buisness ethics

Question 1

what is cooperate social responsibility?

Answer 1

the idea that companies have ethical duties to all the people in this wider community

Question 2

who are stakeholders?

Answer 2

a person, group or organization with a vested interest, or stake, in the decision-making and activities of a business, organization or project.

Question 3

example of stakeholders

Answer 3

investors, employees, customers, suppliers, communities,

Question 4

what is whistle blowing?

Answer 4

seeing and reporting something that happens in buisness

Question 5

what did Milton Friedman argue?

Answer 5

argued against this idea of businesses having to be ethical. he claims businesses only act in an ethical manner to attract business.

Question 6

what is globalization?

Answer 6

the growth of modern communication, movement of people, trade etc and the phenomenon of economic and cultural movements across nations. companies becoming worldwide. and the issues that come with it.

Question 7

what are the types of CSR?

Answer 7

Environmental
Community

Question 8

what is environmental CSR?

Answer 8

Reducing negative impact on the environment such as pollution and non-recycled products.

Increasing the reliance on ‘green’ renewable and sustainable energy and products.

Offsetting negative impact done to the environment for example by donating to pro-environment groups that will make conservation efforts.

Question 9

what is community CSR?

Answer 9

Avoiding being supplied by any business which involves exploitation, sweatshops or child labour.

Responsible treatment of employees e.g. minimum wage, health and safety provisions.

Donating money to charitable causes.

Question 10

evaluate CSR from a business perspective

Answer 10

• better public relations
• inspires customer loyalty
• better brand recognition
• can get less profit

Question 11

what is window dressing?

Answer 11

making something appear good while overall it is bad

Question 12

Do intentions behind CSR matter?

Answer 12

Kant yes - Duty
Bentham No - Greater Good

Question 13

example of window dressing

Answer 13

Tim Cook the CEO of Apple made a speech where he talked about how his platform would be against white supremacy, yet Apple continues to exploit people in third world countries

Question 14

how is CSR used in a negative way?

Answer 14

to gain PR, it is an attempt to disguise the fact that businesses are part of the cause of economic problems like inequality, by giving the impression that businesses can be part of the solution.

Question 15

what is free market capitalism?

Answer 15

the idea that the only responsibility of a business is to maximise profit for its shareholders

Question 16

How would utilitarianists view free market?

Answer 16

the free market is generally the best way to maximise happiness and produce human flourishing.
They would generally be against restrictions and responsibilities laid on business which would interfere with that.

Question 17

utilitarianist opinion on environmental CSR

Answer 17

They would likely accept environmental CSR because of how damaging climate change can be to happiness.

Question 18

utilitarianist opinion on community CSR

Answer 18

they would probably reject philanthropy as a responsibility of business. Bentham did favour some regulations for employees like minimum wage.

Question 19

Kantian opinion on treatment of workers?

Answer 19

The second formulation would require that market interactions do not involve the treatment of people as mere means. Labour should not be treated merely as a commodity. A basic level of respect must be given to employees and all stakeholders.

Question 20

what would buisness ethics be like for kant?

Answer 20

Avoiding exploitation (community CSR). This includes paying workers enough, perhaps a minimum or even living wage.
Providing a safe work environment (community CSR).
Avoiding fraud or deceptive advertising (community CSR).
Avoiding polluting the environment or having a net negative impact on the environment (environmental CSR).

Question 21

what issues are there in business ethics?

Answer 21

CSR/Whistleblowing/Globalization

Question 22

how might mill respond to kant?

Answer 22

Mill argues that having a good character helps you become happy and produce positive consequences. Motives and character therefore do matter ethically, though not intrinsically but only insofar as they result in good consequences, in line with consequentialism.
SO, CSR may be wrong if intent is bad bc its likely to have bad consequences.

Question 23

Facebook case study of whistle blowing

Answer 23

Frances Haugen worked for Facebook (which owns Instagram) and leaked internal documents which came to be known as ‘The Facebook Files’. One quote from the files in the leak acknowledged that “we make body issues worse for one in three teenage girls”. The leak also shows that the Facebook algorithm promoted posts that caused anger or outrage.

Question 24

Evaluate whistle blowing

Answer 24

The upside to whistleblowing is that the negative business practice is brought to light which gives it a better chance of being brought to an end.

The downside is that the company might suffer financial losses or even go bankrupt, causing some of or all of its staff to lose their job. In cases where the company was doing good, that could also be stopped.

Question 25

kant on whistle blowing (universalisation)

Answer 25

Kant thinks lying cannot be universalised and is therefore always wrong. So, he would certainly also be against lying to cover up negative business practises, even if that truth being brought to light resulted in the failure of the businesses and employees who may have done nothing wrong nonetheless losing their jobs. It is your duty never to lie.

Question 26

kant on whistle blowing (humans as ends)

Answer 26

Kant would also regard the treatment of people as mere means to be wrong due to the second formulation of the categorical imperative. Most if not all cases of whistleblowing seem to involve exploitative or deceptive business practices that treat people as a mere means. This would be another reason that Kant would be in favour of whistleblowing.

Question 27

Act utilitarianism on whilste blowing

Answer 27

Act utilitarianism holds that whistleblowing is morally right depending on the situation. If whistleblowing causes more happiness than not whistleblowing, then it is morally good; if it causes less happiness then it is morally wrong. For example, if the business is causing a lot of happiness, then whistleblowing about some suffering it is causing, e.g. through exploitation, might be wrong.

Question 28

MILL on whistle blowing

Answer 28

wrong - harm principle - usually involves some exploitation

Question 29

Example of whistle blowing being unjust

Answer 29

• a business hires a scientist who is sadistic and hurts employees
• but he is making a good attempt at a cure for cancer
• utilitarian may say this is justified because longe term will have best concequence

Question 30

what is Offshore outsourcing

Answer 30

where businesses build products in factories in third world countries

Question 31

what does free market lead to

Answer 31

using unjust methods to eliminate their competition

Question 32

uber example of removing competitors

Answer 32

Uber temporarily lowering its prices, running at a loss in cities it wants to expand into, in order to put other cab companies out of business at which point it can increase its prices and not face competition.

Question 33

what is the effect of globalisation for culture?

Answer 33

Corporations that are global tend to take over or overrule the culture of third world countries. Lots of the world is now covered in McDonalds.

Question 34

what is a monopoly

Answer 34

a market structure where a single seller or producer assumes a dominant position in an industry or a sector. Monopolies are discouraged in free-market economies as they stifle competition and limit substitutes for consumers.

Question 35

what is a sweatshop?

Answer 35

s a shop or factory which employs workers, sometimes children, for very low pay, long hours in unsafe conditions. They are seen as a classic case of exploitation.

Question 36

in what ways do sweatshops exploit workers?

Answer 36

they exploit the lack of choice and opportunity many people have, giving them little choice but to accept terrible working conditions.

Question 37

evaluate sweatshops?

Answer 37

• only source of income for people
  -offer jobs
  -horrific conditions
  -underpaid
  -mental health
  -dangerous
  -if buisness were to sacrifice sweatshops for good conditions they wouldnt make them