Chapter Two Flashcards
What is Ethics?
The study and practice of decisions about what is good or right
What is Business Ethics?
The application of ethics to the special problems and opportunities experience by businesspeople
What is an ethical dilemma?
A problem concerning what a firm should do for which no clear, right decision is available
What is the social responsibility of business?
The expectations that the community imposes on firms doing business inside its borders
What are stakeholders?
The groups of people affected by a firm’s decisions
-owners/shareholders
-employees
-customers
-management
-general community where firm operates
-future generations
What is the Golden Rule?
Interact with other people in a manner consistent with the way we would like to be interacted with
What is ethical relativism?
the theory that denies the existence of an ultimate ethical system holding instead that a decision must be determined as ethical on the basis of its own context
What is situational ethics?
requires that we evaluate the morality of an action by imagining ourselves in the position of the person facing the ethical dilemma
What is absolutism?
requires that individuals defer to a set of rules to guide them in the ethical decision-making process
What is consequentialism?
A general approach to ethical dilemmas that requires that we inquire about the consequences to relevant people of our making a particular decision
What is utilitarianism?
Urges managers to take those actions that provide the greatest pleasure after having subtracted the pain or harm associated with the action in question
What does ‘act utilitarianism’ tell business managers?
to examine all the potential actions in each situation and choose the action that yields the greatest amount of pleasure over pain for all involved
What is Rule Utilitarianism?
Holds that general rules that on balance produce the greatest amount of pleasure for all involved should be established and followed in each situation
What is dentology?
the ethical theory which states that an action can be determined as ethical on the basis of right and wrong, regardless of its consequences
