Business Ethics Flashcards
1
Q
Corporate social responsibility
A
- a sense that businesses have wider responsibilities than simply to their shareholders, including the communities they live and work in, and to the environment
- businesses take on social responsibilities because they think it will improve the image
- businesses may improve facilities for employees because they are worried if they don’t, they will go work for the competition
- Kantian response: focus on the need to treat people as ends and not just means, the balance between the interests of the company and interests of the employees are important
- utilitarian response: focuses on the consequences for the greatest good, the greatest good could be interested in terms of the greatest profit which might lead to ruthless attempts to maximise profits. However, utilitarianism has the greatest good principle to try set aside selfish interests for the broader interest of many more people than oneself
2
Q
Whistle-blowing
A
- when an employee discloses wrongdoing going on in the workplace to the employer or the public
- not about personal complaints or grievances but about reporting something that is affecting, or threatens to affect others
- encouraging whistle-blowing helps convince businesses to take their corporate social responsibility seriously
- ethical issues for individual who is thinking of whistle-blowing because of their responsibility to employer
- Kantian response: emphasises importance of honesty through categorical imperative, whistle-blowing in a sense involves breaking the promises made to our business in a contract but if a company was putting at risk its customers or employees the a Kantian worker might interpret that as humans not not being treated as ends
- utilitarian response: would have to weigh the balance of good or harm for all those with an interest or stake in the business. Might be justified for business to break some rules to create greatest happiness through success of company at that point
3
Q
Good ethics is good business
A
Idea that good ethics is good business can be understood in different ways:
- there is nothing different between business decisions and any other decision: business decisions are not inherently unethical and so a good business decision like any kind of good decision is likely to also be ethical
- business decisions are inherently unethical because they interest only in what benefits businesses, can have a negative impact on the business
- businesses that act with honour and don’t cheat their suppliers have more customers
- utilitarian response: can be difficult to quantify utility objectively, since businesses focus on benefit, they might struggle to say how much pleasure a decision would cause each stakeholder
- Kantian response: enables principles to be developed that apply in every situation. Categorical imperative would clarity for a busybody just what actions are not permittable
4
Q
Globalisation
A
- the integration of economies, industries, markets, cultures and policy-making around the world
- moving production to low wage countries such as China has rapidly increased economic development. Although wages are far lower then that in Western countries, its still much higher then what peasant farmers used to earn so has enormous economic benefits
- these countries often have weak government regulations, allowing unsafe working conditions
- utilitarian response: argues the good it does massively outweighs its disadvantages, creates greatest good for greatest number. 800 million Chinese people lifted out of poverty predominantly as a result of globalisation
- Kantian response: Kant’s views on equality clash with the inequality generated by globalisation
5
Q
Benefits of ethics for business
A
- better image is given to the world at large, resulting in greater profit
- means avoiding embarrassing public relation disasters are avoided
6
Q
Problems of ethics for business
A
- business may have to change whole practice to be ethical
- being ethical can increase costs for a business
