A presentation I had to give on the consequences of bad business practices in ethics. I specifically cited Enron and WorldCom as my examples. The .ppt contains many hyperlinks to videos supporting my case.
A chosen topic related to Business and how chosen philosophies of European thought would have viewed such a business-related situation. The chosen topic was sexual harassment in the corporate setting and looks at the cognitive, utilitarian views, the deontologists and the views of Immanuel Kant.
A chosen topic related to Business and how chosen philosophies of European thought would have viewed such a business-related situation. The chosen topic was sexual harassment in the corporate setting and looks at the cognitive, utilitarian views, the deontologists and the views of Immanuel Kant.
Individual Factors: Moral Philosophies and Valuedgoti3111
Most discussions of business ethics address the role of the individual in ethical decision making.
HOW DOES INDIVIDUAL'S BACKGROUNDS AND PHILOSOPHIES INFLUENCE ONE'S DECISION?
A presentation on Corporate Ethics given in CGC GHaruan competition on a condition that slides should not have to be more than 10 and time to prepare was 1 hour and topics were given on the spot.
Individual Factors: Moral Philosophies and Valuedgoti3111
Most discussions of business ethics address the role of the individual in ethical decision making.
HOW DOES INDIVIDUAL'S BACKGROUNDS AND PHILOSOPHIES INFLUENCE ONE'S DECISION?
A presentation on Corporate Ethics given in CGC GHaruan competition on a condition that slides should not have to be more than 10 and time to prepare was 1 hour and topics were given on the spot.
Ethics:
Is the consensusally accepted standards of behavior for an occupation, trade, or profession
Morality:
Is the precepts of personal behavior based on religious or philosophical grounds
.
Law:
- Formal codes that permit or forbid certain behavior
- May of may not enforce Ethics or morality
Code of Ethics:
Specifies how an organization expects its employees to behave while on the job
Actions taken during a crisis often make things worse. One reason is that fundamental management rules change, but that's hard for many executives to accept.
Identify in 150 - 200 words your reactions to the concepts of global.pdffathimafancyjeweller
Identify in 150 - 200 words your reactions to the concepts of globalization and Global Business
Ethics Issues.
Solution
Overview
The current financial crisis has raised questions about the legitimacy of capitalism. Ethical
failures certainly played a role. While it remains to be seen whether and how many people
blatantly broke the law, there are abundant signs of various forms of potentially unethical
behavior. These include greed, unreasonable amounts of leverage, subtle forms of corruption
(such as ratings agencies that appear to have had a conflict of interest), complex financial
instruments that no one really understood, and herd behavior where people just followed along
and failed to exercise independent judgment.
It is difficult or impossible to regulate against greed and against many of the other ethical
shortcomings that have been seen. What can be done is to force greater transparency and
accountability, a process which began with Sarbanes-Oxley and is expected to continue with new
regulations of the financial system.
Context
Drawing upon learnings from their work and experiences, the panelists and moderator exchanged
views with the audience on the ethics and legitimacy of business and capitalism in general, and
the financial crisis in particular.
Key Takeaways
The financial crisis may shift societal views on the legitimacy of business.
Each panelist offered a different perspective on the issue of ethics and legitimacy in business:
– The financial crisis has the potential to damage the legitimacy of capitalism (Di Tella). Richer
nations tend to be more right-wing in their views and have more capitalistic economic systems.
The United States is exceptionally right-leaning, even among developed nations.
These attributes are heavily influenced by beliefs regarding the reasons why people are
prosperous or poor. Americans tend to see prosperity as a product of effort more than luck; left-
leaning nations believe the opposite.
Affecting these beliefs: the number and severity of the shocks a society has weathered; and
perceptions regarding the legitimacy of business—i.e., the perceived degree of corruption.
America generally perceives that corrupt businesspeople are the exception, and punishes deviants
severely. However, this financial crisis holds the potential to shift America leftward since it: 1) is
a major shock that 2) suggests systemic corruption. Both call into some question the legitimacy
of U.S. capitalism.
– It is ethically legitimate for businesses to place the customer\'s interests above all else, because
only through profit comes the freedom to contribute to society (Vasella). Business leaders must
use their personal moral compasses to make ethical decisions. As for the business\'s compass, it
should be oriented toward satisfying customers above all stakeholders. That is the orientation
that allows for the greatest competitive success and profitability. In Mr. Vasella\'s view, only by
making a profit does a company earn the rig.
Running Head: ETHICS IN LAW 1
ETHICS IN LAW 2
Ethics in Law
Student´s Name:
Institutional Affiliation:
Ethics in Law
Ethics is one of the key values that every organization must uphold. As such, the employees and the employers must have a defined set of rules that regulate their conducts and practices. Therefore, ethical decision making process center on various principles that pertains to right and wrong in conduct. Into the bargain, the main principles of ethical decision making include, autonomy, privacy, justice and beneficence and non-maleficence among others (Mattison, 2000).
1: Principles of Ethical Decisionmaking
The principle of autonomy requires that the interest of others is respected and upheld. Further, this principle need that the decisions made by the responsible bodies do not affect the well-being of others. As such, the principle of autonomy is crucial in the decision making process since it helps to avert violation of individual rights. In addition, the principle of privacy and confidentiality of information must be upheld in any decision making procedure. The ethical principle of Privacy and confidentiality of information is crucial in curbing devastating effects to individuals and organizations at large. For instance, there is vital information that workers must be kept private (Seitz, & Neile, 2006).
Consequently, the principle of privacy and confidentiality demands that when making decisions that affect these groups of people, their information should be handled with a lot of caution. Moreover, the ethical principle of beneficence and non-maleficence requires that the decision makers do no harm by creating decisions that uphold the well -being of all the persons who may be affected by the decision. Further, this principle most applies for the decisions that may reveal secret information of the people. Nonetheless, the principle of justice demands that all people receive equal and fair treatment. As such, when making decisions, the key decision makers should consider the interests of all the parties involved.
2: Steps to Encourage Employees Ethical Decision Making
Employees’ training on ethical decision making process is necessary in ensuring that an organization achieves its goals without violating other people´s interests. Consequently, the first step in encouraging employees’ ethical decision making is by building an ethical action. An ethical action entails developing an environment that enhances ethics in business. The second step involves dealing with unacceptable behaviors among the employees. In this regard, unethical employee´s behaviors such as theft, workplace harassment and fraud among other illegal conducts should be highly punished (Korsgaard, & Roberson, 1995).
Moreover, the next step.
Taking ideas and slides from the Firefighter presentation, I designed a Contractor Safety Presentation which was attended before season start up. The goal was to not only refresh the employees but concentrate on issues which Lafarge has identified as critical hazards they might face while working for Lafarge.
A presentation that was designed for a group of firefighters, to help align the common safety hazards that face them both. While I worked for Lafarge I created this to help promote synergies between the two organizations and foster common learnings. The presentation was visually based to induce conversation and is nothing without its speaker.
3. Stages of Moral Development 6. Following self-chosen ethical principles even if they violate the law. 5. Valuing rights of others and upholding absolute values and rights regardless of the majority’ s opinion. 4. Maintaining conventional order by fulfilling obligations to which you have agreed. 3. Living up to what is expected by people close to you. 2. Following rules only when doing so is in your immediate interest. 1. Sticking to rules to avoid physical punishment. Conventional Principled Preconventional Source: Based on L. Kohlberg, “Moral Stages and Moralization: The Cognitive-Developmental Approach,” in Moral Development and Behaviour: Theory, Research, and Social Issues , ed. T. Lickona (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976), pp. 34-35.
4. Stage of moral development Organizational environment Locus of control Ethical decision-making behaviour
5. Utilitarianism Rights Justice/Care Unethical Unethical Unethical Ethical o N o N o N s e Y s e Y s e Y Does the decision respect the rights of the individuals affected? Is the decision motivated by self-serving interests? Is the decision fair and equitable? Question 1 Question 2 Question 3
6. Judgement Shortcuts Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky Heuristics “ judgement shortcuts in decision making, to simplify the decision process, rather than going through all of the steps of the rational decision-making model”
7. Heuristics Framing “ you give radically different answers to the same question if it is posed in different ways” Availability Heuristic “ tendency for people to base their judgements on information that is readily available to them rather than complete data” Representative Heuristic “ basing a decision on the tendency of a small sample or pre-existing category” Ignoring the Base Rate “ judgement error that people make when ignoring the statistical likelihood that an event might happen” Escalation Of Commitment “ an increased commitment to a previous decision despite negative information, i.e. stick with original decision
8. Mindset “ All publicly traded corporations have been structured, through a series of legal decisions, to have a particular and disturbing characteristic. They are required by law to place the financial interests of their owners above the competing interests… … In fact, the corporation, is legally bound to put its bottom line ahead of everything else… … even the public good” The Corporation
9. Mindset “ They have no soul to save… … they have no body to incarcerate” Barron Thurleau
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14. “ We have no obligation to make history… We have no obligation to make art… We have no obligation to make a statement… To make Money… … is our only obligation” Michael Eisner
15. “ You can manipulate consumers… into wanting… and therefore… … buying your products… It’s a game.”
18. Worldcom "It is disappointing that the company that commits the greatest fraud in American history, $11 billion, leading to a loss of $180 billion to the retirement accounts and savings of thousands of people receives only a slap on the wrist."
19. “ We like risk… because you make money taking risks.” J. Skilling Welcome to a Financial Fantasy Land
34. Financial Incentives “ In 2001 executives received huge one-time bonuses because Enron’s stock price hit various targets during 2000. Investigators have suggested that during 2000, those same executives were inflating the company’s profits by as much as a billion dollars. Legal experts suggest that the bonuses tied to stock price goals may have provided a motive for executives to distort the company’s performance… … How large were these bonuses? Well, Andrew S. Fastow, the former CFO, received more than $3 million (US) in bonuses over a one-month period! In the words of a former federal prosecutor, “The levels of compensation that we are talking about here would certainly seem to be a powerful incentive for anyone to do anything.”
38. Stage of moral development Organizational environment Locus of control Ethical decision-making behaviour
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46. “ Whether you obey the law or not is a matter of whether it is cost effective. If the chance of getting caught and the penalty are LESS than the cost to comply, people think of it as being just a business decision.” The Corporation