Business Ethics

Question 1

What is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)?

Answer 1

A theory that says a business has ethical responsibilities towards the community and environment it is part of or affects.

Question 2

What are some examples of Environmental CSR?

Answer 2

• Reducing pollution from factories.
• Increasing reliance on sustainable energy sources.
• Donating to pro-conservation groups to make up for use of natural resource. I.e. a paper company donating to a tree planting scheme.

Question 3

What are some examples of Community CSR?

Answer 3

• Respecting human rights and avoiding exploitation.
• Avoiding unethical suppliers.
• Responsible treatment of employees.
• Philanthropy. Donating to charity.

Question 4

How does Utilitarianism respond to CSR?

Answer 4

Bentham and Mill would say that the free market is the best way to promote pleasure. They would accept environmental CSR on the basis that climate change is an obstacle to pleasure, but they would probably reject philanthropy as a duty of businesses. They would be against restriction on businesses.

Question 5

How does Kantian Ethics respond to CSR?

Answer 5

Labour should not be treated as a commodity as people shouldn’t be treated as a means to an end (profit.) It is the duty of companies to pay a fair wage, avoid deceptive marketing, and preserve the environment.

Question 6

How could CSR be seen as performative “window-dressing”?

Answer 6

Often CSR is used to cover up worse issues with a company. For example, the CEO of Apple said his company would be against white supremacy, whilst continuing to exploit people in 3rd world countries. Green-washing has become more well-known.

It begs the question as to whether intention matters in ethical decisions made by a company.

Question 7

What is Globalisation?

Answer 7

The phenomenon where businesses are now global entities with foreign markets. Culture, policy-making and business are now integrated with each other.

Question 8

What is off-shore outsourcing?

Answer 8

When businesses move their manufacturing to third world countries, away from Western countries. This is often cheaper but costs people jobs.

Question 9

How does globalisation impact government?

Answer 9

Money = Power. Businesses are becoming more powerful than lawmakers as they aren’t democratically elected. Corporations can fund election campaigns, threaten or bribe lawmakers, and can change policy indirectly to benefit them directly.

Question 10

How would Utilitarianism react to Globalisation?

Answer 10

It would reject aspects that undermine the free market and freedoms overall, like companies influencing policy and creating monopolies.
It might accept off-shore outsourcing as long as happiness is maximised.

Question 11

How would Kantian Ethics react to Globalisation?

Answer 11

It would find Globalisation problematic as it runs at odds with the CSR and seems to treat people as a means to an end. Policy-making violates a business’s duty to provide a service or look after stakeholders.

Question 12

What is Whistleblowing?

Answer 12

Whistleblowing is when somebody, usually an employee, leaks information about the wrongdoings of a company.

Example: Frances Haugen was an employee at Facebook and leaked “The Facebook Files”, internal documents that said the platform promoted body issues in teens and angry/hateful content.

Question 13

What are two different forms of whistleblowing?

Answer 13

Private: Whistleblowing done internally within a company. I.e. a whistleblower sending a letter to the board of directors about nepotism.

Public: The whistleblower raises their concerns to a public level. I.e. a whistleblower contacts a newspaper about poor hygiene in a hospital.

Question 14

What does Utilitarianism say about Whistleblowing?

Answer 14

It is usually morally right because you are calling out something which is a barrier to maximum pleasure. But sometimes whistleblowing is wrong because the company is providing a lot of happiness that outweighs its negative actions.

Question 15

What does Kantian Ethics say about Whistleblowing?

Answer 15

Lying cannot be universalised so it is always wrong. So, he would be against lying to cover up a business’s mistakes, even if the truth causes the business to collapse and jobs to be lost. It is our duty not to lie.

If the business is also exploiting people, then Kant would find it morally wrong against his second formulation of the categorical imperative. People are being treated as a means to an end, and it should be called out.

Question 16

What was the Rana Plaza Disaster and why could it be used in a discussion about business ethics?

Answer 16

A sweatshop in Bangladesh that supplied clothes to shops like Primark and Monsoon collapsed. The workers were told they wouldn’t be paid for a month if they refused to go into work after the building was evacuated the day prior. Over 1000 workers died.

The disaster emphasises the importance of CSR in business to keep employees safe and the negative impact Globalisation has by propagating sweatshops with squalid conditions.

Question 17

What is a key flaw of Utilitarianism when considered against sweatshops?

Answer 17

MacAskill asserts that despite sweatshops being horrific, boycotting the companies that use them will destroy the workers’ only chance of stable employment. Moreover, does the pleasure of Western consumers outweigh the pain of the workers?

Mill’s harm principle only goes so far. As long as the workers are free to leave at anytime, then there is nothing unethical about sweatshops.

Question 18

What did Milton Friedman say about business responsibilities?

Answer 18

The only responsibility of a business is “to make as much money for their shareholders as possible.”

It follows that restricting businesses in any way is unacceptable.

Question 19

Why is Milton Friedman’s free-market approach flawed?

Answer 19

He thinks freedom is good, but freedom causes monopolies and that reduces freedom and innovation. The only way to ensure a market stays free is through government intervention. Kant and Utilitarianism are right in saying some controls should be placed on business.

Question 20

How would Adam Smith suggest good ethics is good business?

Answer 20

Although raising prices or lowering wages may benefit a company in the short term, we will overall harm out reputation and make less money in the long term. When we provide good service, our reputation and profits will benefit.

Question 21

Why would Kant say that good ethics is more important than good business?

Answer 21

Kant uses the example of a shopkeeper who charges fair prices for his goods because this is good for business. This is not morally good because he is not charging people fairly out of duty, and he is treating people as a means to an end (profit.)