Chapter 3 -- Overview Flashcards
What are the 6 modes of social control?
- ethics
- laws
- formal & informal groups
- self-regulation
- the media
- an active civil society
What are ethics?
Moral principles or values that generally govern the conduct of an individual or a group
What are codes of conduct in formal and informal groups?
They prescribe acceptable and desired behaviors of their members.
What are formal and informal groups?
Businesses, professional organizations, clubs, and professional associations
Define deontological theory.
People should adhere to their obligations and duties when analyzing an ethical dilemma.
What does it mean to follow deontological theory when interacting with friends?
A person will follow their obligations to an individual or society; keep promises to friends and follow the law
What is one drawback of deontological theory?
Not necessarily concerned with the welfare of others
What is utilitarian ethical theory?
Ability to predict the consequences of an action; the choice that yields the greatest benefit to the most people is the choice that is ethically correct
What are the two types of utilitarianism?
Act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism
What is act utilitarianism?
a person performs acts that benefit the most people, regardless of personal feelings or societal constraints such as laws
What is rule utilitarianism?
takes into account the law and is concerned with fairness; seeks to benefit the most people through the fairest and most just means available
What are the two flaws in utilitarianism?
- flaws associated with predicting the future
2. assumes that they can compare the various types of consequences against each other on a similar scale
What is casuist ethical theory?
compares a current ethical dilemma with examples of similar ethical dilemmas and their outcomes
What is one drawback of casuist ethical theory?
There may not be a set of similar examples for a given ethical dilemma
What is moral relativism?
Belief in time-and-space ethics, that ethical truths depend on the individuals and groups holding them
Moral relativists believe that:
there are no absolute rules and the proper resolution to ethical dilemmas is based upon weighing competing factors at the moment and then determining to take the lesser of the evils as the resolution
What is a virtue?
a character trait valued as being good
What is preconventional morality?
childlike, self-centered, selfish, based on what will immediately be punished or rewarded
What are the three ways to develop a personal set of ethics?
- Examine the consequences of a particular act
- Stress the importance of rules
- Personal ethics emphasizes the development of moral character within individuals
What is conventional morality?
Moves from egocentric viewpoint toward the expectations of society; loyalty and obedience to the organization (or society) become paramount
What is postconventional morality?
Morality of a mature adult; people are less concerned about how others might see them and more concerned about how they see and judge themselves over the long run
What are factors that influence ethical decision making and judgements?
- extent of ethical problems within the organization
- top management’s actions on ethics
- potential magnitude of consequences
- social consensus
- probability of a harmful outcome
- length of time between the decision and the onset of consequences
- number of people to be affected
What are the advantages of a code of ethics?
- helps employees identify what their firm recognizes as acceptable business practices
- effective internal control of behavior, which is more desirable than external controls such as govt. regulation
- written code helps employees avoid confusion when determining whether their decisions are ethical
- process of formulating code of ethics facilitates discussion amongst employees
What is corporate social responsibility?
A business’s concern for society’s welfare
What is stakeholder theory?
Social responsibility is paying attention to the interest of every affected stakeholder in every aspect of a firm’s operation
What are examples of stakeholders?
employees, management, customers, the local community, suppliers, owners
What is the pyramid of corporate social responsibility (CSR)?
See chart…
Includes: economic responsibilities, legal responsibilities, ethical responsibilities, philanthropic responsibilities
Why do some analysts believe that a business should not focus on CSR?
A business should focus on making a profit and leave social and environmental problems to nonprofit organizations and government
Why do people support CSR for businesses?
- it’s the right thing to do
- if businesses do not act responsibly, then the government will create new regulations and perhaps levy fines against them
- can be profitable
What is cause-related marketing?
The cooperative efforts of a for-profit firm and a nonprofit organization for mutual benefit. Any marketing effort for social or other charitable causes can be referred to as cause-related marketing. Cause marketing differs from corporate giving (philanthropy), as the latter generally involves a specific donation that is tax deductible, whereas cause marketing is a marketing relationship not based on a straight donation.
