_Chapter 3 Notes.pdf

Emerging Business Ethics Issues Honestly - Honesty: Truthfulness or trustworthiness to tell the truth to the best of your ability without hiding anything - Dishonesty: A lack of integrity, incomplete disclosure, or an unwillingness to tell the truth...

Emerging Business Ethics Issues Honestly - Honesty: Truthfulness or trustworthiness to tell the truth to the best of your ability without hiding anything - Dishonesty: A lack of integrity, incomplete disclosure, or an unwillingness to tell the truth - Integrity: uncompromising adherence to ethical values Segments of Lying 1. causing damage or harm 2. a “white lie,” which doesn’t cause damage but can be called an excuse or something told to benefit someone else; 3. statements that are meant to engage or entertain with no malice. Fairness and Integrity Fairness: The quality of being just, equitable, and impartial Fairness : - Just and equitable treatment of all individuals and groups - Distributing decisions, opportunities, and resources impartially - Upholding principles of justice and equality in business dealings - Treating stakeholders with integrity and without favoritism Equality : - Fair and impartial treatment of all individuals - Equal opportunities for employment and advancement - Ensuring fair compensation regardless of personal characteristics - Creating an inclusive and diverse work environment Ethical Issues and Dilemmas in Bussiness - An ethical issue is a problem or opportunity that requires an individual or group to choose among actions that are evaluated as EITHER ethical or unethical (right or wrong)  Emerging Business Ethics Issues - An ethical dilemma is a problem, situation, or opportunity that requires an individual or group to choose among several wrong or unethical actions Abusive or Intimidating Behavior - One of the most common ethical problems - Can mean anything from physical threats, false accusations, profanity, insults, harshness, ignoring someone, or even unreasonableness - Bullying is a growing legal problem in the workplace Lying There are three types of lies 1. Joking without maliceJoking without malice in business ethics refers to telling a lie in a humorous or playful way without intending to harm anyone, often to ease tension or facilitate communication. 2. Commission lying in business ethics involves deliberately stating something untrue, often for personal gain or to deceive others for the benefit of the organization. 3. Omission lying in business ethics occurs when someone intentionally withholds relevant information to deceive others for personal gain or to benefit the organization. This type of lying involves the intentional omission of crucial details that could impact decision-making Conflict of Intrest - Exist when an individual must choose whether to advance his or her own personal interests, those of the organization, or some other group Bribery - Bribery is the practice of offering something to gain an illicit advantage - Different types of bribery: Active bribery Passive bribery - Active bribery involves offering, promising, or giving something of value to influence the actions or decisions of someone in a position of power or trust.  Emerging Business Ethics Issues - Passive bribery involves the act of receiving or accepting something of value in exchange for acting in a certain way or making certain decisions. Corporate Intelligence Corporate intelligence is the collection and analysis of information on: - Markets - Gathering and analyzing information on markets - Technologies - Studying current and emerging technologies - Customers and competitors - Understanding the needs and behaviors of customers and competitors - Socioeconomic and external political trends - Examining socioeconomic and external political trends Discrimination A company in the U.S. can be sued for discrimination if it: - Refuses to hire an individual for discriminatory reasons - Unreasonably excludes an individual from employment - Unreasonably discharges an individual - Discriminates against an individual with respect to hiring, employment terms, promotion, or privileges Sexual Harassment A repeated, unwanted behavior of a sexual nature perpetrated upon one individual by another Hostile Work Environment - The conduct was unwelcome - The conduct was severe, pervasive, and regarded by the claimant as so hostile or offensive as to alter his or her conditions of employment - The conduct was such that a reasonable person would find it hostile or offensive  Emerging Business Ethics Issues Environmental Issues - The environment is a significant and growing issue in business - The Kyoto Protocol: An international treaty on climate change that commits nations to reducing greenhouse gas emissions - Water pollution: Results from dumping sewage and toxic chemicals in places where they can filter into water supplies - Green energy sources are perceived to have lower emissions or waste than traditional ones Fraud - Any purposeful communication that deceives, manipulates, or conceals facts to create a false impression is fraud - Accounting fraud 1. Misrepresentation of company’s financial reports 2. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act sought to improve this 3. 2008-2009 Wall Street financial meltdown and recession revealed continuing problems - Marketing fraud involves deceptive or dishonest practices in marketing, such as false advertising, misleading claims, or deceptive pricing strategies, aimed at gaining an unfair advantage. Consumer Fraud Consumer fraud involves intentional deception to derive an unfair economic advantage by an individual or group over an organization. –Shoplifting Shoplifting is the act of taking goods from a store without paying for them. –Collusion short, refers to a secret agreement or cooperation for fraudulent or illegal purposes. It usually involves two or more parties conspiring to deceive or manipulate others for their own gain. –Duplicity, in short, refers to deceitfulness or double-dealing. It involves saying or doing one thing while intending to do another, often for personal gain or to mislead others. –Guile means sly or cunning intelligence. It refers to the ability to achieve things by being clever and deceiving others.  Emerging Business Ethics Issues Financial Miscofncut - The failure to understand and manage ethical risks played a key part in the financial meltdown and recession of 2008-2009 Intellectual Property Rights and Privacy - Intellectual Property Rights involve the legal protection of intellectual properties, such as music, books, and movie - Many privacy issues in the business world - Employee use of technology - Consumer privacy - It can be a challenge for businesses today to meet the needs of consumers while protecting their privacy The Challenge of Determining Ethical Issues in Business - Most ethical issues will become visible through stakeholder concerns about an event, activity, or the results of a business decision - Determining ethical issues is a challenge - The ethical decision-making process starts when ethical issue awareness occurs and individuals begin a discussion