Business Ethics Flashcards
Business Ethics
Examines how people and institution should behave in the world of commerce
Corporate Social Responsibility
The belief that an organisation has ethical responsibilities
Examples of CSR include McDonald’s using Rainforest Alliance certified coffee and Anita Roddick’s ‘Body Shop’ avoiding child labour
Milton Friedman thought that CSR was ‘hypocritical window-dressing’ and that ‘the purpose of a business is to make me money’
Kant’s shopkeeper analogy
Globalisation
The process by which businesses operate on a global scale
Firms must decide whether it is right to trade with countries with humans right abuses, such as Saudi Arabia
Firms must consider the ethics and norms of other countries, such as how in Israel, McDonalds serve only Kosher food
Good Ethics is Good Business
The notion that behaving ethically will result in increased sales and business success. Kant’s shopkeeper analogy
Julian Baggini argued that ‘no one could credibly argue that good ethics is sufficient for good business’ and that ‘if a business is not prepared to suffer any costs from having an ethical policy, it has no rights to claim to be an ethical business’
Business such as Apple and Amazon and industries such as the porn industries are incredibly successful
Utilitarianism on Business Ethics (x3)
If consumers and stakeholders outnumber employees, so Bentham’s act utilitarianism could allow for child labour if it brought about the greatest good
Whilst utilitarianism could advocate for sustainable environment policies (in 2010, 200m children in China did not have safe drinking water), it could also rule that PG&E’s pollution was ethical if it did not affect too many people
Bentham might oppose whistleblowing, whereas Mill supported the Harm Principle
Kantian Ethics on Business Ethics
Supports Samuel Provance’s whistleblowing as you should ‘so act that the maxim of your action can be willed as universal law’
Kant would support fair wages as you should ‘never treat people as a means to an end’
Kant uses the analogy of the shopkeeper whose fair treatment of customers causes them to come back
Kant forgets that not everyone is equal in business (e.g. consumers vs shareholders), and is unprofitable as the Good Will, and treating everyone the same is bad for globalisation e.g. in Israel, McDonalds serve only Kosher food
Erin Brockovitch
Erin Brockovitch sued PG&E for polluting the drinking water of Hinkley hexavalent chromium.
The case was settled in 1996 for $333 million
Ford Pinto
The Ford Pinto had its engine in the back, which meant that it exploded during crashes
It would have cost Ford $137 million to fix but only $49.5 million to face lawsuits
Whistleblowing
A whistle-blower is a person who exposes illegal or unethical activity within a business
Samuel Provance was a whistleblower who blew the whistle on the atrocities occurring in Abu Ghraib prison in 2003, whereas US soldiers were committing serious human rights violation including rape and torture
7 Catholic Principles for Good Business
Cardinal Vincent Nichols:
1) Human Dignity (‘each person can never be merely an instanced valued just for their usefulness’)
2) Common Good
3) Solidarity
4) Subsidiary
5) Fraternity
6) Reciprocity
7) Sustainability
