Ethical dilemmas Flashcards
What are the three different levels one looks at when examining moral development?
Pre-conventional level: individuals learn what is right and wrong, but may not understand why their behavior is right or wrong
Conventional level: conformity is learned from peers and societal laws
Post-conventional level: people internalize moral behavior
what is a teleological approach?
Decisions are based on the consequences of the action
describe utilitarianism
When you take a decision based on the fact that an action is right if it produces the greatest amount of good
What is a deontological approach?
Moral judgments are made and moral reasoning are made solely on the action rather than the consequences
Describe the difference between relativism and normativism
Relativism - ethical truths depend on the groups holding them
Normativism - there are universal standards of behavior that all cultures should follow
What is extraterritoriality?
Imposing domestic legal and ethical practices on the foreign subsidiaries of companies headquartered in their jurisdictions
What are the five elements composing a code of conduct?
○sets global policy that must be complied with
○communicates the code to employees, suppliers, and subcontractors
○ensures that policies are carried out
○reports results to external stakeholders
○Should be as clear as possible
What could be the consequences of unethical and irresponsible behaviour?
○result in legal sanctions
○result in consumer boycotts
○lower employee morale
○cost sales because of bad publicity
What is the difference between corruption and bribes.
Corruption = the misuse of entrusted power for private gain
Bribes = payments or promises to pay cash or anything of value
Name 3 different international accords to stop bribery
○OECD Anti-Bribery Convention
○ICC code of rules
○UN Convention against Corruption
How can you define sustainability?
meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
What are three questions one can ask oneself when faced with an ethical dilemma in a business context?
●“If this was on the front page of the Globe and Mail (or CNN, or on Facebook for all to see…) would you still do it?”
●Also can potentially be very helpful to talk to peers, boss(es), mentors…
●Remember: Your reputation matters
Why do companies care about ethical behaviour?
- To develop competitive advantage
- to avoid being perceived as irresponsible
What are some reasons why using the law to justify one’s action is inadequate?
- some things are unethical but no illegal
- laws are slow to develop in emerging areas and they can’t always predict future dilemmas
- law is often based on imprecisely defined moral concepts
- law needs to undergo scrutiny by judges
- law isnt very efficient
Why should one use the law to justify ethical behaviour?
- law embodies moral conduct and principled
- clearly defined rules, establishes good precedent for acceptable behaviour
- rules enforceable to everyone
- reflects careful and wide-ranging discussions
