Lecture 1 Flashcards
What is Crane and Mattens definition of ethics?
The study of morality and the application of reason to elucidate specific rule me and principles that determine morally acceptable courses of action
Bus ethics begins where the law ends
Relates to grey areas of business
Why is business ethics needed?
Business has significant societal power
Have resources that can contribute to society
Mid practice can inflict tremendous harm
Demands for bus ethics are increasing
Few businesses are knowledgeable about business ethics
What are the grey areas of bus ethics
Stakeholders
Animal rights and environment
Profits- should businesses make profits
Why do these issues emerge
Cultural issues- contradictory ethical demands
People have different views of right and wrong
Legal- managers can no longer rely on legal framework when deciding right and wrong
Accountability- globalisation means governments have less control and are placing accountability on business
What is morality?
Norms, values and beliefs that determine right and wrong
What are the two key questions in business ethics?
What responsibilities do management have?
Why do they have these?
Stark- what two challenges would managers welcome help with
Identifying appropriate courses of action
Navigating situations where the right course of action is clear but real world pressures lead managers astray
What else does stark say
Moral philosophy values Altruism- the idea that an individual should be good because it is right or will benefit others
For many motivation can be either, Austrian or enlightened self interest but not both
Should o good because it benefits others not because an individual will benefit
To be ethical because it may increase profit is to be ethical for the entirely wrong reasons
People’s motives are a confusing set of self interest, aultrism and others
Business ethics has to hurt
What does stark say about the new business ethics?
Need to move towards a new business ethics that recognises aultristic and self interest by integrating the two
Acknowledges and accepts the messy world of mixed motives and moral conflicts
What is the definition of business ethics
The study of business situations, activities and decisions where issues of right and wrong are addressed
What are the 3 mistakes of business ethics
Too general
Too theoretical
Too impractical
What does ethics represent
An attempt to systematise and rationalise morality into generalised normative rules that supposedly offer a solution to all situations of moral uncertainty
What is aultrism
The idea and individual should be ethical because it is right and will benefit others
