job loss - ethics of business as game ethics - What business men say by being ethical is they live up to ethical standards of business game which is far cry from private life

Pressure to Deceive

- Most executives are almost compelled in interests of company or themselves to deceive other customers, dealers, unions etc - Use concealment of facts or exaggeration - Telling the whole truth, ignoring opportunities permitted under rules and at disadvantage if he doesn't bluff - But, the businessman must feel ethically justified so not to lose personal integrity and requirements of the business The Game: - Demands special strategy and special ethics - All levels of corporations - Lying about age to get a job by dying hair black, filling out forms incorrectly for preferences

Challenge of Distribution: Values and Incentives

- Non self seeking motivation important for distributional problems (slicing cake, one person's gain is another's loss) - Ethical contributions include amelioration of misery through donations, and charity, and willingness to join communal activities to improve socialization - Distributional and productional problems come mixed together, since how cake is divided influences the size of cake itself - Extent of conflict between size and distribution depends on motivational and behavioural assumptions, incentive problem isn't immutable feature of production since profit oriented enterprises resist looking after interests of others.

Triple B Passage

- Not from the benevolence (good nature) of the butcher, brewer, or baker we expect dinner, but form their regard to their own interest. - Certainty of being able to exchange the surplus part of the outcome of your own labour, which is over and above his own consumption, for such parts of the produce of other men's labour as he may have occasion for , encourages every man to apply himself to particular occupation, cultivate and bring to perfection talent he may possess

Critics of Utility

- Possibility that highly positive outcomes give good reasons for using horrendous measures to get them (like Slavery) = "the ends justify the means

Butcher, Baker, Brewer

- Pursuit of self interest would do fine to motivate the exchange of commodities - Motivation for exchange, but Smith was concerned about production and distribution, you can't just look at motivation that makes people seek exchange, need to study patterns that sustain flourishing system of exchanges (argument) - Positive role of self seeking motivation in exchange must be supplemented by demands of production ,distribution, and systemic demands on organizations of economies Two questions to answer: - Did Smith thin that economic operations and business activities consist only of exchanges of this kind? - Did Smith think the result would be just as good if businesses involved, driven by self interest, were to try to defraud consumers, or consumers in question would swindle sellers? Answers: - Negative, saying doesn't carry over to problems of production and distribution (confirmed by Smith) or the problem as to how system of exchange can flourish institutionally THESIS: Motivation for exchange without establishing or trying to, the redundancy of business or ethics in general or even in exchange

Objections to Hedonism

- Resting our morality on mere pleasure we debase humanity, common sense says consequences are important, but not all consequences are equal Quantitative Consequentialism is amount of pleasure and Qualitative Consequentialism is kind of pleasure we get - Bentham advocated quantitative since different people get pleasure from different activities - Mill preferred qualitative since pleasures can be divided in higher and lower grades, higher being intellectual pleasure while lower is basic sensory experiences Mill and Qualitative: - Ask people to judge pleasures of intellect are qualitatively better than pleasures of body, need only adhere to opinions of competent judges (if someone can experience both, they are competent judges of relative values) -Anytime you make a comparative value judgment between things, first be capable of enjoying each - All capable judges agree intellect is of higher quality

Objective of Paper

- Result has been great non debate over international sweatshops since companies treated them like public relation problem, and objectors treat it as morality play of exploitation - If peace breaks out between two sides, change debate will be joined may recede further - Risk that nay truce may be collusive one that comes at expense of third world its supposed to help

Objection to Beside the Point Claim

- Skeptics say we already know how people should act, but problem is getting them to act ethically - FALSE that we already know how to behave since ethics is ongoing project, and new dilemmas aren't answered by what was done in the past. - Notion its beside the point infers studying business ethics has no effect on motivations, but it can if we debate and discuss within businesses how actions should be and contributions taken seriously by open minds (reading case histories and discussing them reinforce values/bring clarity) - Ethics requires debate with reasons and justification for positions since possibility of harm to others occurs - When entering corporate world, look to guidance beyond colleagues and bosses since their motives are unknown, so studying ethics provides independence in thought allowing judgment for ourselves whether actions are right and can criticize others

Playing to Win

- Some men might accept serious business setbacks in their careers for being ethical. But merit our respect only as private people, not businessmen - Skillful player in game is compelled to submit to unfair pressure, yet he doesn't castigate himself for moral weakness, but strives to put himself int positon to defend himself agains pressure of future losses - If man plans to take seat in game, owes it to himself to master principles - Must play to win, doesn't need to be cruel but the better his reputation for integrity, better chances of victory in long run - Whatever the form of bluff, its integral to the game, and executive who doesn't master its techniques not likely to accumulate money or power

Business

- Sum total of their relationships and activities that surround the trading of goods or services - Most cases profitable, many social enterprises are non profits too. - Relationships between people and groups including corporations, divisions, and unions are important

Organization of Production Summary

- There is failure in resource allocation when products are public goods or involve strong externalities Lays the foundations for 3 solutions: - Publicly owned enterprises governed by principles other than profit maximization - Public regulations governing private enterprise - Establishing need for use of non profit values for social concern in private decisions that generates good will Conclusion: 1 doesn't work (communism) and regulations are hard to implement, therefore can't escape the argument for encouraging ethics, going beyond values of honesty and reliability, and taking on csr. - Second issue is even in production of private products, can be important public good aspect in production process itself since its a joint activity, supervisions are costly and unfeasible, and workers contribute to success of firm that cannot be fully reflected in salary alone In Summary: - Over-all success of firm is a public good where all benefit, contribute, not parcelled into person specific rewards linked with each person's respective contribution (demonstrates importance of motives outside self seeking narrative and support Japanese ethos, summary codes of honour etc.

Balancing the Extremes: Three Guiding Principles

1. Respect for core human values, which determine the absolute moral threshold for all business activities 2. Respect for local traditions 3. Belief that context matters when deciding what is right and wrong Explanation: - Respecting differences crucial since research shows management ethics differ among cultures, respecting them means analyzing weaknesses but finding hidden strengths - Some activities are wrong no matter whey they take place, but some ethical and some not like fungacide in hot areas not harmful so can be used, but not in USA

Overview of Machan's Argument

Acceptance of employment at will and rejection of employee rights - Rests on two values: Promotion of employee interests and anti-paternalism, but quite often these values are shared by safety advocates General Argument: - Persons possess only basci human rights to life, liberty and property - No other special moral rights for people of groups Leads to 3 step process: 1. No special moral rights beyond life, liberty and property 2. Right to occupational safety is special moral right 3. Therefore, no right to occupational safety Argument hinges on first premise, enforcement of rights impedes free trade in labour market - Bargaining means wages exchanged for labour, and free to accept or reject terms offered, employees free to quit at any time and employers free to fire - Enforcing rights destroys freedoms Specific Argument: - Antipaternalism: view govnerment and societies shouldn't control adults for purposes of promoting adult's own good - Right to safety is paternalistic since it prevents employees from ordering their affairs as they wish for purposes promoting own good. Applies only to adults, they have moral duty to protect children Leads to 3 step Process: 1. Paternalism, restricting person's freedom for their own good, is unjustified 2. The right to occupational safety restricts employees' freedom for their own good 3. Therefore, right to safety unjustified

Werhane And Radin Objection and Justification for Examination of Specific Argument

Agree with Machan that equal freedoms are desirable, but because of power differences, employee rights are necessary to produce equal freedoms - Without rights less free than employers, Nozick ignores reality If they're right, prove employees possess moral rights beyond LLP - But doesn't provide employees possess any specific right, need to prove independently on its own merits - Problem is no one has made case against employment at will by arguing right to occupational safety, or addressed MAchan's specific argument - Problem is Machan denies employees have right to safety, but says employees have right to know that working conditions are unsafe

Coase and Mill

Agrees with Mill that the master and servant relation is fundamental to capitalist firm, a hierarchical, authority relation: those who own make decisions about what's produced - Reduces transaction costs since they involve negotiating costs and information costs: must find out who is selling a product, whether we pay price - Reduces costs to have central coordinator who directs each team and activitiesd

Problem with Altruistic Viewpoint

Altruist Ethics: Everyone's duty to further the interests of other people, most plausible candidate for making it certainly unethical to suppress truth in transactions Problems: - Obligates everyone to refuse any help extended, daisy chain of self sacrifice with non left to beneficiary of humanity - Good idea is less extreme form, obligating people to help when she has good reason to think others would suffer without help - Problem with Rawl's justification too is it doesn't comply with business ethics given if people were aware of disadvantages they would jack up price - Merchants must see themselves as having equal standing to customers and having legit movies for furthering their own interests

Background

April 24th 2013, 8 storey in Bangladesh killed 1129 people. - Industry directly/indirectly employs 4 million, 80 percent of export market, 18% of GDP Predictable: - Owners added stories to building without permit, not designed for industrial use - Managers ordered workers to come despite police warnings - Exemplifies political corruption and economic pressures contributing to labour abuses - Banglesish govnerment doesn't have enough staff to inspect factories, can harm workers since they leave thousands unemployed as repairs are made

Summary of Argument

Arbitrariness although not prohibited by EAW, violates managerial ideal of rationality and consistency - Both procedural and substantive due process are consistent and moral requirement of EAW. - Implies freedom of contract, and due process conforms with ideal of managerial rationality implied by a consistent application fo common law

4 Facets of Ad Examination (Atuonomy and Rationality)

Autonomous Desire: - Was the desire for something manufactured by the commercial or was it original to me and truly mine - Something wrong in setting up issue of ads and behaviour control like this, induced and autonomous desires aren't mutually exclusive since people have desires they don't acknowledged even though they feel it like being a klepto. Totally foreign to one's character or personality - Second Order Desires: a desire not to have another desire, with first being imposed on one. But when person has second order desire to fulfill first order, the first order desire is original to him In applying second order desire theory of Frankfurt, does not necessarily or often show ads create desires not truly our own - Steak sacue example has been violated, but most desires induced by ads I accept and most are autonomous like purchasing the same product over and over gain without regret and when I stop, desire has faded not been repudiated - So it can occur, but highly unlikely - This applies to subliminal argument too - Braybrooks argument is empty, amounting to saying if the world we lived in were different, then we would want different things Rational Desire and Choice: - Braybrooke says desires induced by ads are irrational, in that they aren't expressed by agent in full possession of facts about products or alternatives. Leads us to act on irrational desires - Problem is what is to count as rational desire or choice? If require that desire be the product of awareness of all the factors about a product, surely everyone always moved by irrational desires and makes nothing but irrational choices. Some things aren't relevant, prior desires determine what's relevant. - Normally ,rational desire based upon relevant info, info relevant if it shows how other priori desires are satisfied. Plausible prior desires that agencies acknowledge, and agencies provide type of information relevant in light of desires. - Ads don't inhibit rational wills or autonomy Objection: Puffery doesn't provide relevant information and makes claims that aren't factually based, therefore purchasing based on puffery is irrational - We often purchase subjective effects in which being subjective are nevertheless real enough like wanting status or adventure - Most ads directly promise subjective effects which patrons desire, and thus ads provide relevant information for rational choice - Ads provide accurate indirect information on basis of which person who wants certain subjective effect rationally choose product - To extent consumer takes advertised product to offer subjective effect and doesn't product won't be purchased again and will eventually be taken off market (self regulation) - Indirect information leads to rational decision tp purchase product because information testifies to the subjective effect that product brings about like many people buying it for same purpose

Overview

Balance of power has shifted heavily in favour of direct public regulation to redress perceived imbalance between person and firm in past 50 years - Argues over a broad range of items, it works to the mutual benefit of both parties for contract at will

Morality of Caveat Emptor

Best Option: Form of egoism as appropriate morality - Each individual should seek to promote his interests as a human being and as the individual he is - Individual is the ultimate, thought not sole, proper beneficiary of that individual's own moral conduct - Standards of conduct grounded on nature of person as human being, so there be no conflict between egoistic conduct of each other - Merchants should abide by moral principle of right reason in honesty, but refuse to answer questions instead of help or lying since its his responsibility to promote rational self interest - Its acceptable if merchant doesn't help customer with information gathering, responsibility to sell their wares, not engage incharitable work by carrying out tasks for others they should do themselves - In life we always put best foot forward and aren't always honest, we don't mislead or lie by not saying anything, we don't send in shitty info on our resumes to employers Exception: Special relationships like friendship, parenthood, or contractual relationships with obligations spelled out - BUT, commercial relationships usually take place between strangers, only purpose in seeking out others is for good deal

Utility and Ethics

Between whether we are able to focus our ethical evaluations on actual consequences or merely foreseeable consequences. - Bentham and Mill advocated expected utility (foreseeable consequences) when we make plans and choose actions and advocated judging actions based only on actual consequences - Bentham and Mill based moral assessments on total happiness, rather than average happiness, saying we determine all morally relevant parties to foreseeable consequences, total happiness, and subtract off unhappiness = net happiness

Capitalism, Business and Ethics Overview

Business profession is embedded with framework of firms in capitalist market economy, and there is sustained debate about moral and economic justifiable of the economy in comparison to unanimous agreement on ethics of medicine - Problem of business ethics arise only in context of private property based market economies (since we live in capitalist economy, can we critique it sufficiently?)

Organization of Production: Firms and Public Goods

Capitalism has been successful in output and productivity, but country specific cases show its diverse Japan: - raises questions about capitalism in economy theory since they're capitalists, but motivation patterns extend beyond profit maximization - Michio Morishima's Japanese ethos describes a rule based behaviour pattern, Ronald Dore describes them as Confucian ethics, Eiko Ikegami notes the importance of honourable samurai code as modifier of economic motivation - WSJ: Only communist nation that works since they possess non profit motivations underlying business activities, *therefore most capitalist nations flourish with motivation structure departing from pursuit of self interest (theoretical bedrock) - Merits of selfless work have been given credit, and need for motivation structure more complex than profit has been noted by Marx, Weber, Tawney and others (often ignored by economic scholars today) Private and Public Goods: - Overall success of modern business is a public good - Private goods can be used by I or you, but not both, with respective uses competing and exclusive - Public goods are things we all benefit from like clean air, water, etc - Uses of commodities that are non competitive, rationale of self interest based mechanisms are strained since market system put prices of goods and allocation between consumers is done by purchase willingness at a certain price - Equilibrium prices balance demand with supply for products, but for public goods, uses are non competitive, system of giving goods to highest bidder doesn't' have merit since on person's consumption doesn't exclude others. - For public goods, allocation would require combined benefits be compared with costs of production, where market mechanisms based on profit maximization doesn't work Problem of Externalities: - Allocation of private goods have strong externalities with interpersonal interactions working outside marketplace - Smoke from factory causing neighbour distress, without ability to charge factory for loss she suffers = external relationship - Market can't allocate effects and public goods and externalities are related since they're common in health care, education, environmentalism

Mill vs Full Capitalists

Capitalist Ideal: Range of things that can be owned is extensive, but not maximal (heroin, sexual services), - America is this, but closer to C since ownership rights are qualified numerously through licensing regulations, environmental regulations, health and safety rules Mill: Full property rights over what can be owned but significant limitations on what should be owned. - Private property (fruits of labor) doesn't apply to land

Final Comment

Certain principles of justice are justified because they would be agreed to in an initial situation of equality - Conditions embodied in the description of the original position - Thus what we should do is to collect together into one conception number of conditions on principles that we are ready upon due consideration to recognize as reasonable

Initial Situation

Choose two principles: - Requires equality in the assignment of basic rights and duties - Social and economic inequalities like in wealth and authority, are just only if they result in compensating benefits for everyone, and ins particular for the least advantaged members of society Implications: - Principles rule out justification that institutions on the grounds that the hardships of some are offset by a greater good in the aggregate - Cannot be that some should have less in order that others may prosper - No injustice in grater benefits earned by a few provided situation of person not so fortunate is improved - Two principles fair on basis that those better endowed on which they cannot be aid to deserve, could elect willing cooperation of others when some workable scheme is necessary conditions of welfare of all - When we look for conception of justice that prevents use of accidents of natural endowment and contingencies of social circumstances as counters in quest for economic advantage, they lead us here Two Principles: - An interpretation of the initial situation and of the problem of choice posed there - Set of principles to be agreed to It is a contract: - Content of the agreement is not to enter a society or to adopt a given form of government, but to accept certain moral principles - Contract suggests conditions that the appropriate division of advantages must be in accordance with principles acceptable to all parties

Patterning

Consider, principle of distribution according to moral merit - Principle requires total distributive shares vary with moral merit, no person should have greater share than anyone whose moral merit is greater - usefulness to society or distribute to weighted sum of moral merit, usefulness to society and need with weights of dimension equal) Patterned: Distribution principle if it specifies that distribution is to vary along with some natural dimension, weighted sum of natural dimensions, or lexicographic ordering of natural dimensions - Almost every suggested principle of distribution is patterned in that to each according to his moral merit or needs and so on - NOZICKS PRINCIPLE is not, there is no one natural dimension or weighted sum that yields distribution systems - Language like to each according to his need treats prodcution and distribution as two separate issues, when they are not - Situation is not one of something's getting made. Things come into the world already attached to people having entitlement over them

Creating Ethical Corporate Culture

Core values help begin to exercise judgment, but aren't specific enough to guide managers through ethical dilemmas - Managers must be guided by precise statements that spell out behaviour and operating practices - Codes of conducts are worthless, just to impress employees, customers, and public - Must provide clear direction when temptation to behave unethically is strong, must be explicit to be useful but leave judgment in situations requiring cultural sensitivity - Host country employees shouldn't be forced to adopt all home country values and renounce its own

Summation

Critics of ads see it as having pernicious effect on autonomy, controlling lives of people - Defense claims ads only offer information and allow industry to provide consumers with what they want - I favour advertisers!. Ads may, but not always, control behaviour, produce compulsive behaviour, or create wants that aren't rational - BUT! we shouldn't charge advertisers of intrinsically or necessarily doing them.

Vice of Supresso Veri

Critics of businesses assume in transactions persons owe others the whole truth and nothing but - like price deception by grossly inflating prices 4x there worth - Same product can be purchased for far less at department or appliance store Objection: Assumes person can get from another seller - Important for customers to purchase items in certain places, environments for accessibility, atmosphere, merchant demeanor. Naive to say people just want product or price satisfaction - Merchants need not be disrespectful to customers by not informing them of something they ought to haven't known in the first place, its condesending - Counterintuitive to say you should volunteer information detrimental to one's prospects for the sake of humanity

Two Principles Further Examined

Distinction between fundamental rights and economic benefits marks difference among primary social goods that suggests important division in social system - Liberties referred to are defined by public rules of the basic structure. Whether men are free determined by rights and duties established by major societal institutions - First principle simply requires certain rules defining basic liberties apply to everyone equally and they allow most extensive liberty compatible with liberty equally for all (only reason circumscribing liberties and less extensive is when they interfere) - Second principle refers to expectations of representative individuals - neither principle applies to distributions of particular goods to particular individuals who may be identified by proper names - Second principle insists each person benefit from permissible inequalities in basic structure. One is not allowed to justify differences in income or positions of authority on ground that the disadvantages of those in one positon outweighed by greater advantages of those in another

Central Question

Do the advertising techniques we have introduced involve violation of human autonomy and manipulation and control of consumer behaviour, or do they provide efficient and cost effective means of giving information on basis he makes and free choice

Objection to Premise 2 Using Coal Mine Example

Doesn't highlight crucial issue of employee options Alternative Example: - Operates mines that exceed or meet government safety regulations - Company's own other mine not in operations that were suspended because state of tech wouldn't allow company to extract coal even though scientists estimated reserve were not depleted - Breakthrough in tech could reopen mine, even with costs of new equipment, enough reserves for profit - Mine so far behind safety regulations cannot afford to pruchase equipment and updates safety - Executives determined could afford new equipment if it avoided cost of safety features by giving pay of twice normal income to move from safe to unsafe - Right to safety, prevents company from making offer since it must update regulations - Many might be willing to take risk ,but they never have that opportunity

Early Economist Impact on Ethics

Early authors on economics like Aristotle and Kautilya, to medieval practitioners like Aquinas and Ockham, to early modern age William Petty, Gregory King and others all concerned with ethical analysis - Saw economics as branch of practical reason, where concepts of good, the right and obligatory are central - Changed with ADAM SMITH

Does Business Ethics Make Economic Sense?

Economic Success: Direct: - If it includes achievement of good society, then distributional improvements are counted in parts of sensible outcomes even for business (idea supported by industrialists and businessmen) - See improvement of society where one lives as a reward in itself Indirect: - If it includes meaning nothing other than profit, then concerns for others and equitable distribution judged instrumentally in terms of how they indirectly help profiteering - Has validity since firms that treat workers well are often rewarded since workers won't lose jobs as often since more if scarified if dismissed from this employment, compared with other opportunities - Use business criterion for improvement, take note of extent good behaviour could lead to better performance (enlightened self interest) CONCLUSION: Two effects are distinct and separable, but act cumulatively in overall analysis with ethics having to relate to both

Greatest Improvement in Productive Powers of Labour

Effects of the Divisions of Labour: - Trifling manufacturers destined to supply small wants of small numbers of people, instead of massive warehouses of people supply the great wants. - Pin: One man making one at a time into assembly line: Division of labour has caused efficiency in production by having workers specialize in specific areas of production instead of one man doing whole thing - Increases productive powers of labour, seen most in countries with highest industry and improvement Three Causes of Division of Labour: - Increase of dexterity in every workman by reducing the number of tasks somebody has to do, but master a single one - Saving of time commonly lost in passing from one species of work to another - Invention of machines enabling one man to do work of many. Owed to division since men want to find easier methods of attaining something when full attention is pointed toward single object, rather than dissipated among variety of things. (The worker will save himself time by making it easier to do something, boiler pin boy reference) - After examining the variety of labour employed, the assistance and cooperation of thousands to provide simple household goods that would not exist

Historical Principles and End Result Principles

Entitlement theory is historical, whether a distribution is just depends upon how it came about Current Time Slice Principles: hold justice of a distribution determined by how things are distributed (who has what) judged by structural principles of what is just - All that needs looking at is who ends up with what, in comparing any two distributions look only at matrix presenting distributions - No further info need to be fed in principle of justice - Welfare economics is theory of current time slice principles, operating only current information about distribution - MOST PEOPLE do not accept current time slice principles as constituting whole story about disgtrubie shares, people consider how it came about

Objection to Premise 1 of Specific Argument

Essentially Mill's classic opposition to paternalism. Mill suggests that close acquaintances aside, one is always the person most concerned with one's own interests Objection: Often people don't look out for their own interests (Bishop Butler) - Those who abuse drugs, pursue thrills without taking care, abuse bodies Will doesn't hold premise, he holds view that one is more likely to be correct about what is in one's own interests than others since one has direct access to own needs, wants, and desires. - Other's who try to dictate behaviour are from positions of ignorance

Reflective Equilibrium

Eventually, we find a description of the initial situation that both expresses reasonably conditions and yields principles which match our considered judgments duly pruned and adjusted - Principles and judgments coincide, reflective since we know to what principles our judgments conform and premises of their derivation

The "Right" To Occupational Safety

Example: Running competitive mine that can't live up to safety standards of others since they don't have the resources with lower wages - When prospective employees appear and made aware of job and hazards, tehy are at liberty to accept or reject, organize into group and insist on terms, bargain alone or together with others, or pool workers resources, borrow and pruchase firm - To deny workers could achieve such assumes a historical situation not in force and not necessary and denies workers capacity for finding solution onto problem or deny workers are capable of initiative

What are Ethically Appropriate Labour Standards in International Sweatshops

Four Options 1. Home Country Standards: - International corporations have duty to pay same wages and provide same labour standards regardless of wehre they operate - Reject by most business ethicists and by critics of international sweatshops - Donaldson: By establishing US wage levels as benchmark, eliminates market in establishing salaries, eliminates incentive to hire foreigners - No incentive to move abroad, disrupts local labour market with artificially high wages not relevant to standard of living 2. Living Wage Standard - Corporations should pay even when this isn't paid by local firms - DeGeorgeL allow the worker to live in dignity as human being, subsistence and as much above that as workers depend to live dignity, given state of that society - Degeorge: provide no job at all than offer one paying less than living wage 3. Donaldson's Test: - Irrelevant whether standards of host country comply or fail with home country, relevant is meeting universal, objective minimum - Moral minimum for behaviour of all international economic agents, leaves obscure issue of less extreme threats but of harms other than physical injury - Practice is permissible if members of home country would under conditions of economic development relevantly similar to host country, regard practice as permissible - Problem is it confuses managers who want to act ethically, ad provide loopholes for those don't 4. Classical Liberal Standard: - Wage is acceptable if its freely chosen by informed workers - Ethicists reject due to market failure or background conditions lacking for market to work - Donaldson says full employment needed if workers make good choices

4 Facets of Ad Examination (Free Choice and

Free Choice: - Might be said desires so strong that person cannot resist, and acting on desires and acting freely or voltunarily but victim of impulse or unconscious drive. Those condemn ads feel it produces kind of desire in us and reduces autonomy - But how de we distinguish between impulse we do not resist and one we could not resist, between freely giving into desire and succumbing to one? Response: - Person chooses freely if he does so for a reason - People still act voluntary when its based on habit or impulse - People are influenced by advertising to act compulsively something and sometimes not Case of compulsion: - Subliminal ads whose subconscious desires activated by ads into doing something reasoning ego doesn't approve - But most can respond to subliminal ads without risking autonomy Control or Manipulation: A person C controls the behaviour of another person P if - C intends P to act in a certain way A - C's intention is causally effective in bringing about A - C intends to ensure that all of the necessary conditions of A are satisfied Explanation: - To control another, not enough that one's actions produce behaviour on part of that person, one must intend that this happen - Control is intentional prodcution of behaviour, not just enough to have intention, intention must give rise to conditions which bring about intended effect - Controller must intend to establish by action any otherwise unsatisfied necessary conditions for prodcution of intended effect, controller not just influencing outcome, he is guaranteeing sufficient conditions for intended effect are satisfied

Arguments Against Ads

Galbraith: Not as straight forward as giving consumer what they want, desires business is supposed to respond are often created by the business. Producers make product and desire for it, central function of ads is creating desire = dependence Effect Braybrooke: Consumer is final authority concerning what he wants, but may come to see he's mistaken in wanting what he did - If consumer had more objective information outside puffering, if values not mixed by motivational research, if he had expanded choices instead of limited profit hungry companies, might want something different

Main Idea of the Theory of Justice

Guiding idea is principles of justice for basic structure of society are object of the original agreement - principles free and rational people concerned to further their own interests would accept in an initial position of equality as defining the terms of association - These regulate all further agreements, regulate social cooperation and forms of govnerment that are allowed - The choice which rational men make in situations of equal liberty, assuming for present that his choice problem has a solution, determines justice principles Justice as Fairness: The original position of equality corresponds to the state of nature in traditional theory of social contract - No one knows his place in society, his class or social status, no does anyone know his fortune in that distribution of natural assets and abilities or intelligence - Justice chosen behind veil of ignorance, ensuring no one is advantaged in choice of principles by outcome of natural change or contingency of social circumstances - Justice as fairness conveys idea that the principles of justice are agreed to in an initial situation that is fair

Smith and Self Interest Pursuits

Helps practical problems, like the supply issues in communist countries, unhelpful in explaining Japan vis a vis West Europe or North America since Japanese people are influenced by other conventions and pressures - Smith calls for complex motivational structure answers to problems, like going beyond profit maximization arguing humanity, justice, generosity, and public spirit are qualities most useful to others - Smith was far from denying importance of ethics in behaviour and business, looking just at BBB clip without viewing body of work is disingenuous - BBB self interest as motivation for exchange can co exist with advocacy of ethics since his ethics wasn't confined to economics or business

The Painful Tradeoffs

Higher wages and improved labour standards aren't free - If labor made more expensive, countries will receive less foreign investment, fewer jobs created - Imposing higher wages deprive countries of their advantage of having low cost labour - Sweatshop workers are well paid, earn twice the informal and rural worker gets - critics calling for widening of income disparity - Higher wages come at expense of incomes for poorer workers, reduces employment in formal sector and incomes in informal sector - If standards set too high, hurts investment, retards the growth of formal sector jobs, traps more informal works in jobs more hazardous - Sums up in policies that benefit better off workers at expense of worse off ones Summation: Critics policies of better wages/labour will: - Reduce employment in formal or modern sector of economy - Lower incomes in informal sector - Less investment and slower economic growth - Reduces exports - Greater inequality and poverty

Historical Principles vs End Result

Historical Principles hold that past circumstances or actions of people can crate differential entitlements or differential deserts to things - Injustice can be worked by moving from one distribution to another structurally identical one, for the second, in profile the same, may violate people's entitlements and may not fit actual history

Substitute Worlds

Humans used to be influenced by stories of tribes, not be mass produced or market driven ones - Tribe in Alaska got tv, within 10 years, young members no longer learned ancient hunting methods, parents language or oral history - Multinational chains destroy local character, create universe of uniformity internationally that undermines our physical and psych health, environment, civic life, creates toxicity - Ads create world based on cynicism, craving. - Story ads tell is way to be happy is through consumption and happiness comes from the market

Intro of Argument

I do not believe in special workers' rights - Workers possess rights as human beings, and these rights may impose special standards at workplace as they may in other fields Human Rights: - One's morally justified to secure by organized force first shown by Locke in life, liberty, property - WE may resist without undue force efforts to violate our rights, since rights are absolute, unalienable, and universal - IN social relations no excuse legitimatizes violation, can't lose rights though exercise can be restricted by one's choices and everyone has rights whether acknowledged by others or governments - Others should respect this as equal members of community and wilfull invasion (negative liberty destruction) must be prohibited Workers Rights: There are None! - Have right to offer skills in return for what employers will offer. Implies free trade in labour market - Interference with trade workers through consent with others would violate workers and traders human rights, no freedom of association allowed - Morally, employers should provide safety and health provisions, but doesn't excuse unions claims of imposing positive rights - Respect for human rights is necessary, but being provided benefits is generosity, not a right

Alleging Special Workers Rights

IF worker asks about safety provisions in a job, she presupposes that she has other alternatives and it's morally and legally optional to care about safety at job, not due to workers by right - Employers have basci private property rights to give them full authority to set terms of employment - Collectivists basically say every one lacks the full authority to enter in exclusive determined and mutual agreements on his terms, and that terms need establishment in line with moral propriety only by agency like the party or democratic assembly Objections: - Human rights assumes that within limits of nature, human beings are all efficacious depending on own choices. - It isn't possible to establish enforceable public policy from mere existence of moral duties employers have since they require freely chosen fulfillment, not enforced compliance - Subjecting kids to work is bad since its considered as violation of individual rights as young dependent humans - Unsafe hazardous working conditions which were not made aware or could anticipate reasonably is actionable fraud through violation of right to liberty and life - Why would someone by concerned with working conditions fully agreed to by workers? Justification is purely paternalistic which is insulting and demeaning. Once its clear workers can generate their own response to employer bargaining power through unions etc no need for paternalism

Fairness of Contract at Wil

Importance of freedom of contract as end in itself - Choosing employment is equally as important as marriage or religious activities - Own health and comfort and families depend on living by entering employment market - IF government regulation is not good for personal religious or political activities, what makes it good for employment relations intrinsically? - The law doesn't deserve special treatment since people who are competent enough to marry, vote and pray should be able to protect themselves in day to day transactions - Hardly likely remote public bodies are better informed about parties preferences than parties who hold them, violates autonomy - Contract at will are sought by both people, limitations upon it limit power of workers and employers - Principle of freedom of contract eliminates use of force or fraud in getting advantages during negotiations, limits taking advantage of young, feeble and insane. Fraud isn't even often

Business Ethics

Involved centrally in all people's lives - All people consume commercial goods, employe people with wage and give identity and opportunity for creativity. Issues arising out of relationships and activities surrounding production, distribution, marketing and sale of goods and services Micro Issues: - Behaviour of individual workers and employers - Rights, responsibilities, obligations employees bear to each other and to employers and vice versa Meso Level: - How businesses ought to be structured if they are to justly fulfill their role in society - main debate of profit maximization for shareholders of more moral responsibilities to stakeholders beyond profiteering. - physical and social environment, future physical and social environments they create like polluting Macro Level: - Political economy and distributive justice since businesses operate in economic, legal, and social environments that facilitate and constrain their actions and impact - CSR, obligations to employees relies on conclusions about just society of capitalism, what is fair wealth distribution, understanding of democracy and extent economic actors should be subject to democracy.

Analysis

Involved negligence on part of building owner, factory leasing space, and public officials who should've overseen it - Workers accept risks and choose to labour what seem low wages because jobs in export sector are better than alternatives, international companies pay more - Refusing to buy cheap foreign goods may slow economic development and harm global poor, imposition of safe conditions from consumers can create imposition for workers who lose ages Problem of Saying its Exploitive: - Exploitation means one party has unequal bargaining power - Under perfect competition, if workers are being paid less than tehy would in free market, thats exploited - So, nobody is being exploited since they're getting market wage Capitalist economy puts pressure on prodcution and contributes to race to the bottom. Product life cycles are shorter which makes them second and third tier contract out goods they don't have control over. - Buyers place massive price pressures on, leading suppliers to switch to new factories to meet demand which guarantees no stable work - Removes incentives to invest in safety requirement - Changes require structural changes in industry and in consumer attitudes

Section 1: Entitlement Theory

Justice in Holdings has 3 Issues: - Original acquisition of holdings ie the apportion of unheld things. How unheld things may come to be held, process unheld things come to be held = principle of justice in acquisition - Transfer of holdings form on person to another. What processes may a person transfer holdings, how you acquire holding from another. General descriptions of voluntary exchange and gift. = principle of justice in transfer - Existence of past injustice raises issue of rectification of injustice in holdings. If past injustice occured, what should be done now to rectify it. - NOZICK ON THIRD POINT: there is no through or theoretically sophisticated treatment of past injustices. Leads to three point inductive theory: - A person who acquires a holding in accordance with the principle of justice in acquisition is entitled to that holding - A person who acquires a holding in accordance with the principle of justice in transfer, from someone else entitled to the holding, is entitled to the holding - NO ONE is entitled to a holding except by repeated applications of 1 and 2 Fact that a theifs victims voluntarily could have presented him with gifts doesn't entitle the thief to ill gotten gains. Justice in holdings is historical, depends upon what actually has happened.

Poker Analogy

Large element fo chance, long run winner plays with steady skill: - intimate knowledge of rules, psychology of other players, bold front, self discipline, respond effectively to opportunities - Can bluff friends, players have no sympathy - Different from cheating, unethical player is one while abiding by letters of rules, puts others at unfair disadvantage. Loud talk, gets them drunk, plays in cahoots - Game calls for distrust of others, ignores friendships, concealment of strengths, not kindness

Agency, Lomasky and Property Rights

Lomasky: - Persons, understood as pursuers of projects, have natural and important interest in possessing things - Property rights protect one's possession of things because such morally secure possession is required for successful project pursuit Agency Justification: - Rights of ownership should approximate full property rights (first dimension) - Requires that one be able to control parts of the world as part of one's projects John Rawls: - One's interest in agency is adequately advanced by a system that grants private property over personal items, but prohibits it over productive goods

Machan, Moral Rights, and Legal Rights

Machan conflates moral and legal rights which is wrong - Both general and specific argument depend on governmental enforcement of rights - One might argue he should focus on moral instead of legal right Why Conflation isn't problematic: - Right to safety currently enforced by law and enforcement has implications for employers and employees - Right to safety is positive right which runs counter to libertarianism because it infringes on liberty of some person. Different from negative rights of LLP that entitle one to freedom from others taking it, - Vast majority of people supporting moral right support legal right, but doesn't mea gov. should enforce all moral rights since govnerment don't have the resources and would be great invasion on citizens lives

Options Objection

Machan unintentionally objects to Premise 2: - Difficulty lies in view right to safety restricts the freedom of employees - PAtenralistic argument of preventing employees from accepting extra pay for unsafe conditions takes historical context which has broadened freedom of employees - The right and legal recognition of it played important role in emergence of opportunities employees have in safe conditions - Historical evidence shows that without legislation, playing field titled in favour of employers that employees lacked conditions to bring positive changes in working conditions that Machan himself suggests that they should - Without legal protection, too many employees would work in unsafe conditions without options to work in safe conditions - Mine owners would use violence to block their efforts for safety, to often employees lack necessary conditions to bring about changes, needed govnerment so they could have live options to do something about working conditions - In this way govnerment enhanced employee options rather than reduced them, freedom enhancing, not patenralistic BUT! doesn't mean employees always need govnerment to achieve goals - When employees possess unique talents hard to find in other employees, can succeed on their own - Doesn't mean all positive changes in workplace are done legislatively, many are result of tech improvements - But history shows employees need right to safety so they are in positions where they can take steps to bring about positive changes in working conditions SUMMATION: - MAchan's view that right of safety reduces freedom is mistaken and premise 2 of specific argument is false - Employees cannot opt to work for hazardous pay, but lost option doesn't reduce employees freedom. Must look at host of options to work in safe conditions that rights has provided employees - Right isn't patenralistic, enhanced freedom of maximizing options

Conflicts of Development and Conflicts of Tradition

Managers who working abroad who aren't prepared to grapple with moral ambiguity should come home - View business is purely ethical or not not true! - Moral free space (gray zone) no tight prescriptions for company's behaviour - To train managers on gray zone judgments, company must be clear about core values Conflict of Relative DevelopmentL - Ethical standards conflict because of countries different levels of economic development - May accept inhumane wage rates as an example, and as economics improve, incidence usually decreases - To resolve, manager must ask would practice be acceptable at home if country were in same stage of development Conflict of Cultural Tradition: - Saudi Arabian women cannot be managers, ie any increase in economic development doesn't change the rules Overall: - When relative economic conditions don't drive tensions, more objective test for resolving in deeming practice permissible if they answer no to both is it possible to conduct business successfully in host country without undertaking practice and is the practice violation of core human value

Private Property

Maximally Extensive feasible Property rights: Capitalist Ownership: - Classical debates on capitalism focus on private property with Mill and Marx defining system that relies on private property and reaction of system is rejection of private property - Complete abolition of PP rarely advocated, soviets allowed consumer goods and Plato's ideal republic had ruling class under communism, but was extreme Gaus: Capitalism requires private property in non personal goods (characterized by goods required for production of other goods), while throughout human history these goods have ben privately yet, don't want to say capitalism is dominant mode of production in all human history.

Ideal of Capitalism (Pure Version First Dimension)

Maximally extensive feasible property rights along two dimensions: Extent of person's ownership right (bundle of rights that make up property: - Right to use P so long as its not harmful to others/their property - Exclude others from using P - Right to manage: Give permission to others to use P. - Right to compensateL Damaging it without consent, right to compensation for loss of value. - Right to destroy, waste or modify P - Right to Income: Right to financial benefit of letting someone else use it - Immunity from expropriation: P (or any part) may not be made property of another or government without consent (taxation exception) - Liability to Execution: P may be taken away be authorized persons for repayment of debt - Absence of term: Indefinite duration for right over P - Right to rent and sale (transfer rights): May temporarily or permanently transfer all or some rights to anyone he chooses

Meta Ethics, Normative Ethics, Applied Ethics

Meta Ethics: - Explores conceptual and foundational questions in morality - Are there moral facts, is morality objective, how do we come to know moral truths, are moral claims true or false, expressions of emotions, primary object of evaluation Normative Ethics: - Study of which principles determine the moral permissibility of an action (right and wrong) - Deontology: Morality is constituted by rights and duties, respected features take priority over consequences of actions - Consequentialism: Only the consequences of actions (happiness and unhappiness) determines moral rightness of actions. (Utility) - Virtue Theory: Actions aren't the central objects of moral evaluation, person as whole and character is object of evaluation Applied Ethics: - Investigates specific problems and questions - biomedical, computer, environmental, business ethics - Specific ethical issues arising from investigation area - Possible to reach appleid ethical conclusions without settling contentious questions about nature of morality of content of fundamental moral principles

Core Human Values

Minimum ethical standards for all companies - Right to good health - Right to economic advancement and improved standard of living - Golden Rule: Treat others as one wants to be treated What do values have in common: - Overlapping consensus (Rawls) between western and non western cultural and religious traditions - Respect for Human Dignity: Must not treat others simply as tools, must recognize person's value as human - Respect for Basic Rights: People and communities must treat people in ways that respect basic rights - Good Citizenship: Members of communities must work together to support and improve institutions on which community depends Common values explanationL - Starting point for companies to formulate ethical codes - Respect human dignity by sustaining culture where employees, customers, suppliers treated as people whose intrinsic value is worth, producing safe products in safe workplace - rEspect basci rights to support individual rights of employees, customers, and communities, avoiding relationships harming rights to health, education, safety, and standard of living - Good citizens by supporting social institutions, economic and education system, working with govnerment to protect environment

Utility of Contract at Will

Monitoring Behaviour - Employers must contend with theft and related problems of unauthorized use of equipment - Find forms of social control best to minimize agency costs but force of law requires mens rea so abuse will go unchecked, private litigation is too blunt too - Promotions, bonuses, wages shape employee performance but carrot can't be used to exclusion of firing demoting and witholding wages that permit the firm to monitor performance well - Firing and quitting is lower cost than litigation Reputational Losses: - Size of reptuational losses advantage the employee since there are many workers and single employer - Employer who decides to act for bad reason may not face any legal liability under common law, but faces economic consequences since arbitrary firing destroys employee moral - Firing bad worker is good for other workers since its an implicit increase in wages who aren't burdened with obtuse co-workers - Private pressures eliminate motivation toward arbitrary decision making Risk Diversification and Imperfect Information - Contract at will offsets concentration of individual investment in single job by allowing diversification among employers over time, employee not looked into contact if he finds better opportunity elsewhere or hates the company over time - Imperfect information over time helper, gives wait and see attitudes to both sides Administrative Costs

Discard the Golden Rule

Most businessman aren't indifferent to ethics in private life - Office lives cease to be private, became players guided by different ethical standards - Its ok to bribe employees of other companies, spy on each other - Marketing expert said the golden rule isn't feasible guide for business since businessmen trying to do unto others as he hopes others will not unto him - If I don't take this chance, someone else will - Espionage is ok, common technique says executive

Summation of Nozick

No end state principle or distributional patterned principle of justice can be continuously realized without continuous interference with people's lives - any favoured pattern would transform into one unfavored by the principle. - To maintain pattern (bad), must continually interfere to stop people from transferring resources as they wish to or periodically interfere to take from some person resources that others for some reason chose to transfer to them Objection: But if some time limit is to be set on how long people may keep resources others transferred to them, why let hem keep them for any period of time? - All person voluntarily will choose to refrain from actions which would upset the patter Reply from Nozick: - Presupposes that all will want to maintain the pattern - Presupposes that each can gather enough information about his own actions and the ongoing activities of others to discover which of his actions will upset the pattern - Presupposes that diverse and far flung people can coordinate their actions to dovetail into the pattern - Market is better, since its natural among people's desires, as it reflects widely scattered information via prices, and coordinates person's activities Every patterned principle is liable to be thwarted by voluntary actions of individual parties transferring shares they receive under the principle - An distributional pattern with any egalitarian competent is overturnable by voluntary actions of people

Distributional Concerns

No reason to suggest changes to at will contract will result in wealth redistribution since its applicable to all levels of the organization - Most people who get fired under at will are incompetent, why protect them> - IF contract at will diminishes overall wealth, losses are apt to spread far and wide including employee pensions

Principle Which Gives Occasion to the Division of Labour

Not effect of human wisdom, but came about slowly and gradually through consequences of propensity in human nature to ruck ,barter and exchange with each other - Necessary consequence of faculties of reason and speech, only a human trait - Man has constant need for help of others, and in vain for him to expect it from their good will only. - Give me what I want, and I'll give you what you want - Different natural talents and genius of people is result of division of labour, not from nature but from habit, custom and education (the most dissimilar geniuses are of use to one anther

Product Liability: Some Caution

Objection to Machan: Failing to tell all about features of transaction means not telling customer defects in product - Mere fact customer doesn't inquire about defects doesn't appear to be justification for suppression of truth of fact - Why isn't buyer beware of all possible hitches then? Response: - In law, reasonable man standard appealed to considering personal responsibility - Merchant selling goods implicit that act that he is selling something, functions in that capacity when utilized in normal circumstances Response to Caveat: - Need for distinction between whats essential about items and whats incidental or merely associated - Not to claim essential items stay static over time, context matters Summation: - Possible to show from egoist standpoint the truth about an items being traded should be told - Doesn't say whole truth should be told, including matters associated with buying and selling of item like saying price elsewhere, its ultimately suitability to needs of buyer - Doesn't imply defective products are equally suitable objects of trade in honest transactions

The Moral Right Objection

Objection: Machan sees it as paternalistic because he conflates moral right with legal recognition - Legal recognition is paternalistic, not moral right itself MAchan has overstated what moral right to safety actually requires of employers - Moral rights requires only employers do not subject employees to dangerous working conditions without consent - When fully informed employees agree to accept hazardous pay, they grant consent to conditions - Moral right doesn't remove options from employees, if govnerment enforces right that it removes options, then govnerment is paternalistic in legal recognition of right - If govnerment enforced right by requiring employers to provide safe working conditions or obtain legitimate consent, then enforcement would not be paternalistic Moral right to safety, requires the former, not the latter. Right itself as moral right isn't patenralistic Machan's Objection to this: - Legal ramifications of the right cannot be ignored - Can't image legal recognition of right that allows employers to make offers of hazardous pay Problem is that often employees feel that refusing to consent to employers' wishes is not a live option - Unskilled employee rejecting offer is tantamount to asking to be fired - Employers in better bargaining place specially during bad economic periods, and even in good times lack of experience, bad histories, criminal record s limit - Globalization worsens problem, policymakers in capitalism strive for full employment which is unachievable in a free labour market, so they're likely to side with employers

Vance Packard and Skinner

Packard: - 1941, ad agencies are advanced labs in psychology, They manipulate human motivations and develops need for goods public has at one time been unfamiliar or don't need product at all Skinner: - In purchasing something we make think we are free, but our act is controlled by factors in environment and history of reinforcement (watching ads over and over)

The Individual and The Game

People within companies find it hard to adjust to game - Employees try to preserve private standards that call for game strategy - There are some fortunate executives never have to face problems of this kind like firing employees, denying raises, making false advertising - Ethical dilemmas felt sooner of later by most, most painful not when company forces action of executive, but when he originates it himself ie when he taken or contemplating step which is in his own interest running counter to moral conditioning - Man who intends to be winner in business game must have game player attitude, with strategist decisions as impersonal as those of surgeon on operation. Focus on objectives, no feelings - All businessmen prefer truth, but seldom inclined to tell whole truth - "Parry every question with and swears, which while truly , evasive of bottom facts.

Overview

Principle of Employment at Will (EAW): - Common law states in absence of law or contract, employers have right to hire, promote, demote and fire whomever and whenever they please - US today, EAW interpreted when employees not covers by union, legal statute, public policy or contract, employers may dismiss at will for cause, no cause, or even for causes morally wrong without guilty of legal wrong - Employees can quit at will too, 60% of all private sector employees with no rights to due process or appeal employment decisions, with no reason to tell why they're demoted, transfer or dismissed. Whereas public sector guaranteed rights like due process, protected from demotion, transfer, firing without cause Due Process: - People appeal decisions to get explanation of action and opportunity to argue it - Demand for rationality and fairness - EAW doesn't allow due process, saying employees have no moral or legal obligation to state why - 67% of wrongful dismissal has sided with employees based on breach of contract, lack of just cause, violations of pp - No universal revolution in think about employee right, more companies have qualified their EAW prerogatives with restrictions in firing without cause, with grievances procedures and ways for employee complaints to be dealt with But: - Hasn't been across the board institution of due process procedures in all corporations nor any direct challenge to principle of EAW as justifiable. - At will employees have no rights to demand appeal to decisions except through court, unless public policy violated ,law has protected employers from employee retaliation more

The Nature of the Argument for Conceptions of Justice

Principles are those which rational persons concerned to advance their interests would accept in this position of equality to settle basic terms of association - The absolutely best for any man is that everyone else should join him in furthering his conception for the good whatever it turns out to be - We must nullify the effects of specific contingencies which put men at odds and tempt them to exploit social and natural circumstances to their own advantage

Two Principles of Justice

Principles that I believe would be agreed to in the original position: - Each person is to have a equal right to the most extensive scheme of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar scheme of liberties for others - Social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both reasonably expected to be to everyone's advantage, and attached to positions and offices open to all Explication: - Apply to basic structure of society and govern assignment of rights and duties and regulate distribution of social and economic advantages - Distinguish between aspects of system that define and secure equal basic liberties, and aspects that specify and establish social and economic inequalities - Liberties include political liberty (right to vote, hold office), free speech, conscious and though, freedom of person from psychological and physical assault, and dismemberment, right to hold personal property and freedom from arbitrary arrest, equal by the first principle - Second principle applies to distribution of wealth and to design of organization that make use of differences in authority. while distribution of wealth need not be equal, must be to everyone's advantage and at the same time, positions of authority must be accessible to all - IE applying second principle means holdings positions open, and subject to constraint, arranges economic inequalities so that everyone benefit - Serial order: Infringements of basic liberties protected by first rule cannot be justified or compensated with greater social and economic advantages - Liberties maybe limited when they clash, none is absolute. Does not protect right to own certain kinds of property like means of prodcution and freedom of contract as understood by laissez faire system - In regard to second principle, distribution of wealth to be consistent with basic liberties and equality of opportunity

Are Market Exchanges Always Beneficial?

Problem of Asymmetric Bargaining Power: - Labour relationship - Gaus: Complex, hardly any bargains are made from equality of power, yet fact some need bargain more than others doesn't show exchange is not mutually beneficially, but inequality can undermine the moral legitimacy of market outcomes in extreme cases - Nozick: A person may not appropriate the only water hole in a desert and charge what he will, nor may he charge what he will if he possesses one, and unfortunately it happens all the waters holes in the desert dry up but his - creates coercive offer: exploiting bargaining power with a transaction the worser partner cannot refuse - Gaus: Modern capitalist economies have astronomically increased people's range of options. This includes occupational, educational and religious, consumer choices

Justifications behind EAW

Proprietary rights of employers guarantee that they may employee or dismiss whomever and whenever they wish - Not denying rights to person in firing or demoting, employer is excluding that person's labour from company - Objection: IS firing, employer rids company of costs of generating employees work products. Treating employee at will is considering her piece of property at the disposal of employer. Simple to ask for reasons since your dealing with people not robots EAW defends employee and employer right equally through freedom of contract, since employee voluntarily contracts to be hired and can quit any time - Objection: Arbitrary treatment of employees extends prerogatives to managers that are not equally available to employees, treatment unduly interferes with fired employees prospects for future employment if they have no avenue for dense. Arbitrary treatment of employees or employers violates spirit of EAW in protecting both sides IN taking job, employee voluntarily commits to certain responsibilities and company loyalty, knowing she's an at will employee - Objection: PRoblem is if part of employment contract is expectation of loyalty trust and respect on part of employee, employer must in return that the same way. Must be equally obligatory and mutually restrictive on both parties Extending due process hurts efficiency of businesses - Says troublemakers would be able to keep their jobs and even if you could get ride of them, lengthy procedure of due process costly and time consuming which harms morale of other employees - Objection: Assumes due process increases costs and reduces efficiency, contention onto documented by corporations with procedures and workers will give up basci rights for other benefits like money which isn't always true especially for unfair dismissals or job security. Assumes manager on same level as employee - Legislation further undermines over-regulated economy

Overview of Puffery

Puffery: Practice by a seller of making exaggerated, highly fanciful or suggestive claims about product - Within ill defined limits is legal - Considered necessary and successful tool of ads - Bragging to achieve effect - Advertisers research motivation theory, identify our hidden needs like security, conformity and oral stimulation, and our desires for power, sex etc, create ads responding to needs and desires - Through associated product which we have desires for wit symbols reflecting fulfillment of these other interests, ads generate large amounts of consumers wanting product - Don't these amount to manipulation, exploitation and downright control>

Ideal of Capitalism (Pure Version Second Dimension)

Range of Objects People Can Have Property Rights Over: - Argue environmental problems stem from absence of private property over resources since they are considered common pool resources that are relatively open public access and private consumption (clean air and water) Tragedy of the Commons: - People or groups make individually rational decisions about how much of the relevant resources to consume that collectively leads to over harvesting of resource and depleting its capacity Common Pool Problem: - Pollution in that over use of ability to dissipate gas leads to deletion of ability - When goods are here, if some restrain consumption when others don't, restrainers end up with less today and have no more in future since over users have no incentive to stop - Stems from lack of private property, owner will be confident she benefits from her restraint on present use David Schmidtz: - When resources taken out of common pool depletions are minimized - Unrenewable goods like petroleum, capitalist ownership induces efficient pricing that allows others to search for alternative tech Marx and Commodification of Labour: - Capitalists want maximal rights over body and labor, free to sell any services not harming third parties - Marx said capitalism key idea is commodification of labor thats bought and sold like other goods

Justice As Fairness

Regulate all subsequent criticism and reform of institutions - choose a constitution and legislature to enact laws, in accordance with principles of justice initially agreed upon - IF original position determines set of principles, those engaged in them can cooperate on terms to which they would agree if they were free and equal people. - No society can be a scheme of cooperation which men enter voltunarily in a literal sense since each person finds himself placed at birth in some position in some society, and nature of position materially affects life prospects Parties in the initial situation are rational and mutually disinterested ie they don't take an interest in one another's interests - Rationality means as far as possible in narrow sense of taking the most effective means to given ends - Principle of utility is incompatible with conception of social cooperation among equals for mutual advantage. inconsistent with idea of reciprocity implicit in notion of well ordered society

Techniques to Control Us

Repeating the same ad ad nauseam over and over to drill name into head - Creates indirect information not from content of what's said but from fact that said so often and vividly it sticks in us, so the information yield increases - We now assume product advertised so often must be good Subliminal suggestions to control customers - Store music blending in message of stop shop lifting dropped it by alot Puffery, indirect information transfer, subliminal ads are techniques of manipulation and control that shows we've forfeited autonomy and become herd of packaged souls - Puffery argument is they simply giving consumer what they want, if they didn't they'd fail. Embellishment and distortion are among legitimate and socially desirable purposes. Rejecting techniques would deny man's honest needs and values (Harvard professor) - Indirect info argument that even when message isn't credible ,fact brand is advertised frequently is valuable. Brands most advertised likely to be better buys ,losers won't advertise since it wouldn't pay to do so. Even if claims are empty ,consumers get benefit of info showing product to be a good buy

Self Ownership, Locke and Buckle

Self Ownership: - To be a free person is to have maximally extensive feasible property rights over oneself - Mechanism that allows these extensive self ownership rights to yield extensive rights over objects in the world MUST: - Extension process applies a suitably wide range of objects - New property rights are characterized by full bundle of capitalist Locke: - Life, liberty and person, but our ownership over parts of world is extension of our self ownership - Mixing labour (property) with unowned part of world, extends his property in person to include those parts of the world Buckle: - What naturally belongs to a person because none of these things can be taken away without injustice - The property in one's own person thus has a dynamic quality, it needs to grow to survive, requires acquisition of things - The suum must be extended or mixed with things in order to be maintained - Extending suum into external world, for locke, by mixing labour with parts of world, external private property in goods is generated - External ownership are property rights over things that extensive as property rights over oneself: extension of attributes of personhood - Locke: right of self ownership is inalieable, we have property in our own person, but no right to destroy or waste it

RM Coase

Showed in his paper "The Problem of Social Cost", regardless of the initial distribution of property rights, if there are no transaction costs, free exchange in the market yields an efficient outcome Incentive Problem: At the point where the marginal costs equal the marginal benefits, total social costs will have exceeded the total social benefits due to the negative externalities that were created in the process - In absence of transaction and bargaining costs, parties to activities with negative externalities will agree to efficient allocation of resources regardless of initial distribution of property rights = challenges government regulation Gaus: Important pointL If markets are to approach efficient outcomes where people compensated for externalities, people must have extensive rights to make agreements

Objection To Traditional Socialist View

Socialist View: Workers entitled to product and full fruits of labour, they have earned it, unjust if it doesn't give workers what they are entitled to - Based on past history Nozick: - Actual distribution A happens to coincide structurally with the one he distress D - A is no less just than D, differs only in that owners of capital receive A what workers entitled to under D, and workers receive under A what owners are entitled to under D, namely very little - Socialists rightly holds onto notions of earning, production entitlement and he rejects time slice principles that look only to structure of resulting set of holdings, but mistake lies in his view of what entitlement arise out of productive processes Overall Conclusion: - Nothing changed if structural principles operates upon time sequence of current time slice profiles and give someone more now to counterbalance less he has had ealrier - Utilitarians and egalitarians over time will inherit the difficulties of his myopic comrades - Not helped by fact some of the information others consider in relevant in assessing distribution is reflect, unrecoverable, past past matrices - unhistorical principles of distributive justice including time slice principles as end result principles or end state principles

Cast Illusions Aside

Stories of companies placing codes of conduct on themselves to avoid new federal regulations, protection for industry not public - Sounds ethics is good business isn't ethical at all, self serving calculation in disguise - Company really saying in long run make more money if you don't hurt competitors, suppliers, employees, customers, over-sharp policies reduce gains Summary of what business guys think of ethics: - Extremely competitive society with customs encouraging aggression for success with business as main area of competition - Basci rules set by govnerment to punish frauds, so as long as company doesn't break las, legal right to shape strategy solely to profit - If it takes long term view of profit, will preserve relationships - Wise businessmen won't seek advantage to point to generate dangerous hostility amongst stakeholders, but decisions in final test are strategic, not ethical

Distributive Justice Overview

The minimal state is the most extensive state than can be justified - any state more extensive violates rights - Question is of redistribution, whether we should do again what has already been done once. - There is no central distribution, no person or group entitled to control resources, jointly deciding how they are to be doled out. - Free society, diverse people control different resources, new holding arise out of voluntary exchanges and actions of people

The Original Position and Justification

The original position is the appropriate status quo which insures that fundamental agreement reached in it are fair - If rational persons in the initial situation would choose its principles over those of the other for the role of justice - RawlsL I shall be satisfied if they suffice to rank the main traditional conceptions of social justice - Reasonable and generally acceptable that no one should be advantaged or disadvantaged by natural fortune or social circumstances in the choice of principles - Cannot tailor principles to circumstances of one's own case Summation: Together with the veil of ignorance, Rational persons concerned to advance their interests would consent to as equals when none are known to be advantaged or disadvantaged by social and natural contingencies - We can check an interpretation of the initial situation, then, by the capacity of its principles to accommodate our firmest convictions and to provide guidance where guidance is needed

"We Don't Make the Laws"

There is hardly any major industry that attacks of unsafely or deceptive packaging, with critics sayings its not unethical, yet companies concerned know they're merely playing the game - Businessmen will change if laws governing their business change, or public opinion becomes clamorous, but morally have done nothing as long as they comply with law Violations of ethical ideas of society common in business, not violations of business principles - Federal Trade Commission ends business practices, but are defended by manufacturing companies - Companies need to make profits in highly competitive industries, not their job to be ethical above the law says mouthwash executive

Guidelines for Ethical Leadership

Treat corporate values and formal standards of conduct as absolutes - Cannot waiver at home or abroad Design and implement conditions of engagement for suppliers and customers - Don't do business with unethical customers or suppliers Allow foreign business units to help formulate ethical standards and interpret ethical issues In host countries, support efforts to decrease institutional corruptions Exercise Moral ImaginationL Resolving tensions responsibility and creatively

Unnatural Passions

Turns people into objects - Women and men's bodies dismembered, packaged and used to sell everything - Girls lose self esteem cause bodies are objects, boys learn masculinity requires brutality - Encourage to feel passion for products not partners, especially for addictive products like Jack Daniels - Addict is the ideal consumer, advertisers spend millions on psych research to understand addiction - Consumer culture encourages buying more and create identity through what we buy, ads offer products as substitutes for human connection - Influence is cumulative, often subtle and primarily unconscious, creator and perpetrator of dominant cultural values, crates climate wehre values flourish and others aren't reflected

General Conception of Justice in Applying the Two Principles

Two principles are specific, and acceptance rests on certain assumptions. Principles are special case of more general conception thats expressed as: - All social values like liberty, opportunity, income, wealth, and social bases of self respect are to be distributed equally unless an unequal distribution of any of these values is to everyone's advantage Primary Goods: - Goods every rational man presumed to want whatever plan of life - Rights, liberties, opportunities, income and wealth (social primary goods) - Health and Vigor, intelligence, imagination are natural goos, although their possession is influenced by basic structure, tehy are no so directly under its control Imagine primary social goods are equally distributed: everyone has similar rights, and income and wealth evenly shared that provides benchmark for judging improvements - If certain inequalities of wealth and differences in authority would make everyone better off than starting situation, they accord with general conception Possibility: Giving up fundamental liberties your compensated by resulting social and economic gains - Rawls: justice imposes no restrictions on permissible inequalities, but it requires that everyone's position be improved - Two principles rule it out since they're serialize don't permit exchanges between basic liberties and economic gains except under extenuating circumstances

Four Common Complaints About Business Ethics

Useless: - Individuals upon reaching certain age incapable of changing way they determine whether action is morally permissible (good or bad) Unfeasible: - Demands of market competition don't permit sincere commitment to ethical considerations Indeterminate: - Ethicists disagree over normative theories, and principles rendering decisive answers impossible, which consequently takes value out of business ethics. Beside the Point: - Ethical inquiry is not what is needed, individuals behaving ethically is what is needed.

Mill Vs Bentham

Wehre Bentham focuses analysis of value terms on pleasure and pain, Mill's emphasis ion happiness more generally - Mill understood happiness as related to pleasure and pain, shift from quantitative to qualitative - Mill: Produce the greatest balance of happiness over unhappiness for all members of our moral community

Evaluation of Charges Against International Sweatshops (Maitland Claps Back)

What the critics get right: - Companies are chasing cheap labour - Wages paid by American standards are shockingly low - Government have tightly controlled organized labour to prevent disturbing flow of capital - Not unusual for minimum wage levels to be lower than official poverty level - Developing countries winked at violation of minimum wage laws and labour rules, but most jobs in informal sector outside scope of govnerment supervision - Suppliers have employed children or subcontract work to other producers who do it - Govnerment deny basic political rights Wages and Conditions: - Even critics of sweatshops can't dispute wages paid are higher than comparable wages in labour markets where they operate - International Labour Organization shows companies apply standards to wages, benefits, work conditions, safety that exceed requirements of local firms - Word bank says poorest works in informal sector where they earn less than half of formal sector employees, rural workers work under more hazardous conditions than formal - Critics agree that workers voltunarily take jobs, consider themselves lucky to have them and want them, discount worker view at product of confusion or ignorance, argue works views beside point Immiserization and Inequality: - Countries with poverty and inequality contradicted by record, sine many countries have experienced sharp increases in living standards - Countries get start by producing labour intensive manufactured goods for export, and over time export higher value added items requiring skill intensive work with industrial base - Real wage growth occurs, absolute poverty fell in Asia in 1960s - Initial stages rapid growth generated only moderate wage increases, but once full employment, increased demand for labour creates biding wages for scarce supply of labour - ILO embraces notion, best economies have been those best exploited emerging opportunities in global economy and export orientation critical for stagnating industrialization path - Investors may strike deeper roots invest in more capital intensive tech - Inequality in west growing ,but shrinking in asia, only economies to experience high growth and declining inequality with shrinking gender education gaps, spreads wealth to rural areas too Profiting From Repression? - Economic development relaxes repression, wages paid by sweatshops match of exceed prevailing local wages - Critics admit main fact restraining wages in countries is state of labour market - Govnerment fear of unions is cause they'll drive wages above market clearing levels, govnerment acknowledge high unemployment is greater threat to its hold on power

Overtime

Why might someone work overtime in a society in which its assumed their needs are satisfied? - Care about things other than needs - No society will provide resources close to each person who would like them as part of his regular allotment under D1 - Therefore, people must either do without some extra things they want, or be allowed to do something extra to get some of these things - People will participate to gain things over and above their allotment under D1 - Private property even in means of prodcution would occur in socialist society that did not forbid people to use as they wished some resources they're given under D1, ergo they'd have to forbid capitalist acts between consenting adults

How Liberty Upsets Patterns

Wilt Chamberlain Example: - He gets 25 cents worth of every ticket - One million people attend the games and he gets 250k, a much larger sum than the average income and larger even than anyone else has. - Each of these people chose to give twenty five cents of their money to Chamberlain, they could've gone to movies, or bought candy, or magazines - If D1 was a just distribution, and people voluntarily moved from it to D2, transferring parts of shares tehy were given under d1, isn't D2 just? - If people were entitled to dispose of resources to which tehy were entitled under D1, didn't this include giving money to Wilt? Summation: - Under D1, there is nothing that anyone has that anyone else has a claim of justice against. Even after trading, third parties still have legitimate shares, their shares are no changed - ISSUE: By what process could such a transfer among two people give rise to claim of justice on portion of what was transferred ,by at third party who had no claim of justice on any holding of others before the transfer?!