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Business Ethics

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Business EthicsSummary
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Table of contents
  1. Preface
  2. 1 Why Ethics Matter
    1. Introduction
    2. 1.1 Being a Professional of Integrity
    3. 1.2 Ethics and Profitability
    4. 1.3 Multiple versus Single Ethical Standards
    5. Key Terms
    6. Summary
    7. Assessment Questions
    8. Endnotes
  3. 2 Ethics from Antiquity to the Present
    1. Introduction
    2. 2.1 The Concept of Ethical Business in Ancient Athens
    3. 2.2 Ethical Advice for Nobles and Civil Servants in Ancient China
    4. 2.3 Comparing the Virtue Ethics of East and West
    5. 2.4 Utilitarianism: The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number
    6. 2.5 Deontology: Ethics as Duty
    7. 2.6 A Theory of Justice
    8. Key Terms
    9. Summary
    10. Assessment Questions
    11. Endnotes
  4. 3 Defining and Prioritizing Stakeholders
    1. Introduction
    2. 3.1 Adopting a Stakeholder Orientation
    3. 3.2 Weighing Stakeholder Claims
    4. 3.3 Ethical Decision-Making and Prioritizing Stakeholders
    5. 3.4 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. Assessment Questions
    9. Endnotes
  5. 4 Three Special Stakeholders: Society, the Environment, and Government
    1. Introduction
    2. 4.1 Corporate Law and Corporate Responsibility
    3. 4.2 Sustainability: Business and the Environment
    4. 4.3 Government and the Private Sector
    5. Key Terms
    6. Summary
    7. Assessment Questions
    8. Endnotes
  6. 5 The Impact of Culture and Time on Business Ethics
    1. Introduction
    2. 5.1 The Relationship between Business Ethics and Culture
    3. 5.2 Business Ethics over Time
    4. 5.3 The Influence of Geography and Religion
    5. 5.4 Are the Values Central to Business Ethics Universal?
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. Assessment Questions
    9. Endnotes
  7. 6 What Employers Owe Employees
    1. Introduction
    2. 6.1 The Workplace Environment and Working Conditions
    3. 6.2 What Constitutes a Fair Wage?
    4. 6.3 An Organized Workforce
    5. 6.4 Privacy in the Workplace
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. Assessment Questions
    9. Endnotes
  8. 7 What Employees Owe Employers
    1. Introduction
    2. 7.1 Loyalty to the Company
    3. 7.2 Loyalty to the Brand and to Customers
    4. 7.3 Contributing to a Positive Work Atmosphere
    5. 7.4 Financial Integrity
    6. 7.5 Criticism of the Company and Whistleblowing
    7. Key Terms
    8. Summary
    9. Assessment Questions
    10. Endnotes
  9. 8 Recognizing and Respecting the Rights of All
    1. Introduction
    2. 8.1 Diversity and Inclusion in the Workforce
    3. 8.2 Accommodating Different Abilities and Faiths
    4. 8.3 Sexual Identification and Orientation
    5. 8.4 Income Inequalities
    6. 8.5 Animal Rights and the Implications for Business
    7. Key Terms
    8. Summary
    9. Assessment Questions
    10. Endnotes
  10. 9 Professions under the Microscope
    1. Introduction
    2. 9.1 Entrepreneurship and Start-Up Culture
    3. 9.2 The Influence of Advertising
    4. 9.3 The Insurance Industry
    5. 9.4 Ethical Issues in the Provision of Health Care
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. Assessment Questions
    9. Endnotes
  11. 10 Changing Work Environments and Future Trends
    1. Introduction
    2. 10.1 More Telecommuting or Less?
    3. 10.2 Workplace Campuses
    4. 10.3 Alternatives to Traditional Patterns of Work
    5. 10.4 Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and the Workplace of the Future
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. Assessment Questions
    9. Endnotes
  12. 11 Epilogue: Why Ethics Still Matter
    1. Introduction
    2. 11.1 Business Ethics in an Evolving Environment
    3. 11.2 Committing to an Ethical View
    4. 11.3 Becoming an Ethical Professional
    5. 11.4 Making a Difference in the Business World
    6. Endnotes
  13. A | The Lives of Ethical Philosophers
  14. B | Profiles in Business Ethics: Contemporary Thought Leaders
  15. C | A Succinct Theory of Business Ethics
  16. Answer Key
    1. Chapter 1
    2. Chapter 2
    3. Chapter 3
    4. Chapter 4
    5. Chapter 5
    6. Chapter 6
    7. Chapter 7
    8. Chapter 8
    9. Chapter 9
    10. Chapter 10
  17. Index

9.1 Entrepreneurship and Start-Up Culture

The atmosphere surrounding entrepreneurs and their start-ups can provide a dizzying rush. The opportunities to create a company, be your own boss, make a dramatic impact on business, establish an entrepreneurial culture that will be adopted by others, and possibly become rich in the process certainly all appeal to our human nature. Still, the entrepreneurial lifestyle is challenging, and the success rate for start-ups is exceptionally low. Interpersonal conflicts are prevalent in start-up environments, and entrepreneurs who seek to stay true to their vision and ethical values face a difficult road. At many points, start-up founders have to choose how they most wish to be remembered: for the sake of their business success alone or also for the ethical fashion in which they attained that success and the humane culture they have embedded in their new firm. Sometimes these are mutually exclusive goals, but the most ethical entrepreneurs do their best to ensure that both objectives mesh for themselves and their firms. This lies at the heart of any definition of ethical leadership.

9.2 The Influence of Advertising

The Internet and social media present new canvasses for marketing that possess great power and for which rules and ethical norms are being developed. Psychological appeals and subliminal messaging present their own ethical issues. Discerning consumers currently must rely on their own sensibility to ferret out factual claims for advertised products and bear the burden of shielding those under their charge from the worst manipulative effects of marketing.

9.3 The Insurance Industry

Business owners and individuals are willing to pay insurance premiums in the hope that they will never have to be file a claim for reimbursement on their policy. Because the insurance industry profits only when claims are few and small, there may be a bigger role for government to play in managing disaster insurance through a private/public partnership, such as FEMA currently does to provide flood insurance and the California Earthquake Authority does where potentially disastrous earthquakes may occur. Ethical issues such whether to expand the use of public tax revenues to subsidize these partnerships need to be resolved.

9.4 Ethical Issues in the Provision of Health Care

The United States, unlike countries in Europe, has little tradition of merging the efforts of the state or federal government with that of private employers in the provision of health care. Although the quality of U.S. health care has rarely been challenged, its limited accessibility has posed ethical quandaries for business because many employees necessarily look to their employers for this benefit. The 2010 Affordable Care Act is an ambitious effort to meet the need for health care for all. Individual states have considered, and sometimes enacted, programs of their own to supply universal health care.

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