Week ONE - Importance of Business Ethics

Question 1

What are business ethics

Answer 1

The principles, values and norms that guide business behaviours - principles, values and ethics

Question 2

What are some examples of misconduct in the workplace?

Answer 2

• misuse of company resources
• harrassment
• conflicts of interest
• bribery
• employee theft
• defective products

Question 3

What do the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organisations do

Answer 3

Set out the Standards and procedures for preventing misconduct

• High level of oversight
• Care in delegation of authority
• Effective communication
• Employee training
• Systems to monitor, audit and report misconduct
• Consistent enforcement and continuous improvement

Question 4

What is ethical culture and what are its goals

Answer 4

Ethical culture = acceptable behaviour as defined by the company and industry
- Creates shared values and support for ethical decisions - driven by top management
Goal = minimise need for enforced compliance & maximise utilisation of principles/ethical reasoning in difficult/new situations

Question 5

Outline some benefits of business ethics

Answer 5

Employee commitment
- Development of an ethical culture leads to employee retention and loyalty, increasing employee performance

Investor loyalty
- Investors are aware

Customer satisfaction
- Companies viewed as socially responsible gain a high amount of customer trust and satisfaction

Profits
- Ethical culture helps a company stay ahead of its competitors, thereby gaining mroe profits